My Three Year Journey to Overnight Success: How I Got My Agent

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, and I’m certainly excited to share my journey because it was an exciting one. But I’ve also been a little hesitant to share said journey (feel like I’m on the Bachelor with how many times I’ve already said journey) because I know it’s not the norm. And while it might be helpful for some people (hopefully), it’s also totally okay if you don’t feel like reading an “overnight success” story. To be clear, it wasn’t overnight and I still have yet to obtain the kind of success we all want (money money money). But I did wind up with a fabulous agent who I am super thrilled to have in my corner. So here’s how I got there!

On June 21, 2017, a young, naive girl who knew nothing about publishing decided to enter a Twitter pitch contest. As one does when their book has just been completed and hasn’t yet been read by anyone. (This is sarcasm, please don’t do this.) I randomly saw the Nelson Literary Agency was having a pitch contest and figured WHY THE HELL NOT. There were so many reasons I should have not, not the least among them that I had done zero research into querying/agents/publishing. I just new I had a book like thing that I wanted to become more of a concrete book thing. So I pitched. And I got a like. A like from an assistant, which basically (in my mind) meant I was destined for immediate greatness. I happily sent in my (terrible) query and (yikes) first pages and proceeded to check my email every five minutes. Alas, my rejection followed shortly after. But I was not to be deterred! One intern liked my tweet and therefore I had a winner on my hands. From July of 2017 to November of 2017 I sent my definitely not ready for consumption manuscript to thirty agents. Top agents. Like some of the best in the business. I didn’t receive a single request for more material, and after finally being smart and getting some feedback from beta readers, I decided to shelve the project.

Onto book two! This time I decided to write a contemporary romance (first book was YA dystopian–why just why). And not going to lie, I really really love this book. I sent it to betas before querying this time (#progress), made lots of revisions, did my research, and went into the whole thing much more prepared than the first time. On February 14, 2018 I entered KissPitch and got a couple of likes. From February 2018 to September 2018, I sent out twenty-six queries. This time I received three partial requests and one full. Improvement! Looking back, I definitely could have sent this manuscript out to more agents, but I was ready to move on, and so I shelved this one too.

Book three here we come! I spent a lot of time writing book three, a rom-com, taking the lessons I learned from my first two manuscripts and actually applying them to my writing (imagine that!). I edited and revised extensively and sent my first query in July of 2019. Between July of 2019 and September of 2019, I sent twenty-eight queries. This round got me two full requests, with one being “a close call” according to the rejection. I decided I needed some expert help, so I applied for Pitch Wars at the end of September and hoped for the best. And I got the best, in the form of my amazing mentors Alexa Martin and Suzanne Park.

Book three went through a huge transformation during Pitch Wars. I think more than fifty percent of the book was changed, and I honestly will never be able to say it enough: the experience was worth its weight in gold. My whole writing process has improved so much from working with these two all-stars. And I came out of it with a manuscript I was (and still am) really proud of. The Pitch Wars showcase went live in the beginning of February and I was able to send requested materials and additional queries on February 11th. I sent thirty-seven queries in one day. On February 12th, I received my first offer. I stopped keeping track of requests at that point, but I did receive multiple offers during the following two weeks. I signed with my fabulous agent Kimberly Whalen  on February 27th and I could not be happier.

So what seems like an overnight success story was really more like three years in the making. I am so so eternally grateful for the Pitch Wars process, and my mentors who went above and beyond the call of duty, and who remain so helpful (and fun and awesome and hilarious) as I navigate the next steps in the journey to being published.

I’m happy to answer any of your Pitch Wars questions, drop them in the comments or hit me up on social media. It really is the best and I’m so thankful it led me to my superstar agent!