How My Agent Found Me
Hey there!
I hope you’re well, and that whenever this blog post finds you, it helps to demystify some of the scary unknown in the publishing industry (industry terms/glossary here).
This spring has been the craziest, most hectic few months of my life, but I’m typing the words I’ve always wanted to for years now.
I have an agent!!!
I’m so pleased to be represented by Rebeka Finch and the Darley Anderson Agency.
Agented or not, there is an overarching theme for everyone out there, whether we’re trying to get a book published or pursuing other creative endeavors: we give it our all, and ask others to treat it gently. To consider it, the art, and us, the person. We hope they like it. We hope they want more. We hope they want us.
And it takes luck. SO MUCH LUCK. For a type-A data & numbers girlie like me, I really hate that answer. What do you mean there’s not a formula? What do you mean I just have to—as you say—send it???
I’m sure everyone in the publishing world, especially these last few years, is going to develop some trauma response to the word ‘subjective’. I know I have, but it wasn’t until I signed with my agent that I understood exactly what that meant. To make that make sense, I’m going to touch on a few timeline highlights.
Disclaimer: I queried two books independently and simultaneously, books 1 and 2 of an interconnected standalone series. I would not recommend this. I might make another blog post about exactly why that is, but what it comes down to is that I closed a lot of doors on myself accidentally. As Blink 182 says, “In the end, it doesn’t even matter” or whatever, but I think it does! Please don’t do what I did and expect the same results (your results may vary). I did hard, taxing work, yes, but I also got lucky.
Okay. Shew. Here we go.
Timeline:
10/20/2021 – I send my very first query! It’s a CNR. Lol. I send *checks notes* a whopping twelve queries in this first batch and get exactly two partials that don’t convert, each for different reasons. I’m disheartened and take a giant break on querying Book 1 to write Book 2. It takes nine months to write because I internalized the feedback from Book 1. I am convinced I Suck™️.
08/18/2022 – First round of queries for Book 2.
September 2022 – I join Twitter (this is important, I promise).
August 2022 – February 2023 – I send out batches of queries for Book 2, around 10 or so each time, and get a handful of partials, most of which convert! I also get a few full requests, but none of them pan out. I consider shelving Books 1 and 2 to throw all my efforts into writing something different. I am actively not sending queries anymore for this reason.
2/14/2023 – #PitchtoDA event on Twitter (that I almost don’t participate in. Seriously. I wrote the tweets while sitting at my desk at my office job.) I get a like for Book 2! I send over the partial as guidelines indicate that same day. If you don’t know me well, Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday, so this was… exciting, to say the least.
2/23 – I get a bigger partial request for the next 40,000 words. Again, I send materials same day.
4/4 – Rebeka emails to tell me I’ve won the pitch contest! The entire team loved the pitch and Rebeka wants to schedule a call. The prize for winning the contest is an automatic full request and editorial consultation via Zoom, so I shouldn’t have been expecting anything. but still – is it The Call? Based on how much I didn’t sleep the night before, you’d think it was.
4/14 – It is… not The Call. But it is A Call, and it goes wonderfully. She quotes my book to me in multiple places? Tells me main male character is on her book boyfriend list now?? Is this real life????? She requests the full manuscript for Book 2 AND the first five chapters of Book 1, which we also discuss after she asks if Book 2 is a standalone. BOY, do I have news for her!! I send my materials that same day and we wish each other a good weekend.
4/20 – Rebeka emails to say she started Book 2 all over again to make sure she got a full picture. She read it in six days, including a weekend where her parents came to visit and a three-day stretch of attending the London Book Fair. She stole moments back on the train to read this book, y’all.
I hope you, fellow authors, find an agent who steals moments back to read your works. And for fellow readers and other friends, I hope you find a book so passionate you have to steal moments back, too.
Rebeka also requests the full for Book 1, my original query letter for it, and asks about how I envisioned the books fitting together as a series. I send her a longgg response via email, but request a Zoom anyway. We schedule it for the following Tuesday the 25th, and she says she’s going to read more of Book 1 over the weekend.
And thus begins the longest weekend of my life. One of my protection methods is to self-reject, so my thought process over that weekend goes a little something like this: What if she’s interested in Book 2 instead of Book 1? Am I okay with giving up on Book 1 completely? What if I’m reading into everything and it isn’t actually The Call? Maybe she’s just a really nice and complimentary person. (Which she is, by the way. Rebeka, if you’re reading this, I think you’re lovely!!) Maybe she just casually uses words like ‘brilliant’ and ‘wonderful’ and ‘incredible’ in reference to all the manuscripts she reads!
Tuesday the 25th happens, and—y’all.
It’s The Call.
Rebeka wants both books. All the books. She loves them. She believes in them, and in me as a storyteller.
Wednesday, April 26th, she emails me mid-day to confirm a formal offer will be coming the next morning. I’m never left wondering about her intentions, and although it doesn’t eliminate all my anxiety, it takes care of most of it…
Okay. Half of it.
Well—a little bit, at the very least.
SO. Let me paint you the picture of The Moment. It’s Thursday morning. I’m driving into the office, and when I park my car and my music disconnects, I see a banner preview for a new email. The subject line reads “Forget Me Not - Offer of Representation” and my entire body goes numb. Except my stomach. That’s in knots and somehow also on fire? I go inside, dock my laptop, put my lunch in the fridge, force myself to eat a banana because I am going to throw up.
I finally gather enough courage to read the email, and it is just… wonderful. Absolutely no notes. After I’ve finished crying in the bathroom (LOL), I send an acknowledgment and my deadline for accepting and circling back to others.
We also schedule ANOTHER call to go over the business side of things on Friday the 28th. She’s wonderful about answering all of my questions, and never makes me feel bad for asking them or coming back with more. (Direct quote: “These are excellent and easily answered questions... If you think of anything else, just let me know.”)
I take the weekend to circle back to the few agents who still have my materials (because, remember, I was about to shelve these books!!!), and send my acceptance on May 2nd.
I’ve posted my query stats below for other fellow authors who are curious, but please proceed with caution. Humans are hardwired to try and find patterns in life, but at the end of the day each situation and book is so unique (aren’t you glad I didn’t say subjective 😏) there’s really no way to compare.
Trigger Warning: Query Stats
BOOK 1:
Queries sent: 32
Partials: 3 (one converted (Rebeka’s))
Fulls: 3 (including Rebeka’s converted partial)
Overall request rate: 15.6%
Offers: 1 (Rebeka)
BOOK 2:
Queries sent: 61
Partials: 4 (three converted, including Rebeka’s)
Full: 5 (including the partials that converted)
Overall request rate: 9.8%
Offers: 1 (Rebeka again)
So, there you have it. The story of how my agent and I found each other. I don’t really love the concept of “getting” an agent, because at the end of the day, I got my agent the way any other author does: writing a book with potential and getting it into the hands of the right person at the right time who can also see that potential.
Wherever you are in your writing journey, whether you’re just starting or have been here a while, please know I’m cheering you on.
Sincerely,
Megan
