My Publishing Journey - Part 1: How I got my literary agent

Driving Your Own Publishing Bus

Hi friends!

In this newsletter, I’m excited to share some information about how I came to work with my literary agent. This is part 1 of a 3 part series on my publishing journey. Next month, I’ll share about going on submission and signing a book deal. And in August, I’ll write about what has happened since signing with my editor at St. Martin’s!

You can pre-order MOST ELIGIBLE and add it on Goodreads at the links below, if you so choose!

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I debated for a long time about whether to write a newsletter about my querying experience, mostly because I was unsure if I have anything “new” to add to what’s already been written about querying. But, I figured, if sharing my experience is helpful to even one person out there, why not.

Let me start by saying:

My debut novel was the fourth manuscript I queried.

I put that in bold because it feels important. Sure, some people sign with agents on their first book or the first book they query to agents! But in a lot of cases, when you see an announcement that someone has signed with an agent, it is not their first book.

In 2022, I started pursuing writing (and romance writing specifically) more seriously. I had previously written two romance novels (one in 2021 and one way back in high school) and queried both, but not particularly seriously. These “starter books” taught me a lot and were fun to work on, but looking back, I am not surprised at all that they did not go anywhere.

In 2022, I wrote and seriously revised (many times) a second chance romance novel set in Western Massachusetts (my favorite place in the world). We’ll call that book BTMAM. I received a lot of interest from agents requesting more of the manuscript (one even calling the opening scene “genre perfection”! (RIP!)), but slowly, over the course of a year, all of these nibbles on the line petered out.

After several agents read the full manuscript and sent rejections (in total, I think I queried about 70 agents with that manuscript), and after a decent amount of angsty self-reflection, I knew that BTMAM wouldn’t be the book that got me an agent. And looking back, I’m glad that it wasn’t. But at the time, I was super sad about it! I see people talk online about the “book of their heart” and I think BTMAM was (and still is) that for me. (And I hope I get to revisit it someday!)

I distinctly remember one moment, after a few hard-hitting rejections, coming to the realization that I could just stop. I could stop querying, writing, etc. I didn’t want to stop, but it was a pivotal moment nonetheless to realize that I was the ONLY one driving my metaphorical publishing bus. And I chose to keep driving.

The Metaphorical Publishing Bus.

While querying BTMAM, I started working on the book that would become Most Eligible. It was VERY different than BTMAM — LOTS of plot, more comedy, a clear hook. I had a blast writing it.

As BTMAM querying dwindled, I heard about a romance writing mentorship program called SmoochPit. There were a few months before the deadline to apply, and I was torn between rewriting BTMAM as a speculative novel and going full steam ahead on Most Eligible, my zany reality TV romance.

I was overjoyed to be chosen as a mentee by romance author Julie Cassidy, who not only provided invaluable feedback on my draft and helped me polish it for querying, but who also helped talk me through querying and publishing from an insider’s perspective. She is the best! (Shoutout to the program for also bringing together querying writers and providing an amazing community!)

SmoochPit ends with an agent showcase, where agents can sign up to view the mentee’s query packages and request more if they so choose. It’s like querying on steroids. Several agents requested my manuscript from the showcase, and I ended up sending queries to a few agents who did not attend the showcase as well.

The day after I sent my manuscript off, in a cabin in the woods with some friends from college, I received an email from my amazing now-agent Kendall Berdinsky, at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret asking if I could talk on the phone sometime soon.

I CRIED!!! SCREAMED!!! FaceTimed my parents who were so supportive and excited and also thought this meant my book would definitely be published!!!

If you’d like to read the query for Most Eligible, scroll all the way down to the bottom of this newsletter :)

Moral of the story…

Querying is really hard! It’s a lot of luck and timing (and witchcraft probably), and rejections are most often not value judgments of your work, even if they SUCK. Rejections are, unfortunately, a part of the process that sticks around. I got a rejection on BTMAM (my previous novel) after I’d signed with an agent and sold Most Eligible to St. Martin’s.

If you are a querying writer, my best advice is to find a writing community, try to focus on the joy of writing itself—and set up a separate email for querying so you can be selective about how and when you check it. And if you’re like me and your brain likes to compare you to others, try to be intentional and careful about putting yourself in situations where this is all too easy (cough cough, social media).

If you’re a querying writer with questions about the process, don’t hesitate to reach out! I’m rooting for you <3

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Resources for Querying Writers:

A very short, non-exhaustive list of resources I found helpful while querying:

• The Shit No One Tells You About Writing — podcast, courses, beta reader match-ups, etc!

• Jane Friedman’s blog — essential elements of query letters, and so many more helpful blog posts!

• Unsure where to start building your query list? Try looking in the acknowledgments section of books you love that are similar to yours. Most often, authors will list their agents!

  • You can also check out: Manuscript Wishlist, QueryTracker, and Publisher’s Marketplace for larger lists. Social media can also be a great tool, as some agents post when they open to queries and what they’re looking for.

That’s all for now — thanks for sticking with me and reading! Talk soon <3

~ Isabelle

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The query letter for Most Eligible, which was, at the time, titled Off the Record:

Dear [agent name],

Per your interest in [contemporary romance], I’m delighted to share my adult rom-com, OFF THE RECORD, which was selected for the 2023 SmoochPit mentorship program. This 87,000-word Bachelor-inspired twist on Miss Congeniality combines the reality dating show setting of The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren with the steamy, antagonistic banter of Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder.

Everything on investigative reporter Georgia Rose’s Love Shack application is a lie—from her dating history to her parents’ divorce. After all, she’s not a contestant on the reality dating show to fall in love with America’s most eligible bachelor. She’s there to write a killer exposé on the sadistic producers, which will guarantee the journalism job of her dreams. When Georgia’s unforgettable one-night stand from the year before, country singer Rhett Auburn, steps into the Malibu mansion as this season’s host, all of her carefully crafted plans unravel. Caught up in the drama of back-stabbing contestants, producer blackmail, and death-defying dates, Georgia must keep her identity—and history with Rhett—a secret. But soon she discovers that Rhett has secrets of his own. Despite the lies between them, it isn’t long before their heated behind-the-scenes moments start to feel more genuine than the romance Georgia’s faking for the cameras. But with her investigation unfinished and her secret identity in jeopardy, a second chance with Rhett could be the riskiest assignment of all.

[author bio]

Warmly,
Isabelle