Pitch Wars 2020

Pitch Wars is an annual event run by Brenda Drake which offers aspiring authors the opportunity to work with a mentor on their manuscripts and showcase these to prospective agents at the end of the mentoring process. I first gave it a try last year and, although I didn’t get any requests from prospective mentors I did find it an interesting experience. For that reason, and slightly wiser about the process, I decided to give it another go in 2020.

Last year I tried with one of my kid’s books but this time I decided to give the adult market a try with my thriller, the one that keeps coming oh – so close – but has so far failed to find a home – certainly in the UK market. But the US market is a different beast. My main concern with my writing is that it’s too European for the US. But you never know if you don’t try. I may not have been picked as a mentee, but all in all the experience was a very positive one.

So here are a few tips for anyone else planning on participating in Pitch Wars in future.

1. Nail the Query Letter

Different mentors approach reading their submissions in different ways. Some read 

the pages first but some do a first pass based on the query letters, and for this reason it is a good idea to spend some time on this and get it right. US query letters are not the same as the covering letters expected in the UK. Fortunately there is a wealth of information on how to write a good query letter online and a quick google search should see you right.

2. Choose your mentors with care

You can only choose four mentors so spend a bit of time checking them out. In particular read their wish lists as these contain a lot of information about what they are looking for in that particular year – if they’ve mentored before it could be quite different from what they were looking for in the past. My submission was a thriller with a SF twist. Of the four mentors I picked who were asking for thrillers the two who requested for material were both also looking at SF. The ones who didn’t request weren’t. Read into that what you may.

3. Study the showcase

Studying the previous year’s showcase not only gives you an indication of the types of work the mentors chose but also gives an interesting insight into what the agents were looking for. None of them can tell who else has requested from a particular showcase until all the agent requests are revealed at the end of the showcase period. Although nobody was left with zero requests last year there was a huge range from 2 to 35!

4. Make friends

Pitch Wars is a massive networking opportunity so take advantage of that. Make friends, find critique partners, join in the fun and challenges. If your mentor is offering feedback on submissions take it. Whether you get any requests or are picked as a mentee is irrelevant. Use this opportunity to your advantage. You never know where things might lead.

5. Don’t give up

The publishing industry is subjective. Mentors’ choices are subjective. You may feel your submission has vanished into a black hole but don’t be disheartened. Keep writing. Keep developing your craft. The key to success is to keep going. 

Find out all about Pitch Wars here.

The MG Sci-Fi void.

I’m currently pitching a Sci-Fi kid’s novel to agents, so I headed over to my local branch of Waterstones in order to try to identify comparison titles. (Similar books that I can reference in my covering letter to give prospective agents an idea of where on the shelves my story would fit.)

This particular book of mine is aimed at the 10+ market, the same market as Red Rock. It’s quite sciency but not science heavy and I’ve made sure that the science in it is accessible. It’s probably best described as a Girls in STEM story.

So I started searching in the 9-12 age section for similar types of books – and you know what – nothing. I couldn’t find a single book even remotely sciency or Sci-Fi! Nothing! Diddly-squat!!!

So I came home and searched on Amazon. I found a couple but nothing that would really work as a comparison title!

I did the same for YA and guess what? Yup. Apart from the hangovers from the Dystopia boom a while back – and yes, Dystopia is a type of Sci-Fi – but my book isn’t a dystopia, so they weren’t a good match either.

It’s puzzling. There’s a huge drive to encourage STEM subjects at school, and particularly to encourage girls into STEM – it’s nothing new – it’s been going on for a while – so why isn’t this being reflected in kid’s literature?

Then, yesterday I spotted an agent commenting on this very thing. Her inbox was full of YA Sci-Fi – which suggested to her that there were plenty of readers and writers of the genre out there - but editors simply don’t want to buy it.

Clearly there’s a mismatch here. There could be many reasons for it, but as a humble writer rather than an industry insider I wouldn’t know.

All I can say is it doesn’t bode well for the story I’m pitching. Or for my current WIP which has a definite YA feel to it – Maybe I’d be better off pitching it as Adult instead!

