My Journey to Getting a Literary Agent

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 eleven years ago.

First I wrote a YA sci-fi. It was terrible. Like epic level bad. 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 era. It was the book I’d always wanted to write.

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….

I was in Cambodia with my family at the most magical hotel that looked like it was plucked from the pages of a fantasy novel. We were having breakfast by the pool, drinking cappuccinos, when I checked my email.

A full request from one of my favorite agents.

I didn’t have my computer on me so I emailed her the document from my phone. She wrote back with confirmation that she’d received the file.

And then I waited. Because I don’t know if you know this, but part of the publishing process is the waiting game. *face palm*

Sometimes you’ll query an agent and hear back in ten minutes. Other times you’ll hear back in six months or longer. And that’s just for the first phase. They request a partial or full of your manuscript, you send it to them, and then you wait. It all depends on how many queries they receive, how many other things the agent has on their plate, etc. etc.

So - I waited. We got back from our Southeast Asia trip and were home for a couple months then headed to the Cayman Islands. It was there I got the email that said - “I’d love to work with you on this but I have a lot of thoughts for revision.” She wanted to hop on a phone call and discuss editorial thoughts to make sure our visions aligned. I was ecstatic. BUT. I was almost 100% positive it wasn’t going to be an offer of representation.

I got back home and set up a call with her, absolutely expecting to be offered an R&R (revise and resubmit). So we’re chatting about our visions for the book and I agree with every single thing she’s saying and LOVE the direction she has for it. And i’m just waiting. Waiting for her to say, “Okay well, work one those things then send it back to me when you’re done.”

But then she says, “I’d love to offer you representation.”

And I was absolutely speechless. I started silently bawling. I’d been working toward this for SEVEN YEARS at this point. Because my goal was always to get a literary agent. That was the dream. That, to me, meant I could conquer whatever came next because an agent believed in me enough to sign me.

Even though I’d made up my mind to accept, I did the traditional 10 days and let the other agents know who had a partial or full. I had two intriguing talks with other agents but ultimately, our editorial visions did not align. And so with GREAT EXCITEMENT AND GRATITUDE, I signed with Natalie Lakosil of Irene Goodman Literary Agency!!

I’ll never forget that feeling of signing the agency agreement. Even now, over a year later, and I’m still overwhelmed with gratitude that she saw the vision, believed in it and in me, and that we get to go on this journey together!

And it all happened because my grandma lived such a beautiful life and impacted us so deeply that I wanted to share her with the world.