EP #4 | Author Madison Kopta discusses “Watched in the Woods”
In this episode of the Redding Financial Advisor podcast, host Chris Hall interviews local author Madison Kopta about her journey in writing and publishing her middle-grade novel, ‘Watched in the Woods.’ Madison shares insights into her writing process, the challenges of getting published, and her experiences with hybrid publishing. The conversation also touches on her upcoming projects and the importance of side hustles in pursuing creative passions.
Transcription
Madison Kopta:Can tell you that I think they did not mean to hire me. I think they got me confused with someone else because I was writing just for myself about postpartum depression. And in the interview, they were like, we love your writing. It’s so funny, And I just never corrected them.
Chris Hall:Yeah.
Madison Kopta:I was like, yes. It is. Thank you.
Chris Hall:Hello. This is Chris Hall, and we are here with the Reading Financial Advisor Podcast. I am excited to introduce my latest guest, Madison Copta. She is a local here in Reading, California, and she has a really cool story. In fact, she is an author and has published a book.
Chris Hall:And so we’re gonna learn more about the book. We’re also gonna learn more about the process of writing a book and getting it published and see what she’s up to next. So without any further ado, Madison, thank you so much for being on the show.
Madison Kopta:Hey. Thanks for having me, Chris.
Chris Hall:Absolutely. So the reason I had reached out to you originally was that I had seen on, you know, social media that you had written a book, and I just thought that was a really cool thing that somebody in Reading had written a book before. And I know that there’s multiple people who have done that, but just nobody I had actually seen recently. So, I personally am interested in writing a book. And so that’s why I reached out to you to talk to you a little bit about it.
Chris Hall:The more I talked to you, the more I realized I really wanna join the podcast. So can you start out by telling us a little bit about yourself and Yeah.
Madison Kopta:Totally. Really talking about myself is, a lot of talking about the book. The book that I wrote, It’s a middle grade adventure or fantasy novel. So it’s 4 kids ages about 8 to 12 because at the time when I wrote it, my foster daughter at the time, who’s now adopted, she was 11 when I started it. So the main character, Maya, is 11, which coincidentally was about how old I was when I went to Westcamp out by Whiskeytown.
Chris Hall:Oh, yeah.
Madison Kopta:So the whole book, while it doesn’t say it takes place in Reading, the whole book takes place in Redding, and it follows Maya Quinn and her close friends.
Chris Hall:Real quick. I just started interrupt you, but what is the name of the book for people out there who are listening right now?
Madison Kopta:That is a great question. I’d love to tell you. The name of the book is Watched in the Woods.
Chris Hall:Okay. Alright. And it’s available on Amazon or wherever you are. Available anywhere
Madison Kopta:you can buy books. Okay.
Chris Hall:Alright. Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanna get that out there so people would know what they’re listening for.
Madison Kopta:It’s a really, really good question. Okay.
Chris Hall:Alright. Go right ahead. Yeah. So so Westcamp?
Madison Kopta:So Westcamp and it follows her and her close friends. And I growing up, when I went to Grant Middle School, I made these 4 really close girlfriends that stayed my girlfriends through adulthood. And
Chris Hall:Shout out to Graham Middle School.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. By the way. Best middle school. So I really wanted that for her, and I really wanted for her to develop these lifelong female friendships while at the same time talking about a main character in the foster care system because there’s not a lot out there. I mean, there’s Harry Potter.
Madison Kopta:I guess you could say he was like a foster kid or an adopted kid. And all kids growing up, you know, there’s this sense of, like, me against the world, and there’s always something to identify with there. But being able to actually put, like, the label of foster care on the main character and navigating her journey through the system, which does not follow my daughter’s journey through the system at all. It’s a totally different story. But watching her navigate that and how scary that was for her to move through and
Chris Hall:Right.
Madison Kopta:Navigate herself.
Chris Hall:You were saying that the those those parts are like an amalgamation of stories that you’ve heard about across our kids. Correct?
Madison Kopta:Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So I just weaved a bunch of stories together, and it goes in and out of past tense and current tense, what she’s going through. And when they go to science camp, so they find a monster or Bigfoot in the forest because they sneak out because that’s something me and my friends did a lot.