Navigating the Slush pile: Ten Tips for Agent Hunting.

Having recently signed with a new agent, this time by going through the slush pile, I thought I would share are few tips. I hope these might be useful for anyone currently navigating the slush pile and help with some of the etiquette for dealing with agents.

1. Make sure your manuscript is ready
This should really go without saying. The MS should be complete and ideally have been read by a couple of trusted beta readers, who you can really rely on to give honest feedback. (I’m talking about fiction here. Non-fiction is a different matter).

2. Keep your cover letter to the point and business like.
Avoid gimmicks. If you want to be treated like a professional act like one. Make sure you include the title, genre and word count.

3. Don’t sweat the synopsis.
Writing a synopsis is hard, but so long as it provides an adequate summary of what the story is about and how it ends you should be okay. It is your writing that will hook the agent.

4. Send out in batches of ten.
The types of responses you get from each batch will give an indication of whether you should press on with the MS as is (you start to get full requests and personalised responses) or whether maybe you ought to revisit your sample chapters and covering letter (nothing but form rejections).

5. Set a time limit on exclusives.
Sometimes an agent will request an exclusive, either on a full or on a rewrite and resubmit. It is up to you whether you grant this or not but do set a time limit of, maybe, a month. If other agents are already reading the full inform them that you can’t offer an exclusive and offer to update them if anyone else requests or offers. If someone wants to work with you on your MS on an exclusive basis and their feedback makes sense to you then you may want to take them up on that.

6. Inform agents when other agents request a full.
If someone requests a full it is a good idea to let any other agents already considering your full MS know. It is also a good opportunity to nudge any agents who have not responded. Nothing like other agents being interested in something to make it more appealing.

7. Follow up with non-responders and keep submitting.
Unless an agent specifically asks that you don’t in their guidelines it’s a good idea to follow up with non-responders. Sometimes your submission has gone astray. Sometimes they have fallen behind with their slush reading. If you are nudging to inform them about other agents requesting fulls they may suddenly show an interest. The worst that can happen is that they say ‘No’.

8. When an agent offers give the others a chance to read
Inform any agents currently reading the full, and any others you have submitted to who you particularly like, that you have received an offer and give them a deadline to get back to you. They will often be keen to read and you may receive multiple offers. A nice position to be in.

9. Check out the offering agent thoroughly
Presumably you already did this before submitting to them but even so now is the time to delve a bit deeper and to ask questions about the agency agreement they are offering. Read it thoroughly and ask for clarification if there is anything you don’t understand. You may also want to contact their other clients. They’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

10. When you accept an offer do let anyone who has offered or who is still considering your MS know.
This is a simple courtesy. There’s nothing more frustrating for an agent than to offer and find you’ve signed elsewhere. And you never know. You may be knocking of their doors again further down the line, so always best not to burn your bridges.

Good luck with you agent hunt, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have in the comments below.

Submission Planning 2: Direct to Publishers.

As I have already mentioned, my preferred route to publication is through a Literary Agent, and this is the route I am currently actively pursuing. But I know that the agented route isn’t for everyone and so I’m going to talk about another option – submitting directly to publishers.

There are a few disadvantages to going this route.

• Many larger publishers only take agented submissions

• You’ll have to negotiate your own contract.

• There will be nobody to fight your corner if things go wrong.

In short you will effectively be doing the role of an agent yourself. But if this is something you feel you can manage then it is a perfectly viable option. There are plenty of publishers out there, many of which may, at sometime or other, be willing to take a look at unagented submissions. So in order to help you to find yourself a publisher I’ve listed below a few possible opportunities to watch out for.

• Small publishers who routinely take un-agented submissions
These vary considerably, some being better than others. Often they don’t offer advances and the royalties can differ. Also many may be e-publishers and only offer print runs if a certain threshold of sales are reached or use POD technology, in which case your books are unlikely to make it into bricks and mortar bookstores. My best advice here is to do your research. I’ve talked about some of the things you need to consider before signing in another post here.

