Welcome welcome welcome to my official HIGMA post (which is way overdue but I'm still shaking with excitement to write). I didn't know if I'd ever be able to write this, but here we are. Let me kick this off by saying that I am now officially represented by the incomparable Margaret Danko of the High Line Literary Collective!! Margaret is an absolute angel and this whole experience has been a dream come true. I'm so excited for what the future will bring.
I'm gonna dive right into the nitty gritty, but I do wanna preface this by saying everyone's experience is unique, and I'm very fortunate to have found an agent the way I did, so take everything I say with a grain of salt!
I've divided everything up into parts so if you're keen to skip to the good stuff, here's a key:
For info on query prep, skip to the Winx Club gif
For info on the querying journey, skip to the Anne with an E gif
For info on the Call and the Offer, skip to the Greatest Showman gif
For a breakdown on stats, skip to the Toothless gif
The Preparation
My first ever finished manuscript was a hot mess, but it taught me a lot about structuring a story and developing well-rounded characters. I'm a big plotter now, and the Save the Cat beat sheet is my go-to outlining tool that I cannot recommend enough. Seriously. It's a lifesaver. By the time I wrote my second full manuscript (which we're gonna call Starbook) I felt a lot more confident in my storytelling and my ability as a writer.
Like most manuscripts, Starbook needed several revisions to get it to a query-ready state. The first edit I did was more structural - I amped up the worldbuilding and fleshed out the characters to push the word count from 69k to 86k (side note, be sure to investigate the average word count for your genre, because a lot of times this will impact a query) - while the second was more about line edits and refining the scenes. Then I sent it to my two wonderful critique partners, Mikayla Bridge (who also has the misfortune of being my sister) and Victoria Carbol (one of my partners in crime from the Bookish Songs Collective) who gave me some much-needed feedback with their fresh eyes, and helped me beat the MS into shape. Still, before I could even think about querying an agent, I had to draft a decent query letter.
Surprisingly, I actually loved this part of the process. Starbook is a romantasy that was enjoyable to dissect for hooks and comps because I'd deliberately written in guilty pleasure tropes and scenes, so I found creating a short pitch to be a fun challenge. I scoured the internet for successful query letter examples, created a formula that broke down the pitch into three paragraphs, and proceeded to shove an 86k story into roughly 200 words.
There are dozens of great query letter examples out there so I'm not gonna waffle on too much, but once I had my pitch, I wrote a short bio and brainstormed some additional comp titles to swap out depending on what agents were after. I'm planning on doing a whole other post for my query letter, so I shall move onto the next step of my prep: finding agents to query.
There were two main sites I used to find agents who rep'd my genre: QueryTracker and, oddly, Twitter. The first was far more thorough and organised, but Twitter was also useful with all the pitch events and #MSWL posts. That said, not every agent is on QueryTracker, and I did end up getting a request from an agent I found on Twitter who didn't use QT, so it's definitely worth checking out. Of course, I also checked the acknowledgements sections of my favourite authors' books to see who their agents were, and from there created my agent list.
A lot of querying writers use a ranking system to break down their agent list. I had an Excel spreadsheet going with three sections: the A list was full of dream agents, the B list contained agents I would love to work with, and the C list was mostly agents who rep'd my genre but who I'd still be happy to work with. The ranking system was based on how closely their wishlists aligned with Starbook, and the specific elements they were chasing in a manuscript at the time. Manuscript Wish List was a huge help for figuring this out, since most agents will put their lists on there (though some will keep them on their agency website), and it also helped make sure I didn't query agents who were opposed to fantasy or any other elements in my story. I added to the list every now and then as new agents appeared in my Twitter feed, but for the most part the list stayed the same.
Armed with a QueryTracker list, a query, a handful of interchangeable comp titles, and a hearty dose of hope, I ventured into...
The Query Trenches
While Starbook wasn't the first book I ever wrote, it was the first I queried. During its time in the trenches, I also threw out around 10 queries for my OG manuscript (just for fun because I knew it wasn't perfect, but I actually received a full request so always shoot your shot!) and I wrote a third manuscript that I started querying around mid 2023. I wasn't as confident about the other stories, so I always put my energy into pushing Starbook.
