How I Got My Agent

So, truth. I wrote this post a long time ago (over a year ago, to be exact). I'm not sure why I never published it?? But I do still want to share my How I Got My Agent story, even though I've had an agent for almost two years now. Hopefully, my story will help someone who is currently in the query trenches. Here is the original post...

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For a while there, I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to write a post like this, so, of course, I'm over-the-moon excited to share that...

I'M REPRESENTED BY THE AMAZING MARLO BERLINER WITH THE JENNIFER DE CHIARA LITERARY AGENCY (otherwise known as JDLA)!!

When I first started querying years ago, I would scour the internet for the How I Got My Agent stories and I would soak them in. I would read example queries of those that "worked" and later on developed my own How I Got My Agent series on my blog. But that was a long time ago.

Since I loved reading those stories, I'm hoping there will be others who'll benefit from hearing my story, even if it's to convince them TO NEVER GIVE UP!!! So first, I have to tell you my story, and to do so, I have to start at the beginning.

So, here goes...

As most of you know, I published my first books, The Deception Game series, through a smaller press called Clean Teen Publishing. They've been absolutely wonderful. But in between writing, publishing, and marketing my near-future thrillers, I kept writing, switching genres to YA contemporary which is really and truly my first love. I finished ATWTSY (which is an abbreviation—not ready to share the title yet!) around May 2017. It was right before Pitch Wars started, and since I was a mentor, all of my time and energy was consumed by the contest. I loved every minute, but by the time the agent round was finished in October, I hadn't looked at my own manuscript in months. I started revising again in January or February, sent it to my critique partners in March or April and started querying in June. I sent the queries out in batches.

I immediately got lots of requests, mostly because I targeted agents who'd had other manuscripts of mine and who'd indicated they wanted to see more of my work. I was feeling really great about this new MS. I had a trip to Italy with my husband planned for July 2018, so I put my MS on the back burner and stopped querying for the rest of the summer. More requests (and rejections!) rolled in, but once October hit, I decided to send out another big batch of queries. I waited a while and then sent out what I thought would be my final batch of queries in January 2019.

Friends of mine had told me that I shouldn't stop querying until I hit the 100 query mark. That seemed like SO many to me. Too many. In the past, I never came close to that number before I threw in the towel and decided to focus on the next manuscript, then the next. But this time, THIS TIME, I knew I had to hit 100 before I could fully say that I'd given it my all. I believed in my story, and I was determined to not give up until I found the right agent for it.

In January, I formulated my list of agents I wanted to submit to. I discovered Marlo was a new agent, and when I realized I'd "met" her at the RT Booklovers Convention in Atlanta a couple years before, I knew I needed to query her. We had something in common, and I really felt good about sending her a query. She requested the full manuscript fairly quickly, which, of course, I was excited about. Then on a random day in February, I received the email I'd been waiting for. It was an offer of representation, but it wasn't from Marlo, it was from another agent. We set up a time to talk and then I quickly set out to notify all of the agents who either had the full or partial or who I'd recently queried (and since I'd just sent a big batch, it was quite a few agents). Some agents requested the full immediately and asked for time to read, and others politely stepped aside, even agents who'd had my full manuscript since the fall.

Marlo was one of the agents who said she was reviewing it quickly and would get back to me by my deadline. And she did! I was sick at the time with a horrible head cold, and I'll never forget the email I received one chilly Saturday morning from Marlo. It said she'd finished my manuscript and was hoping we could talk on the phone. I think I probably jumped out of bed (yes, it was one of those sicknesses where all I wanted to do was stay in bed!) and screamed a few times before responding to the email. We set up the call for a couple hours later. Turns out, she was sick with a cold also so I didn't feel so bad about my hoarse voice! Lol.