• Imprints of larger publishing houses
Some of the bigger publishers have imprints which are open to un-agented submissions. Very often these imprints are genre specific. Here is a useful list of some of them.

• Open submission windows
Keep an eye out for publishers with open submission windows. They crop up from time to time. They do tend to get inundated but you never know. You could be just what they’re looking for.

• Twitter pitch parties
These happen on a regular basis and it’s a good exercise anyway distilling your pitch down to the side of a tweet. However a word of caution – do check out any agents/editors that show an interest very thoroughly before submitting anything to them.

• Networking
Make the effort to get out there and meet people, be it literary festivals or writers conferences. For example book a slot for a 1-2-1 with an editor at a literary festival. (Go into these to learn something rather than expecting a book deal, but that editor could prove to be a useful contact). You never know when you might meet someone who you can submit directly to further down the line.

Submission Planning 1: Agents

The time has come to start thinking about sending my latest project out into the world. It’s time to make my submission plan and think about the various routes to publication. There are so many options available to authors these days, but also so many pitfalls.

My preferred route is to find an agent to represent me. Agents are invaluable. They have the best contacts, know the right editors to submit to and will negotiate the best deal for you. So my first line of attack will be to submit to agents.

Of course this requires research, and I’ve found a few useful ways to track down agents to put on my submission list. Here are a few of them.

• Agents who represent my favourite authors. Most authors will include this information on their websites, plus this has the advantage of giving you an easy way to personalise your submission letter.

• Agents on twitter. Twitter is a really useful resource for this. Lots of agents tweet and it’s worth checking out their profile because they often state if they are building their lists or are looking for a particular genre.

• Agents in the Bookseller. Keep an eye on the Bookseller for announcements about new agents or agencies. Agents move around a lot and a young hungry agent with a reputable agency who is actively building their list goes straight to the top of mine.

• Recommendations – if you are acquainted with an author ask them who their agent is. They’ll be happy to tell you, especially if their agent is a good one.

• Writers and Artists Handbook – really rather an obvious one but included for completeness.

• Online listings – there are a number of these resources, such as agent hunter or query tracker but some do require a membership fee and the focus tends to be rather more US based. Still, they can be a good starting point.

But wherever you find your potential agents please please please check them out thoroughly before submitting. Here are a few things to check for.

• Sales record: Is the agent a deal maker? You should be able to find information on recent deals either on their websites or in the Book Trade literarture. If they don’t have any deals under their belt then maybe they don’t have the right contacts and if so how are they going to sell your book?

• Clients: Who are their clinets? Have you heard of them? Check out their books. Even ask them about their agents.

• Experience. Be wary of the agent who pops up out of nowhere and who doesn’t provide any information of where they previously worked in the industry.

• Fees. Never pay any fees to an agent at all! No reputable agent these days charges a reading fee.

• Affiliation of professional organisations. For example in the UK check to see if they are a member of the Association of Author’s Agents. No necessarily a red flag but a good indicator.

Remember, a bad agent is worse than no agent and sadly there are scammers out there who would happily part you from your money. But if you’ve written a saleable book and you’ve done your research then you should be fine. I hope we all find the agent of our dreams.

A Bit of Blog Housekeeping

Over the years I've posted a lot of writing advice on this blog and much of it is hidden in the archives. So I thought it was time I brought it all together in one place so that other writers who visit this blog can access it easily.

I've created a new page, Tips for Writers, which forms an index and contains links to all the useful writing and submission related posts I have made over the years. I plan to add more advice on here and so this page will be updated.

I have also hosted many wonderful guests, some at the starts of their careers and some who have gone on to be hugely successful. Another new page on the bar above called Guests provides an index linking to all their guest posts and interviews.

I think you might find some of them rather interesting - as well as recognising a few names!

Skylarks and Storyslingers

One of the main disadvantages for a writer of living in a remote corner of rural England, is the fact that the publishing industry tends to be very London orientated. As a result opportunities to network with agents and publishers are few and far between.

But one such opportunity did arise recently when the relatively new Skylark Literary Agency decided to venture out from the city and visit writers around the country. One of their visits on this tour was to the Storyslingers writers group in Shaftesbury.

