The Day My Writerly Life Changed

Tip of the day: Don’t buy Halloween candy yet. You know what will happen if you do!!!

My agent posted about what she’s looking for HERE, and is open to queries now.

Since I know there are people reading this blog on the agent search, I thought I’d point you there.

You may notice that in her post, she talks about my books and the query letter that interested her enough to ask to read my book.

Reading that description again, it took me back to the day I heard back from her after she read my manuscript. Keep in mind what I had written – a novel in verse about a girl being haunted by her dead boyfriend. Not exactly an easy sell.

I had some interesting responses to my query letter prior to Sara asking to read the manuscript. One agent said he wouldn’t know a good verse novel from a bad one, so he definitely wasn’t the agent for me. Another agent said the word count was far too low for a novel, what I had was more of a novella. Obviously she had never read a verse novel before! Others just straight out said – no.

But I kept trying, because of all the books I had written, I really felt like this one might be THE ONE. Thankfully, Sara requested the full, and a couple of weeks later, I got an e-mail from her. I was at work, and when the e-mail popped up, I waited, and didn’t open it for a couple of minutes. You know some of you do that too! I remember thinking, I need to prepare myself. I need to prepare myself for another no.

Finally, I opened it. And when I saw words like “the verse created a unique atmosphere” and “I would be the strongest of advocates,” I stepped up and away from my desk, my hands clutched at my chest as I said, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.”

The secretary in cubical next to me said, “Lisa, are you okay?” I think she thought I was having a heart attack.

Nope. Not a heart attack.

An agent! An agent who loved my work!

And now, I am close to having four novels out.

Dreams really do come true!! So get those queries out there. You never know when it's your turn for a YES!

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career