The Journey to Getting a Literary Agent Pt. 1

Some writers write a book, query that book, get a literary agent, and a book deal faster than you can say Jack Robinson. And I can genuinely be so happy for them because that’s their journey and how it was supposed to happen for them! Not for me.

I started writing novels almost nine years ago.

First I wrote a YA sci-fi. It was terrible. I didn’t even query it.
Then I wrote a YA urban fantasy. It was better. I queried that one.
When I got my first partial request, I cried.
Ultimately, I received upwards of 40 agent requests for that novel, but no offer of rep. To me that meant I could write a good query, but the book itself didn’t hold up. I had a lot more learning and research to do.

Next I wrote a YA Contemporary (co-authored with my best friend). Same result. We queried it. Entered it into #PitMad - received accolades from Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera who were tweeting about how excited they were and wanted to read the book. We also received messages from Mackenzi Lee, who asked us to send our query to her agent with her recommendation. We were STOKED and sure we were almost there.

Nope. No offers. Tons of requests, lots of positive encouragement, but the characters needed work.

Then, my grandmother passed away. She lived next door to us and I would have coffee with her every day. She was one of my best friends and a total spitfire. Around 6 months after she passed, I got it in my head I wanted to write a story with her as a main character. I poured her essence into a new book. With real conversations we’d had, recipes she’d been cooking for us since I was little, and real stories from when she was growing up in the Depression. It was the book I’d always wanted to write.

I started querying it, received multiple requests, and then got the feedback. Things needed fixing. Jenny Bent in particular was extremely helpful with her constructive criticism, and that was a huge part of what shaped the concept into what it is today. So I went back to the drawing board and embarked on a huge edit.

In case you were wondering, publishing isn’t for the faint of heart. 😂

After the edit, I sent it off again, and that’s when I got a particularly exciting email….