How I Got My Agent

A long and sometimes frustrating journey with a happy ending!

This is going to be a long one, so grab your snacks and a comfy seat, and let’s get into it!

Like many aspiring authors, I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I started scribbling ideas in notebooks as a kid, then graduated to short story contests as a teen. I always knew I wanted to write a book, but self-doubt and the stress of life got in the way. That is, until about a year into the pandemic. I was living alone and definitely going a bit stir crazy, and I started taking myself out to coffee shops to get out of the house. I’d had an idea for a story since my high school days, so I pulled up an old short story of mine, and set out turning it into a book. 

I had no idea what I was doing, there were many, many hiccups and by the time I had my first finished draft it had travelled far from the shores of where I started. But I’d done it, I wrote a book. It was a dark YA crossover high fantasy about a girl joining the order of assassins that killed her family, to take them down from within. It had lots of the familiar tropes I, as a reader, loved (enemies to lovers, magic trials, found family, the works!). 

Then came the next step, querying it. I had no idea how the process worked, I wrote up a query letter (a pretty awful one) and sent out my query to probably far too many agents. I had one full request after about 3 months, and the rest were form rejections or CNRs (about 40 in total). So, I did some research, I joined reddit communities, I read blogs, I watched YouTube videos, and I tried again. I sent out my new query letter and to my surprise I actually got a few bites. Not many, but it was progress! After that I received a lot of form rejections, and the lack of feedback was starting to really frustrate me, there were many things I could have been doing wrong. Perhaps my query letter was too generic, or my word count (115k) was too high, or maybe the issue lay in my opening pages, or all of the above. 

Around this time I found writer twitter and it honestly saved me. I actually saw that my experience wasn’t unique, tons of other amazing writers were going through the same thing. I felt less alone. Then, I received my first real piece of feedback, an R&R. I went back to the drawing board, I came back to the book with fresh eyes and pretty much rewrote large chunks of it. I took a break from querying, I wrote another book in the same world, determined to fall in love with the characters again. I came back to the trenches feeling better, I had learned how to write a proper query, I’d gotten my word count down to 100k, I’d run the story past new beta readers, I felt ready. Unfortunately, aside from a few requests, I was met with more of the same.

Around this time I was starting to realize that this book might not be the one. As much as I loved it (it was my first book baby, after all) I had to admit, the lack of traction after a year and a half of querying was the universe trying to tell me something. But I was determined to try one last time. 

The stress and challenges of querying were really starting to get to me, so to distract myself and avoid losing my love for writing all together, I decided to start a new story. The idea had been percolating in my mind for some time inspired by my love of dark academia and Fall, so I decided now was the moment. So, as I sent out my final batch of queries, participated in yet another round of pitch events for my original book, and I began to write my new one. And to my surprise, I fell in love with it. 

I never thought I could love a new book as much as I loved my first one, but there I was, obsessively thinking about it, excited to dive into the world. I found an amazing group of writer friends (you know who you are) who helped me through the dark times, and after another half year, I was finally ready to shelve my first book (see my final stats below). I’d fallen in love with my new book and I knew it was time. So, with my attention no longer divided I could dive into perfecting my new story and getting it ready. 

This time, I prepared for the trenches. After a year of writing and editing the book, I spent a month re-working my query letter dozens of times, I ran it by friends, I even went back to the reddit pages for advice. I got beta readers for my book, and made sure I edited it extensively. I made mood boards and showcased the book on twitter for months before I queried, participating in events like #Questpit which I found were an excellent way to gain support and put your book on an agent’s radar. I was determined to do it right this time. So, when I finally re-entered the trenches with my new book in the beginning of August, 2024, I was nervous but more prepared than I had ever been for my first book. 

What happened next was beyond my wildest expectations. I sent out about 17 queries in my first batch. Some to agents who had expressed interest in my #Quest Pit post, and the rest to a carefully curated list whose MSWLs matched my book. And then I waited. Not even two weeks later, I got an exciting full request! I was over the moon. My work had paid off. This was already a massive improvement over my first querying attempt. So, I sent it off, not quite daring to hope. After my first experience, I didn’t expect to hear anything for at least a couple of months. But, to my immense surprise and excitement, not five days later I got an email from that same agent, asking for a call! 

Cue the immediate freak out. I couldn’t believe it! I had barely queried anyone yet, so I immediately sent out another 9 queries to the rest of the agents on my first batch list, and I waited in a ball of anxiety for the call. 

It was an offer! I was ecstatic! I quickly nudged the other agents and after the longest 2 weeks of my life, on September 5th I signed with my amazing agent Hayley Steed at Janklow & Nesbit UK. Hayley’s vision and passion for my story was everything I ever hoped for in an agent and I knew immediately we would be a great fit. 

As weird as it sounds, I’m actually so grateful for my first book and it’s failed time in the trenches, because it taught me a lot about writing and I never would have gotten this book to where it is without that knowledge. I am so grateful that the journey brought me to Hayley and I can’t wait to see where we take this book together!

My stats for my first book (total querying time: 2.5 years):

My stats for this book (total querying time: 2.5 weeks):

If you want to follow along on what’s next in this journey with me, I’m on Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok, and my website.

My biggest advice to writers still in the trenches would be to not stop writing. It’s hard to let go of a book (especially if it’s your first) but writing a new story showed me that sometimes it’s just not the right moment for a book. That doesn’t mean it will never be! Also, find your people, a supportive group of writer friends can make all the difference and can inspire and support you when you feel ready to give up. 

Thanks for sticking with me this long, and I hope my story can help anyone else currently struggling in the trenches!