Welcome, Kim! And thanks so much for choosing the MG Book Village to host your cover reveal. We’re thrilled to have you! Before we get to the book and the big reveal, would you care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello all! My name is Kim Long and I’m so happy to be here! I’ve followed MG Book Village since the very beginning, and I’m so thrilled to share my cover with you. By day, I work as an attorney, and by night I write MG, mainly contemporary with a magical twist and a dash of science. And baseball! My main character is always a fan of baseball!
Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament is your debut. Could you share with our readers a bit about your journey to the printed page?
I think my journey is a good example of the different (and winding!) paths to publication. I wrote my first MG in 2014 after trunking a pretty bad YA that I’d written and queried in 2013. In spring 2014, I entered an on-line querying contest, Query Kombat, where I had some success and, even more important, was introduced to several MG writers that eventually became valuable CPs. I got an agent with that manuscript, and we went on sub in 2015. By the end of 2015, that manuscript had not sold, but I had finished LEXI MAGILL. My agent then put LEXI on sub in 2016, and, although there were some close calls, by the end of 2016 it also had not sold. At that point, I had written another MG, and after amicably parting ways with my agent, queried that new MG, which led to finding my current agent, Natascha Morris at BookEnds. Even though Nat offered on the new manuscript, she was also interested in LEXI and decided it was worth re-subbing. We did some revisions and put it on sub in October 2017. Again, some interest, but no offers. We started round two of submission in April 2018, and I got the offer of publication in June. All total, I’d written four books and LEXI spent 18 months on sub between two agents before I received an offer of publication!
And now for the book. What’s Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament all about?
The book takes place in our world with the exception that teleportation exists, which makes it easy for people to travel from one place to another via teleport stations. Lexi enters a teleportation tournament—essentially an Amazing Race style tournament involving teleporting rather than air travel—to win prize money so she can enroll at a science academy and reunite with her best friend.
Unfortunately for Lexi, her teammates rather explore than focus on the tournament. As the race rages on through castles, museums, a labyrinth, and other locations throughout Europe and the U.S., Lexi has a difficult time keeping up with the competition and controlling her teammates. If she can’t figure out a way to work with her team, she can kiss that prize money good-bye.
In addition to puzzles that the reader can solve alongside Lexi, I really enjoy the friendship dynamic between Lexi, her teammates, and her best friend, and how that dynamic changes throughout the tournament!
Wow — sounds like a BLAST. Now, let’s get to the cover. Who did the art?
Charles Lehman of Shannon Associates did the cover. I can’t find him on Twitter, but you can check out his illustrations and other work here!
Before we let our readers check out the art, can you tell us what you thoughts when you first saw it?
It was funny because when we were brainstorming covers, I told my editor I was a fan of more abstract covers that didn’t necessarily contain depictions of the characters. She told me later on that the publisher decided to do the complete opposite and put Lexi and her teammates on the cover! I admit, I was nervous. Very nervous! But then I opened the graphic and immediately exhaled! I absolutely love how the characters turned out, and the entire cover screams fun and adventure. I love it!
All right — let’s not make them wait any longer. Here it is:
Brilliant! So when can readers get their hands on the book?
LEXI MAGILL AND THE TELEPORTATION TOURNAMENT releases on October 1, 2019! It is available for pre-order now at your local bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble!
And where can they find more information about you?
My website is KimLongAuthor.com and I’m on twitter @KimLongMG.
Kim Long loves to write stories with a sense of adventure, a dash of magic, and a hint of science. She wrote her first book at age 10, where she combined the best parts of her favorite Choose Your Own Adventures into a single story. (Cave of Time at Chimney Rock in the Bermuda Triangle.) When not writing, she loves playing board games, watching Star Wars movies, and riding her bike along Illinois’s many trails.
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