“We’re live in five,” publishing coach Kathy Ver Eecke announced a couple of weeks ago, as I sat in the catbird seat, waiting my turn to go on camera. She reminded me I’d be ‘backstage’ with a couple of other authors in StreamYard while she addressed our Pitch to Published group (600 or so authors poised to publish). Then, she’d introduce me to literary agent Sarah Younger with NYC’s Nancy Yost Literary Agency, a gem who represents authors of women’s fiction.
Yikes! I held my breath and prayed Bimini, my golden retriever, wouldn’t bark at dog walkers passing below our front porch for the next ten or fifteen minutes. An impossible desire, I know. As I waited, I didn’t allow myself to consider the brevity of speaking directly with the #2 ranked women’s fiction agent in the country. And I refused to imagine the sizeable P2P audience tuned in for the live call. A smile awaited me as I joined Ms. Younger on camera. A straightforward conversation followed when I learned I did a lot of things well.
I’m forever grateful for this agent’s positive reaction to my query and her professional advice. The two areas of my letter that require tweaking demand little editing effort. Naturally, when you’re a debut author knocking at agents’ doors for attention, for representation, you listen to everyone’s advice along the way. That’s not always a good thing. “Put this in the opening paragraph,” one expert suggested to me months ago. “That’ll really grab an agent’s attention.” Or “No, no, you can’t add that. Do not let them know you’ve got three voices telling the story! They’ll find out soon enough when they request pages.”
After soliciting publication guidance for two years, I’m calling it and claiming the confidence to gauge newfound information against pure gut instinct. Grateful for my opportunity to speak with Ms. Younger, I’m prepared to move forward, for my takeaway is solid gold. Here are a couple of nuggets I picked up during my agent call.
Gauge my advice against your gut reaction. Use it or toss it, your call.
- Do not compare the novel you’re pitching with a book an agent represents UNLESS it’s an exact fit. Likewise, don’t assume you’re privy to what agents are looking for despite what you read on their MSWL’s. Instead, succinctly request representation and keep the schmooze to a minimum. Definitely add comps in the first paragraph to augment the feel, or vibe, of your novel.
- Do not hide the goods: reveal what you’re selling. Do not withhold pivotal information. For my pitch, this means all three narrative voices must be represented in the query. As well as the novel’s dual timelines. Otherwise, when agents receive manuscript pages, they’ll require a quantum leap to return to the original plot they’d imagined. And that won’t bode well.
My agent encounter remains a delightful experience, no matter the results that follow. Ms. Younger promises to re-open for submissions before the end of 2021. Guess where my query letter will land soon.
