After seven years of editing both books for teens and books for adults at Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, Kat Brzozowski took the leap into kid lit and joined the Swoon Reads team! She is excited to focus on YA and have a work-related reason to check Twitter all day. Brzozowski lives in NYC, where her goal is to eat as many dumplings and see as many Broadway musicals as possible.

Angelina Lee: Swoon Reads has a unique premise. Writers submit manuscripts to the Swoon Reads website, readers vote and comment on their favorite manuscripts, which are then considered for publication. Would you say this inspired unique submissions? 

Kat Brzozowski Yes! We see all types of manuscripts from fantasies to dystopian novels to enemies-to-lovers romances, but it also helps us find books that feel new and fresh and mix genres. Having these manuscripts vetted first by real YA fans means that we get an amazing assortment of books, and often find things we love that we didn’t realize we needed.

What part of the Swoon Reads website is your favorite? 

I love seeing what manuscripts readers are loving and why. Maybe the reader falls for the setting or the main character or the action scenes. Whatever it is, every manuscript we select has something that readers loved - something that made a reader say, “YES, this has to be published.”

What has been the effect of direct feedback from readers to writers about their manuscripts? 

It helps us to really amplify the aspects that readers were loving during the editing process, which is always helpful. We can add more of what readers loved into the final version of the book. And if a book doesn’t get selected for publication, writers have amazing notes on what they can do in the next draft to make their book better so they can try again.

On the website, have you seen many members who are both writers and readers-- people who both contribute and comment on the website? 

Definitely! Most of our writers are readers and vice versa. The website is all about supporting undiscovered voices, and Swoon Reads members are great about lifting each other up and providing valuable feedback that makes manuscripts better.

How would you describe the reader-writer community that has developed on the Swoon Reads website in three words? 

Inclusive. Fun. Collaborative.

Writers are not required to have an agent in order to submit to Swoon Reads, nor do they have to pay a submission/reading fee. These things remove an obstacle some writers can’t afford to face. What was the motivation behind that? Would you say it has affected the pool of submissions? 

We really wanted to create a community where any writer could get published, whether they had an agent or not. Swoon Reads eliminates the barrier between authors and publishers and creates a direct line of communication. We definitely think that our submissions are more varied because of this. It also brings the reader into the process and lets them have a say so we can keep our finger on what readers are looking for.

Have you seen a pattern in which manuscripts tend to receive most attention from readers?  

It changes. Sometimes we see trends for certain types of books (we’ve seen seasons with lots of spy novels or contemporary novels for example), and sometimes it’s people looking for more of what they already love, or for something that is perhaps missing in the marketplace. In each season, we are always surprised to see what readers are loving, and that is what makes this process so fun.

Would you say Swoon Reads tends to publish more heavily in one genre than others (fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, romance), or have they mostly been equal?

It’s definitely a mix of genres. We started as a romance imprint, but even then we saw fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, contemporary and a range of submissions that had a romance but were very different types of books. One of the reasons we opened submissions to all YA and not just romance is because we see so many great books being submitted. We want to provide a broader range of stories for our readers.

To readers who are new to the website – what advice would you give them? 

Read closely and try to give constructive feedback. Always start with what you loved about the manuscript! And spread the word when you love a manuscript so that other readers can fall in love too.

To new writers--what advice would you give them? 

Try and try again! Many of our published authors have been selected on their second or third manuscript. They took the feedback from our community and used it to hone their craft – and then they got a book deal. Also, pay it forward. Giving feedback is a great way to get feedback in return.

What is something about book publishing that might be surprising for someone unfamiliar with the process? 

It takes more than a year to publish a book – mostly because books go through several rounds of changes even after we acquire them (this is true not just of Swoon Reads but allbooks) and there’s several teams that contribute to creating the final book!

What’s the most fascinating thing about working as an editor at a book publishing company? 

I love seeing how many different people who contribute to a book - from the writer to the editor to the jacket designer to the copyeditor to the publicist, and many, many more. It truly takes a village.

What is personally your favorite part of the process, from submission to publication of a chosen manuscript? 

Cover voting! We provide three to five cover options for our community to vote on, and those votes decide what cover goes on the book. It’s so fun to see how different people respond to different jackets.

What’s your favorite book? 

Can I pick more than one? :) The Giver by Lois Lowry and Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.

What book are you reading right now? 

To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin.