Kerri Schlottman: On Cultivating Resilience, Reclaiming Creative Control, and Her Novel ‘Tell Me One Thing’

Kerri Schlottman’s novel Tell Me One Thing won praise from critics and readers when it was first published in January 2023. The book, about a provocative photograph, the struggling artist who takes it, and its young and troubled subject, has resonated with its themes of power and privilege, co-examining the gritty landscape of the 1980s New York art world and the neglected corners of rural Pennsylvania. The novel’s unsparing portrayal of two women—Quinn, whose photograph of a young girl named Lulu catapults her to fame, and Lulu, whose life spirals further out of control—earned the book numerous accolades, including a 2024 PenCraft Literary Fiction Award.

But Kerri’s journey with this novel was far from over. In June 2024, she reverted her rights from the book’s first publisher and took the bold step of reclaiming her work, reissuing the novel with new scenes and a fresh perspective. This second edition of Tell Me One Thing (Paper Knife Press, 2024) isn’t just a continuation of the story she first shared—it’s a testament to her resiliency and commitment to creative control.

I’ve known Kerri for some time now—both of us were published by the same indie press—and I’ve come to admire and respect her passion and integrity. As a fellow writer who is navigating the unpredictable terrain of indie publishing, I was excited to sit down with her and dive deep into her decision to relaunch her novel. What does it take to be an author in today’s ever-shifting literary landscape, especially when you choose to go your own way?

Kerri’s journey of resilience—from working unagented with a small publisher to taking ownership of her work on her own terms—mirrors the experiences of so many creatives today. In our conversation, we explore her “Taylor Swifting” approach to publishing, the lessons she’s learned from her career in the art world, and how that background in visual arts shapes her writing. For anyone who’s ever felt the lure of independence or the desire to take back their creative power, Kerri’s story will resonate.

Judith Turner-Yamamoto: Your story of reclaiming the rights to Tell Me One Thing and publish it on your terms is an inspiring one. What was the pivotal moment that made you realize you wanted to take this “Taylor Swifting” approach and regain control of your work? Can you talk about what this approach involves?

Kerri Schlottman: First off, I owe that term “Taylor Swifting” to my talented author friend Tim Cummings who was a bedrock for me during this process. For those who don’t know (does anyone not know this?), Taylor Swift re-recorded her first six albums after a dispute with Big Machine Records so that she could regain creative control of her work. In early June, I reverted my rights from the first publisher of Tell Me One Thing and suddenly found myself in an exciting moment of having all sorts of options of what to do next. I had invested an enormous amount of my time and resources into ensuring that Tell Me One Thing had a strong launch out of the gate with my former publisher. I had arranged and paid for my own book tour to thirteen venues in six states. I wrote personal emails to more than two hundred bookstores across the East Coast asking if they’d stock the book. I wrote to another 150-plus libraries asking them to acquire a copy. I booked podcasts thanks to referrals from author friends, and I also hired a publicist who was instrumental in getting the book reviewed and building readership. I had put so much into the book that when I got the rights back, it just didn’t make sense for me to try to republish it with another press, particularly when I had already personally invested so much into the title’s success. I talked to a few creative friends who work in various aspects of publishing, and they united to reissue Tell Me One Thing under a new imprint called Paper Knife Press, giving me full creative control to do with it what I wanted.  

JTY: Many authors struggle to reclaim their rights or navigate the indie publishing process. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?

KS: To be frank, it wasn’t hard to revert my rights from my former publisher for various reasons that I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about given the language of our termination agreement. But I’ll just say to authors: read your contract carefully, and be sure your publisher is adhering to the terms of it. If they aren’t, the Authors Guild is a godsend in navigating these things, and they’re who I initially turned to. I was also fortunate to have gotten an agent after Tell Me One Thing published who has been extraordinarily helpful. While we’re on this point about contracts, though, before you ever even sign one, it’s so important to do your homework as an author to know if the terms being offered are solid. Here, I’m really talking about unagented authors, since a good agent will diligently ensure you don’t step into a mess. There is so much great writing about what to look for in a book contract, what rights to expect an indie publisher to obtain, and standard royalty terms. The problem is, I think authors get so excited when someone makes an offer that we’ll sell our souls to see the book published, and that can create all kinds of blind spots. My career has primarily been in arts administration, and I’ve spent many, many years convincing artists not to devalue themselves or their work, yet I see authors do it all the time, and sadly that perpetuates predatoriness in publishing. When I was going through my ordeal, I can’t tell you how many indie authors said: “This is just how indie publishing is.” And that is simply untrue. 

JTY: After taking over your own publishing process, what were the most rewarding aspects? I know your community of artistic friends rallied behind you and offered their various skill sets. What did that look like? What was most difficult?

KS: The most immediate thing that comes to mind is the cover. I never loved my first cover. I didn’t think it represented the literary fiction bent of the story. The best thing was being able to work with some extraordinarily talented creative friends to create a cover I love so much. That was the biggest change from the first edition to the second, and it’s what we spent the most time on. 

I also made the decision to reopen the manuscript. I had often joked that during book talks, I would forget that a scene I particularly loved had been cut from the book, and I’d talk about it like it wasn’t. So this gave me a chance to revisit the things that had been cut from the first edition and to return some scenes and language that I sorely missed, including a parallel prologue sequence—it set up so much of what happens later in the book that I was sort of startled I had agreed to let it get chopped. We looked at all of these re-additions carefully and then layered several things back in. 

JTY: Based on your experience with both traditional and indie publishing, what advice would you give to authors who are considering taking a similar route?

KS: I still believe it’s best to traditionally publish. The support that comes with a publisher who knows what they’re doing and champions your book and you is unparalleled. My next book, Daytime Moon, has been acquired by Unnamed Press and they are stellar professionals; their abilities far surpass anything I could do on my own. The main reason I was able to “Taylor Swift” Tell Me One Thing is because I had built so much capital in the title by the time I reverted my rights. And as I noted above, that involved a great deal of time, energy, and resources. I was also lucky to have a group of friends from the industry supporting me who brought their respective talents to the relaunch. 

Still, having the validation of a traditional publisher takes a book to places that it’s very challenging to go to on your own. The thing is, publishing is hard and it takes time, and I think authors sometimes get fed up or want to hurry things up, so my advice is: have patience. If you’ve had patience and are over it, I get it, and there are some excellent tools like IngramSpark that enable authors to self-publish their work and that make it available for distribution in all the pertinent channels. But you definitely have to be prepared to robustly promote your book in that case, or no one will find it. There are also many small and indie presses who accept unagented manuscripts, as well as the option of hybrid publishing which more and more authors are opting for since it generally allows for more creative control with the scaffolding of a traditional publisher (but can be pricey!).

JTY: Resiliency is a central theme in your own career, as well as in Tell Me One Thing. How has your personal journey as an author mirrored the struggles and perseverance of your characters, particularly Lulu and Quinn?

KS: I think to be an author you must have perseverance. Just writing a book in the first place requires a pretty high level of it. This has never been a problem for me. I was raised by a single mom and started working at age ten. I’ve written eight novels all while working full-time, demanding jobs. I’m not saying this as a point of pride; rather to maybe debunk the idea that any of this is easy or just falls into your lap. I don’t know a single author, even those who are national bestsellers, who don’t have to supplement their income elsewhere. We simply do not live in a country or culture that values the creators behind the things created. I think my fundamental understanding of this is mirrored in Tell Me One Thing—in the ways that Lulu struggles in rural Pennsylvania to try to break the cycle of poverty, while Quinn technically achieves a level of fame for her photographic work but never true financial stability. The most important thing to me when writing the novel was to be honest to the struggle and the way it locksteps with resiliency. 

Publishing is unfortunately an industry of rejection. And we’re surrounded by people trying so, so hard to get published. I recently read Bob Odenkirk’s memoir Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama where he talks about finally landing a gig at SNL, and how it was so disappointing because everyone was trying so hard that it made it not fun. That resonated so much with me. It’s sort of antithetical to perseverance to say “Stop trying so hard,” but really, stop trying so hard. Enjoy the act of writing. Writing is the resiliency. An author friend recently said, “No one is waiting for my next book.” I would say this is true for all of us authors in a world where we are inundated with content. Let it be liberating. 

JTY: The novel explores deep ethical questions, particularly regarding Quinn's photograph of Lulu. How do you see the role of artists in representing marginalized individuals? Should there be a greater responsibility for artists to intervene in the lives of their subjects?

