Howdy! My name is Leigh Heasley. The Kairos Temporal Matchmaking Service is my first novel, but I've been telling stories my entire life. If you haven't read Kairos, you can do so by checking out the external link. Like. No pressure. But you might be a little lost if you aren't familiar.

Kairos: A History

Kairos comes from pretty humble beginnings. For three years, I had been struggling to write a book. I had three ideas that I was (and am) completely in love with, but something always happened around the 20k word mark. I would doubt my abilities as a storyteller and start to revise, only to be unsatisfied with my edits, starting another round of alterations. A vicious cycle I have dubbed "the editing hole."

I was grouching over my latest failure with my best friend, Kenna, when the idea for Kairos struck me. "A time travel dating service!" I remember shouting, apropos of nothing.

Kenna looked at me for a moment and slowly nodded. "That story sounds dank. You should write it."

So I did. The first three chapters, anyway. Then the editing hole struck again.

My readers -- aka my friends and family -- were starting to get a little impatient with me, given my track record. My cousin Eddy, always one of my biggest advocates, wouldn't even touch Kairos when I brought it to her over Christmas because we'd been through this so many times. (Fun fact: She actually bet me I wouldn't finish Kairos by the end of September. Haha, suck it, Eddy! You owe me lunch!)

So, I was at a loss. In late March of 2017, I tried posting the first three chapters to Wattpad. I didn't actually expect anyone to read them, mind, but something felt final about putting a chapter out there on the internet. Like I couldn't touch it anymore, in case someone did read it. And surprise! Ten thousand people read it, it was an instant success, I've got a TV deal -- haha no.

Nobody read it. Well, okay, that's not true. My two best friends read it. My fiancé read it. And you know what? That was enough for me. I cannot stress how much posting Kairos was a last resort and how I had zero expectations.

I am the queen of being socially awkward, so I did the most bare-minimum bit of advertising I could muster. Less than ten read-for-reads. I was in a book club that lasted for like 3 weeks (sorry, Goatclub!). I entered one contest (shoutout to KellyGe, sweetest lady on Wattpad and the first Wattpad user to add Kairos to a reading list!), got an honorable mention, and approximately zero traffic out of it, but I was pretty chuffed over the sticker, not gonna lie. I tried socializing on the forums but was mostly ignored -- though I did find a home at the Cafe in the "How many reads?" thread. (Shoutout to all my frams from there!)

Despite this, in less than 200 days, I went from 0 reads and 3 followers to 800+ followers and 46k views. By the time you're reading this, that number will probably be a little higher. Kairos won a 2017 Watty, and Wattpad is currently shopping it around to prospective buyers. I told my story on my own terms, without relying on "Wattpad clichés." There's no millionaires in my book, no abs on the cover or steamy sex scenes, and there are people who will hunt you down if you insinuate Henry is a bad boy.

What the heck happened?

Dude. Honestly? I don't know.

Why You Should Read This Book

While I don't have a magic bullet to explain Kairos' success, I can share the things I've learned -- not just about Wattpad and how it works, but about storytelling, too.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, so my advice isn't meant to put anybody down or make anyone feel like there is only "one way" to tell a story. I'm here to lift you up, start a conversation, and make you think about how you tell your stories.

Like Kairos, I don't actually expect anybody to read this. But if just one person does and they find something helpful in here, or something that makes them smile -- then it was worthwhile.

This will also be a diary of sorts for life after Kairos. I'll be talking about the editing process, querying the manuscript, and what it's like to be a first-time wannabe-author. Oh, and there will be some bonus scenes set in the Kairos universe, for anybody interested. Apparently I can't let go just yet. :)

Anyway, enough rambling about the purpose of the book. Next update we'll actually get to something pretty important: Coming up with your story's "big concept."