I felt particularly honoured because the Storyslingers invited me along to give an author’s perspective on the industry, so I packed up my bag of books and hit the road north.

The drive to Shaftesbury is, for me, a long and winding one, not helped by the fact that Friday is changeover day and the roads are clogged with holidaymakers. Or that this particular Friday every tractor in Dorset seemed to be on the same road as me!

The venue for the talk was in Gold Hill museum, at the top of that pretty hill, immortalised by the Hovis advert of the 1970s. The Room we were in looked out across the fields and hills and the view was stunning.

Amber and Jo spoke to us about the agenting business, what they provide for their authors and what they are looking for in clients. The Q&A which followed covered all aspects from negotiation of contracts to the agent author relationship and the use of pen names.

It was a lovely evening, interesting and insightful, wonderful to see the Storyslingers again and to chat with Amber and Jo. So thank you to the Storyslingers for organising such a useful and informative event, and to Skylark for coming all that way to talk to us. It was really nice to meet Amber and Jo in person –it’s always good meeting an online acquaintance in the real world!

Here’s a picture of us at the top of Gold Hill. We’re standing on a slope though so I’m not as tall as I appear.

Mixing and Mingling

One of the best things about being a writer is all the wonderful people I’m starting to meet – not just in the virtual world – but in the real world too.

Yesterday I headed up to London for the AM Heath summer party. What was so lovely was meeting many of Julia’s other clients – people who I know only via social media or through reading their books – not to mention so many other interesting people!

We sipped champagne in the garden as the sun dropped behind the trees, and talked about books. What better way to spend an evening.

But now, back to work. There are only two months until Red Rock hits the shelves and there is much to do; blog posts to write, a launch party to organise – and, hopefully some school visits.

And I will be participating in the forthcoming Yeovil Literary Festival. I’ll let you know more when they finalise the schedule.

The Curious Fox Launch

Last Thursday I headed up to London for the Curious Fox launch party which was held at Dr Johnson's house - a wonderful old building tucked away among offices of glass and steel.

It's a while since I've been to London and the city looked amazing. I headed from the station out over Waterloo Bridge, lights reflected in the Thames and from one angle Big Ben was framed by the London eye. But what struck me most was the number of bicycles, racks and racks of them by the station and fleets of them moving along the roads.

And then to the party, fizz and canapés, interesting people and great conversation. My fabulous agent came along, and it was lovely to see the Curious Fox team again and to meet the other authors. The MD gave a speech and introduced our books and they had a big banner made up with the covers of all our books on it! It was such a thrill to see my book there among the others!

There were games to spark our curiosity, and fascinating people from all over, but all with a shared passion for books. There were lots of photos taken and I'll post a link should any come online.

The evening flew and it felt all too soon that I was heading back over Waterloo Bridge to the station, and to my friend's where I was staying. And when I looked inside my goody bag on the train back I found a lovely copy of Sharon Gosling's The Diamond Thief which will be one of the first Curious Fox titles to launch!

I woke the next morning to a white world, driving home through snow and spray. But by the time I reached the New Forest the snow had stopped. I passed oak trees, jagged branches etched in white, and patches of heath and gorse where the snow covered the vegetation in lumps. Every so often it fell from the trees as I passed underneath in a flurry of ice shards.

I reached home, still buzzing. Back to those edits.....

I Have a Book Deal!

At last I can tell you!

My debut novel Red Rock, a thriller for the 10+ age group, will be published by Curious Fox in 2013.

The champagne is chilling and tonight I will be celebrating in style!

I couldn't be happier!

Christmas in July

Have your seen this amazing opportunity?

A few months ago Ruth Lauren Steven and Michelle Krys opened the doors to children’s authors with a chance to jump the slushpile and receive feedback from an agent.

Well this time they’ve gone one better!

This time there are ten – yes you heard me TEN agents involved and the doors are open to pretty much all genres!

But don’t take my word for it! Head over to Ruth’s blog and check it out for yourself!

