A Is For Agent

Jennifer has a literary agent…

I’m very excited to announce that I just signed with a literary agent for my current work-in-progress. The book is a contemporary romance (of course) but is not part of my Jewish romance series.

I’ve wanted to look into agents for a long time. From the very beginning, I’ve pitched myself to them, without any luck. Many of them just said flat-out no; others made suggestions that I took and valued. And then I found Whiskey Creek Press and Rebel Ink Press, neither of whom required an agent and both of whom I’ve loved being part of.

I’m still with Rebel Ink Press and I can’t wait to continue to submit my stories to them. I love the editors there and I’ve made friends with many of their writers. I’m currently working on Book 3 (as yet, untitled) of my Women of Valor series and my vision for that series is at least 3 more full-length books, and possibly a novella or two.

But I also wanted to try my hand at getting an agent. Call it the challenge, call it career advancement. I don’t know exactly what to call it, but in publishing, it is completely possible to follow a variety of different routes, may of which are at the same time. It’s why some authors self-publish at the same time as traditionally publish, as an example.

So, as I’ve seen agents who interest me, or pitching events to agents, I’ve participated. One such event is #pitmad, on Twitter. Held four times a year, it’s where writers boil down their stories to approximately 125 characters, add a tag for the type of story and the hashtag #pitmad to their tweet and press send. Editors and agents who are participating that day “favorite” any pitches that sound interesting to them.

The first time I participated, an editor showed some interest, but since I was looking for an agent, I didn’t respond. You don’t have to respond, so I didn’t do anything wrong. This time around, an agent responded. Once they favorite your tweet, you follow their submission guidelines and your query goes to the top of their pile. There’s no guarantee they’ll like what you submit, but you have a better shot, similar to pitching at a conference.

Since the #pitmad event in December, my agent and I have emailed and spoken on the phone. Today, I forwarded the signed contract to her, so it’s official. I can’t wait to see what happens in this next stage.