I’ve always wanted to write this post. Not only because it would mean I have an agent, but because reading these stories from other authors inspired me to keep trying.
I hope I can do the same for someone else.
When I sat down to plan this post out, I realized I had a thousand more people to thank than I thought. Because this journey did not begin with THE STORM CROW and end with my wonderful agent.
It began when as a kid, I wrote a Scooby-Doo story that my mother told me was wonderful.
It began when she stayed up late with my brother and me, reading Harry Potter.
It began when I said, “I want to be a writer.” And no one in my family laughed, or said any of the thousand variations of, “But you’ll need a real job, too.”
And much more recently, it began when I wrote an absolutely horrible book about a city full of every magical creature you could possible imagine and absolutely no plot.
I learned from it, though. I learned to write descriptions through my character’s point of view, and how to pace a novel. I learned good characters don’t always do good things, and that fifty different types of magical creatures was maybe too much (still TBD, honestly). I learned to write a query, and how to query, and what it feels like when someone rejects something you’ve worked so very hard on.
I learned not to give up.
My first book received 100% rejections. I don’t have the stats on it and I don’t want them. All that matters is that when I began my second book, I had learned so much.
My second book – one I truly hope to publish one day – got me into the contest, Pitch to Publication. I worked with a wonderful editor named Melissa-Jane Fogarty, who helped me improve it immensely.
This time I learned about point of view, and voice, and the way you can play with information with multiple POV characters. I learned to build a world with rules that shape the plot and characters, and I learned how to love my own writing.
Between PitchtoPublication, and a few PitMad hearts, I received a few full and partial requests, as well as an offer from a small pub that I ultimately passed on. Because somewhere inside, I knew this story wasn’t ready. That I wasn’t ready.
Around then, I was completing my senior year of college. My final quarter, I took a creative writing class. My professor assigned us a writing prompt: turn a fairy tale on its head. So was born my third manuscript, a twisted retelling of Little Red Riding hood with some Redcap mythology thrown in.
This is another book I hope to revisit one day. In it, I put together everything I’d learned from my previous two books and wrote something I was genuinely proud of. So when I got into another contest, this time FicFest, I really thought this was the book. After several full requests, some from absolute dream agents, I really thought this was the book.
But in the end, each of them rejected the full, and for what felt like the thousandth time, I considered giving up.
Then I read a story about a little girl who fed her neighborhood crows. They brought her gifts in return. I’d always loved crows, and I loved that story. So I wrote one of my own, a strange little flash fiction about a girl trapped in a tower and the crows that brought her the world.
Somehow, I got from that little story to a book, originally titled THE CROW QUEEN.
Determined to make it farther this time, I hired an editor in Elizabeth Buege, whose services were incredibly helpful. When I entered PitchtoPublciation, four editors asked to read more. In the end, I got to work with the freaking awesome Kyra Nelson, who helped me tear apart my book and put it back together again.
Unfortunately, the contest didn’t have the most exciting end. Few agents participated in the agent round, but I still managed three full requests! This time, I knew something had to come of it. I felt it.
Once I’d sent out the requested fulls, I started querying. I got a full request. And then another. And another.
Ultimately, I sent out 55 queries. I received:
- 9 full requests (before notifying about my offer of rep).
- 5 partial requests.
- 1 partial request that became a full that became an R&R (Revise and Resubmit).
And then on March 21st, 2017, I received an offer of representation.
It happened while I was at work. I stared speechless at my computer long enough that my friend asked what was going on, and all I could do was point at the email. By the time she’d congratulated me and I’d explained what was happening to everyone around me, I was shaking.
I went outside and called my mom.
She said she knew I would be a writer from the day I wrote that Scooby-Doo story.
And now I am.
Because of these people who believed in me and in my writing. Because of the people who gave me the courage to believe in myself.
Because I didn’t give up, and if you’re reading this, I hope you never do either.
Keep fighting.
Keep writing. Every word is another step forward.
You can do this.
More Information: - Elizabeth Buege Editing Services - Kyra Nelson Editing Services - Also recommend Rebecca Faith Editorial