KS: I basically wrote an entire book to try to figure that out, but I still don’t know. And maybe it’s just a question that has no answer. Every relationship between an artist and their subject is so unique. I do think artists are powerful translators and have an innate ability to broaden perspectives through their work, which might suggest they have an impactful role to play in representing marginalized individuals. But I sometimes question if photography carries the same gravity it once did. I think when everyone’s phone became a camera, we lost that. We became ironically desensitized. So, now I look to things like impact films for this kind of thing instead. And in that medium, there is a great deal of responsibility to what and who is being represented. 

JTY: Your background in art informs a lot of the world-building in Tell Me One Thing. How did your experiences in the art world shape the characters and themes of the novel?

KS: I’ve spent twenty years working in the art world in NYC, coming off a graduate degree in contemporary art history and visual culture, and I’ve always been interested in photojournalism as it so closely relates to storytelling. There’s an incredible power in the ability to set an entire scene with one image. I think authors can learn so much about craft from photography. And I’ve always been a fan of Mary Ellen Mark’s work, which inspired Tell Me One Thing. Mark took an extremely provocative photograph of a young girl Amanda in North Carolina in 1990 titled Amanda and Her Cousin Amy (please look it up!) that always really got under my skin. When Mark died in 2015, NPR found Amanda, who was then in her late thirties, and asked her why she allowed herself to be photographed. She said she always thought someone would see the photos and come and help her. That was chilling to hear. I had been toying with the artist/subject relationship for some time in my writing, and hearing that interview sparked the initial idea for Tell Me One Thing.

JTY: Wow, THAT photograph—I did look it up and I know it well, having worked in fine art photography as a curator and critic. Thinking about inspiration stories, I’m deeply struck by your Mark spark—I had a similar experience reading a New York Times Magazine cover story about Sally Mann photographing her children. An FBI agent warned Mann that it wasn’t the predators she needed to worry about, but someone who would insinuate themselves into her family and gain her trust. I knew I had a novel to write when I read that line. Can you talk about fictionalizing your real-world epiphany as you built Quinn's body of work in Tell Me One Thing? 

KS: And I love your [next] novel [The Drawing of Angels] that’s inspired by Sally Mann. For me, I didn’t want to retell Amanda’s story or to delve into Mark’s work. I think there’s been enough academic writing about that. I wanted to focus on the larger implication of responsibility. I chose to start my novel a decade earlier in 1980, which allowed me to look at so much of what was happening in NYC and the country at that pivotal moment, just before the AIDS epidemic, just before the heroin epidemic, just before the collapse of the middle class. It’s a chilling time in retrospect and sets up so much of what we’re experiencing today socially and politically. So, while Tell Me One Thing was inspired by that initial reaction I had to Amanda’s response to Mary Ellen Mark’s photos, it allowed me to expand that into a much larger conversation about class, privilege, and opportunity. There’s something about the photograph of Amanda and her cousin Amy that speaks to the vulnerability of that time and the eternal vulnerability of women and girls. I took that to another level in my novel by making the photo that Quinn takes borderline abuse, to really push harder into the question of artistic responsibility. Mark was a thoughtful documenter of her subjects and did actually intervene on occasion when she thought there might be a situation of abuse. She was also much more seasoned than my character Quinn, who is in her early twenties and just starting her artistic career. Quinn’s orientation to her responsibility is something that evolves over time in the novel as she continues to push her practice into these challenging corners. I wanted to mirror that idea of maturing.

JTY: Now that you’ve successfully reclaimed and republished Tell Me One Thing, what’s next for you? Tell us about any upcoming projects you’re particularly excited about.

KS: As I mentioned above, my next book Daytime Moon is forthcoming with Unnamed Press in early 2026. I’m so thrilled to be working with them. I’m also very excited to be collaborating with a brilliant director in the UK for Tell Me One Thing, so please cross your fingers for a future film version. I’m also finally launching a longtime dream project in 2025 called Radio Book Club that’ll be a broadcast book club of sorts.

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Kerri Schlottman is the award-winning author of Tell Me One Thing, which received the 2024 PenCraft Fiction Award and was a finalist for the 2023 American Book Fest Best Literary Fiction Book. Her work has been recognized by Dzanc Books and the University of New Orleans Press, and she has spent two decades supporting artists and writers in creative development. In addition to teaching arts administration at NYU, she founded Radio Book Club and Back Yard Books, and co-founded the Tipsy Bee Adult Spelling Bee & Book Fair literary series. https://www.kerrischlottman.com/