I have been seeking agent representation for a while. My process has been slow because making sure I had the right fit is very important, and I’ve had a few other life events which have taken my focus. I’ve had an agent for my work in the past, but things didn’t work out like I’d hoped because while she loved the work, she wasn’t the right person to champion it. So my search, much like everything else I do, has taken a slightly different path.

I am ecstatic to announce that I have found the right fit for me, and have signed with Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin Literary Management. Italia and I met through Twitter, and last year she brought me in to assist with one of her projects. My appreciation for the mad talents Italia possesses has increased the more we work together. I couldn’t be happier with my new literary manager and look forward to having her guide my literary career. Projects are already in the works with more to follow. I am blessed to be a part of a great team of agents and writers and look forward to what the future will bring.

**throws sparkly confetti all around**

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Me – looking all author-like

When I made the decision to seek agent representation for some of my work, I started to do the necessary homework. Looking up agencies who handled the types of stories I have in the works, reading about various agents based on interviews, keeping my ear to the ground to hear the scuttlebutt on Twitter, listening to agents in various chats, online forums, looking them up in the various platforms designed to assist the struggling writer in making their selections, etc. I have taken a slow and measured approach to finding an agent for a few reasons:

1. This is someone I’m going to be in partnership with, and I want to ensure I have found the right partner.
2. Sifting through all of the information, searching for the right mix of personality coupled with someone who loves my work takes time.
3. It is a learning experience and with each fresh submission I have the opportunity to learn more.
4. Having had an agent previously, I want to make sure this time it is the right match for me.

Based on my research, I had decided to try sending a Middle Grade novel with magical elements to Sara Megibow. On paper and from what I had found out about her, I thought we might be a good fit. I received a rejection on the query. For those who don’t know me, I view receiving rejections as a part of the process. I don’t get depressed, I don’t get anxious, I take it, file it, and move on. At the time I received the rejection from Sara, I was in the middle of revisions for Tattered and it had the majority of my attention.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet Sara at World Fantasy Con (WFC) in San Diego, while waiting for my friend (and Sara’s client), Jane Kindred, to take part in a panel. Sara and I hit it off right away, and both enjoyed the meeting. During the wait, the subject of rejections came up and how hurt some people get and how personally they take it, and being my usual smart-alecky self, I told Sara she had rejected me, but I was still willing to talk to her. So she had me pitch her right there in the hall. (Trust me when I say it was a lame pitch) Sara graciously asked me to send her the first thirty pages for her to take a look.

Throughout the weekend we ran into each other here and there, and I mentioned that I had another Middle Grade which insisted on being written, so started it that weekend. After the con, I gave it a few days and then sent the pages to Sara. She rejected with a very nice note about the strength of the writing, and how much she liked the characters, but it just wasn’t the right story for her. Fair enough. I was in the middle of first draft heaven with the Middle Grade action/adventure, so just kept on writing.

Through our correspondence and interaction on Twitter, I grew to appreciate Sara more and more as an agent as well as a person. She is my ideal of what I’m looking for in an agent. Her belief is that she must be her client’s number one advocate for their work and she has to be passionate about the work in order to pitch it with confidence. YES!!! This is what I want. So when the next manuscript was ready to be launched in search of an agent, Sara was definitely at the top of my list. She had some really lovely things to say about the writing and my characters, but once again, the story was not for her. And I appreciated her telling me that. It wouldn’t do either of us any good for her to take something on that she isn’t passionate about. And I don’t want anything less for my work.

At this point I felt that even though on a personal level we got along well, Sara was not likely the agent I was seeking. But while goofing off on Twitter one day, during her popular #10queriesin10tweets, Sara issued a challenge of a particular type of book she’d like to see written. Have I mentioned I’m a smart-aleck? Even though the type of book she mentioned was well outside my norm, I, of course, had to chime in and say I’d write it. Meaning it only as a joke, but then Sara asked me to write some pages and send them to her. Which I did… and now the story is under my skin and will be finished… one day. Because this time when I sent the pages off to Sara, I was a little nervous. Not about whether she’d pass on the book, but more about what would happen if she said she loved it and wanted the rest.

This story is completely outside my norm, and while I really appreciated the challenge and the stretching I am doing as a writer with the concept, if Sara loved this one, where would it leave us in the agent / client relationship? While I would have been tickled to have hit her fancy, what about all of the stories I have inside me that I have to write? You know, the stories I am passionate about. But since I took this on as a challenge, I saw it through.

When Sara had a chance to review the pages, she sent her regrets, and deep down I felt a sense of relief. No difficult decision for me to make. This is something we both wanted to make work. But it just wasn’t happening. We are not a good fit for each other, despite appreciating each other on both a personal and a professional basis.

© Photographer: Lakis Fourouklas
Agency: Dreamstime.com

Why have I spent an extraordinarily long time telling this saga? Because I think it is important for writers to realize. Not every agent is the right one for you. Not even when you think they are an awesome agent and make fabulous deals for their clients. Not even when the agent finds your writing strong and your characters adorable. This is not a tale of rejection, but of determining whether or not we were a good fit for one another. Sara is an awesome agent. I am a good, strong writer. We are not a match. And I’m okay with that because we both want the same thing albeit from opposite sides—she wants a client whose work she can champion, and I want an agent who will champion my work.

So we will continue to interact on Twitter, and I’m sure we’ll run into one another at a conference some time in the future, and will be glad to see one another again. And I will continue in my quest, happy to have had the experience.

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