Jordan Kelly

OVERVIEW
I know there are a lot of budding writers who need someone who believes in them and their story to bounce ideas off of, point them to the right resources, and reach out to when they feel out of their depth in the scary world of publishing. I want to be that someone!

Before beginning the book that I signed with my agent, I had so many false starts on other books that never made it past 20k words. So when I finally had THE idea—you know, the one that kept me up at night, that I couldn’t stop developing, that really felt like it might be good enough—I didn’t want to send it out a moment too early.

The world of publishing seemed so out of reach to me. I did A LOT of research and discovered the book community on Twitter. As a terribly shy person, I was too afraid to reach out to potential critique partners or established writers and ask for help. That’s when I heard about AMM and thought I’d give it my best shot. It is mind-boggling to think in less than a year I made the journey from crossing my fingers I would get into a mentorship program to multiple agent offers and becoming agent-siblings with my mentor!

One of the best things my experience with Author Mentor Match has given me is a community! Since I got into the program in 2017, I have met writers going through the same experiences, striving for the same things, and others who are a few steps ahead and have been graciously willing to offer advice and encouragement. I look forward to ushering someone into the writing community who maybe feels like they are on the outskirts of it now and waiting for someone to pull them out onto the figurative dance floor. “

• Contemporary
• Mystery/Thriller
• Magical Realism/Fabulism
• #ownvoices
• LGBTQIA
• Romance

I’m mostly looking for YA Contemporary. It’s what I write, it’s what I read, it’s where I’ll be most helpful as a mentor. That being said, contemporary is a big genre and my taste within that genre is very broad. I’m open to stories that are heart-wrenching, absurd, funny, creepy, swoony or a combination of these qualities.

Send me stories about families, found families, and loving friend groups. I would also love to work on a romance or a book with a romantic subplot. (Of course, that includes LGBTQIA love stories as well!)

For magical realism, I’m looking for heavy on the real, easy on the magic. In mysteries/thrillers, I’m looking for something a la E. Lockhart.

I WILL PROVIDE:

Edit Letter (Big Picture developmental feedback), Line edit (dropping notes into a Word Document), Skype or phone call, Freestyle in chat

WORKING STYLE
Initially, I will send an edit letter and give you some time to look it over. A lot of my feedback will come in the form of, “X should have a bigger emotional shift by the end”, “Y needs to be fleshed out”, “I want to know more about what makes X fall for Y”, etc. and I will ask questions about your characters to get you thinking. I will offer up potential answers to these questions and ideas on how to solve problems, but more importantly, we’ll schedule a time to talk over the phone or on Skype where we can brainstorm together and I can elaborate on my notes.

Once we’ve gone over your revision plan, you can text me whenever you get stuck or need input while you’re working. When you have a new draft, I will do another read of the book and decide if we need one more big picture edit (sometimes necessary!) or just a line edit.

Ultimately, I plan on working with my mentee through the querying stage. We’ll work together on crafting a great query, putting together a list of agents, and discuss querying strategy. Querying can be a very stressful process, but I will be there to talk through everything and offer encouragement/advice.

Beyond Author Mentor Match, I would love to be your cheerleader and go-to reader for future work. 

IDEAL MENTEE
I’m looking for a mentee who is seeking feedback, ready for lots of revision, and willing to kill their darlings if necessary.

At the same time, it shouldn’t be a one way street! I think one of the most important parts of the mentor-mentee relationship is talking organically about problems and coming up with solutions together. Ultimately, this is your book and I want us to work on making it the book you want to put out in the world.

SEND ME:

• Diverse cast of characters
• Shy/socially anxious characters
• Artistic or Musical characters
• Slightly precocious, well-read characters
• Dual-POV stories
• Sex positivity
• Interesting structures
• Characters with part-time jobs
• Morally complicated characters
• Beautiful sentences that will punch me in the gut. I love when a MC lets me into the lesser-traveled corners of their heart, shows me the places they are broken, tells me their darkest thoughts, etc.
• Detailed settings I would love to live in or explore whether it be a city, a small town, a beautiful beach or the woods behind your house.
• Ambitious books! I am here for your unique structures, morally-complicated characters, and unreliable narrators!
• I would LOVE a book that follows a friendship/relationship over years. Like a YA One Day or Love, Rosie.
• Books that could be comped too… ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES, ALWAYS NEVER YOURS, DRESS CODES FOR SMALL TOWNS, DUMPLIN, EMERGENCY CONTACT, EXTRAORDINARY MEANS, FANGIRL, FOOLISH HEARTS, GENUINE FRAUD, I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT, LOOKING FOR ALASKA, PANIC, PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ, RAMONA BLUE, SAINT ANYTHING, STRANGE FASCINATIONS OF NOAH HYPNOTIK, THE SUMMER OF JORDI PEREZ, THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR, TO ALL THE BOYS I LOVED BEFORE, WE ARE OKAY, WE WERE LIARS, WHY WE BROKE UP, YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE
• In particular, if you do weird like David Arnold or sweet like Emma Mills, PLEASE sub to me! 

DO NOT SEND ME:

• Graphic Violence/Gore
• Retellings
• Teenagers who never make mistakes

FAVES
TV Shows: Atypical, Game of Thrones, Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, Parks and Rec, Riverdale, Stranger Things, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Bachelor/ette, The Bold Type, The Fosters, The Good Place, This Is Us, Younger

Movies: 13 Going on 30, Dead Poet’s Society, Dumplin, Eighth Grade, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Finding Neverland, Harry Potter Series, Juno, La La Land, Lady Bird, Love Rosie, Love Simon, My Girl, One Day, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Room, Stuck in Love, The Breakfast Club, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, The Parent Trap, That Thing You Do, Time Traveler’s Wife, Titanic, The Hunger Games, The Truman Show,

Music: dodie, Ed Sheeran, Lorde, Panic! at the Disco, Taylor Swift, The Decemberists, The Lumineers, The Smiths

Musicals: Come from Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, In the Heights, Into the Woods, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Spring Awakening, The Last Five Years