I Have an Agent!
Joanie caught in the act of shaking her head while I snowshoed on a snowy marsh.
Or rather, I have a new agent, Mary Cummings with Great River Literary.
This came as a surprise.
First, a recap of my agent experiences for the past several months.
In April 2024, I said good-bye to my first agent. Fiona signed me based on my dog novel. I revised it based on her feedback, but we never talked about my revision, and she never submitted it anywhere. Was she disappointed by the changes I made? Was she being reminded how much work a debut author could be? I don’t know, but the lack of communication made it clear to me that we needed to go our separate ways.
In May I started querying agents about a different book, my middle grade zoo mystery.
In July I received Mary’s request for a full manuscript. She initially asked for the first and last 25 pages and then quickly asked for the full. Ooh, I thought, I’m off to a great start.
As it turns out, Mary’s was the only request. After her quick request for the full but then nothing after that, I figured she wasn’t interested.
I was getting discouraged about the prospects for my zoo mystery. I’d collected about 3 dozen passes from agents on it.
In November, after finishing the revision of my dog novel, I started querying that book. I paused querying over the holidays and then resumed in early January 2025.
Although I assumed Mary wasn’t interested in my zoo mystery, I thought I should nudge her just in case and let her know I was querying another novel now.
On Jan. 3, I emailed her a nudge. And that’s when the surprise happened.
She replied the next day and apologized for keeping me waiting so long. She also said it’s “a very fun read,” briefly described the challenging middle grade market, and wrote, “I’m happy to talk with you about potential representation.”
We spoke on the phone a few days later and a few days after that, I accepted Mary’s offer of representation.
Next time, I’ll tell you how I almost blew up this opportunity.
What I’m reading and enjoying
The word “spies” in Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger’s Swimming with Spies caught my attention on the new MG fiction shelf at the library. It feels like contemporary fiction but it’s historical to kids because it’s set during the 2014 Russian invasion/annexation of Crimea. The “spies” of the title are dolphins! They were used by the Russians years ago to detect mines and do other sneaky stuff, but now they’re residents of the dolphinarium run by Sofiya’s dad. This novel has fantastic stakes! There’s a great mix of internal and external pressures on Sofiya.
The Write It Scared podcast
I spoke with Stacy Frazer on The Write It Scared Podcast about “Unlocking Your Characters.” Stacy asks great questions. Her podcast is aimed at fiction writers and working through self-doubt.
