I’ve been writing my entire life. In the beginning, it wasn’t with the goal of publication in mind, but that’s probably only because I was still in elementary school.
When I reached high school, I started submitting poetry and short stories to magazines and other print publications with no success. But I kept writing. I worked in a bookstore during my late teens and early twenties and although I was surrounded by books I never really considered one day my own book might join them there. Still, I kept writing.
Then I got married and had kids and life swept me up into a whirlwind of diapers and playdates and school forms and lunch making. I stopped writing and a little part of me died. Although I was too busy to even notice it.
It wasn’t until my oldest daughter started to show her own interest in writing that I remembered how much I loved it. And so we started writing together. That was 4 years ago and I haven’t stopped.
A couple of years ago when I finished my first novel I started to allow myself to dream about publication. After researching how to make that dream a reality, I started querying book number one. Unfortunately, I realized pretty quickly that book number one wasn’t really ready to be queried. It needed work. A lot of work.
So I found a critique partner and started doing the work. But as I edited and revised, there were new people in my head; characters demanding to be heard, demanding to have their stories put on paper. So I obliged and wrote book number two. Then I edited it (a lot) and started looking for the right literary agent to represent me. Someone that loved my book (almost) as much as me.
After 5 months, 54 query letters and 28 rejections…I finally did.
On August 28 I signed my first literary agency contract with Katie Shea Boutillier at the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
I am thrilled beyond words. Humbled, excited, nervous and still in shock that this is actually happening. I couldn’t have asked for a better fit in Katie. She totally gets me and understands who I am as a writer. I know she is the right person to have on my team as we move on to the next step – publication.
This is a part of the journey I have no frame of reference for but I am ready for whatever it brings my way.
[…] The quick answer is I did a lot of research. But the more detailed answer is that I used a lot of resources, took meticulous notes, read a lot of articles and talked to other authors as I worked to develop the list of 54 agents I was sure I was a good match for. It was a lengthy process but also totally worth it considering who I wound up finally signing with. […]
[…] The quick answer is, I did a lot of research. But the more detailed answer is that I used a lot of resources, took meticulous notes, read a ton of articles and talked to other authors, as I worked to develop the list of 54 agents I was sure I was a good match for. It was a lengthy process but also totally worth it considering who I wound up finally signing with. […]