How I Got My Agent!

I am so, so, so excited to announce that I'm now represented by Jennifer Azantian of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency!

I've always found "how I got my agent" posts to be very motivating--so in the hope that others might feel the same way, here's mine. (Fair warning: it's long!)

THE LONG-TIMERS is the third novel I queried. I started writing seriously in 2010 and banged out what I thought was a pretty decent YA paranormal novel by the end of the year. I sent off a whole bunch of email queries (75 or 80, maybe? I remember it was a lot!), to pretty much anyone who represented the genre. This shotgun approach resulted in a handful of requests to read fulls and partials, and while every single one ended in a polite form rejection, it was enough to convince me I wasn't completely nuts.

Figuring I'd probably do better with another genre, one that wasn't quite so saturated, I decided to try writing a MG sci-fi novel next. As with my first manuscript, I got a handful of partial and full requests, but each one ended with a polite rejection.

But around this time, I lucked into my first real critique partner (hi Laura!). We met through our husbands and discovered we both wrote YA, so we decided to meet once a week and work through our previously completed manuscripts, critiquing a chapter a week.

Holy crap. Seriously, if you've never had a real CP, one who's also a writer, one who's willing to dig into your work and discuss it with you for hours, you NEED ONE. My writing improved immensely after just a few months of weekly meetings.

In late 2011, I figured I'd try my hand at another YA manuscript. I'd just finished the first draft of THE LONG-TIMERS when I stumbled across an agent's blog post promoting the 2012 Big Sur Writing Workshop--which was only a six hour drive away from where I was living at the time. The idea of going to an actual writing conference terrified me, to be honest. I wouldn't know anyone there. I'd never had more than one person actually critique my work. I'd have to meet (and talk to!) live agents. But somehow I screwed up my nerve and signed up. And I'm so glad I did! The conference was amazing. Not only did I meet my future Thinking to Inking co-bloggers there, but I also had actual conversations with several agents and got amazing feedback from editors and fellow attendees.

Just as I was finishing up the revisions from the conference and getting ready to start querying, I found out about a Twitter pitch party and signed up for an account. Suddenly (seriously, I still can't believe how fast this happened), I was a member of a thriving, awesome, incredibly supportive Twitter writing community.

I started querying THE LONG-TIMERS in June of 2012. This time, I was determined to query in small batches. This turned out to be really smart, because I got some tremendously helpful feedback early on which helped me make the manuscript much stronger. While I was waiting for responses, I entered contests--and to my surprise and delight, I started getting lots of requests! One of these was the Gearing Up to Get An Agent (GUTGAA) blogfest pitch contest, hosted by the lovely Deana Barnhart. I was thrilled when I made it to the agent round of the contest and even more thrilled when I got multiple agent requests to read partials--one of them from Jennifer.

I had over three times more requests to read material for THE LONG-TIMERS than my previous two manuscripts combined, but then the rejections started to roll in. Most of them were personalized--a big change from my first query attempts--and they were incredibly nice (I'm convinced literary agents are some of the nicest people on earth). But almost every rejection said the same thing: I really like these specific parts, but I'm not connecting with the whole thing/don't love it enough to represent it.

Well. As you can imagine, I felt a little discouraged. At the end of November, Jennifer emailed me to say she had loved the first fifty pages of the manuscript and wanted to read more, but I told myself not to get my hopes up. She probably would be another in the string of agents who liked it, but didn't like it enough.

So when I got Jennifer's email telling me she loved it, I just about fell off my chair. When she called me to offer representation, I was bowled over by her passion and excitement for the manuscript. I am beyond thrilled to be working with her and so happy that I finally found the exact right advocate for my work.

The moral of this particular story: get yourself out there! If I hadn't gotten together with critique partners, gone to conferences, and hooked up with a larger writing community, there's no way I'd be writing this post today.

I am incredibly grateful to the friends who helped me get to this point: my wonderful first CP Laura; Jenn, Stacy, and Lauren (seriously the nicest co-bloggers/critique partners I could ask for); Erin and Andrew for the great critique notes; Dee and Summer for being amazing and awesome and incredibly supportive; and my husband Gavin, who's stuck by me through all this craziness and makes everything possible. I love all of you guys!

