Kelton's inbox delivers a dream: an agent from a respected agency slid into her DMs after discovering her writing on Substack. The excitement is real—but so is the anxiety of navigating what comes next. Do you query other agents simultaneously? How do you know if you vibe? And what does a "good deal" actually mean on Publisher's Marketplace?

This week, Kelton and Krisserin break down the research-heavy world of finding representation—from decoding deal tiers to building agent lists through comp titles and genre searches. Krisserin shares wisdom from her own querying journey, including her stack-ranked spreadsheets, red flags to watch for, and the agent who dared to criticize her exposition after requesting only three pages.

The conversation gets real about money: advances that barely cover childcare, dental insurance regrets, and why writers need to stop treating book deals like lottery tickets and start asking themselves what their financial goals actually are. Plus: the ethics of getting rich by caring a little less, and why Krisserin's book absolutely deserves a "major" deal.

Goals for the week: Kelton's querying three agents after polishing her prologue, and Krisserin's taking a rare self-care day—spa, library, latte, and maybe some editor research if the vibes are right.

Support Minnesota:
• Women's Foundation of Minnesota: https://www.wfmn.org/funds/immigrant-rapid-response/
• Publishing for Minnesota Auction: https://www.32auctions.com/publishingforMN 

Write to us:
[email protected]

Follow us:
Instagram: @penpalspod
TikTok: @penpalspod
YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

What happens when a designer walks into a Manhattan publishing office with paper prototypes that look like children's toys? In this episode, Kelton reconnects with Vicki Tan, a former colleague from Headspace turned author, to explore her unconventional path to publishing Ask This Book a Question—an interactive cognitive bias book that defies easy categorization.

Vicki shares how a chance conversation with a friend (who also connected her with an agent) led to an in-person pitch meeting, a two-year pandemic pause, and ultimately a bidding war between major publishers. She reveals why the stories in her book matter more than the science, how her original editor leaving mid-project changed the final product, and why she still doesn't call herself an author. Plus: the upcoming companion card deck, the power of comp titles when your book doesn't fit a genre, and why the most interesting ideas are often the hardest to pitch.

Also in this episode: Kelton starts agent shopping with a 12-person spreadsheet, Krisserin recovers from Miami work travel, and a listener question about repurposing Substack essays for publication.

Links:

• Vicki's website: vickitan.com/book
• Instagram: @vickiheart

Books Vicki Recommended:

• The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
• Subtle by Kenya Hara
• Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler

Write to us:
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Follow us:
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YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

Krisserin and Kelton kick off 2026 by getting real about the challenge of creating art in turbulent times—from doom-scrolling to feeling like your work is too small for the moment. Then they're joined by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author JT Ellison, who has written more than 30 psychological thrillers and domestic noir novels and co-hosts the Emmy Award-winning "A Word on Words" on Nashville PBS.

The conversation dives deep into the realities of a 20-year writing career: co-writing six books with Catherine Coulter (and learning how a #1 bestseller actually works), launching a fantasy series under pen name Joss Walker because algorithms don't forgive genre-hopping, and the 70,000-word wall where every book makes her want to jump off a cliff.

The trio discusses industry myths (bad sales track can absolutely be overcome with a book they can't ignore), the creative cost of social media pile-ons, and Stephen King's wisdom about writing with the door closed. JT shares her current aspiration after two decades of hustle: ease. Just write one book a year and enjoy it. Plus: major news that her Taylor Jackson series just sold to Thomas and Mercer for a full reboot.

Whether you're dreaming of your first book deal or your thirtieth, JT's journey offers proof that the path to publication rarely looks like you expect—and that sometimes the detours are exactly what your writing needs. Goals: Kelton plans to finish and send her memoir proposal to a friend for review, while Krisserin focuses on completing her grad school application essay and tinkering with the ending of her short story.

JT's Book Recommendations:

• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Connect with JT Ellison:
Subscribe to JT's Substack: The Creative Edge
Visit JT's Website: jtellison.com
Follow JT's Instagram: @thrillerchick

Write to us:
[email protected]

Follow us:
Instagram: @penpalspod
TikTok: @penpalspod
YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

In their final episode of 2025, Krisserin and Kelton reflect on a year that transformed them both—32 episodes of accountability, pivot points, and hard-won victories. While Krisserin celebrates landing an agent and finishing her duology, Kelton reveals her elaborate "Year of 40" planning document complete with astrological mapping and a manifestation app.

