The Pre-BEA Buzz Tour and Agentversary!!!

Dear readers, much excitement is brewing in my neck of the woods.  There are two awesome things coming up.  Big, wonderful, exciting things that I've been secretly planning for a while, and they involve you and prizes!!!

But let's start at the beginning.  One year ago, the fantastic Mollie Glick flew to Kansas City to take me to lunch and talk about Crewel.  Last year at this time I was fielding agent phone calls and emails and trying to make a very important decision.  That's right - it's my agentversary!  Can you believe it's already been a year, and that it's only been a year?!  Cra-cra-crazy!  To celebrate I'm holding  a mini writing contest on the blog next week.  All you have to do is pop by Monday through Friday and write a few lines inspired by the photo I'll post each morning!  Then I'll choose my favorites and with the help of some secret writerly peeps, choose a winner.  The prize?  A query critique from Mollie!.  Now I've seen Mollie critique a query and believe me this is not an opportunity you want to miss.*

That's not all, dear readers.  No, the fun is only just beginning.  As you may know Crewel is a BEA Buzz Pick, and I've chosen 5 bloggers to get a sneak peek.  From May 28-June 1st, they'll be hosting a Pre-BEA Buzz Tour with interviews, sneak peeks, and giveaways.  You do not want to miss this!



 

So have a lovely weekend.  The fun starts on Monday!

 

*Due to scheduling, Mollie is offering the critique for late June/early July so she can give it her full attention.

What makes an agent the right agent?

Several of my online friends have been entertaining agents offers this week.  Some have several offering and others are not sure the offering agent is the right fit.  Contrary to what you think when you start querying - that any agent who reads your book and likes it is the right agent - sometimes it doesn't work that way.  It can be stressful to say yes to an agent whether it be because you have options or you're just not sure.  So I thought I'd write a little bit about what I learned from the querying agent process in the hope that it puts some minds at ease and answers questions other writers might have.

1. Truth:  Every agent is different.  There is no formula for how they or when they will contact you.  Some are formal in their responses, giving little away.  Others ooze enthusiasm.  Some would never dream of contacting you after hours or on the weekend while others will call you at 9 pm to offer.  I had an agent extend the offer over email and then ask for a phone call.  There's no way to know what to expect of each agent.  Heck, they may offer to fly out to meet you.

2.  Myth: You'll know as soon as you get off the phone.  Maybe, you will, but just like some people experience love at first sight, a lot of people don't.  You might still have questions or want to look at the contract.  Or maybe you will like the person a lot, but think they might not be the agent for you.  It's a decision you should probably sleep on.  You may want to ask for a second call to confirm.

3.  Truth:  You may love an agent that's not the right agent.  I would be lying if I said I just knew it was Mollie hands down from the moment we spoke.  I loved Mollie, but I loved some other agents too.

4.  Myth: An agent is better than no agent.  If you get this bad feeling from an agent or they want you to change things and it feels all wrong, then I would advise that no agent is better than the wrong agent.  You can keep querying.  Turning down one agent is not the end of the process, and it takes a lot of courage, but if your gut says it's wrong -- trust it.

You might wonder how I wound up choosing Mollie.  Well, the truth is that I almost didn't.  I was so intimidated by her, not only because of her professional accomplishments and her passion, but because she had these very high expectation for me and my book.  Expectations I was scared I couldn't meet.  But it was this exact issue that forced me to spend more time talking and emailing with her.  I wanted to see if I could get comfortable with her, because at the end of the day, I knew she was going to be a great business partner.  And then something magical happened.  When I thought of a question, the first person I wanted to ask was Mollie.  What would she think of this article on YA trends?  How do publishers do this or that?  And that's when I realized Mollie was my right agent.

May each of you find the agent that stays up all night doing editorial notes while you're up working on the first batch.  The agent who goes to bed early the night before editor offers because she can't wait for the morning emails --also just like you.  The agent who sits in a closet at a fancy dinner reception to discuss what's going on with the book.

The right agent will know your book inside and out and champion it at every opportunity.  They will be excited to build a career with you, and you'll be excited to call them your agent.

Fun stuff!

Well to get my mind off the bouts of projectile vomiting the minions are shooting my way (literally!), I thought I'd share some cool stuff I did this week.  First, my success story is up on Querytracker! (Read it here.)  My query is included as part of the interview.

And I also signed my contract with Mollie.

Yep, I'm pretty happy!  Almost takes my mind off the number of baths and loads of laundry I've had to do today.  Almost.

Part 3: Announcing My Agent

My agent - I do like the sound of that.

