Well, let’s just file this post under Things I Didn’t Expect to Happen, shall we?
I am beyond thrilled, and to be honest a little stunned, that I have news…
Ahhhh I’m so happy share that I am (once again!) represented by Rebecca Angus, my former literary agent! I’m beyond thrilled to be working with Rebecca again—to finally have literary representation again!
If you’ve been following my author journey for any length of time, you may know that it took me 8 years to sign with an agent the first time around. Then, when it finally happened, I was ecstatic. You can read that gushing post by baby-me right here. Rebecca and I worked together from 2015-2020 and during that time, we sold three books together. Not too bad, right?
I loved working with Rebecca. She was an incredible editorial agent, an outstanding champion for my books, and so committed to bringing the story of the Crimson Five kids to life. And she did!
But then life happened, the pandemic happened, and Rebecca stepped away from agenting to focus on her young family. Although I was disappointed, I completely understood. I was also hopeful, that with three books to my credit and a new middle grade book in revision, I would be able to find representation again. Well, I’ve been pretty quiet about that journey because to be honest, I’ve been very frustrated. The pandemic hit publishing hard. Editors were acquiring fewer books, and therefore literary agents were not taking on as many clients. That’s not to say I would have found a new agent anyway. I mean, the query trenches are brutal! It’s a highly selective industry and for writers, attracting the attention of a literary agent (even if you’re published) is like trying to be that shiny needle in a haystack. But for over three years, I certainly tried.
In order to be transparent, I’ve written a whole post on my querying journey this time around and will share it next week. I know how helpful these stories can be and mine is chock full of stats, high points, and low points. But, for today, I just want to revel in this happy news. Because my head is virtually spinning at the details and manner in which this happening happened!
So what did happen? How did I end up with an agent this second time around?
On the 29th of October, while drinking my morning coffee, I logged onto Twitter/X to re-engage with the writing community. After a year-long break from querying, I was gearing up to enter the trenches again. I was curious to see if there was any agenting or publishing news that may be relevant. As I scrolled through my feed, I glanced at a tweet from a literary agent announcing she was reentering the publishing industry after a lengthy hiatus. I didn’t recognize the name or face in the profile picture but I was intrigued.
I re-read the tweet and several others she had recently tweeted. Something about this person seemed so strangely familiar. Then I looked at the profile name more closely.
BookFairyAngus.
With a different profile name than what she was known as years ago, all I thought was, “Could this be true? Could this really be my former agent, Rebecca?”
I had to click on her profile picture to be certain it was her. And sure enough it was. I sat frozen for a few seconds and I’m not sure why. Maybe I was wondering why she hadn’t contacted me. Maybe I was wondering if she was all in. Was she really ready to come back to publishing? Maybe I was wondering if this was all too easy. Because it had to be, right?
Well, I didn’t stay frozen for long because within a few minutes we had a full-on conversation happening in her DMs! Little did I know, that over the last few months, she had been quietly working to get back into agenting, aligning with a new agency. Her enthusiasm was evident and without even knowing if I had a manuscript to query, she asked if we could chat about representation after things were official with her new agency the next week. Of course, I agreed.
In the days that followed, I researched everything I could about Howland Literary. I was impressed with what I had learned, with the books and authors they have represented. I also re-read my entire middle grade manuscript, the one I began drafting in 2019 and queried on and off for about three years.
Rebecca reached out to me again one week later. In lieu of a full query, she asked for a short pitch and the first chapter of my manuscript. I sent it over immediately and we set up a call for three days later. Sometime during those three days, Rebecca emailed me with the absolute best message (in regard to my first chapter):
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING THIS??? Did you know I would love it when you were writing it?! (I had told her about this manuscript back in 2019, but didn’t want to share it with her until I had revised it. So, she had never read a word of it.) Suffice it to say, her comment made my day!
I felt strangely calm leading up to our call. Maybe it was the fact that I have faith in my story. Maybe it was because I had confidence that since we had worked well together before, I knew we could work well together again. Maybe it was my steely determination to enjoy the process this time around.
I mean that.
After years of not knowing if I would ever publish a book again (I still don’t!) and feeling like I had blinked and suddenly I had three published books, maybe I just wanted to savor this second potential chance.
Whatever it was, even though I felt calm, I also was so incredibly excited for our call and to catch up. And I was right to be excited. Right from, “Hey, Rebecca!” it was like no time had passed at all. We had an amazing talk, she answered my long list of questions… I knew exactly what to ask this time around. And after an hour and a half, I knew that working with her again would be amazing, an incredible surprising gift. Before we hung up, she offered representation! But, like the true professional she is, she told me to think it over and asked me to send her the completed manuscript, which I happily did.
A few days later, she sent over the Howland Literary agent-author contract for me to read through. A few days after that, on November 18th, I signed it. And suddenly it was official! If it sounds like I’m rambling that’s probably because I am. I’m still incredibly shocked that I am once again agented and there is hope for me publishing another book (or more) after all!
This year has been incredibly challenging in so many ways. So many peaks and valleys, I hardly know which one I’m in at times. But one thing I do know, is that for the first time in a very long time, I have a partner in this publishing adventure again and I’m so grateful. This manuscript really may leap out of my laptop and land on a bookstore shelf one day. I’ll keep you posted!
Next up: My Querying Journey 2.0