Christmas in July

When Authors Meet

But not just any authors - I'm talking about Greenhouse authors.

Last weekend I was in Bournemouth with my daughter and by fortuitous coincidence Sarah Lean, a fellow children's author who is represented by the lovely Greenhouse Literary Agency was in Waterstones that day doing a book signing for her recently released book 'A Dog Called Homeless.'

 

It was the first time I've met a fellow agency sister - I do hope Julia's ears weren't burning too much ;-)

 

 But of course, this fellow was the real star of the show.

Analysis of Rejection

I see it all too often, on the writer’s forums I frequent, on blogs, on twitter, and even at my real life writers group – aspiring authors who have written their first book –  who love every word, and can’t let it go – despite the piles of rejection slips that they are accumulating. They blame the publishing industry, the agents and editors, for their failure. Often these authors look for other ways into print. Maybe they self publish – after all – they’ve put so much work into it - it ought to be out there.

Or should it?

Take a step back. Look again. Rejection is all part of the learning process. All we can do is move one and try to become better writers. And so, for anyone out there currently hunting for an agent – here is my analysis of rejection.

Type 1. You receive nothing but form rejections.

This is tough I know. You started sending out your novel, full of hope, certain that everyone must love it as much as you do. But the truth hurts. It isn’t good enough. You’re only at the first stage in your journey and you have a lot to learn. Join and writing group, attend workshops, read up about the craft. Write a better book.

Type 2.  You receive a couple of personal rejections.

These can be hard to spot because agents often send out rejections that look personal but in fact use standard wording. Clues to look for are some specific reference that relates to your book or a hand written note.

This is encouraging. They see something in your work to stop and make comment – and believe me, with the size of the slushpiles these people are working through, that is quite unusual. But as with Type 1 you still have a lot to learn. Join and writing group, attend workshops, read up about the craft. Write a better book.

Type 3: Rejection on a full

This one is so disappointing. When that full request came in you were dancing round the room – at last – someone is going to love your work. Maybe you even had multiple requests for a full. This is it….

Or maybe not.

Take heart. You’re getting closer, you really are. It’s just that this book isn’t the ‘One’. Maybe the concept and writing are there, but the plot sags. Hopefully though, the lovely agent will give some feedback, although not always. There’s only one thing you can do. Try to work out where this one went wrong and – Write a better book.

Type 4: Rejection on a Rewrite and Resubmit

So you’re still not quite there but oh – so close. And it’s frustrating after all the work you put in trying to incorporate the agents comments, but your vision and theirs for this piece of work just don’t match up. Learn what you can from the experience. By all means keep sending it out – after all – you only need one person to love it! But in the meantime – Write a better book.

Type 5: The submission Process

You’ve signed with an agent who shares your vision and out it goes on submission and – guess what – it all begins again!! Time to write a better book!

The Greenhouse Funny Prize

Here’s an amazing opportunity for any children’s authors living in the UK or Ireland who write humour!

The Greenhouse Funny Prize

And just look what the prize is – an offer of representation from the awesome Greenhouse Agency – and I’m not just saying that – they really are - as well as a free weekend at the Writers Workshop Festival of Writing in September.

You really couldn’t ask for a better than that!

After the Call...

A while ago I linked to this fabulous 'After the call' series that Caroline Tung Richmond has been running over on her blog.

Well this fascinating post has just gone up over at the Greenhouse blog which tells the same story only from a Agent's perspective. Check it out!

How I Got My Agent: Guest Post by James Dawson

Please welcome James Dawson who has stopped by with another agent success story.

It was only at a writer's convention last year that I realised how lucky I am to have an agent representing my book. Out of 250 delegates, I was only one attached to an agency and was treated as a rare and beautiful specimen, not unlike an endangered species at a conservation zoo. Some of the people I spoke to had been going through the 'write-submit-reject' cycle for YEARS. While I was there to hob-nob and learn a bit about the industry, literally everyone else was there for a chance to mingle with the two agents present, with a view to being 'discovered'. It was a blast of icy water – I wouldn't say finding my agent was easy, but I now see that I never, ever had it difficult.