Stats (because I know I always like to see them, heh):
Queries sent: 55
Rejections: 31
No-response: 13
Partial requests: 14 (9 from contests, 3 from queries, 2 from in-person pitches)
Full requests: 15 (8 from queries, 3 from contests, 4 upgraded from partials)

October Contests & New Blog Schedule

New Post Schedule

Some of you may have noticed some changes to our blog schedule.  Mondays will now rotate between the Industry Month in Review, Writers Resource, Villain of the Month, and the YA Book Pick of the month.  Wednesdays Lauren, Jenn, Triona and myself will wax poetically about writing, life and everything in between.

Hope you enjoy!
  

October Contests 

I'm just starting to come down from my GUTGAA high (thank you to Deana Barnhart for hosting and organizing!) There were soooo many amazing entries - I don't know how the judges and agents picked.  (a special congrats to our very own Triona who got THREE requests from the agent portion of the contest!)

Congrats to everyone who participated in GUTGAA, and best of luck to those who have moved onto the Small Press Pitch contest - my fingers and toes are crossed for you!

If you're looking for something to fill that GUTGAA void, there are some fantastic contests coming up for the month of October.  I've heard of six so far (six!!)  If you know of any others, please post in the comments section and I will update the list.

Oct. 13 - Hook, Line and Sinker

Oct. 13-16 - Spooktacular Pitch Extravaganza (Both participating agents were part of GUTGAA, so this contest is great for those that didn't make it into the agent round.)

Oct.15 - Get Your Pitch On

Oct. 15-19 - Pitch Live

Oct 24 - Trick or Treat with an Agent

Oct. 30 - Third Annual Baker's Dozen

As if I needed another reason to love the month of October (any other Halloween geeks out there?)

Hope to see you at a few of them!

GUTGAA Tag: I'm it!

Participants in the Gearing Up To Get An Agent blogfest are having a game of tag! I was invited by the lovely Rachel of You Are What You Write to answer the questions below about my current manuscript.

What is the working title of your book? THE LONG-TIMERS

Where did the idea come from for the book? The seed of the idea came from a Popular Science article that talked about one man's quest to slow down the aging process.

What genre does your book fall under? It's one of those slightly tricky ones, but the closest I've come is YA sci-fi/thriller or thriller with sci-fi elements. At conferences, I've had agents/editors call it speculative fiction and light dystopian too.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I have the perfect person in mind for Remy, the book's narrator: French actor Gaspard Ulliel. I was so excited to find a picture of him—he looks exactly like I pictured Remy.

For Marisol, the main female character and one of Remy's best friends, I'd go with Columbian actress Catalina Sandino Moreno. Isn't she adorable? 

What is the one-sentence short synopsis of your book? When a privileged teenage boy learns the horrific truth behind a miracle drug that prolongs the life of the rich, he must try to bring down his parents' all-powerful company from the inside.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I'm interested in getting representation from an agency and doing the traditional publishing route.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? About three months, which is average for me for first drafts. Then I probably spent another four months revising—also average.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? I tried to include all my favorite elements in this book: action/adventure, humor, romance, sci-fi, suspense, some dark moments, and a (hopefully) satisfying ending.

I'm tagging three other GUTGAA bloggers who might want to answer the same questions on their blogs (apologies if you've already been tagged!):

Sarah (@SJSchmitt)

AG (@agwickedspirits)

John (@ABoredAuthor)

GUTGAA Meet & Greet

Two of our contributors, Stacy and Triona, are participating in Deana Barnhart's Gearing Up to Get An Agent Blogfest! (She's wisely calling it GUTGAA for short.)

Stacy and Triona, along with our other blog contributors Jenn and Lauren, met at the Big Sur Writing Workshop in the spring of 2012. We became friends and critique partners, and then co-bloggers. We try to spotlight resources and information of interest to writers. Fun stuff like chocolate and knitting slips in from time to time, too!

Tell us about yourselves!

