Kayla’s Author’s Journey: I have an agent!

I know most of you probably already read the news from Becky’s one year anniversary post, but I’ve finally had some time to sit down and write about it myself!

I have a literary agent, and I could not be happier. It’s been quite a journey so far, and I still have a long way to go. The most difficult adjustment has been not spending my free time looking on MSWL. Honestly, I didn’t realize agent-hunting had taken up so much of my life. That said, it was definitely worth it.

For those of you who don’t know, my agent-hunting adventure started at the end of March when I sent out my first set of 10 query letters. Unlike the last time I tried getting a book published (back before I researched how to write a query letter), I got immediate responses and requests for my manuscript. I also received some immediate rejections, but the rejections are honestly better than silence (I also stopped counting query rejections as “real rejections” since those agents had not had the chance to actually examin my work).

Each month I sent out 8-10 more queries, and I did get some requests that ultimately led to rejections.

I participated in multiple pitch events on Twitter (#kisspitch, #pitdark, and #pitmad) and received some interest there, but that ultimately led to rejections as well.

I attended the San Diego Writing Workshop in August and interviewed three agents followed by the Florida Writing Conference in June where I interviewed many more agents (both conferences were digital). I met my agent, Steven Hutson, at the Florida Writing Conference, where he immediately requested my full. Less than a month later, he contacted me with an offer of representation.

When Steven made an offer, I contacted the other agents I’d queried as well as the 5 other agents who had my full manuscript. Ultimately, I stuck with Steve because he answered all my annoying questions with exactly the answers I needed to hear, he had glowing reviews from his other authors (who I spoke to), and I liked his plan for selling my book.

I spent most of last weekend editing my manuscript based on Steven and the WordWise Media team’s notes, and it’s currently with my BETA readers. I feel a bit like I’m back to the waiting game, but I’m excited.

I plan to keep everyone updated here, and I’d also like to help other authors who want to be traditionally published if I can. If you are one of those authors, or if you’re interested in the publishing process in general, please leave some questions in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer them there or in future posts.

As always, thank you for supporting me on my journey.