Welcome to BookEnds, Karole Cozzo!

  • By: admin | Date: Oct 26 2018

If you’re not reading or writing, what would we catch you doing? 

Most of the time you’ll find me attempting to manage my chaotic household (husband, two kids, dog), something I fail at on an ongoing basis! During the day, I work as a School Psychologist at a local high school. In my spare time, I’m running, working on crafty projects for upcoming parties or school events, co-leading my daughter’s Brownie troop, or driving carpool for soccer practice. If you still haven’t found me, I’d direct you to Target. You’ll probably find me at Target.

 

Where can readers find you on the web and social media? 

My website address is www.kacozzo.com. You can read up on my previous releases there, and see some fun pictures from past events. @KACozzo is also my handle on twitter. Instagram is probably my favorite social media outlet, and where the most areas of my life converge (KaroleCozzo).

 

What’s the last book you read?

Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton. I’m not a big non-fiction reader; honestly, I don’t venture too far out of my YA contemporary comfort zone, but my book clubs make me expand my horizons and make sure my TBR list is a bit more varied. Love Warrior provided for a lot of passionate conversation at our meeting!

 

If money were no object, what would be your dream writing location?

In an ideal world, I’d write wherever my current project was set. I love absorbing the sights, tastes, sounds, smells, and vibes that I’m attempting to capture in word form. And I love being able to include intricate details about setting in my stories. So I’d happily roam from place to place from story to story to be able to infuse my manuscript in that way. Awhile back, I wrote a summer romance set in Cape May, NJ, a town where my family spends a lot of time during the summer. Nothing beat breathing actual sea air and snacking on salt water taffy and writing with my toes in the sand.

 

What’s your favorite quote about reading or writing?

“I can’t write without a reader. It’s precisely like a kiss – you can’t do it alone.” – John Cheever

Yes! I provide the bare bones of a story, but it’s truly the readers who breathe life into them, make them real for me, have reactions and responses to them I can’t anticipate when getting them down on paper. A book is a relationship, for sure.

 

What excites you most about joining the BookEnds family?

I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things from the other BookEnds authors I’ve spoken to. And Kim has been such an awesome representative of the agency from the moment we “met.” She really went out of her way to engage me, and her thoughts and excitement amped up my excitement for my project all over again. I can’t wait to get started!

 

What advice would you give to other authors in the query trenches?

There’s no roadmap guiding the path to representation. I’ve been querying on and off for twelve years. I’d all but convinced myself my work was simply not of the quality to attract or warrant an agent’s attention. Meanwhile, I’ve published four books through Swoon Reads/Macmillan without representation. Yet I circled back to querying because I really believed an agent could help me better articulate and make strides toward my professional goals. Even as a published author, there were form rejections a’plenty. Joining BookEnds at this time is nothing less than a dream come true. A dream I waited a long time for; a dream I almost gave up on time and time again. You never know how or when it will happen for you, but what I do know is that you can’t expect your path to look like anyone else’s. If this is what you love, if this is the passion that burns within you and refuses to be extinguished, hang on and keep fighting for it.