Madison Kopta:My daughter, if you’re watching this, this is not permission to do that, but sneaking out and doing all those, like, fun junior high things is a big part of it. And so they sneak out. They find Bigfoot, and, of course, the parents get involved.
Chris Hall:That way, they find Bigfoot or they find, like, evidence of Bigfoot?
Madison Kopta:Oh, no. Like, they meet him.
Chris Hall:Oh, wow. Okay. That I didn’t know. That was
Madison Kopta:a curveball
Chris Hall:for me.
Madison Kopta:Oh, yeah. Okay. Good. Watch out. They meet him.
Madison Kopta:And, ultimately, with what she goes through in the forest and picking, you know, the right thing to do and protecting a creature that might look scarier, be different, whatever it is, it mirrors her navigating her own processing of what happened to her to get there. So that’s the book.
Chris Hall:Yeah. Don’t give too much away.
Madison Kopta:But that’s I mean Yeah. Who knows what happens to Bigfoot at the
Chris Hall:end. Right? That’s a that’s you have to read that to find that out. That’s right. Exactly.
Chris Hall:Cool. And then just so you know, we’ll have a link in the description so that people can go right to, Amazon or wherever you choose and buy the book.
Madison Kopta:Cool. Okay.
Chris Hall:Yeah. So, so that’s really cool that you did that. And I think it’s just, you know, there’s just very rare for someone to go through that process. And I think about, like I mean, everybody wants to write a book, I think. Maybe I’m wrong, but maybe I know that I do.
Chris Hall:And I think a lot of people are always like, oh, this would be a great book. This would be a great book. So what takes an idea to fruition? What how long did it take? Like, you know, like, was there, like, a lot of process in there?
Chris Hall:Was there a lot of, like, gaps where you kinda just didn’t work for a while and then you get back to it? Like, tell me a little bit about the process.
Madison Kopta:There it was a very impulsive decision to write the book, which if you know me personally, you know that’s, like, right on brand. But then I started talking about how I was writing this book, telling people about it, and I was like, it’s gonna be great. And then I had to actually follow through. So
Chris Hall:so peer pressure.
Madison Kopta:So I peer pressured myself.
Chris Hall:I love that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, by me announcing that I might write a book someday, maybe that’ll add some peer pressure to mine. I’m gonna follow-up with you on that.
Chris Hall:Okay. Thank you. Appreciate that. So excellent. And so so about how long in total did it take you to get the book from idea?
Chris Hall:Well, it’s I mean, we like, let’s not say idea because idea could have been, like, when you were 12. Mhmm. So how long did it take for you to cut like, when you put your first, like, pen to paper type of thing, although we know that nobody does that anymore. You know, when you first exactly. Fingers to keyboard.
Chris Hall:Exactly. So from from the moment you first typed the first word to the the publish, how long did that take?
Madison Kopta:So I actually got the idea from RL Stine who writes Goosebumps. And I listened to him talk about writing the book and and his books and how they were just fun junk food books, which Watched in the Woods does have a heaviness to it with the foster care, but it really, like I I just would love to say that it’s not just a book that I didn’t wanna write something that you just have to really learn something. I didn’t want it to be a little junk foodie because who doesn’t want that? Yeah. Sure.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. Thank you.
Chris Hall:Well, I mean, Goosebumps is targeted towards, like, a tweens type of thing. Right?
Madison Kopta:Yeah. So there is
Chris Hall:And this book is also yeah, okay.
Madison Kopta:Writing the same thing, and they’re just about the same length. But I watched that, and I knew I wanted to write a monster story. And that’s when I thought of Bigfoot because Bigfoot was a really big deal in my friend group. That’s what we all thought was, like, funny and, scary. And we watched a movie, like, way too young about Bigfoot.
Madison Kopta:It was it scarred us for life. So now there’s
Chris Hall:a book about him.
Madison Kopta:But Okay. That was the idea. And the next day, I wrote the first chapter. That’s I was really And,
Chris Hall:again, how long ago was this?