Stacy: I'm originally from Texas, but now live in the lovely town of San Francisco.  I'm a reader and writer of all things YA, currently shopping a YA Magical Realism manuscript and working on a YA Supernatural/Magical Realism Suspense Thingy. I have a secret love of puns (some say lowest form of humor, I say they're hilarious) and I love dark comedy movies (think Drop Dead Gorgeous or Freeway.)  Welcome to our blog and thanks to Deana Barnhart for throwing this little shindig!

Triona: I recently moved from southern California back to the Midwest. I love speculative fiction in all its forms, and my perfect story is equal parts sci-fi/fantasy, action, adventure, romance, humor, and suspense. Easy, right? I'm a Twitter newbie (@trionabmurphy) but a total addict already.

Where do you write?

Stacy: Mostly on my couch. Sometimes on planes when traveling for work or fun. Not very glamorous am I?  

Triona: At home or coffeeshops—probably about a 50/50 split. I find it easier to concentrate and tune out all the other things that should be getting done when I get out of the house. I also recently discovered that my local library of awesome has a lounge/workspace area, complete with vending and coffee machines. What could be a better place to write than one surrounded by books?

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

Stacy: A window! It actually has a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The fog is rolling in right this very minute. Man, I love this city!

Triona: At home, my preferred writing space is just to the left of a huge picture window. So the first thing I see is morning glories. It's okay to be jealous :-)

Favorite time to write?

Stacy: I'm a night owl, so typically in the evenings. That said, I dream in stories, so some of my best ideas happen right when I first wake up.

Triona: Definitely evening. When I have everything done for the day, I can give writing my full attention. Before I moved, my husband and I used to frequent a coffeeshop that was open until 11 pm. We closed the place out many nights. Now that I live in the Midwest, it's a little harder to find places to write that stay open late, but I haven't given up looking!

Drink of choice while writing?

Stacy: Water. Wow, that sounds boring. But can't blame a girl for wanting to stay hydrated, right? Let's pretend I said something more interesting, like a margarita on the rocks with no salt, which happens to be my post-writing drink of choice.  Nom, nom, nom.

Triona: Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. But I try to balance all that coffee with equal glasses of water so I don't get too dehydrated.

When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

Stacy: I'm a silence girl, but will sometimes put on my headphones and listen to classical music if it's noisy.

Triona: I love listening to music while writing! In coffeeshops especially, headphones and music are essential to tune out any conversations around me.

I have playlists I created in iTunes that are labeled things like "Sad Scenes" and "Action Scenes." Sometimes I pick an album that works for lots of different scenes. Some of my favorites are below: Radiohead's In Rainbows, Modest Mouse's Good News For People Who Love Bad News, and anything by Soul Coughing or Ben Folds Five.

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

Stacy:  I had a dream about it. I saw this girl standing on a staircase, and I when I woke up I wanted to tell her story. I knew little bits and pieces about how she came to be standing on the stairs, and oddly knew exactly what the last sentence of her story would be. I barely slept that first week because I was so enthralled with her story.    

Triona: My current manuscript was inspired by an article I read in Popular Science last year. The author was talking about his plan to increase the human lifespan. To be honest, the science itself sounded a bit questionable—but it was interesting anyway! I started to wonder what society would be like if there was a drug that extended life by hundreds of years. When I thought of a truly horrible way they could be sourcing the drug, I knew I had a great idea for a novel.

What's your most valuable writing tip?

Stacy:  Stay positive and find good beta readers! Seriously, the best thing I've done for myself is to reach out to other writers for opinions, input and advice. I don't know what I would have done without all the fantastic beta and critique partners I've had this past year. I've also had the good fortune to read a lot of great manuscripts in the process.  

Triona: Keep writing and moving forward, no matter what happens. There are always going to be reasons why your novel might not get agented or sell, and many of them are beyond your control. Knowing when to move on to the next project is vital.

I'm querying my third novel in two years, and the only thing that's kept me from going stark raving mad is my practice of starting the next book while I query the current one. Each book has gotten better, both in concept and execution (and that's not just me talking. I've had more agent interest on this book than the previous two combined!). If this manuscript doesn't get me an agent—well, I have the next one all outlined and ready to go, and it's going to be awesome.