After a lot of soul searching, many phone calls, emails, google stalking, I am so proud to announce my agent.

Drumroll....

I am now represented by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media.

Thanks for going on this wild ride with me.

Part 2: How WriteOnCon Changed My Life in Less than a Week

At the end of April WriteOnCon hosted a live query event.  I knew I wanted to participate, but I didn't have a good query yet. I sat down with my husband and read him all the queries I had written.  And he was...nonplussed.  So he took my computer and started fiddling around; an hour later he handed me back a very experimental query.  It wasn't quite there, but there was something about it that actually sounded like the voice of my novel.  I spent another couple hours with it and then posted it to the website, hoping it wasn't too different from traditional query form.

But it wouldn't let me add it to the thread.  I tried several times and I kept getting a message that it would have to be approved by a mod.  I texted my critique partner: Did you have to wait for your query to post?  She replied that she hadn't.  I waited a couple hours the next morning to see if it would show up, but it didn't and more and more queries were grabbing the last few spots.  I finally broke down and messaged a mod.  She found it in the spam filter and, lucky for me, posted it in the spot it would have if I hadn't waited for approval.

I spent the weekend nervous, but excited for feedback.  I was more scared she wouldn't get to my query than of hearing what she had to say.  The Monday night of the event, I wanted to puke.  I knew it was time to start querying, but I was dragging my feet.  

Long story short: she liked it.  She asked for more, and I gleefully sent it off.  The next morning there was a request for the full manuscript in my inbox.  I cried (yes, I do that a lot these days).  And encouraged I sent off more queries.  The next two responses were asking for fulls too.  I was beginning to feel like I was dreaming.  Then a form rejection put me back in my place. And then another form rejection from someone I really liked and then a partial request.

On Sunday, I got my first email requesting a call.  I cried (I really don't cry this much).  My husband said I was scary (note to significant others: not the thing to say).  The next morning I woke up excited, scared, asking if agents ever called to tell you that you suck.  Before the call, I got two more full manuscript requests.  I was beginning to feel overwhelmed but in a wonderful way.

I spoke with the agent, and she loved the book.  She offered rep and I told her I had other fulls out, she advised me to send email nudges to everyone, including the ones I hadn't heard from, since it had been less than a week.  I did and by that night I was up to ten full requests.

Then I got another call from an agent who read the sample pages and wanted to chat to see how serious I was and ask me to send the full.  Three hours later, she asked for a phone call the next morning.  Then another agent asked for one in the afternoon.  I felt anxious and happy and overwhelmed and hopeful and uncertain all at the same time.  Both agents offered.  That night an agent called at 8:45 to talk and offer rep.  I was up to four offers!

The second agent than asked to fly out to meet me.

Um, I'm a stay-at-home mom in the midwest.  These things don't happen to me, but last Wednesday I went on my first business lunch.  I got us lost like 10 freaking times, because I rarely go into the city anymore.  And I'm sure she's super-jealous of my awesome mini-van, but it was very cool and showed me just how serious she was about the book.  Also I got to eat crab cakes.  Yum!

By that evening, three more agents asked to speak on the phone.  On Thursday, I spent over five hours on the phone.  My poor husband dragged my kids all over town.

In the meantime, three more agents asked for the full. Two bowed out with congrats as well as the agent with the partial.  For those keeping track that's:

13 full requests

1 partial request

and a handful of forms along the way.  Admittedly I just delete them and move on, but for those who wonder: yes, they do sting still

3 agents bowing out (2 fulls, 1 partial)

and 7 offers of representation.

And all because I attended a WriteOnCon query event.  That's how those fabulous authors from WOC changed my life in less than a week.  I can't stress the opportunity their events provide.  Having an agent see my query there put me on their radar in a way the slush pile could not.  I will be eternally grateful.  And will I be at every WOC event I can make in the future? Hell yes!  So a super big thank you to the organizers.

Of course, now I have seven offers, but I can only choose one of the awesome people who offered representation and the deadline to get back to me is tonight.  

to be continued...

Staying grounded

There'a whirlwind of activity in my house: calls, emails, arranging child care to take calls and what not.  I'd be lying if I said it wasn't exciting, but thankfully I have the minions to keep me grounded.  I just changed a diaper, put in some laundry, picked blue playdoh off the floor, and I still haven't eaten today.

Syd, minion #2, perhaps sensing mommy's stress and excitement, has been toddling over to give me her little baby hugs, complete with pats on the back.  I'm so grateful for these real moments to anchor me.