A Long Awaited Yes

How I found my literary agent!

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Well, I did it. I got an agent. It still feels unreal, in the way things you have been dreaming about for so long typically do when you finally get them. I keep rereading my acceptance email to make sure she was indeed serious. 

I remember listening to episodes of

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

, back in the early days of my novel drafting. I was fascinated by their Books with Hooks segment, where they critique a query letter and give tips on how to make it better. I was wondering, then, when the hell that was ever going to be me. That was almost four years ago now, when I couldn't even summarise my book, when really, it wasn’t even a book at all yet. 

But now, flash forward to September 2, 2024, I accepted an enthusiastic offer from an agent with a full heart. 

“I have big dreams and high hopes for this book,” I said to her in my reply. I just wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting into (lol) 

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My Querying Journey 

Since I’ve been sharing the process of writing my novel for the past year (!), I’m excited to break down my whole querying journey for you. 

Just a quick note: I will be using “I” to describe this journey, but I want to let you know it was a two-person endeavor. I should be saying “we” through this piece, but my writing partner, Tamar, and I plan to write something together in the future. So just know that Tamar was with me every step of the way. We talked every day. We edited each other’s query letters and opening pages. We queried agents at the same time, in real time. We panicked, we celebrated full manuscript requests, we sent “Omg why is this taking so long, I feel like I’m losing my mind,” texts weekly. 

So my first tip about querying: if you can, do it with a partner. Or at least have someone on the other line you can talk to constantly. People said this process would be grueling, and I’ll admit that I scoffed a little. I’m tough, I figured. I can handle rejection. But it's not the rejection that was hard for me (although there were a few sad moments, of course). It was the waiting. It was the sending my book baby to someone and not hearing from them for days, and weeks and not knowing what they are thinking. 

Waiting is the name of the game in publishing, so I’m happy to report I think my skin got a little thicker after this experience. But I attribute so much of the smoothness of my querying journey to Tamar and her support, love and email editing skills! 

I also had the help of SO many writer friends who I have met through Write or Die Magazine over the years— wonderfully generous women who shared their wisdom and agenting experiences so that I truly never felt alone in this process. Forever grateful!

First Batch 

I sent my first batch of eight query letters on June 17th. These were not queries to my dream agents. They were agents I wanted, yes, but I wanted to make sure that my letter and opening pages were working before sending to some of the big names on my wish list. I figured if I got a bunch of rejections right off the bat, I would know something wasn’t working. 

But after sending that first batch, I knew there was NO way I could simply WAIT to hear from these agents before sending more letters. I had heard that batching was a good querying strategy but the more I thought about, the more it didn’t make sense. 

What if someone offers rep? I wouldn’t have enough time to query my top agents and let them know when I was offered representation in the standard two-week turnaround time. It didn’t add up. 

Plus, I needed to feel like I was being proactive in a very slow process. I began sending out query letters pretty much every day after that—maybe just one or maybe seven. I steadily sent out queries for the remainder of June and for the whole month of July. If I got a rejection, I immediately queried someone else.

The Waiting 

During this time, I received my first full request on July 12. And then another 3 the next week. My first partial came the week after that and then a few more full requests. 

One of those fulls was unexpected. An agent I was hoping for rejected my query but said she thought her colleague would be interested. She cc'd her on the email and within a day, her colleague requested my full manuscript. Now, I was looking at eight requests total and I was thrilled. 

With the fulls out and July coming to a close, I decided I needed to cool it. As I mentioned, sending out letters was making me feel proactive, but by this point, I had sent out 58 letters total and I knew I needed to stop at some point and let the rejections (up to 15 at this point) and full request responses catch up to me. 

But then the beginning of August was straight CRICKETS! My inbox was silent. This is when my insanity began to really shine through. Ask Tamar. I felt restless, checking my inbox, making excuses to leave the house so I could stay away from it. 

Pro tip: DO NOT add your querying email address to your phone unless absolutely necessary. This saved me, I’m sure of it. 

August is notoriously one of the slowest months in publishing, as everyone is on vacation. I started to worry that I would really have to wait until the Fall to hear from anyone. 

The Offer 

But then, on the magical day of Tuesday, August 13 (my dad's birthday!), I received an email from that agent, who was that other agent’s colleague. She said she “inhaled” my book over the weekend. She praised the mother-daughter relationship arc, the country club lifestyle, and the ending. She said this was the book she had been looking for. She said she would love to work with me. 

