Kaz Delaney, and her alter ego, Kerri Lane have sold more than 60 books, for children and young adults, between them.
She divides her time between writing and teaching, and for many years tutored creative writing for CSU through their Enrichment Studies courses, during which time she also wrote study courses for the Australian College of Journalism.
Kaz's current title 'Dead, Actually' (Allen & Unwin) is released in March 2012, and she is also the author of the acclaimed titles, My Life as a Snow Bunny and Princesses Don't Sweat.
Kerri's upcoming titles include such gems as Welcome to my Life of Doom (Pearson), Louie the Spy, Princess Pop-a-lot and Diary of a Stinky Kid (Macmillan). She lives at beautiful Lake Macquarie, New South Wales and is a self-confessed bling tragic who believes a smile will take you way further than a frown. And save you a fortune in cosmetic interventions later on.
WHAT CYA CONFERENCE DID FOR ME
I wasn’t a new author; in fact I had close to 60 books published. In Australia most of my titles were for the Education Market, but the US titles were YA novels for the Trade market. Unfortunately, my old US publisher closed the YA imprint line, and I was suddenly homeless. Enter Tina Marie, the CYA conference and an opportunity to pitch my new YA to Literary Agent Jacinta di Mase, of JDM Management.
That was in 2009 and it turned out to be one of the most fortuitous moments of my career. We clicked, Jacinta offered representation and after working with me on revisions she sold the book, Dead Actually to Allen & Unwin in just five weeks from submission. And I realised a dream to have my YA works published here in Australia. Jacinta is a brilliant agent and we have since sold the second book in the series, due for release in 2013, and have other projects in the works.
Thank you, sincerely, Tina, Ally and CYA. I often wonder how different my career would be, today, had I not travelled up to that CYA conference. It’s a fantastic and unique opportunity, and I’m so glad I subbed those sample chapters and jumped on that plane...
