Approaching Agents #1: What did I do BEFORE querying agents?

An introduction to my Approaching Agents series - including my querying statistics

Hello, everyone.

Welcome to the first post in my Approaching Agents series, in which I document my journey from first query to signing with my agent, Sallyanne Sweeney, in October 2013.

Access to this series will normally be reserved for paid subscribers. However, because I want to give everyone a feel for what to expect from it, I’ve made this introductory post public (for the time being).

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During this series, I’ll be sharing:

• what I did in the lead up to querying agents

• the texts that I submitted

• details of my submissions and rejections, including feedback and timelines.

• what I did wrong

• what I did right – including the email, cover letter and manuscripts that I sent to Sallyanne

• general advice for aspiring authors about to approach agents.

(And if you’d like the full rundown of my rather circuitous journey from birth to publication, it’s available here.)

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At this point, I should probably remind you that there’s already a wealth of online material offering great tips and advice on how to query agents, such as this, this and this.

The advice I’ll provide won’t be ground-breaking or revelatory, because all the information one could require is already available with a quick search. There are no hidden secrets to success: a professional, well-researched, common-sense approach to querying is all that’s required – and some magnificent manuscripts, of course.

What I can provide, however, is a very detailed insight into my experience of the querying process, which I think will offer reassurance, hope and faith to anyone currently seeking representation.

Reassurance ­– because I, like many writers, received plenty of rejections before I received an offer.

Hope ­– because, despite making many mistakes and submitting some less-than-magnificent manuscripts, agents still recognised my potential. So if I can get an agent, you can too. (Honestly, I cringe looking back at all but one of my submissions – so enjoy perusing those!).

Faith (though inspiration might be a better word) – because I secured representation relatively quickly. Within 132 days of my first submission, to be precise.

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But before I delve into the details, here’s the context to my querying journey, and what I did to prepare for approaching agents…

In May 2013, with six weeks of placement left and a job lined up for September, I withdrew from my Primary PGCE, relieved, embarrassed, depressed – and clueless about what to do next (other than try to get myself better).

I began to write, because, for some reason, into my mind popped an idea for a story about a lonely troll desperate to find a friend, and I thought, Why not write it down?

At this point, I was writing purely for pleasure. I needed to do something that would bring me joy again, restore my self-esteem, and give me some purpose. Writing did all of those things, and I reasoned that I had nothing to lose from trying to get my stories published – a challenge I took very seriously from the moment I conceived it.

So, what did I do next?

I read and read and read.  And then I read some more.

I still had access to the university library, where I spent hours devouring and analysing picture books.

I began the reading log that I maintain to this day, in which I document every picture book that I borrow from a library or buy, typing out the text of each one – not just to have a record that I can refer back to, but also to ‘feel’ the way they’re written, if that makes sense. Through this, I began to develop my understanding of structure, pacing, voice, the page-turn, and the restrictions and freedoms of the picture book format.

And, of course, I wrote and wrote and wrote. And then I wrote some more.

I joined an online writing forum, in which I posted first drafts of my stories. I was one of those awful members who asked for feedback on my work, yet made little effort to reciprocate by commenting on others’ writing. In my defence, this was largely because I felt insufficiently qualified to offer much of value. Still, if you’re part of a writing group, or plan to be in the future, don’t be like me!

It was useful, up to a point: I got accustomed to the vulnerability that comes with making one’s writing public – good preparation for life as an author.

However, I found the way that certain members offered feedback increasingly grating and unhelpful, and realised that I didn’t really value or trust their input anyway. That sounds arrogant – and perhaps it was – but it’s also that I trusted my instincts and believed in myself more than I believed in and trusted the opinions of total strangers, who were likely just as unqualified to offer meaningful, constructive, perceptive feedback as I was.

Obviously, as a writer it’s important to be able to receive criticism, and be easy to work with. But I’d argue it’s crucial to back and trust oneself. Most writers are plagued by self-doubt and imposter syndrome, yet – paradoxically – fundamentally believe in their talent and writing. (After all, how else could they possibly continue to write in the face of constant rejection, disappointment and uncertainty?)

So, after a while, I stopped posting in that forum, deciding that I was ready to seek feedback from those whose opinions I would value: agents.

I bought the most up-to-date edition of the Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook and read all the articles within it, as well as its list of agencies representing children’s authors, which I used as a springboard for further research on the agents I’d identified to approach. I headed to their websites and bookmarked their submissions guidelines.

Next, I polished my texts until I thought (wrongly) that I could improve them no more and they were submission-ready (they weren’t). I created mock-up picture books for my stories (with just the words) to check my pacing, and how the page turns were working, i.e. was the suspense/cliffhanger/punchline in the right place?

And then, on 18^th June 2013, having tailored my email/cover letter to the intended recipients, I began querying agents.

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Here are some numbers to illustrate how I got on:

13 – agents I approached

14 – total number of submissions (I submitted to one agent a second time, with a new text)

1 – no response

3 – standard/template rejections

2 – personalised rejections that strongly encouraged me to approach other agents (both received after I signed with Sallyanne, ironically)

99 days – longest wait for a reply

30 minutes – shortest wait for a reply

30 days – average wait for a reply

132 days – time from first query to first (and only) offer

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Looking back, I’m amazed at how quickly the agents responded.  

I’m sure that the average wait of 30 days for a reply felt endless and excruciating at the time, but now, with my experience of publishing, it seems positively rapid (especially compared to the average wait for publishers’ replies to submissions!).

Also, I have a feeling that the cause of the single ‘no response’ was due (perhaps) to me mistakenly submitting to an agency that exclusively represents illustrators/author-illustrators, rather than authors.

That certainly wasn’t the only mistake I made, as I’ll discuss in the third post in this series. And in the next post, I’ll be sharing the manuscripts I submitted, and the replies I received from agents.

But that’s all, for now.

As always, thanks for reading. Hopefully see you here again soon!

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