Near tears, I screenshotted the email to send to my husband, my mother, my sister, and Tamar (I knew I would see my dad later). I broke out in goosebumps. I squealed and paced my house because, honestly, what else could I do in that moment? 

When I calmed down, I thanked the agent for such kind words and we promptly scheduled to meet on Thursday. 

Tamar, being the wonderfully amazing person she is, had already created a document for the both of us with questions she had gathered from her research that are best to ask agents on the offer call. I compiled the ones that most resonated with me into another word document. Two questions, in particular, I knew were important to ask so I wrote them in all caps, in bold at the top of the page:

WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR MY BOOK AND MY WRITING CAREER? 

HOW DO YOU SEE THIS BOOK SELLING? 

The agent ended up answering these questions and much more during our 45 minute call on Thursday. It was so wonderful to hear her describe my book, to comment on my characters, to see how my story affected her. She was the first “stranger” to read my work so there was something extra special about her viewpoint. She had mentioned in her email that she had some editorial suggestions, which I was DYING to hear. Her suggestions resonated with me immediately.

I had been querying my novel as literary to some agents and upmarket to others, and she confirmed that my book is right in the middle, leaning more towards upmarket. 

I left the call feeling seen, heard and overjoyed in her enthusiasm for my work. I could totally see myself working with her. 

But, I also was very excited to send that “offer of representation” email to a handful of agents I was hoping for and hadn’t heard from yet. I just needed to know what else could happen and if agents would respond! Plus, this was my first agent call. It went very well but I also had nothing to compare it to. I might as well see what else could happen for me. 

I sent about 15 agents an offer of rep email letting them know I was interested in hearing from them, but I was making my decision on representation by Sept. 3. (Ugh Labor Day) 

Some agents who had my manuscript immediately backed out, saying they couldn’t make the deadline because they were on vacation or because they wouldn't have time to read it. 

I panicked. Was Labor Day screwing this up? Would they have been otherwise interested? Was I going to miss out in some way? 

But then, throughout the next week, I got a few full manuscript requests and a partial. One agent I was really hoping to hear from enthusiastically requested and said my book contained all her favorite things: class, food and a Lily King comp. 

While I waited, I asked the agent I spoke with if I could connect with one of her current clients (Tamar’s idea!). The agent connected me immediately, and her client was a super enthusiastic and open person who gave me her phone number. We set up a call, and she answered my questions about the agent and gave me a breakdown of her own journey. She was about to go out on sub with her novel that had benefited greatly from the agent's editorial help, and she was so excited about the book it had become. 

This was very encouraging. 

Now, I vacillated between being excited for potential options and freaking out about having to make a choice. 

How do you actually know? You can’t see the future with each agent. You can’t see how your career will wind up one way or the other. How would I pick? 

In the end, the Lord above decided for me. The final few agents I was waiting on said they would step aside and cheer for me from the sidelines. I was briefly disappointed—rejection does sting no matter what— but I also knew in my heart of hearts that the agent who I spoke with was the one for me. At the end of the day, I wanted someone who is a champion for my book. Who believes in my work. Who LOVES it. 

And that is what I have. 

Her name is Jennifer Simpson, and she is from CAA, an agency I’m beyond thrilled to be a part of. 

future me and my agent when my book comes out (lol)

Next steps

I just signed the contract (!), and Jenny is working on my first round of editorial notes. I’m so excited to get cracking on this manuscript and make it shine. I have no idea how many edits we will go through (although Jenny said probably no less than three rounds) or how long it will take, but it feels amazing to be at this part of the process. Like I said, I have big dreams, and I’m going to let myself entertain every last one. I worked very hard to stay positive through this entire process. I never let myself think, “This won’t happen.”

Not once.

I kept envisioning that offer letter. Now, I will keep envisioning my career and where I want this book to take me. 

I’m working on a piece for

Sub Club

that delves into the nitty gritty of my querying journey: what websites I used, how I stayed organized, what worked best for me, etc., so I will share that once it’s live. 

But for now, I hope this little insight into my journey was encouraging. I also want to thank all of you readers for the inspiration and lovely messages you always send when I post! We are all in this together, and I hope wherever you are on your journey, you are reminded that you aren’t alone. We have all been there or are about to be there soon. 

<3 

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My Querying Stats Recap 

Months queried: 3 

Query letters send: 58

Rejections: 28

Full requests: 9

Partial requests: 2

1 YES! 

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