Looking ahead to 2026, Kelton unveils her ambitious plans—the Rewilding winter practice, a new monthly writing group called the Murmuration, and manifesting a business partner with a very specific JD. Krisserin's playing it closer to the vest, applying to an MFA program and hoping for a book deal she's still too protective of her heart to fully visualize. 

Between debates about who's more commercially-minded (Capricorn wins), pleas for listener ratings, and their characteristic mix of commiseration and ambition, this episode celebrates what a year of showing up—for your writing and for each other—can actually accomplish.

Write to us:
[email protected]

Follow us:
Instagram: @penpalspod
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YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

In this episode of Pen Pals, Krisserin and Kelton confront the reality of December's chaotic energy—where seasonal disruptions, holiday stress, and looming daycare closures threaten to derail their writing routines entirely. While Kelton grapples with her lack of structure (going without coffee until noon, navigating postpartum dairy restrictions, and awaiting news of hand-foot-and-mouth disease), Krisserin celebrates a hollow victory: typing "THE END" on her manuscript, only to feel completely disconnected from the work.

The friends trade strategies for building sustainable writing habits in the midst of life's upheaval—from Kelton's plan to reclaim her most reliable morning hour from client work to Krisserin's decision to explore short story writing and grad school applications while her novel rests. They debate the ethics of platform-building on TikTok, where algorithmic luck matters more than generous engagement, and wrestle with the pressure to create "uniquely differentiating" content when billions of people are doing the same thing. Through Emily Halnon's wisdom about training like an athlete and the reminder that 30 minutes of writing beats zero minutes every time, Krisserin and Kelton offer a refreshing antidote to December chaos: sometimes the goal is just to show up, even when showing up feels like the hardest thing in the world.

Write to us:
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Follow us:
Instagram: @penpalspod
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YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

Krisserin and Kelton sit down with Ali Gordon, author of "We Have Reached the End of Our Show," to discuss her unconventional path to publication without an agent. Ali shares how she wrote her debut novel during the pandemic as a "cozy treehouse" where she could escape—a meditation on grief and the end of the world inspired by her experience losing both parents to cancer within two years.

The conversation digs into the brutal reality of querying: from agents who loved her novella but wouldn't represent it without expansion, to the personal sting of form rejections when you've poured your trauma onto the page. Ali explains why she stopped "tap dancing" in her query letters and started reaching out directly to independent publishers—landing at Wildling Press, where the entire team read her manuscript within weeks and called to say "we all cried, we love it."

Ali gets honest about the trade-offs of publishing with a small press (no advance, years of unpaid work) versus the reward of working with people genuinely in love with your material. She reflects on how querying hurt her feelings in ways even acting school rejection never did, why writing "in love" with your project matters more than outlining obligations, and how four hours of forced airplane boredom gave her the idea for her next (hopefully funny) novel.

Plus: Kelton's toddler still isn't sleeping so she's giving herself permission to rest despite memoir proposal deadlines, Krisserin shares the embarrassing story of fumbling repeated follow-ups from an interested agent twelve years ago, and both hosts grapple with social media metrics while pushing toward their January deadlines in a season when they should be pulling back.

Learn more about Ali Gordon:
Website: https://www.whatdoesaligordondo.com/
Book: "We Have Reached the End of Our Show"
Instagram: @msalicenutting

Write to us:
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Follow us:
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SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

When you're chasing publication dreams and battling rejection, gratitude feels like a luxury. But Krisserin and Kelton argue it's actually a practice—one that keeps you grounded when writing feels impossible. In this candid Thanksgiving conversation, they explore gratitude as a skill you build, not a feeling that arrives. They tackle the envy that lurks behind ambition, answer a listener's question about returning to abandoned projects, and get deeply personal about the people who've shaped their writing—from long-time readers who stuck with them for decades, to short-lived aunties who passed through their lives leaving permanent gifts. Krisserin celebrates a week of wild productivity. Kelton reflects on the readers who've been loyal since her Date by Numbers days. Both hosts reckon with how family, mentorship, and financial anxiety shaped their relationship to art. If you're oscillating between genuine gratitude and performative thankfulness, this episode holds space for both.

Write to us:
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Follow us:
Instagram: @penpalspod
TikTok: @penpalspod
YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

Krisserin's brain is scrambled from her massive Excel spreadsheet organizing her 24,000 remaining words, while Kelton is juggling unexpected client work that threatens to derail her memoir proposal. But this week they're joined by Emily Halnon, USA Today bestselling author of To the Gorge: Running Grief and Resilience and 460 Miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, a writer, trail runner, and mountain athlete who set the fastest known time on the 460-mile Oregon PCT.

