Thank you Alison, you've covered the heart side of the process which not everyone does. it sounds like that passion piece makes a huge difference. Hope to be ready soon to start my search. QueryTracker has lots of info!!! so does manuscript Academy and manuscriptwishlist. thanks again!
I'm a little late to the party here (story of my life), but I thought I'd add my experience to the discussion around getting an agent, for whatever it might be worth to others.
I finished the sixth draft of my novel in January of this year and started pitching to agents a few weeks later. I was in a strange place with a story that didn't sit squarely in either the YA or adult literary genres, and I also sensed that admitting in my query letter that I didn't know where it belonged would be a *bad idea.* I realized I had to pick a horse and ride, secretly hoping all the while that someone might read it and say Hey! The author is pitching this as X, but I think it would be better as Y! or similar.
That didn't happen.
Due to woeful ignorance of the YA genre (and some complicated internalized rejection of my teenage self and by extension my protagonist), I decided to pitch the story as adult literary to about 14 agents across North America. Had one request for a full from an agent in Los Angeles (very exciting!) but was ultimately rejected all around. No biggie, I thought. Most of my Canadian writer friends don't have an agent anyway and still manage to get their books out.
At that point I began pitching directly to Canadian presses. I made a top tier list of 7 and got to work, again pitching as adult literary with the same secret hope someone might recognize the story for what it truly was was and tear after it before the train left the station like in some old romantic movie: Stop, don't go! You belong here, with me!
Again, no. Six months later and no one has yet responded with a stop that train email.
However, in the meantime, I fell into some wild good luck. At my sister's wedding six years ago I'd met a YA writer, Tash (non-binary), the partner of my sister's best friend. We got to talking about writing and books and generally hit it off enough to become Facebook friends, though there was no further contact after that. I'll skip to the climax here, but this summer, when my sister mentioned to Tash while they were visiting that I was now *finally* marketing my book, Tash offered to introduce me to a YA agent they knew. After a letter of introduction from Tash, this agent read the ms, diagnosed it as being stuck in a no man's land between YA and adult, but said that if I was willing to make the revisions that would shift it clearly to YA, she'd be willing to represent me.
To which I leaned out of the window of the train and gave a breathless, Yes!
Since then, I've been wondering what the lesson is here, if any, for my writer friends. I was done looking for an agent, I'd moved on, and yet Stacey would've been out there, presumably still open to this book. I have the fiction writer's skepticism of luck, I suppose. To throw in bolts from the blue cheapens your plot and makes withdrawals on a reader's goodwill. I'd much prefer to rely on simple causality and "hard work = results." So if I were in conversation with the me of six months ago, I'd ask her if she had truly explored every avenue, or if she'd let her fear of rejection get the better of her and perhaps shut the agent search down prematurely in an understandable wish to move on?
Anyway, to those of you in this phase uncertain and nerve-wracking phase of marketing your novel, I hope this is of some use to you. And of course: GOOD LUCK.
It feels a bit like a seller's market when it comes to finding an agent. I think a lot of first time authors who land one simple go with the first person willing to work with them rather than send out another 50 query letters hoping someone better comes along.
The closet I've come is an R&R from an agent who was also a lawyer (I jokingly described my manuscript as Faust meets Grisham). Unfortunately, he kept giving me the advice of show don't tell but I don't think we were using that term the same way. I think what he meant was he wanted something genre-based and mostly composed of scenes, and not something striving to be literary, but I never did figure it out.
Hi I’m curious about why you feel an agent needs to be an editor as well? This is to ensure the book is as ready as it can be before it goes to publishers? Would the publisher not have an editor that also wants a crack at the work? What if you already worked with an editor to complete your manuscript?
Helpful! Thank you Alison
This is super helpful. Thanks, Alison.
Wow! I had NOOOOO idea about the % or conditions that could hound me and my family, even after I pass. Wow! Thanks for sharing your expertise!