From the moment we started talking on the phone, I could tell Marlo really GOT my book. I could feel her passion for my project, and it almost brought me to tears. After years of rejection, I'd finally found an agent who loved my book as much as I did. She understood the characters and their motivations, and her ideas on how to improve it were spot on. I really felt like my book would be in good hands with her as my agent. I happily accepted her offer once my deadline had passed. The hardest part was having to tell the other agent that I'd decided to go with someone else. For the first time ever, it was my turn to reject, and it didn't feel so great.

Working with Marlo has been awesome, and I'm so excited to see where this journey takes us!

So if you take away anything from this post, let it be this: Don't give up. Don't you EVER give up. If you have a dream, and you believe in yourself 100%, then it will happen. Keep writing, keep reading, keep learning, and keep growing. There's an agent/publisher out there for you.

IWSG December: Holiday Crazies

It's that time again! Time for another group posting of the IWSG. Hosted by the amazing Alex Cavanaugh, this is a wonderful group to be a part of. It's never too late to join us, so if you're interested, you can check it out HERE. And as always, a big thank you to our co-hosts for this month.

I've decided to quit querying and quit submitting and start revising—not one, not two, but THREE different manuscripts. They all have potential but they all need tweaking. Based off suggestions from an editor who used to work at Simon and Schuster, I've decided to dig in and make some pretty drastic changes to the beginning of Middle of Knowhere. I need to cut another 5K from Catalyst and revise another MS for pacing.

But here's the thing, I'm not putting a whole bunch of pressure on myself to get it done by a certain time. With the holidays coming up, I've kind of taken a step back from writing. I want to enjoy my family. I want to be present for field trips and class parties, tree lighting ceremonies and Christmas programs. I don't want to miss a single moment, which is how I feel lately—that I've missed so much with nothing to show for it.

I know everyone says that if you're serious about writing then you should write every day. Well, I AM serious about writing, but I know that right now the best thing for me is to take a step back, enjoy my time with my family, and gear up to start back in January. I'm not sure what my course of action will be when January hits, whether I'll keep querying agents or submit to publishers, but right now, I like not having to think about it.

And if you're feeling guilty because you aren't writing everyday, DON'T! Enjoy your life. The writing will be there when you're ready.

IWSG November: You Don't Give Up

I can't believe it's already NOVEMBER! That means Christmas is right around the corner—yikes!

And since it's the first Wednesday of the month, that means it's time for another group posting of the IWSG! A big thank you to the creator of this wonderful group, Alex Cavanaugh. And for anyone who wants to join us, it's never too late. Go HERE to sign up or learn more about the group. And, as always, thank you to the co-hosts for the month!

So, there isn't much to report. The agent I did the R&R for decided to pass on that project, but good news—she invited me to send her anything I thought might be a good fit. I decided to send her a little blurb about one of my adult contemporary romances and she responded that she'd love to read it! I sent it off to her and now I'm waiting to hear back. In the meantime, I've decided to send out more queries for Middle of Knowhere, and when I've exhausted all my query options, I'll start submitting to any publishers who accept work from unagented authors. So, if you know of a publisher who accepts YA, let me know! :)

 I'm happy to have a game plan, but I'm still feeling a little overwhelmed. Inspiration for another book hasn't struck yet (or, I guess I should say, stuck yet), and I keep hoping there will be something that triggers that desire to write again. Oh well, I don't want to focus only on the negatives. And now that I've given you the update on what's going on, let's have some fun!

I figured this is appropriate since Thanksgiving is just around the corner...

This is how I feel about this awesome IWSG group:

This is what I tell myself when I start to feel overwhelmed with the whole querying/publishing process:

*I will BE so relaxed*

And this is what I keep telling myself in spite of it all (and this is what you should tell yourself too):

Even though things aren't necessarily falling into place the way I want them too, I'm still not giving up. And neither should you.

IWSG October: My Baby's Growing Up!

Hello everyone! It's time for another group posting of the IWSG. Hosted by the amazing Alex Cavanaugh, the IWSG is where we post our insecurities, doubts, triumphs, and offer encouragement and support to others. To join this group, go HERE. And as always, a big thank you to the co-hosts for this month!