A number of delegates asked how I landed my agent, so here it is – maybe there are lessons to be learned within my (quite boring) story. I'll start at the beginning. I started writing Hollow Pike in early 2009, with all sorts of motivations in mind. By the summer, very naïve to how these things work, I decided to submit it to an agency. I did a bit of research and found the name of an agent who represents one of my favourite children's/YA authors. Following their submission guidelines carefully, off the sample chapters went in a crisp, white envelope; full to the brim with hopes and dreams.

You can only imagine the joy when just two weeks later I had a request for the entire manuscript. It was a simple, polite, poker-face email: “We enjoyed the chapters you sent. We would be interested in reading the full manuscript.” While this was brilliant, there was one small snag. The book wasn't even nearly finished. Maybe just over half way done. I was suffering from what the wise publishing guru Lynn Price terms “premature submitulation”. I think the title speaks for itself. This is such a rookie error – I look back and could just die of shame. I did what I could. I polished up the chapters, had a couple of people do a line read and sent her what I had with a pitiful letter and an outline of the remaining chapters.

It's true what they say, you can't polish a turd, you can only roll it in glitter. Needless to say, I received a polite form rejection, explaining that while my manuscript had clear “quality”, they wouldn't be taking it any further. I can't say I was surprised, but it hurt like Hell. The first rejection is the worst.

But the request to see the full manuscript filled me with fire. It couldn't suck. They wouldn't have asked to see the whole thing if it stank. It gave me the drive to keep going. I gave myself a new target – finish the book. It stopped being about the dream of being published and became a personal quest to complete a project (something which I've struggled with my whole life). The novel was finished in October 2009 and I started rewriting and polishing at once, with help from the lovely people at Litopia.

The submissions that followed were much less successful. I think the lesson learned is choose your targets carefully. Looking at my list, I'm now unsure that the agencies I sent samples to would have been the best homes for my work. I sent partial manuscripts out in blocks of three, so I could keep track of where it was and who I was dealing with. The first six came back as rejections (well mostly, it took one six months to reject it, by which time I was with my current agent!). However I entered discussions with another agent who seemed keen, and although these talks came to nothing, it once again gave me enough sustenance to keep going.

The agency I'm now represented by was part of my third attempt in April 2010. Initially uncertain of whether to submit (because their client list is predominantly literary fiction, and while I am many things, literary is not one of them), I saw the magic words...building a new list of children's and teenage fiction. Lesson two, then – read the small print. My agent was actively building her list. The agent mentioned above rejected me because she had too many authors to manage already, simple as that.

As I had learned from the first brush, things can happen lightning fast. The day after I sent my agent the first three chapters, she asked to see the whole thing, and this time it was ready. But as with any story worth telling, there has to be some drama, and this was no different. Somehow, possibly because of an ancient curse, when attaching the files via email, the wrong version (complete with clichéd, Inception style “or is it..?” ending) was sent.

It took 24 hours to realise I'd sent the wrong version, by which time she was already reading it. I quickly sent the right version with a grovelling email and got drunk. Three days later, I got my reply... “I really loved HOLLOW PIKE and would be keen on discussing it further with a view to offering you representation.” I was at my day job and promptly cried on a co-worker.

A phone call later and that was that. Done and dusted. My letter of agreement arrived about a week later. That was just the beginning – some other time I'd like to blog about the work my agent has done for me over the last six months, because it's been immense and I'm very grateful. Writing this blog entry has left me a bit emotional (possibly because I had two glasses of wine earlier), and again, feeling lucky. Talent counts, but if Jo hadn't been accepting new submissions when she was, I might have been waiting years.

Final lesson – don't try to predict trends in the market. My manuscript was originally a lot more “supernatural” than the finished product will be, I was writing it in the midst of Twilight fever, and thought that was what agents and publishers wanted to read. Wrong. The publishing world is way ahead of writers, trying to set new trends. Hollow Pike is richer now for losing a cast of characters with superhuman powers – darker and edgier, much more in keeping with my personal taste. Go with what inspires you, be original, write as well as you can, steady yourself for inevitable months of rejection and never give up.