Fabulous. Frightening in parts, but fabulous. And so opportunistic as I’m thinking of engaging one. Now I understand the process. Thank you, Alison.
Great post, Alison. Just might nudge me back into the process.
Thanks for the great insights! Quite a process!
Thank you Alison, you've covered the heart side of the process which not everyone does. it sounds like that passion piece makes a huge difference. Hope to be ready soon to start my search. QueryTracker has lots of info!!! so does manuscript Academy and manuscriptwishlist. thanks again!
Hello Writers,
I'm a little late to the party here (story of my life), but I thought I'd add my experience to the discussion around getting an agent, for whatever it might be worth to others.
I finished the sixth draft of my novel in January of this year and started pitching to agents a few weeks later. I was in a strange place with a story that didn't sit squarely in either the YA or adult literary genres, and I also sensed that admitting in my query letter that I didn't know where it belonged would be a *bad idea.* I realized I had to pick a horse and ride, secretly hoping all the while that someone might read it and say Hey! The author is pitching this as X, but I think it would be better as Y! or similar.
That didn't happen.
Due to woeful ignorance of the YA genre (and some complicated internalized rejection of my teenage self and by extension my protagonist), I decided to pitch the story as adult literary to about 14 agents across North America. Had one request for a full from an agent in Los Angeles (very exciting!) but was ultimately rejected all around. No biggie, I thought. Most of my Canadian writer friends don't have an agent anyway and still manage to get their books out.
At that point I began pitching directly to Canadian presses. I made a top tier list of 7 and got to work, again pitching as adult literary with the same secret hope someone might recognize the story for what it truly was was and tear after it before the train left the station like in some old romantic movie: Stop, don't go! You belong here, with me!
Again, no. Six months later and no one has yet responded with a stop that train email.
However, in the meantime, I fell into some wild good luck. At my sister's wedding six years ago I'd met a YA writer, Tash (non-binary), the partner of my sister's best friend. We got to talking about writing and books and generally hit it off enough to become Facebook friends, though there was no further contact after that. I'll skip to the climax here, but this summer, when my sister mentioned to Tash while they were visiting that I was now *finally* marketing my book, Tash offered to introduce me to a YA agent they knew. After a letter of introduction from Tash, this agent read the ms, diagnosed it as being stuck in a no man's land between YA and adult, but said that if I was willing to make the revisions that would shift it clearly to YA, she'd be willing to represent me.
To which I leaned out of the window of the train and gave a breathless, Yes!
Since then, I've been wondering what the lesson is here, if any, for my writer friends. I was done looking for an agent, I'd moved on, and yet Stacey would've been out there, presumably still open to this book. I have the fiction writer's skepticism of luck, I suppose. To throw in bolts from the blue cheapens your plot and makes withdrawals on a reader's goodwill. I'd much prefer to rely on simple causality and "hard work = results." So if I were in conversation with the me of six months ago, I'd ask her if she had truly explored every avenue, or if she'd let her fear of rejection get the better of her and perhaps shut the agent search down prematurely in an understandable wish to move on?
Anyway, to those of you in this phase uncertain and nerve-wracking phase of marketing your novel, I hope this is of some use to you. And of course: GOOD LUCK.
It feels a bit like a seller's market when it comes to finding an agent. I think a lot of first time authors who land one simple go with the first person willing to work with them rather than send out another 50 query letters hoping someone better comes along.
The closet I've come is an R&R from an agent who was also a lawyer (I jokingly described my manuscript as Faust meets Grisham). Unfortunately, he kept giving me the advice of show don't tell but I don't think we were using that term the same way. I think what he meant was he wanted something genre-based and mostly composed of scenes, and not something striving to be literary, but I never did figure it out.
Hi I’m curious about why you feel an agent needs to be an editor as well? This is to ensure the book is as ready as it can be before it goes to publishers? Would the publisher not have an editor that also wants a crack at the work? What if you already worked with an editor to complete your manuscript?