Today is my little man's 4th birthday and while that doesn't really have anything to do with writing, it has everything to do with thoughts that have been going through my mind lately. I had one of those breakdown moments recently where I was ready to throw in the towel because I felt like I was lacking in so many areas as a mother. I felt like most of it was due to the time I've spent the past two and a half years writing and querying (which is over half the life of my little guy). And for a moment, I honestly thought to myself that I can't do both. Not anymore.

Obviously, it was in a moment of weakness, a moment of despair that I thought these thoughts, because I know that I've come so far, and I certainly can't quit now. But I guess I'm hoping for that silver lining. I guess I'm praying that this will be it, this will be my chance. I'm hoping this wonderful agent I sent the R&R to will love the changes I made and offer me representation (and thus begin my dream of working with one of the sweetest agents ever).

But I have to ask myself, what if she doesn't? Then what?

And the truth is, I don't know.

I still have agents with my old manuscript that I now need to contact and ask if they would like the revised copy. And, obviously, I need to do that sooner rather than later. But I'm tired. I'm tired of querying (not necessarily this book because I haven't sent that many queries yet, but I'm tired of querying in general.)

I suppose if I find myself still unagented after these revisions, then I guess I'll have to keep querying. I owe it to myself, and I owe it to the story. And I do know that my story is stronger, better than it was due to the suggestions of this fabulous agent who was willing to give me another chance to resubmit. I will always be grateful for that.

But for now, I'll keep hoping and praying.

The Latest in Life, Motherhood, and Writing

Some of you may be wondering what happened with that R&R I mentioned in a previous blog post a few weeks ago. Well... I finished it!

Yep, after working hard for a few weeks straight (and after insightful advice from critique partners and friends), I sent it to that wonderful agent yesterday. Can I just tell you how nervous I was to press send? I think I reread my email a dozen times, analyzing each word, going over all the changes I made in my head, trying to sound somewhat coherent when all I really wanted to do was write, "I DID IT!! I'm FINISHED! Do you LOVE it???? Say YES, please, say YES!!!"

And it's kind of funny, but I think I might have sat there, my cursor hovering over the send button for at least twenty more minutes had my finger not twitched and accidentally pressed send. Lol. Yeah.

Thankfully, the email was ready to go, but I guess some part of my body recognized the need to intervene with my crazy mind so I didn't obsess over it any longer.

So, now? I wait. This agent is usually super fast getting back to writers, so I'm guessing I'll know something in a couple weeks?

Although, I guess I'll be too busy to "wait." I'm hosting a baby shower at my house Thursday night and then my "baby" is turning FOUR (I can't believe he's four already!) in a few days and we are having a birthday party/brunch this Saturday at the house for him. Sooo, it will be a busy few days!

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook probably already know about THE major milestone that occurred this year for me. (For those of you who want to friend me on Facebook, click HERE. I'll only friend you if I know you already—or recognize your name—from blogging or Twitter, though, because I've heard of crazy stuff happening on FB with people pretending to be someone they're not.)

Anyhoo, my "baby" started preschool this year, and after 13 and a half years of constant mothering, I have four hours a day, three days a week to myself!!!!! And it is AMAZING!!

When I came home the first day from dropping D off at preschool, I walked in the house, stopped and just listened. And guess what?? There was SILENCE! There was no running, no screaming, no whining, no crying, no "MOM!", no "I'm hungry"....

I truly understood the saying, "Silence is bliss."

As much as I love my kids, it sure is nice to get a break! :)

Hope you're having a good week! Happy Wednesday! :)

**OH! And make sure you check out Unicorn Bell this week. I'm featuring more "How I Got My Agent" stories and there are some GREAT ones!! You can read Summer Spence's story HERE. And Julie Dao's story HERE. And tune into Friday's post to see who's next... :)