Writing Tips!

How I Got My Agent!

this post was made by bookgeekconfessions on tumblr, or http://bookgeekconfessions.com/post/165231479989/how-i-got-my-agent-pt-1

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I am officially being repped by Quressa Robinson at NLA. I have a book agent!!! It's thrilling and nerve-wracking and amazing and terrifying.

I can't share the actual query letter yet, but I can share how it all came about. It's a long insane story that is so crazy it will seem like fiction, but as this post proves...it's not! (Stay tuned for a word of advice at the bottom of this post!)

1. I wrote a book.
Obviously, right? I've been writing for years, but nothing prepared me for the journey that has been my manuscript. We're talking two years of tears, late nights, early mornings, writing on the train, writing on the bus, printing out 400 pages at work, highlighting, and note taking only to have beta readers dislike it and having to go back to the drawing board. But finally in July in the year of our lord 2017, over July. 4th week off from work, I finished my book. It still needed work, but I felt strongly that it was good as I could get it and I needed an agent and then an editor to push it to the finish line.

2. I Researched Agents.
I sent my book out to beta readers and used that awful time while I waited for opinions to research agents. I had a spreadsheet of dozens of names, what they were looking for, their query requirements and why I wanted to query them. That's very important. Once you query the chances are you will lose your choices. As in, if you only get one agent offer you're probably going to take that agent. Querying someone that you don't really want to work with is a mistake. My book is my baby. I have not given more to anything in this world than what I have given to my book/ I wanted an agent who would love, fight and lobby for my book as hard as I am.

3. I Wrote An Amazing Query Letter
OK. I know that it's extremely egotistical to call my query letter amazing, but my query letter was amazing. How do I know this? Because I used the F-word in the opening line. :-)

I wrote a letter. I thought it was good. My closest writing friend thought it was good. Then we sent it to an associate who is a published author and she said it was awful. I started again from complete scratch. And wrote in the third person, BUT as if my main character was writing about herself. My main character would curse. She would have the attitude of "this is what I'm willing to tell you at this time and if it's not enough...too damn bad."

4. I Wrote An OK Synopsis
From the beginning of my life, I have hated synopses. I hated having to tell my mom what happened in school. I hated having to sum up books in middle school, explain historical events in high school and write script coverage for internships in college. I hate summaries. I hate summarizing. So when I tell you I hate my synopsis and think it's dry and uninteresting believe me. Luckily, I had Charlee, my close writing friend to chime in and say this is good, this makes no sense and that's not even a word!

5. I Read the First Fifty Pages of My Manuscript 100 Times
Agents have different requirements. Some want a query and fifty pages. Others want a query, a summary, and fifty pages. Or they want the Query, the first 1-3 chapters, and a summary, or a query, the first 1-3 chapters and nothing else. Some agents have forms that ask questions like "If you could describe your character in three words what would those words be?" or "what are three comparable books to your manuscript?" Other agents just want an email with "QUERY: MANUSCRIPT TITLE" as the subject and a simple query.

I did my best to check grammar, spelling, etc in the first fifty pages. But I went to NYC public school so my grammar SUCKS. Every time I sent the pages to a new agent I would find something else and cringe. Not just cringe but decide I would never get an agent simply because I don't have the ability to properly check myself. Agents do not expect you to be an editor, but you should try your BEST to hand in pages that are as clean and as ready as possible. Do not half-ass this process.

Side Note: A Word of Advice about Querying.

If you only listen to one tip from me let it be this...Make sure you get the agent and the agent requirements right. Let's face it, you are probably not going to write an individualized email unless you actually have something specific. I knew that one agent was as big of a Game of Thrones fan as myself and I was querying as Thrones was coming back for its seventh season, so I mentioned her love of GOT as a reason I wanted to query her.

But the truth of the matter is that I don't go to writing conventions, I haven't participated in pitch sessions so there was no reason that any of these agents would know me.It was mostly a form, run of the mill, same for everyone, query. And many writing tip sites will tell you to add a personal note, etc. But it's my opinion that it's better to get to the point than to be insincere. Besides if your Query is good it won't matter if you used a line of the email to kiss the agents ass.

More about my journey to come in "How I Got My Agent, Pt. 2″ tomorrow...