New Representation!!!!!

Yes, it has been a very long time since I blogged. That's because I was dedicating every minute of free time to the Great Agent Hunt, also fondly known as GAH!!!!

I will say, I did things quite a bit differently this time. I had two manuscripts ready, so I tried to gauge agent personalities and send the right one to the right person.

I also queried a lot more widely. Instead of sticking to those representing science fiction and fantasy, I also queried agents who handled "general" and "commercial" fiction. Surprisingly, I got a lot of requests from those areas.

After I got the first offer of representation, I also decided to nudge agents who already had my partials and fulls. But in addition, I nudged those with only queries from me. This generated a firestorm of sorts, nine full requests in one day, and many more over the course of the next several days. I also received a large number of thank-you notes from agents who appreciated being "kept in the loop" even though they only had my query letter. Apparently, this sort of notification isn't normally done, but some agents have backlogs of emails, and I gathered that they are frequently disappointed if they finally get to a query letter, only to make a request and find out the writer has already accepted representation elsewhere.

The next thing I knew, I had SEVEN offers of representation, all from wonderful agents. Each night brought a different CALL. I ate little, and slept less while I agonized over making the right decision.

Some were boutique agencies. Others were major, long-established agencies in New York. Every single one of them had something positive to offer. I asked questions, spoke with their clients, did anything I could to narrow down my choices. I called friends and family members who were patient while I brainstormed my decision-making process out loud to them.

After much deliberation, I selected the fabulous Amy Boggs of The Donald Maass Literary Agency. Many, many of my favorite authors are represented by them. I am honored to be part of the Maass Agency family.