This story is interesting in so many ways. It shows something about contests and how agents work together. Kelly also gives us a huge does of inspiration right before Pitchwars starts. Enjoy!
Here
are the two words I would use to describe the feeling of getting the call:
MORTAL TERROR.
Not
that my agent, Kathleen Rushall, is at all terrifying. She is amazing and
helpful and great to speak with. It was just that the stakes of this call,
which would be only a few minutes out of my whole life, seemed impossibly high.
Not only is Kathleen a very successful agent with a strong sales track record, I’d
spent what seemed like a billion years in the query trenches. It was possible
that this could be my one and only chance to make an agent connection. And it
was equally possible that I could say or do something totally idiotic.
Backing
up a little bit, FAT GIRL ON A PLANE, which will be published in August 2017 by
Harlequin Teen (shameless plug: I will love you forever if you add it to your Goodreads TBR shelf), was
not my first book. When I decided to start writing seriously again, I worked on
a YA mystery. In retrospect, I can see why I wasn’t successful in landing an
agent with my first book. It contained elements I later recognized as over
utilized in young adult fiction and there were pacing issues I never managed to
fully resolve. But I spent the better part of two years writing, rewriting,
querying and re-querying it.
Once
I made the decision to shelve that book and move on, I decided I didn’t want to
make the same mistakes I made the first time around – especially querying way too
early. To combat this, with FAT GIRL ON A PLANE I decided, early on, to enter
an online contest, Michelle’s New Agent Contest. I recommend these kinds of
contests, and Michelle’s specifically, to any querying writer. While contests
don’t work for everyone and there are many, many success stories from
conventional queries, these events are a great way to meet other writers and
receive mentoring (as I received from the wonderful Natasha Raulerson). For me,
New Agent was a safeguard against beginning the query process too early. I
thought if I could get past the contest judges, I was probably in okay shape to
approach agents.
During
the contest, agent Patricia Nelson requested my MS. I had been a fan of
Patricia’s for a long time. I followed her on social media and loved her taste
in books. A few days after sending along my files, I got a message from
Patricia saying that she enjoyed my book but felt it might be a better fit for
her colleague, Kathleen Rushall.
I’ll
admit, this surprised me. I’d read that, within many agencies, the agents work
collaboratively. But I always thought that when agents said they’d pass work on
to someone else if they believed it would be a good fit, they were giving a
gentle brush off. It was the publishing equivalent of, “We’ll keep your resumé
on file.” But Patricia did me an incredible favor for which I will always be
grateful.
About
a week later, Kathleen e-mailed me and said she’d like to set up a time to
talk. I thought, “I’m getting the call! I’m getting the call!” The is where the
mortal terror comes in. After I read the e-mail, I’m pretty sure I went around
asking every writer friend I have what is okay to say and not okay to say. I
fully charged my phone, made sure I had a back up phone, set an alarm, checked
and double checked the volume of my ringtone and even cleaned my desk.
I’ve
got kind of a Type A personality. I even wrote out a little script for myself
so that I didn’t start blathering about my knitting projects or obsession with
the TV show Pretty Little Liars.
Kathleen
was so gracious during our conversation and told me what she loved about my
book. It was such an amazing rush to have someone with expertise in publishing
validate my writing. But as the call went on, she also began to talk about
things she didn’t like about the MS or things she felt that editors would not
respond to positively. I had the sinking feeling that this was not quite THE
CALL. At the conclusion, she offered me an R&R.
At
first I was sort of depressed, I wanted to get THE CALL. The kind where you get
your agent and go out and get 5,000 cupcakes and dance all around. But I
realized progress was being made and the changes Kathleen suggested made sense.
I got back to work. I sent her my revised version and she liked the changes. A
few weeks later, we had a for real THE CALL that ended in an offer of
representation.
It’s
kind of funny because I did so much prep work for the first conversation, but
when I got the real call I was in the carline at my daughter’s school, waiting
for the release bell to ring. My dog, Cocoa, jumped out of the car window right
as I finished speaking with Kathleen. The first thing I did after landing an
agent was chase my Yorkie all across a middle school campus.
In
retrospect, I’m glad things progressed the way they did. When you’re out there
in the query trenches, one of the hardest things to accept is that there is no
real advantage to landing an agent if your work isn’t in a place where he or
she can successfully sell it. So I ended up feeling very positive that my offer
was based on a draft Kathleen felt good about. It was also a lesson in being
patient, which I think is essential during all stages of publishing. The path
to publication can be lined with long waits and delays and, during the process,
patience really is a virtue.
I
am so excited to say that, in 2017, my dream of becoming a published author
will come true. And if you’re still querying, take heart and #keepgoing! I hope
I’ll be reading your “Getting the Call” story next.
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A third generation native Arizonan, Kelly deVos can tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about cactus, cattle and climate. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Arizona State University. She is represented by Kathleen Rushall of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and her debut novel, FAT GIRL ON A PLANE, will be published in August 2017 by Harlequin Teen.
Links:
Blog: http://insanity.today
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KdeVosAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydevos/
Thank you for this post. After being in the "no comment" category of last week's PBParty I was feeling down and discouraged. Your story reminded me to just keep at it and someday I'll get "the call," too. Thanks, Kelly. And Michelle. You both made my Monday. :)
ReplyDeleteSuch an encouraging story! I, too, worked forever on a YA mystery that brought me no success while querying, and I too, had to learn to shelve and move on. I plan to enter my second manuscript, which is in way better shape, into Pitchwars this year. Hoping I will have a similar story someday.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!! Thanks for the encouragement. I love hearing (reading) the how it happened story's. No two are ever the same. I was just about to send Kathleen a PB query. Fingers crossed she like it.
ReplyDelete