Press Kit

Mini Bio

Master’s degree educator Kelly Coon is the author of the young adult novels, Gravemaidens and Warmaidens, young adult nonfiction, Take Up Space, Y’all, two ACT test prep books, and thousands of nonfiction articles. When she's not writing or editing, she's at a sporting event for one of her sons, on the Peloton bike, or on the patio, reading a good book. She lives outside of Tampa, FL with her family and a rescue dog named Roxy who refuses proper training.

Short Bio

Master’s degree educator Kelly Coon is the author of the young adult novels, Gravemaidens and Warmaidens, young adult nonfiction, Take Up Space, Y’all, two ACT test prep books, and thousands of articles in the education, business, and parenting realm. She’s an editor, a member of the Washington Post Talent Network, and an author who loves writing fierce female characters challenging social norms against all odds. When she's not writing or editing, she's at a sporting event for one of her sons, on the Peloton bike, or on the patio, reading a good book. She lives outside of Tampa, FL with her family and a rescue dog named Roxy who refuses proper training.

Long Bio

Master’s degree educator and author Kelly Coon has more than twenty years’ experience in writing, editing and content development. She was the executive editor for Blue Ocean Brain, a high school English teacher, and is a published fiction and nonfiction author for teenagers and adults. As both Kelly Coon and Kelly C. Roell, she’s researched, written and edited thousands of articles in the education, parenting, and business sphere which have been published in print and digital format by Blue Ocean Brain, ThoughtCo, Scholastic, Microsoft, The Washington Post, Scary Mommy, and in two nonfiction ACT test prep books, ACT Strategy Smart and Ace the ACT by the Research and Education Association. Take Up Space, Y’all, her young adult nonfiction co-written with supermodel Tess Holliday, comes out in August of 2025.

Her fiction has won an RWA YA award and her YA fantasy novels, Gravemaidens and Warmaidens, were acquired in a six-figuring publishing deal by Penguin Random House (Delacorte Press) and published in 2019 and 2020. When she's not writing or editing, she's at a sporting event for one of her sons, on the Peloton bike, or on the patio, reading a good book. She lives outside of Tampa, FL with her family and a rescue dog named Roxy who refuses proper training.

Take Up Space, Y’all

Learn how to feed and move your body in a way that makes sense for you.

• Find fashion that reflects your taste and budget.

• Set boundaries around social media, friends, and frenemies.

• Remix the negative thoughts that drag you into the mud. (We all have them!)

• Speak up for yourself and your right to exist in the body you’re in today. And so much more!

Publisher: Running Press Kids/Hachette Book Group

Pub Date: August 26, 2025

Formats: Paperback, e-book, audiobook

ISBN: 978-0762489152

Purchase Link: bit.ly/BuyTUSY

GRAVEMAIDENS

In the walled city-state of Alu, Kammani wants nothing more than to become the accomplished healer her father used to be…before her family was cast out of their privileged life in shame. 

When Alu's ruler falls deathly ill, Kammani’s beautiful little sister, Nanaea, is chosen as one of three sacred maidens to join him in the afterlife. It’s an honor. A tradition. And Nanaea believes it is her chance to live an even grander life than the one that was stolen from her. 

But Kammani sees the selection for what it really is—a death sentence.

Desperate to save her sister, Kammani schemes her way into the palace to heal the ruler. There, she discovers more danger lurking in the sandstone corridors than she could have ever imagined and that her own life—and heart—are at stake. But Kammani will stop at nothing to dig up the palace’s buried secrets even if it means sacrificing everything…including herself. 

Publisher: Delacorte Press/Random House
Pub Date: October 29, 2019
Formats: Hardback, Ebook, Audiobook
ISBN: 978-0-525-64782-9

Purchase Link: bit.ly/ordergravemaidens

Printable Sales Sheet PDF

WARMAIDENS

Just a few moons after escaping the tomb in Alu, Kammani and the other runaway maidens have found refuge in the city-state of Manzazu. There, Kammani has become a respected healer, especially among the warriors she’s brought back from the brink of death. Now that the nightmares of Alu are fading, she can finally decide whether or not to take Dagan’s hand in marriage.

But when an assassin murders a healer he believes is Kammani and attempts to kill the displaced queen of Alu, the maidens realize they’ve been found.

Hungry for revenge, Manzazu’s queen wants to strike back at Alu with her fiercest weapons—her scorpion warrior maidens—but Kammani knows that war harms more than it heals. To save the innocents and any chance of a future with Dagan, Kammani must take down Alu’s ruler before their lives burn up in the flames of war. 

Publisher: Delacorte Press/Random House
Pub Date: December 15, 2020
Formats: Hardback, Ebook, Audiobook
ISBN: 978-0-525-64786-

Purchase Link: bit.ly/orderwarmaidens

Social Media URLs

• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/kellycoon106

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• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellycoon106/

• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@kellycoon106

Photos

Rights/Inquiries: 

GRAVEMAIDENS & Warmaidens Publishing Information:

Delacorte Press | Penguin Random House
Editor: Kelsey M. Horton

Take Up Space, Y’all publishing information:

Running Press Kids | Hachette Book Group

Editor: Julie Matysik