Good News Avalanche!

Hey everyone. Sorry this space has been utterly and horribly neglected. To say the last couple of years have been awful is a complete understatement. Sure there were a few okay things here and there, but it was mostly just one major bout of being dumped on after another.

Until now.

For real. The last couple of weeks have been utterly unbelievable. It has been an utter good news avalanche! An avalanche of awesome if you will. I have to wonder if the world is making up for lost time. But the rational side of me keeps saying, it’s just a lot of hard work and perseverance all paying off at once.

It all started with a job offer for a first line manager position, something that I’ve been working on for a while. And after things got a little too crazy I had decided I would put applying for management jobs on the back burner. Right after I did that, an opportunity fell into my lap. I received the offer on a Friday and took the weekend to think it over before accepting. But during that weekend I was flooded with more good news.

Saturday, January 27, 2018 I was at a robotics qualifier with the all-girls robotics team I mentor. They were kicking ass and taking names. The judges were stopping by at regular intervals to check in on them and ask questions (which is always a good sign) and they were winning a lot of their matches. In the middle of all that chaos, I got an email from an agent that had my full manuscript. I fully expected it to say thanks but no thanks in some sort of agenty words. But the preview pane looked a bit different than I expected.

“Jamie, I very much enjoyed reading TRACKER220 and would like to offer…”

And that was it. I popped that sucker open and almost fainted from shock. The next word….

REPRESENTATION

After all this time I thought I was going crazy. Was this some kind of dream? I quickly replied to the agent that I needed to let other agents know who had my material and asked for some time. The agent agreed and scheduled a call with me. Then I sat myself on the sidelines and quickly fired off an email to the other agent who had my full manuscript, an agent who had asked for a revise and resubmit. I was still biting my nails wondering if she would like my revision or not, but tried to put my thoughts aside and return my focus to the robotics meet.

About an hour and a half later I got a reply in my inbox from agent #2.

“This is so funny because I’ve been reading and loving the revisions you made.”

The agent said she would finish up in a couple of days and let me know her decision. Surely that was a good sign? But what if she hated the ending and decided to turn me down? Either way I still had an offer on the table. But quietly sat biting my nails anyway.

Two days later, on a Monday morning, I received a reply from Agent #2.

“Would you be available for a call on Friday?”

Was this what I thought it was? Probably, but what if it wasn’t? I had to wait until Friday to find out for sure.

So I waited and waited and waited until Friday finally came and I got to talk to Agentt #2 then talked to Agent #1 a few hours later.

Both were kind and answered my bazillions of questions. And I’m glad I had a list because I’m sure I would have forgotten something if I didn’t. Both let me contact some of their clients to ask questions and all clients seemed extremely happy with their agents and had nothing but good things to say. But after the calls and the emails, I was pretty sure I knew who I wanted to pick. Despite that I definitely took some time to think it over and weigh my options.

I had met Agent #1 at a conference and she clearly had a passion for my story. Her ears had perked up when I mentioned the tagline which is why I originally queried her. She also had a great submission strategy and we both have a lot in common and got along great on the phone.

Agent #2 on the other hand, I had come across after seeing an interview she had done for MSWL and had mentioned one of her favorite books. I had messaged her on Twitter and had a brief conversation about the interview. I also referenced that conversation in my initial query to her. But months after the initial full request, she came back saying she loved the story but couldn’t offer rep and gave some very detailed feedback as to why. She also said if I wanted to do a revision, she’d be happy to take another look. I sat on the information for a while then decided I agreed with her feedback and that I wanted to try a revision. Her notes pushed me as a writer in a way I never thought possible. And when I talked to her on the phone, she had glowing things to say about the story and additional ideas for my manuscript that would continue to make it stronger.

So ultimately I decided to go with Agent #2, Kira Watson!!!! And I’m so excited to have joined #TeamKira and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with her and seeing where her advice and guidance takes me.

And for the numbers folks here’s my querying history… note the dates, persistence does pay off!

Manuscript #1 did not finish

Manuscript #2

First query sent 1/26/2013

51 queries sent

47 query rejections

4 partial requests that turned into rejections

7% request rate

Manuscript #3

First query sent 11/6/2014

96 queries sent

81 query rejections

9 partials requested (6 from contests/twitter pitches)

1 partial upgraded to a full

8 rejected partials

9 additional full requests (2 from contests)

7 full rejections

1 revise and resubmit

2 offers of representation

The first offer came 5 years and 1 day after the initial query was sent in 2013)

18% request rate

1 AGENT SIGNED

For those doing quick math, that’s right around 150 rejections. And I queried my second manuscript off and on for just over 3 years. I pulled back several times, rethought things, and dove back in (I’ll talk more about this in another blog post coming soon). It’s also important to note, that my perfect agent match wasn’t an agent when I started querying. So for those still waiting on your agent match, keep in mind, your agent may not be there now, but may be there one day soon.

There were definite times I thought this was never going to happen for me. And so many times I almost outright quit. (just ask my CPs) But I’m so glad I didn’t because I finally FINALLY HAVE AN AGENT!!!