Madison Kopta:2 years ago.
Chris Hall:Okay. Got it.
Madison Kopta:Easy. Yeah. The process took a while. But just writing the book was fast. I wrote the first three chapters, and I was really proud of it.
Madison Kopta:So I sent it to everyone, and I was like, you guys, this is it. We found the golden idea. And then I started shopping it around to literary agents.
Chris Hall:Now now what does that look like? Because, I mean, like, you just email people and you give them a sample and just hope they read it. How how does that work?
Madison Kopta:Yeah. Basically, that, there’s a website called query tracker, and that has just about all of the agents and publishers who are open to accepting just
Chris Hall:Manuscripts.
Madison Kopta:Manuscripts.
Chris Hall:Yeah.
Madison Kopta:They aren’t they aren’t always, but sometimes they are. And so I’ve sent Watched in the Woods to, like, 100. That’s what I did for weeks at a time. I was just shopping it around as much as I could. And I got 2 offers from 2 different publishers.
Madison Kopta:And, ultimately, I went with Pegasus, but I ended up doing so there’s traditional contracts
Chris Hall:Mhmm.
Madison Kopta:Where the publisher would come back and say, we’re gonna, like, buy the book from you, essentially. They just buy the rights, and then you get royalties. But being a new author and just no audience, you know, they aren’t that interested in me. But they are interested. There’s a hybrid option, which is called hybrid publishing.
Madison Kopta:So you put a little bit of skin in the game, so they aren’t risking everything on a new author, but you get the, like, powerhouse behind a major publisher.
Chris Hall:Right. Distribution. Mhmm. Advertising of some type.
Madison Kopta:And it really depends on how much work your book needs. I only put in a couple $100 personally, but that all varies with, like, picture books and things like that. Okay. I always talk about hybrid publishing because it’s just, it used to be called vanity publishing where you just pay someone to publish your book. Oh, yeah.
Chris Hall:That makes sense because it’s like a vanity project.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. But now more and more big publishers are getting into it because why not? You know? Right. Someone else is funding a big portion of it, and then they But,
Chris Hall:I mean, a couple hundred dollars to publish book, that’s no way that covered their costs
Madison Kopta:Right.
Chris Hall:At all. Yeah. So they definitely believed in you to some degree. Yeah. They just wanna see how serious you were.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. Okay. Sure.
Chris Hall:I like that.
Madison Kopta:Yeah.
Chris Hall:So you said you got about 2 offers out of, like, reaching out to a 100 people. Oh, bless. Yeah. One of the things I wanted to ask about that, like, to further examine is did you change your pitch as you went along?
Madison Kopta:I did.
Chris Hall:Okay. Actually So you felt like this is not working. I’m gonna change it up. Okay. That’s what I wanted to know.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. I actually, started I not on Watched in the Woods, but on one of the picture books that I’ve been working on that’s really recent. That’s called the We series. But that one, when I started shopping that around, I actually had that book, like, product tested. What’s the word?
Madison Kopta:Like, there was a whole, like
Chris Hall:Sounds right to me. Product tested. Yeah. Focus group. Yeah.
Chris Hall:Focus group. I mean,
Madison Kopta:that went really well, and then I had analytics done on how much that would sell and all that. So I had a lot of numbers. And when I’ve shopped that around, I include all of that. So it’s not just like, hey. I’ve got a cute little story, but it is there’s a lot more thought put into it.
Chris Hall:That was this book, Watched in the Woods, part of the We series?
Madison Kopta:No.
Chris Hall:Okay.
Madison Kopta:No. So I wrote Watched in the Woods, and that was inspired by my oldest daughter. I mean, I have 2 I have 4 kids total. So I have 2 young girls. So the We series, I wrote, inspired by them and how to illustrate it, and it’s just because they’re little.
Madison Kopta:It’s little things they do together. Like, we made a mess.
Chris Hall:Oh, cute.
Madison Kopta:And we gave a cat a bath.
Chris Hall:Oh, nice.
Madison Kopta:That’s the one that’s been shopped around.
Chris Hall:Okay. And now but has any of that been published yet? No. Okay. Alright.
