Entrepreneur Spotlight Series: Katie Gutierrez

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Feb 11

ABOUT THE CLIENT

Author, Katie Gutierrez

Katie Gutierrez is the author of the debut novel MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW, forthcoming in the U.S. and U.K. on June 7, 2022. She has an MFA from Texas State University, and her writing has appeared in TIME, Harper's Bazaar, the Washington Post, Texas Highways, and more. She lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband and their two kids.

Q&A with Katie Gutierrez

What is your expertise or claim to fame?

I’m not sure I’d call myself an “expert” in any one particular thing, since every new book project seems to require a new set of skills, or the same skills used a different way, which is also what I love about writing: the hard scrabble into areas of discomfort, the surprises that come from chasing the suggestion of a character or story into something deeper, more meaningful. If I’m an expert in anything, it’s probably just in forcing myself to sit down and do the work.

What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learned in your business?

My first instinct was to say accepting or coping with rejection, but it’s not actually the rejection itself that’s been hardest for me–rather, realizing when the reason for rejection is that my work wasn’t ready. In the past, I dealt with rejection by immediately resubmitting work elsewhere–because sure, agents and editors have their own tastes and biases, and there are times a piece is not the right fit for them. I’ve had to learn when that’s the right approach, and when, instead, to look again at the work and investigate what is and isn’t working; to push deeper or take it apart; sometimes to set it aside until I’ve regained objectivity. And sometimes the objective view is that the work was useful to me but not ultimately ready and maybe never will be. I’ve written hundreds, maybe thousands, of pages that will never be read, and I’m okay with that, because they are how I learned to write. But other times, as with my debut novel, the unreadiness has meant digging deep to make it better. When I first sent the novel to my agent in the summer of 2019, I thought it was nearly ready for submission. Instead, she returned with round after round of notes, for the next nearly 18 months. After the book sold, I continued to edit it for another year with my U.S. and U.K. editors. There’s a difference between you, as the writer, being ready to be done with the work, and the work itself being ready (if there’s even such a thing, which now I doubt!). The hardest lesson for me has been learning to tell which is which.

What’s your best tip you could share with other entrepreneurs, business owners, or bloggers?

Be curious, keep learning, build relationships. I think this applies to anyone, in any field. For writers, specifically: a reminder that the process, the practice, of writing is the best part. And that’s a privileged thing to say from someone now making a living at it, but it’s also why I can say it with any authority. Write for the love of it, the need, the can’t-not-do-it. That will see you through.

What does it mean to you to do a branding photoshoot?

The photoshoot felt like a celebration of arriving at this point in my career–publishing my debut novel, written during a painful pregnancy and sleepless postpartum period, edited almost entirely during my first child’s naps and painful second pregnancy, then edited some more in the first year after having my second child, in the middle of a pandemic. It was also an exercise in asking myself how I wanted to be seen by readers, which parts of me I wanted to show. Considering how underrepresented Latinx people are in publishing (only 5.1% of all Penguin Random House authors published between 2019-2021 in this PRH diversity survey, and about the same for non-warehouse employees), I knew I wanted to honor my Mexican heritage. I was thrilled when Meet the Bryants suggested the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. Lush greenery and bold colors feel like home to me. I also had to confront the difficulty women face in every career field–how to present as someone to be taken seriously, while also conveying some level of “approachability.” My dad has this specific stare–direct, sort of amused, like he’s saying “Try me”–that my mom always told him would get him in trouble as a younger man (and it did!), and that was the look I tried to channel. And finally, I knew the photo needed to somehow match the mood of the book, an ambiguous request of any photographer who hasn’t read it, but Meet the Bryants delivered!

Why did you ultimately decide to work with Meet the Bryants?

I loved the diversity of their portfolio and how comfortable their clients seemed to be. I also loved how responsive Jason and Alejandra were, from the first form contact online through the entirety of the getting-to-know-each-other process. It was clear how passionate they are about their work and how much they intended to tailor the experience to my specific needs, even if I couldn’t articulate exactly what those needs were at the beginning . Also, like most people, I’m NOT a natural in front of the camera, and I could tell from our first Zoom conversation that Jason and Alejandra would make a potentially awkward process fun–and they did! I’d work with them again in a heartbeat and would recommend them to anyone.