Published! One Writer's Journey

An Interview With Author Brook Merrow

In the interest of full disclosure, Brook was my very first client, when I began book coaching. Her YA novel TRAPPED is incredibly fun, wonderfully written, and it was a joy for me to work with her.

And she took an interesting and unusual route to publication, which is one reason I want you to “meet” her. Also, I can’t say enough good things about TRAPPED.

Here, to start, is Brook’s synopsis of the novel:

His brother’s gone missing, a friend dies under strange circumstances at the local quarry, and someone’s dropped rotten bait on his family’s doorstep. All hope of cruising through senior year is shattered for Ethan Olsen, who lobsters with his family in a small town on the coast of Maine. He’s forced to grapple with a lingering trauma as he makes sense of these intertwined mysteries. While the burden falls to Ethan, he can’t do it without Britney, a kick-ass, would-be girlfriend, to carry out his investigation.

In the year since it’s been out in the world, TRAPPED was honored as a 2024 National Indie Excellence Awards finalist and as a finalist for the 2025 North Star YA award in Maine, an award determined by young adult readers.

Let’s Get Talking!

When you started this novel, what was the greatest difficulty you faced as a writer?

Because I did not plan to write a novel and thus did not scope out the plot, it was difficult to figure out what would happen next. I guess that makes me a “pantser.”

However, my critique pals were delightful because they’d brainstorm possible plot points, such as blowing up the boat or making the brother vanish, and I’d take their suggestion and make something up. The greatest difficulty, however, was reworking the first chapter(s) into a quick-paced, attention-grabbing read which also intimated some of the themes to come.

How did you feel during the writing process? Was it hard? Anxiety-producing? Maybe fun?

Overall, the writing process was fun. Especially when I started out, because writing fiction was new to me. Previously, I was an ardent nonfictioneer. I enjoyed working names and tidbits from my past into the manuscript, as well as incorporating the antics of my two boys when they were young along with composite details from towns I know on the Maine coast.

While I love revision, the hardest part was reworking the first few chapters to make them more engaging. I knew they needed extra punch, and I spent a good deal of time doing rewrites.

At what point in the process did you reach out to me for help?

So, I completed an initial draft and sat with it for a while. But I realized it needed some oomph and a critical eye. That’s when I contacted you—during COVID as I recall. (BTW, everyone wrote a book during COVID.) You whipped me into shape by focusing on essentials: In particular, what are the protagonist’s external and internal arcs? What does he want? We also talked about including brief but revealing backstories to some characters.  We then put special focus on the first several chapters. In addition, you helped me to create a query package – query letter, logline, synopsis, etc.

Finally, after querying on my own for a year or so with no luck, I decided to publish independently. That’s when we re-engaged because I wanted the book to be spot-on, ready for publication. I needed another read-through with final suggestions from you. I also needed advice on cover design, back of the cover wordage, and how to market.

What route did you take to publication and how did that experience work for you?

After a year and a half of querying agents and receiving plenty of turndowns, I just wanted to get the book out in the world so I could move on. I decided to go with a hybrid publisher here in Maine called Maine Author’s Publishing (MAP).

You indeed have to pay to be published. But the MAP plan is a little different. It provides support in many ways—editing, cover design, marketing (to a degree), social media, connections to reviewers, etc. You can choose (and pay for) as little or as much as you want.

For example, paying for a close edit was worth its weight in gold. MAP also connected me with an illustrator. In addition, MAP has booths at different events and fairs throughout the year where you can sell your books. There’s a volunteer element in that you’re asked to stock books or set up booths or manage a booth. But that’s all good because you meet other writers and share advice and ideas with them. There’s a real sense of camaraderie.

MAP also has an online and hard copy catalogue and MAP reps travel the state of Maine twice a year introducing books to shops. In addition to online sales, MAP also fulfills Amazon orders.

However, I will say—and this is very important—it’s one thing to publish a book and it’s another thing to market the book. Selling is extremely time consuming. Your success is determined by how much effort you put in, be it book talks, library appearances, social media, signing and selling events, online sales, etc. It’s not for the faint of heart.

And, interviewer’s note here: that’s true of any book whether published by one of the Big 5, or a smaller house, or independently, or via a publisher like MAP.

How did it feel to finish the book?

Great! Very satisfying. A relief. A sense of accomplishment. Finishing what I set out to do. All of that.

Are you writing something new (please say yes!!) and if so, how’s it going?

Yes! My family used to own summer hotels on the coast of Maine. This next book will be a YA mystery, set in one of those hotels with a cast of characters including Dr. Duggan with the false eye and piano player Miss Fanny Clefstone and Drake Wunderkind, an aging magician.

Folks, I can promise you a great read with TRAPPED and her next one sounds amazing. Find Trapped here: https://maineauthorspublishing.com/trapped/ and at any online retailer or indie bookseller.

Keep writing!

Don’t Miss It…My Back-to-School Special

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Happy writing!