Chris Hall:Okay.
Madison Kopta:Those that’s just in the beginning stages. And I’m not sure how many I’ve thought about just doing self publishing even and just getting it out. Yeah. Which now there’s so much you can do with that too. Right.
Madison Kopta:So there’s so many options now for new authors that I don’t think people realize.
Chris Hall:Yeah. I I think, you know and it mean used to be, you know, you would give it to the publisher, hope that they take it, and then hope that they print it, and then hope that they’d actually put it in bookstores and stuff like that. Mhmm. But now with the Internet, you know, you can self publish, you can build your own website, you can put your own marketing around it. You can start, like, you know what I mean?
Chris Hall:Getting your word out. You know, we have influencers and micro influencers and all the things like that. So, yeah, if you can get into the right, like, with your group, if you get into the right mom group or something, you could just go crazy.
Madison Kopta:Oh, yeah.
Chris Hall:So whereas, like, if I were to do something, you know, for me, I’d wanna get into, you know, parenting groups or financial, you know, advice type of things. And if you get the right, you know, influential circles, then, of course, yeah, you can run with it. Yeah. So now the We series you kinda mentioned briefly, though. So so did did that as you’re saying, you changed your pitch along the way.
Chris Hall:Mhmm. Is that did you change your pitch to the We series, you mean? Or
Madison Kopta:Yeah. When I was pitching it to agents, I went to literary agents with this one.
Chris Hall:Okay.
Madison Kopta:And to be clear, I’ve only sent it to, like, 5.
Chris Hall:Okay.
Madison Kopta:And that wasn’t that long ago, so we haven’t heard back yet. But don’t think I’m a loser, you guys. It’s still early. I’ve shopped it around a little bit, but by my last pitch, I was like, this is the one. We got the numbers in it.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. We got the focus group results in it.
Chris Hall:Beautiful.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. Perfect.
Chris Hall:So That’s awesome.
Madison Kopta:Hopefully, that’s just a matter of time.
Chris Hall:Okay. Alright. And then, so moving forward, we’re working on the We series, but that’s more of a like, at this point, it’s just sort of the early stages. But you do have a book that’s fairly close to being published. Correct?
Madison Kopta:I do.
Chris Hall:Okay.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. That book that book is called Coach Hitch. That one one came around that idea came about because I finished the we series, and my 2 littlest girls knew about it. And one time, my oldest son that I wrote coach hitch about, one of my youngest daughters, looked at him and she was like, mom’s never written a book about you, so you’re not as important. And then I was like, wow.
Chris Hall:Now I gotta write a book about him. Shot fired.
Madison Kopta:So my grandfather died right before I started writing coach Hitch, and my grandfather was a football coach all of his adult life. And he played for Stanford. And so yeah.
Chris Hall:That’s awesome.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. Football’s been pretty influential in my life. Not that I know what’s happening when I go to a game or retain anything. I learned everything I’ve already forgotten about football from Jerry Hitchman, but I like going. But all that to be said, my grandfather died, and when I was in high school, so probably, like, 15 years ago, there was this girl who tried out for the football team as a kicker, and my grandfather, his health kinda started declining at that time, so he’d been bumped down to the freshman team.
Madison Kopta:And he said, if the girl makes the football team, I am quitting. And he didn’t, and she did. And he really just worked with her and trained with her all through her high school career. And so this book, coach Hitch, I’ve got that story, and a kid in high school is going through the foster care team and gets to go to this really nice high school on scholarship, and he just doesn’t fit in. And, then there’s this girl, Cali, and she’s the kicker.
Madison Kopta:And, really, it’s all these different walks of life coming together where there’s this old man whose health is declining and how he’s gonna navigate that. And then a girl who’s working through, you know, I don’t know. I don’t wanna say misogyny, but, you know, like the Sure.
Chris Hall:Yeah. I mean, that’s, you know, football. It’s a man’s thing. Yes. Yeah.
Chris Hall:Okay. Absolutely.
Madison Kopta:So she’s working through that. And then the main character, Zeke, he’s, you know, working through foster care, navigating relationships with teammates and uncertainty in his home life. So there’s something in it for everyone, which is nice. I love that in my, young adult novels.
