I was a little quiet for November and December but I have an AMAZING reason why. No, it’s not I got carried away baking cookies (well, I did but that’s not the reason).
I signed with an agent!!
Can you believe it? I cannot. LOL. It’s been my dream for so long to find a passionate and skilled partner in my publishing journey and I have that now in Anjanette Barr of Dunham Literary!
It took more than two years to get to this point; I began working on books in June 2020. The second book I queried took me 18 months to write, then five months of querying before I got an offer. For my fellow writers, I thought I’d list the querying resources that helped me.
The Manuscript Academy — This is where I learned how to write a query, grab an agent’s attention, and make my pages sing. I booked multiple consultations as my query and pages developed to get several rounds of feedback to further hone my pitch and first pages. The founders, Jessica and Julie, and their Minister of Happiness, Mary, really want writers to succeed and are straightforward but kind, encouraging, and helpful. I eventually also taught a few classes for them in author websites, which was an AMAZING experience. I loved helping other writers make their websites better (and get them started!). RIGHT NOW until Jan 19, 2023, you can win a free month of MSA Gold Membership from my signing announcement post on Twitter!
The Manuscript Academy Podcast — MSA’s podcast was my constant companion on my daily walks. I’d turn it on, listen, and learn.
Jane Friedman — Jane is amazing. She is THE industry expert in publishing. Her free querying resources were so helpful. I based my nonfiction proposal on her template. Follow her on Twitter to keep up with industry news and new resources for writers.
Manuscript Wishlist — One thing I think I did really well when looking for an agent was research, research, research. I SCOURED agent websites, wishlists, past sales, and social media accounts to figure out who would be the best matches for my manuscript. Manuscript Wishlist is a huge help in understanding what agents are looking for. You can also search the #MSWL hashtag on Twitter (see below for more on searching Twitter).
Query Tracker — I bought a paid membership ($25/year) for Query Tracker (you can do some things for free but I wanted to see the agent response timelines and get some other paid features). It’s a really handy way to keep up on which agents are open to queries, what they are open to, and their submission requirements (but always double-check the agency website to confirm!). You can use QueryTracker to organize your querying as well. You can also search for agents open to your genre and see agent timelines for responses. And, for (most) agents who use Query Manager, you can link your Query Manager submits to Query Tracker so you can see the aging on the query and where it is in that agent’s queue. Their Thursday emails with “what’s changed” were a helpful summary of which agents had just opened and when agents changed genres. QT is getting an upgrade so now is a great time to check it out!
Publishers Marketplace — I bought a paid membership here for the months when I was researching agents. Looking at an agent’s past sales can show you what they repped and sold so you can see if your manuscript might fit into their list. You can also look up who reps particular authors, so you can take comps to your book and find out which agents repped their authors. However, PM isn’t foolproof. It won’t be helpful for newer agents with few or no sales (unless you want to look at the agency as a whole) and not all agents report to Publishers Marketplace.
Twitter searches — Twitter’s advanced search can find helpful hashtags like #MSWL or #SFF or #YA. To make it more targeted, go to the agent’s profile you are interested in, use the search bar then click “Advanced search” under the Search Filters on the right (or use this handy link I grabbed to take you directly to the advanced search!). That will open a panel where you can enter search criteria in multiple fields. In “All these words” type in the hashtag or word you want to look for in the agent’s Tweets, then in “From these accounts” type in the agent’s Twitter handle, starting with the @. Click “Search” and you’ll see results of posts with that word/hashtag in that agent’s tweets. I used this for words connected to my manuscript’s main topics to see if the agent was interested in them, like “STEM” and “nonfiction”. I also followed A LOT of agents who repped kidlit and nonfiction. This gave me an idea of what the agents were like, how they talked about their work and their clients, and what they were interested in. It was another way to gauge if my work might be right for them and if they seemed like someone I would want to work with.
Literary Rambles — Blogs like this one that interview agents helped me learn agents’ interests, voices, and how they talk about the industry and their work. It can give you an idea of whether you might mesh with them. Plus, they often have giveaways! Googling the agent’s name will bring up interviews and articles with their name. Read up!
Networking! — Networking with fellow writers was really helpful in several ways. First, encouragement. You’re going to need it. Second, tips, cautions, and advice. Especially when you get close to signing, asking fellow writers what to look for and look out for is INVALUABLE. Third, writer friends can give you the benefit of their querying experience, especially in agents or agencies they liked. A conversation I had with a fellow writer led to me querying the agency I signed with. She’d had really good interactions with them. I had the same experience with agents that passed on my manuscript but were really good to me during the querying process. I passed their names along to other writers who I thought should consider querying them. I should emphasize that when I started this book journey in 2020, I did not know anyone writing children’s books, so I started from scratch. I found other writers through Manuscript Academy meetups, Twitter, writer associations, and referrals from people I know. I also joined two writers Discords, one for the geographic area I live in and another for middle grade writers.
Hope these querying resources help you!