Melissa Marr: I Refuse to Limit Myself Because What I Did Worked
In this interview, Melissa Marr discusses how her previous success relates to future projects, on running her career as a business, and more.
Melissa Marr is a former university literature instructor who writes bestselling fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into twenty-eight languages and have been bestsellers internationally as well as in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal.
Accolades include YALSA Popular Paperbacks, IRA Notable Book Pick, Book Sense Pick, Good Morning America Summer Pick for Teens, Scottish Book Trust, Red Maple finalist (in both Ontario and Manitoba), and Goodreads Good Choice Award (Horror), RWA RITA award (YA). She currently lives with her family in Arizona. For more information, visit www.melissamarrbooks.com.
In this interview, Melissa discusses how she doesn't allow previous success to limit future projects, on running her writing career as a business, and more.
Name: Melissa Marr
Literary agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House
Book title: A Treason of Magic
Publisher: 47 North
Release date: June 23, 2026
Genre/category: Fantasy Romance
Previous titles: Wicked Lovely series (6 books; YA fantasy romance), Graveminder (adult fantasy/horror). Bunny Roo I Love You (picturebook), Wild Horses (photography), Remedial Magic (adult fantasy), Greta Gets the Girl (adult romance), et al
Elevator pitch for the book: In a world where magic, desire, and duty collide, it is beauty who is fated to kill the beast in a lush historical fantasy of secrets and star-crossed love.
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What prompted you to write this book?
Twenty years ago, I started my publishing career writing about faeries in the NYT Bestselling Wicked Lovely series. When those were re-issued in the UK in 2024, and then in a collectors’ edition in 2025, I started thinking about faeries again, rereading folklore I love, and . . . suddenly I had two new faery books.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I noodled with a different iteration of the book in 2022 when first approached about special editions of Wicked Lovely. I was debating a YA because I just finished a YA Graphic Novel (The Strange Case of Harleen & Harley) about Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy for DC Comics. But I set the book aside for two and half years. Then I stripped it down to the bones in 2024, rewrote, and sold it.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
After two decades of supporting my family with my writing, I’m a little harder to surprise. My backlist is with HarperCollins, Penguin, Macmillan/Tor, DC Comics, and Hachette/Little Brown. By now, I’ve had works translated into 27 or so languages, worked in various formats and demographics, and had bestsellers in international lists as well as all the major domestic lists. Surprises are, sadly, rarer each year.
However, 47 North has yet again proven my theory that when you are varied in what you write, it’s best to shop a manuscript wide and find an editor who loves this book not simply an earlier one. I vary in genre (fantasy, romance, horror) and demographic (YA, Middle Grade, Picturebook, Adult) and even format (novel, short fiction, manga, comic, photography). I refuse to limit myself because what I did worked. That’s safer, maybe smarter. It’s also creatively stifling to me.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I wrote the first draft in dual POV in 3rd person past tense, like I have written the majority of my novels for two decades. I sold it that way. However, something wasn’t resonating, so I had the radical idea to scrap half the book, redo it in 1st person, one POV, present tense. I love the resulting increase in immediacy, suspense, and tension, but it was not my plan.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Joy? An escape from their troubles? An urge to read old folklore? I’m not a fan of didacticism as either a writer or a parent, actually, so whatever they seek I hope I delivered. I simply want people to carve their own path, pursue joy, and hopefully find what they seek.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Limits are rarely in the author’s benefit. Because this is still an industry, read contracts carefully, focus on either email correspondence or an email follow up to calls, and think of yourself as a small business. I have liked every one of my editors, but at the end of the day, I am building a business and have to weigh my profit/loss sheets as carefully as they do.