Chris Hall:Yeah. I was gonna say, do you still feel like it’s a like a tween, like, kind of demo? Okay. Yeah. Okay.
Chris Hall:Cool. I like that.
Madison Kopta:Yeah.
Chris Hall:That’s really cool that you’re able to, like, pull all those facets together and kinda still make it entertaining. And you know what I mean? And kind of go I mean, football, who doesn’t like to read about football?
Madison Kopta:Exactly. I
Chris Hall:mean, especially this guy.
Madison Kopta:I know.
Chris Hall:No. That’s wonderful. You know, I’ve coached a lot of football and I’ve actually coached a couple of girls and I think it’s cool when they play. I don’t think, you know, I don’t think that, you know, when we get to the older grades and when you get to the, you know, college level, there’s a dramatic difference, you know, obviously, body type and athleticism and things like that. But, you know, the kicker thing is really a cool idea.
Chris Hall:And, there’s already, several women who are in college right now kicking for college teams. So Oh, wow. So it’s kind of it’s kind of a really the book is actually really well timed because that’s actually where we are sort of in the world. So I like that.
Madison Kopta:That’s awesome.
Chris Hall:And this happened to your grandpa? He actually had a a female kicker.
Madison Kopta:Mhmm. Yeah.
Chris Hall:That’s really neat. Yeah. Whereabouts was he when the salahat went down?
Madison Kopta:He was down in the Bay Area at a private high school down there.
Chris Hall:So still in California, though? That’s cool. Well, we’re always so progressive in California.
Madison Kopta:I know. Right?
Chris Hall:Yeah. Well, so that sounds like a really exciting time. You have, sort of a timeline on when you think that one’s gonna make it out?
Madison Kopta:Hopefully, by Christmas.
Chris Hall:Okay.
Madison Kopta:But you never know. Okay. I think I said much.
Chris Hall:Peer pressure is important. Let’s get a date on let’s get a date on camera. Yeah. Okay.
Madison Kopta:Yeah. So let’s say December.
Chris Hall:We’ve already established peer pressure is important.
Madison Kopta:That’s important. That’s how you get things done. Yes.
Chris Hall:Excellent. Excellent. So anything else that you wanna talk about specifically about, like, the process of getting a book from idea to book?
Madison Kopta:Really, it’s just about writing every day. So I finished Watched in the Woods. Of course, Watched in the Woods is shorter just because it’s a little Mhmm. Middle grade book. It took me about 2 weeks to write it once I caught an offer from a publisher.
Madison Kopta:Before I got the actual contract. They wanted the full manuscript, which is usually the case with fiction and non fact. That’s usually just the case. Just expect to have to have the whole manuscript written before you
Chris Hall:Interesting.
Madison Kopta:Shop it around, which I didn’t know going into it. So when I just sent, like, the little sample, then they turned around, they were like, great. Can we have the whole book?
Chris Hall:And I was like you 2 weeks? Yeah. Did you eat?
Madison Kopta:No. I I just lived at Starbucks.
Chris Hall:Wow. Nice shout out for Starbucks. Yeah.
Madison Kopta:That’s a place to write a book.
Chris Hall:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it’s awesome. I love that. Very cool.
Chris Hall:Any other advice you would give to an author out there who’s been sitting on the fence trying to figure this out?
Madison Kopta:For me, personally, I’m so afraid of rejection that I will not do something. And once I realized that the rejection aspect is really just a part of it, and it’s not you or your story. It’s just it’s all business, and sometimes that’s not what they’re looking for. And once I realized that, it was so much easier to push it out and just get it in front of people and talk about it. And So
Chris Hall:for you, it wasn’t the act of writing. That was easy for me. That was easy. Was the the what held you back was originally the the idea that someone would say this isn’t good enough.
Madison Kopta:Right.
Chris Hall:That’s a excellent insight. I love that. So well, you know, we all live in this world where, you know, rejection is is often. You know what I mean? Mhmm.