James Dawson is the author of HOLLOW PIKE, released 2nd Feb 2012 from Indigo/Orion. You can find out more about James over on his website.

How I Got My Agent: Guest Post by Charlotte Otter

Please welcome Charlotte Otter who also has an agent success story to share with us.

I started writing a novel in January 2008. I had a germ of an idea and a burning feeling that if I didn't start Right This Minute, I would never do it and die old and bitter and full of self-reproach. I was 39. It was my midlife crisis.

After a month of writing, I entered the opening page of my novel in Nathan Bransford's Suprisingly Essential First Page Challenge (www.nathanbransford.com). There were more than 600 entries and my page was chosen as one of the six finalists. The prize was a query critique from Nathan, but since I had only written a chapter at that point, I had no query to offer. I filed the prize away in the Things We Dream About drawer.

Then I went away to write. I spent the next two and half years writing, rewriting, fixing, erasing, going back. Listening to beta readers, ignoring them, listening to them again. Two years. Three drafts. Then I decided it was time to claim my prize and the lovely Nathan wrote a mail that made my heart skip several beats: 'Is this ready to be considered? If so, I'd be happy to take a look at the first 30 pages.'

I quickly made his suggested changes and sent him my new query and the first 30 pages. Nathan passed. It was a horrible moment. I asked a dear friend, who is a literary talent scout and who has impeccable taste, to read my novel. Her response was a punch to the solar plexus: too many rookie errors, too much tell and not enough show and please change the point of view from first to third person immediately.

I had queried too soon. The biggest rookie error of all.

After breathing in and out deeply, I started addressing her suggestions. I changed the novel from first to third person and it came alive. I started fantasising about which agents I would approach, making lists from Agentquery and The Artist's and Writer's Yearbook. However, a voice in my head said Use Your Contacts First. I used up my one contact with Nathan. I only had one left: Michaela Röll at Eggers-Landwehr, a Berlin literary agency, who is the friend of a friend. That friend said, 'Give it a go. You never know.'

In July 2010, I got an email from Michaela, which I have kept and may have to frame. It was full of lovely words about the book and an offer of representation. In August, I signed. There is still a long road ahead for Balthasar's Gift and me. A publisher has made some comments as have two literary agents in London who work as Michaela's sub-agents in the British market. I am now addressing their concerns, still writing, still revising, still fixing.

Still hoping that my dream will come true.

Charlotte Otter is a South African writer living in Germany. Balthasar's Gift, is a crime novel set in her homeland. She blogs at Charlotte's Web about reading, writing and living in Germany (http://www.charlotteotter.wordpress.com/) and tweets @charlwrites.

How I Got My Agent: Guest Post by Caroline Tung Richmond

Please welcome Caroline who has stopped by to tell us all about how she found her agent.

In the spring of 2009, I borrowed a copy of Carrie Ryan's THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH from my local library—and I proceeded to devour it within two days. (It was fast-paced and frightening!) When I was finished, I decided to skim through the author's acknowledgments at the end of the book. One of the first people that Carrie thanked? Her agent, Jim McCarthy.

"Hmm," I thought. "Maybe I should query this guy when I finish my manuscript?"

I figured it would be a long shot but I scribbled Jim's name onto my list of potential agents. He seemed to represent mostly YA/adult novels but maybe (just maybe) he'd be interested in my middle grade manuscript.

Fast forward to April 2010…

I had spent nearly a year querying, revising, querying, rewriting, and querying my MG space opera. I was EX-HAUS-TED—and I was ready to call it quits. Yet, I still had a few agents on my querying list so I figured I'd contact them before I pulled the plug.

And so, I shot a query to Jim and a half-dozen other agents, not expecting anything to happen. A couple days later though, Jim requested my full manuscript! *Cue dancing and singing and major squee-ing.* But I tried to tamp down my excitement because I didn't think Jim was very interested in MG novels.

As I awaited Jim's response, I was stunned to receive my first offer of representation…and a second offer as well! I was speechless. Just a month prior, I had wanted to shelve my manuscript but now I had two agents interested in repping me! I was beyond humbled.

I sent Jim an email to alert him of my offers and he replied within the hour, agreeing to read my manuscript over the weekend. I was super excited that he was considering my book, but I tried not to get too worked up. He might not even like my novel, I told myself, Don't start getting stars in your eyes, Caroline!

On Monday afternoon, however, I received a call from a New York number—it was Jim! And he wanted to represent me! I froze, completely tongue-tied. B-B-But Jim only reps YA, right? Turns out, Jim wanted to branch into the middle grade genre and he wanted to sign me on as a client. *Cue fainting.* When I jolted out of my daze, I just knew I wanted to work with him.

I signed the contract last May and I couldn't be happier!

Caroline Tung Richmond is a freelance writer based in the Washington, D.C. area. She loves cupcakes, Star Trek, Anthropologie, and YA and middle grade novels. If you would like to read more of her crazy ramblings, you’re more than welcome to visit her blog (http://carolineinspace.blogspot.com) or follow her on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/ctrichmond).

How I Got My Agent: Guest Post by Ian Bontems

Hi there.

Kate kindly asked me to visit her blog and explain just how on earth I got my agent, John Rudolph of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

THE HOUSE OF MIRRORS was the first novel I’d ever written and I’d been querying for a month or so (and receiving a steady trickle of various types of rejections), when I decided that my query letter wasn’t up to snuff and had to be re-written. Yep, I’m a classic example of the writer that jumped the gun (but hey, at least I’d finished and revised the book I was querying, that’s got to count for something). Around about this time, I heard about a new agent, one that seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

I got the heads-up from here: http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog It’s a great resource to keep you informed about new agents (but take note, it’s based in the USA, and so are all the agents that Chuck mentions).

But before I sent off that spanking new query letter, I did my stalking *ahem* ‘research,’ and dug up some old interviews John did back when he was an editor for Simon & Schuster, Putnam and Penguin. John Rudolph was new, but had loads of experience in publishing as an editor of children’s books and to be honest, sounded pretty cool.

Stalking done, I shipped off my latest query on a wing and a prayer and waited.

I got a standard email back saying I may have to wait 6-8 weeks for a response. No problem, I thought and filed it away with all the others on my little query spreadsheet and carried on writing, half expecting the answer to be negative.

Colour me surprised when the request for the full came soon after.

I’d read blogs that told me to be prepared to wait months for a response to the full, but John got back to me a week later saying he was interested. We chatted via email where he proposed some very minor revisions. I agreed with his excellent suggestions and then John offered to represent my work.

So that’s my tale. I’m a British writer with an American agent who has an MG novel out on submissions and is currently writing a YA epic fantasy with assassins and female soldiers who can ignite their swords with magical fire.

Thanks for reading.

You can find out more about Ian and his writing over at Ian's blog - The Eye of a Little God

How I Found my Agent

One question I would always want to ask an agented author is ‘how did you find your agent?’ The routes taken are not always conventional.

So although I’m sure you could find the answer by trawling through this blog, I thought I would tell you about how I found mine.

Early in 2010 I noticed a discussion on the Strictly Writing blog about networking. Someone was complaining about not having any networking opportunities because they lived out in the sticks, and a number of people had chipped in that there are other ways of networking – you don’t have to live in London!

Now since I live out in the sticks I found this discussion very interesting. Especially when someone mentioned that agents often offer 1-2-1 sessions at Literary Festivals and one such festival was the Frome Festival – a mere 1 ½ hours from where I live! In fact Rachel Ward, author of the very successful Numbers series, was picked up by Chicken House at one of these 1-2-1 sessions at the Frome Festival a couple of years ago.

I checked out their website and when I saw that one of the agents was Julia Churchill from Greenhouse Literary I made sure I booked myself a slot and duly sent off my first chapter and synopsis.

Then I had to sit down and make sure I had the thing finished in time! A good job I did because when I turned up for my slot she asked for the full. I sent it off the moment I got home and the rest, as they say, is history.