How I Got My Agent

I think it’s important to start this post with the only fact about publishing I’ve found to be true: There is no normal.

For some, querying is the longest part of their journey but then they sell rather quickly. For others, both of those things happen quickly, and for still others neither do. Personally, my querying journey was bizarrely short and not at all something to expect. I like to say traditional publishing is about 10% talent, 20% hard work, and 70% pure right place, right time dumb luck.

The point is, trying to find an explanation for how things happen or dissect someone else’s path in order to figure out your own will doubtfully result in any worthwhile info.

But here's how it happened for me nonetheless.

I have to start with Pitch Wars since it played such a large role in querying for me. After nearly three months of revising and a lot of amazing advice and help from Raquel Vasquez Gilliland and Sandra Proudman, my PW story was all set for the Agent Showcase.

What's the Agent Showcase?

It's the event at the end of Pitch Wars where mentees are finally able to show off their hard work by presenting a short pitch and opening lines to interested agents. Agents are allowed to make requests via comments on manuscripts they're interested in during the Agent Showcase dates, and from there it is up to the mentees to send out their queries to requesting agents (or not).

This was mine:

MANY WORLDS received 25 responses over the next few days agents had to read and request the entries. I remember being blown away as the numbers were coming in that my story had gained even a couple of comments.

Prior to this, I'd gotten a Publisher's Marketplace subscription for a month to research agents and their sales. I also consulted Manuscript Wishlist to see which agents I was interested in were looking for stories like mine. With these two resources, I put together my spreadsheet entering agent names, agencies, and links to wishlists/submission guidelines along with columns for dates submitted, responses, and extra notes. Then I added a key that looked something like this:

***Undying thanks to my PW mentee group and my mentors for giving me ALL THE TIPS!

This was my very first experience querying, so I went in trying to temper my expectations. Pitch Wars doesn't guarantee representation. It's a good experience to be able to gain insight into the industry and get help from mentors who've been there, but at the end of the day querying comes down to more than being polished.

To start off, I sent 13 queries to agents I'd been especially hopeful about (both those who requested during Showcase and those I wanted to query outside of Showcase) then sent an additional 6 the next day.

I didn’t send materials to all of the agents who requested for various reasons and encourage you to do your research and find out what you can. Remember, agents are meant to work with you to get your stories into publication. It’s absolutely vital you choose who you’ll be working with carefully!

So far, my stats were looking like this:

Agents Who Requested: 25
Agents I Was Interested In: 37
Queries Sent: 19

I’d held back on a few I was interested in but wanted to wait to see more feedback before sending more out. These weren’t necessarily "dream agents" because I’d gone with the advice to be sure to query who I wanted in case I did get an offer. My list was entirely made up of agents I was sure I'‘ like to work with!

I sent my first queries out on February 11th and received my first rejection the same day (which also felt super, super fast).

Feb. 12th I send out a couple more and decided I was comfortable with waiting a while with 19.

Feb. 13th I received my first offer of representation.

Quressa’s email came right as I was watching John Ambrose play piano, which I have to say still feels incredibly fitting for a hopeful YA writer. I had to pause it to sob and run around the room a bit before I was calm enough to (still frantically) scream “WHAT DO I DO NOW?!” at my mentors and fellow mentees.

I could tell Quressa understood my story the moment I read her email and after “The Call” the next day, I was sure that her vision for MANY WORLDS and for me as an author lined up with my own. I quickly got to work sending off Offer of Representation notices to the queries I had out and then waited for a long two weeks to come to an end.

I received mostly passes, one no response, and one more offer but ultimately decided on Feb. 28th to go with Nelson Literary and Quressa!

It’s still surreal over a year later, and most days I'm not sure I've really wrapped my head around it. (To be honest, I'm not sure I've wrapped my head around getting into Pitch Wars still and that was in 2019.)

But the biggest takeaways from my experience, as short as it was, are these:

Find Your Support Group

The biggest thing Pitch Wars and getting involved on writing Twitter gave me is community. Querying is an emotional rollercoaster and everything that comes after is no different. Having a community of people who understand you can greatly help when you need to vent about how that dumb chapter ending is keeping you up at night or how your heart seized when you got an email notification from Wingstop (even after you CLEARLY unsubscribed that email from your writing one).

So make friends, celebrate your victories together, mourn your losses, and know you're not alone.

Rejection Doesn't Mean Your Writing is Bad

The weird thing about getting an offer is that even the rejections that come after still land with a heavy blow. Getting a quick succession of "I'll have to pass" felt a lot like "This wasn't actually as good as you think it was."

Our brains are mean. And some brains take hold of anything no matter the size and feed it until it grows wild and all-consuming. Rejections are always going to hurt, but try to take time away from them and give yourself what you need to separate fact from fiction. You might not get a clear answer on why, but know most come down to so much more than a commentary on your writing.

Don't Be Afraid to Ask Questions

Once an offer (or multiple!) comes in, you're going to be hit with a new sense of panic. A great resource I used for preparing for "The Call" is this post from Jim McCarthy. I also love this page from Sami Ellis which shares a bunch of email situations you’ll likely find yourself in and how to respond to them when they come up.

Of course, do as much research and looking around as you need for more reassurance on what questions should come up. Quressa answered most of my questions throughout the call without me even asking, so know agents are used to questions, and a good agent won't be bothered by them.

This is the future for you and your book. Know your worth and be sure you understand the path before you. The same goes for the contract. Most agents will send it along after your call so you can read through it before giving your answer. So if something doesn't make sense or you're not so sure about a certain clause, ask!

Querying is an unpredictable and difficult part of traditional publishing. My experience is only one outcome of many that wildly vary. All of us face rejection. But whether it's a bump in the road or a dead end is up to you.

So don’t give up!

The world needs your stories.