Chris Hall:And so, you know, for me, I always say, like, you know, it’s not that it’s a bad thing or a good thing. It’s just a good fit or it’s not a good fit. Mhmm. And so I think people take rejection so personally when all that just means is it’s just not a good fit.
Madison Kopta:Right.
Chris Hall:So nice way to overcome that and get that. Yeah. I mean, that’s you got a book out on the market right now, and you got a couple more you’re working on. It’s very cool stuff. So
Madison Kopta:you.
Chris Hall:Well, I just wanna say thank you so much for being here. I just, for me again, you know, being a financial adviser, I think it’s really cool when people make their living in a in a unique way. Right? Mhmm. And so one of the things that I personally wanna see people do more of is, side hustles.
Chris Hall:Mhmm. I feel like if you’re really gonna make it in this world, you know, the wages are great. They’re gonna pay your bills. They’re gonna, you know, hopefully, you know, help you save for retirement. But if you really wanna exceed and get past the normal day to day, then a side hustle is the way to do it.
Chris Hall:And, I mean, every day, we hear about people who whose side hustles has have turned them into Mhmm. You know, very wealthy people. But, you know, you have to have that day job, that w two wage, if you will. But to be truly successful, you almost have to take your side hustle to the next level.
Madison Kopta:Right.
Chris Hall:Well, so the only way to do that is to get a side hustle. Mhmm. And so, like, in your case, like, you know, you’re you’re working and you’re you tell me a little bit about I’m sorry. Before we go, let me let me ask you. So you were writing before this, though.
Chris Hall:Right? You had a couple of places you were writing at.
Madison Kopta:Correct?
Chris Hall:Okay. Tell me a little bit about that.
Madison Kopta:So I guess my most notable writing work would be with, Whiskey Raiders, which was a website that I helped start back in 2020 with Dan Abrams and Jay West. And on it now that I don’t work there anymore, I can tell you that I think they did not mean to hire me. I think they got me confused with someone else because I was writing just for myself about postpartum depression. And in the interview, they were like, we love your writing. It’s so funny, and I just never corrected them.
Chris Hall:Yeah.
Madison Kopta:I was like, yes. It is. Thank you. You. Hello.
Madison Kopta:Thank you. So I actually really think they got, like, samples mixed up. That’s fine. I just rolled with it.
Chris Hall:Once again, it’s all about fit. Right?
Madison Kopta:I think I just, like Right? It was a big fake it till you make it.
Chris Hall:Oh, that’s awesome.
Madison Kopta:So
Chris Hall:But that was a like, a really big website. So I think it still is. Right?
Madison Kopta:So, now it’s even bigger. They’ve expanded into rum and tequila
Chris Hall:Yeah.
Madison Kopta:And vodka. And so I was the editor for them, so I wrote every day, which helped with the book writing.
Chris Hall:And so if you want to know anything about whiskey, Madison is your girl.
Madison Kopta:I’m here to help.
Chris Hall:She knows, more than anybody, but probably know if they weren’t in that type of a business.
Madison Kopta:Yes. So
Chris Hall:yeah. Yeah. That’s very cool. I thought we got to mention that. I forgot a little bit about that.
Chris Hall:Totally. Sure that we mentioned that. So, anyway, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for your time. Like I said, the link for the book will be in the description so people will be able to go and grab it.
Chris Hall:You know, it it sounds like a great book. It sounds like something that would be very interesting for most tweens to listen to or read. And then on top of it, I would just tell people, like, hey. Let’s support a local author. Right?
Chris Hall:Someone who’s after out there hustling and, making a difference and with a with an attitude that’s, you know, that’s very, centered around, you know, helping kids. You know, shining a light on shining a light on, like, the the plight of, you know, being a teenager, but also having those same challenges, going through foster care and adoption. So Yeah.
Madison Kopta:Well, thank you.
Chris Hall:Yeah. Thank you for being here. I really appreciate it. So thank you guys all for listening in. And if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to put them in the comments.
Chris Hall:And if you guys wanna see me interview somebody else, locally that you think is really unique and different, let me know. I’ll be happy to talk to them. So alright. Everybody have a great day.