I started querying on the night of July 5th 2022. This date was important for me, because my birthday was on the 6th, and for some reason I was determined to send out at least one query the night before (yeah, I don't know why I did that either). My first batch was spread over three days, where I sent queries to around 11 agents. I made an effort to personalise each one, spent HOURS browsing Manuscript Wish Lists and the #MSWL tags on twitter, trying to swap out comp titles and highlight different elements of my MS that I thought would appeal to different agents. I was SURE something positive would come from those first queries.
I was wrong.
Over the next few days I received 3 rejections. Nothing hits you harder than that first rejection. Oof. I knew when I started querying that I should expect this outcome, but it's one thing to know and another thing to know, you know? People aren't kidding when they say writers need thick skin. You really can't compare yourself to those overnight success stories.
With every rejection, I sent out a new query (sometimes two if I was feeling impatient, which was often). I received three more rejections over the next two weeks, with two of them being standard form ones, and the last giving me a smidgen of hope. An agent had replied, "While there were elements of your pitch that I enjoyed, unfortunately I am afraid I already have something like this on my list and don't have the bandwidth for another." Still a rejection, but it stung a little less knowing that it wasn't the fault of my manuscript's premise. I persevered! More queries were sent, more personalisations and slight tweaks were made to my query letter. At the two week mark, I received my first ever full request (YAY!)
Over the next few months, I sent more queries and started getting more requests. They were a needle of hope in a haystack of rejections, but they kept me going. I started believing my manuscript was worth something, and felt confident in my pitch - but it's hard to keep that positive attitude when all those requests eventually come back as rejections. Some were kinder than others, some offered genuine feedback, and others were form rejections that chipped away at my soul (yes it's dramatic but also appropriate). I kept sending queries, kept receiving rejections. I learnt how to properly navigate QueryTracker, and became OBSESSED with the timelines. I'm not proud of how much I checked that site - I was scrolling through those query timelines more than I was scrolling TikTok.
Among that plethora of queries, was one fateful email I sent to Margaret.
I'd researched Margaret like I had all the other agents, and was lucky enough to have a referral by one of my CPs who was a client of hers. I queried her, waited for a response, and after a few months, received a partial request, that later turned into a full request.
While Margaret had my manuscript, I continued querying other agents and received a few more full requests. The last agent I queried was also the last to request a full, and the first to email me requesting...
The Call
It couldn't be. Could it? Impossible. An agent wanted to get me on the phone...
Was this The Call? (Not by Regina Spektor, though that is a great song and you should definitely listen)
Turns out, it was!!
We hopped on a Zoom call, where after only a couple of minutes of talking she officially offered me representation. Me, a 22-year-old nobody from rural Australia, was being offered representation by a legitimate literary agent?? I still can barely believe it. The agent was so kind and genuine, and for the first time an industry professional was talking about my characters and showing excitement for my silly little story. Cue tears.
After her offer, I nudged the other agents who had my query and gave them a two-week window. One stepped aside, another requested a full, and the last was eager to meet the deadline.
A few days later, I got an email: another agent wanted to set up a call. WHAT EVEN. The stars aligned and we were able to work out a reasonable time that worked for us both (timezones are a pain) before the deadline, so we hopped on a call, and after almost two hours of amazing conversation with me laughing nervously every other minute, I somehow received a second offer of rep. I thought I was dreaming. Two agents liked my story enough to want to represent it? It didn't feel real. My little Starbook was making magic.
I'm a very indecisive person, and the thought of having to reject one of these amazing agents made me so anxious. Having two offers is obviously a great problem to have, and I felt so privileged, but I also hated the idea of turning someone down who was genuinely excited about my book.
Ultimately, I had to trust my gut. I'll be forever grateful to that first agent for believing in my Starbook, but in the end I had to choose the agent who just felt right. From the first second of our call, I could tell Margaret was enthusiastic about me, my writing, and my characters, and everything from her editorial vision to her plans for my future career only cemented my belief that we could achieve some great things going forward.
One thing led to another, and in October of 2023, I signed with High Line Literary Collective.
So there you have it, my querying journey! I'm sure I missed out on some details and explained other things way too much, but I hope my story offers some hope to my fellow querying writers - keep going!! Everyone's story is different, and you never know what's just around the corner.
The Stats
STARBOOK (queried July '22 - September '23)
Queries sent: 88
Rejections: 58
Closed/No response: 19
Partial requests: 2 (both turned into fulls)
Full requests: 9 (not including the above)
Offers: 2
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