Emily's here to talk about the gap between landing an agent and getting published—and why the submission process was far more brutal than her surprisingly smooth querying journey. After three agent offers in six weeks, Emily faced publisher after publisher saying no, not because of her writing, but because her platform wasn't big enough. She breaks down the "pitch deck" strategy for positioning your memoir, how market bias shows up in publishing decisions (including the absurd reasoning that there's only room for one book about women on trails), and the practical realities of book marketing that most authors do themselves.

The trio discusses what actually gets your book into readers' hands—from strategic podcast appearances to NPR affiliate targeting to direct DM outreach. Emily shares her candid breakdown of launch strategy, sustainable (and unsustainable) approaches to self-promotion, and the vulnerability hangover that comes after pouring your grief onto the page. Plus: Emily's discovery of poetry as creative renewal, Krisserin's push toward December 1st manuscript completion, Kelton's chapter outline goals, and their shared realization that sometimes the best writing investment is permission to rest and let ideas compost.

Through their different paths to publication, all three writers circle back to the same truth: authenticity and persistence matter more than perfect platforms or publishers' initial predictions.

Get Emily's book: To the Gorge: Running Grief and Resilience and 460 Miles on the Pacific Crest Trail

Learn more about Emily:
Website: https://www.emilyhalnon.com/
Instagram: @emilysweats
Substack Newsletter: Trail Mix

Recommended Reading from Emily:
The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow
Poets Square by Courtney Gustafson
Tilt by Emma Pattee
The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

Write to us:
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Follow us:
Instagram: @penpalspod
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YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

In this candid episode of Pen Pals, Krisserin and Kelton get real about the challenging phases every writer faces—the doldrums. Between sleepless toddler nights, demanding day jobs, and the mental exhaustion of parenting, both hosts grapple with keeping their writing momentum alive. Krisserin wrestles with defining the antagonist in her second novel while navigating the broader scale and complexity her story demands, questioning whether she has what it takes to pull it off. Meanwhile, Kelton evaluates her newsletter's future after four and a half years of free essays, contemplating the balance between creative satisfaction and sustainable output. They discuss the realities of being a parent-writer, the pressure of the holiday season, the importance of taking breaks, and the confidence that comes with age and experience. Despite feeling down in the moment, both writers remain certain they'll emerge on the other side—together—holding hands toward success. A relatable and honest conversation for any creative pushing through the valleys between mountains.

Write to us:
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Follow us:
Instagram: @penpalspod
TikTok: @penpalspod
YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

Krisserin's fighting through the darkness of her 5 AM garage writing sessions while Kelton navigates competing feedback on her memoir proposal. But this week they're joined by their third Season 2 guest: Olivia Muenter, USA Today bestselling author of "Such a Bad Influence," co-host of the Bad On Paper podcast, and Pen Pals superfan. Olivia's here to talk about her wildly unconventional path to publication—and why landing a book deal didn't cure her imposter syndrome like she thought it would.

The trio discusses the challenges of generating new material after months of revision (Krisserin hasn't written new words in over a year), the importance of curating beautiful writing spaces (taper candles can fix everything, according to Olivia), and why rest is productive. Olivia's daily routine—journaling first, then tackling the most creative work in the morning, with a brain-dump journal that has "absolutely changed her life"—offers a template for sustainable creative practice.

Plus: Krisserin moves from revision to terrifying new material, Kelton wrestles with contradictory feedback on her memoir proposal (more voice versus more market research), and Olivia plans her first self-hosted writing retreat in the Catskills while finishing her proposal for book three. Through their different writing styles and career paths, all three writers circle back to the same truth: the only real measure of success is that you keep going, no matter who rejects you.

Pre-order Olivia's upcoming novel "Little One" (releases February 3rd): https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/olivia-muenter/little-one/9780316594561/

Learn more about Olivia:
Website & Newsletter: https://oliviamuenter.substack.com/
Bad On Paper Podcast: https://badonpaperpodcast.com/
"Such a Bad Influence": https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739425/such-a-bad-influence-by-olivia-muenter/

Recommended Reading from Olivia:

• "Night Watching" by Tracy Sierra
• "Tilt" by Emma Petit
• "Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance" by Alison Pac

Write to us:
[email protected]

Follow us:
Instagram: @penpalspod
TikTok: @penpalspod
YouTube: @PenPalsPod
SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com

Follow Krisserin and Kelton:
TikTok: @krisserin, @keltonwrites
Instagram: @keltonkin, @keltonwrites
Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs
Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios