Here's an interview with KidLit literary agent Lori Kilkelly.
She's joined by author/illustrator Lori Richmond, author of Bunny's Staycation and Bunny Business.
Today we talk about getting an agent, the slush pile, and pet peeves when it comes to querying.
Twitter pitching. I always said I’d never do it.
And then my friend Lidija Hilje, the Pitching Queen, talked me into it. Lidija also helped me put the final polish on my query letter, so since she also said she would help me polish my Twitter pitch, I agreed.
Of course she talked me into it two days before PitMad!
So after many iterations of my pitch (lots and lots of back and forth on a Google Doc!), we decided to do an impromptu Mom Writes episode about Twitter pitching contests. Well, specifically PitMad, which happens once a quarter.
I’m still honing my pitch for tomorrow (December 3, 2020) or else I’d share it here. But if you want to listen to Lidija give us all the dirt on PitMad and hear her red pen my pitch, then this is the episode for you.
Since we did it the day before PitMad, I wanted to get this episode up ASAP. So it is unedited. There is no intro. No music. No nothing. Just me and Lidija and a live studio audience! Yes, we recorded this along with a handful of listeners (which was super fun)!
So join us today for some tips and tricks and logistics behind the Twitter pitch.
We had a really great question come in from my friend and fellow writer, Mindy. She wanted to know about “the nudge.” She wanted to know when it was okay to nudge an agent who has your manuscript.
(Side note, Mindy has been working her butt off querying agents while writing her second book. She’s had quite a bit of action on her query, which is super exciting! She’s killing it, and I’m super proud of her!)
I was glad Mindy asked this question, because I wanted to know when it was okay to nudge an agent who has your query. One of the agents I queried gave permission (on her website) to nudge after 4 weeks. But I wanted to know the etiquette. What do you say, and when do you say it?
Jennie has three words for writers looking to nudge an agent: just be professional.
“Always keep in the back of your mind two things. It’s a super small industry, and you never know who knows who and who’s going to talk to who about what you did. And also, these may be people that you are going to be doing business with for very, very long time.”
In today’s episode Jennie talks about the different types of nudges, what you should say, and when it’s appropriate to send it. (Spoiler alert, in most cases the answer is you don’t.)
When do you nudge an agent who has your query?
When do you nudge an agent who has your full manuscript?
What happens when you get an agent phone call? An offer of representation? What do you tell the other agents who have your manuscript? What if you get multiple offers? So much to juggle!
Jennie’s got some great advice and a few client stories all about The Nudge.
This is not a full episode. This is an invitation. I’ve decided (very spontaneously, mind you) to do something a wee bit different this week. As some of you may know, PitMad is on Thursday.
PitMad is a Twitter pitching contest.
Now, as some of you may also know, I’ve sworn I will never participate in a Twitter pitching contest. Mostly because I’m not that good at The Twitter. But also because, it’s a crazy, frenetic energy that I really don’t dig.
However, I also said I would never teach high school, but then taught it for ten years AND LOVED IT.
So, I’m going to give Twitter pitching a shot.
Here’s where the invitation comes in. I’m inviting you to a live recording of the Mom Writes podcast on Wednesday, December 2. On it, my friend and book coach Lidija Hilje, is going to look at the first draft of my three Twitter pitches and utterly massacre them. I mean, we will tear them down and build them back up again to (hopefully) make them spectacular (crossing fingers).
We’re doing this live on Zoom at 11:30 am Eastern time. If you would like to come and listen in, email me at momwrites@authoraccelerator.com and I will send you the Zoom link.
Also know that I would appreciate your support in retweeting my pitches on Thursday! My handle is @abbysmathews. If you are pitching and would like me to retweet your pitches, too, email me your Twitter handle and I will retweet you! (See email above!
Hope to see you guys Wednesday on Zoom, and also on Thursday on The Twitter.
My first rejection is in the bag!
Actually, my first two.
Jennie made me promise to screen record opening my first response from an agent. So this episode starts with me (actually) opening and reading my first rejection and Jennie’s response to it.
The theme of today’s episode is don’t take it personally. It’s easy (very easy, because we are storytellers at heart!) to make up all sorts of stories about what is (and isn’t) happening to your email queries that are out in the world. I was convinced—totally and utterly convinced—that my query was being passed around one of the agencies. Why did I think this? Because I could see from the read receipts that it had been opened a grand total of 17 times in a two-week period.
I saw the open number climb and thought, great! There’s some action on my query!
But Jennie likes to inject some reality into my fantasy. And here’s the truth: we don’t know. We don’t know who is opening the emails or why. It could be a slush pile reader. It could be the agent. The agent could be passing it around. OR it could be an automation!
Send it and forget it is a difficult strategy. After all, I am hopeful! I am optimistic! Plus, it’s kinda fun checking email. It’s certainly replaced checking social media, which is a nice change of pace.
What does Jennie suggest doing while you wait on your query responses? Keep writing, of course!
Today Jennie and I talk about the toxic “Pick Me!” attitude that many writers have towards querying. We look at the different types of energy we as writers bring to the pitching process, and how feelings of desperation hurt more than help.
As I look to continue to query, I know I need to personalize each one for the agent it’s being sent to. Seems easy, right? You just take out Dear Mrs. X and replace it with Dear Mr. Y. Then you erase the sentence about why you chose X and replace it with one about how much you like Y.
Not. So. Fast.
Jennie and I take a look at my base query and we talk about how you tweak a personalization in order to speak to each agent directly.
Oh, and at one point we talk about my new book. Jennie brings up the Inside Outline 10-Point Checklist. And after I told her I had never seen it, I found an unbranded Word doc that simply said “10 Point Checklist” on my computer. And low-and-behold, it was the same list Jennie ran through in the episode! So here are the questions you should ask yourself of your outline:
1. Check to be sure there is one clear point: Is it about something?
2. Check to be sure that POV is consistent and clear.
3. Check for an arc of change: Does the ending resolve the problem of the beginning?
4. Check the cause and effect trajectory: Do the actions the protagonist drive to the next thing that happens in every chapter?
5. Check the force or opposition: Is it clear what is standing in the protagonist’s way on the inside and the outside?
6. Check the character motivation and logic: Do the protagonist’s actions make sense? Would they actually behave this way?
7. Check to make sure your protagonist has agency over their decisions.
8. Check the consequences of those decisions. Is something at stake?
9. Check pacing and flow of the story: Is there tension throughout?
10. Check genre conventions: Does the story do what the genre needs it to do?
This episode actually made me feel a zillion times better about querying, and it gave me some patience with the process.
It’s really no surprise that after only a single week (we’re talking not even seven full days) I’ve heard nothing from the one (ONE!) agent that I exclusively queried. It’s very easy to take this personally. But should you? I mean, you sent her (or him!) this thing— your thing!—that took you years of blood, sweat, and tears to write. Is it just sitting in their inbox? Did they see it and hate it? What is happening?
Today Jennie puts us in an agent’s shoes. What is an agent’s job, and how much of it involves reading queries?
And based on this information, should I adjust my strategy of pitching a series of exclusives to my top agents? Should I instead batch pitch a small group of them?
So if you are querying and need some patience with the process, listen to Jennie’s words of wisdom and take a deep breath. If you’ve done your homework on the agents, followed all the rules, and you have a solid query, you’re on the right path.
Hip hip hooray! Today we invite you to join us as we press send on my (Abby’s) first (and exclusive) pitch.
There’s not much to sum up today, except to say that Mel makes her first appearance in Season 3! She comes to give us an update on where she’s at with her book and to support me while I make the big leap.
The three of us catch up and share all the feels as I read my query letter, and in the excitement I nearly commit a cardinal sin and forget to put a subject in my email!
In today’s intro I also give you a behind the scenes glimpse of what happened AFTER I hit send. It was pretty epic, and just to give you guys a visual, I’ll include a gif in the show notes (on my website, which is www.abbymathews.org)!
Here’s a gif of one of my escape artists, Mr. E, the SMALLEST of my pigs. Now imagine that guy TIMES THREE. (He likes to drink from the hose, which I find funny!)
In this episode, we review the overall pitching process.
Here's a run-down if you've missed it:
Get your manuscript in "good enough" shape to pitch. Remember, there's still more work to be done once you get picked up!
Make sure your query is stellar. (No pressure, right?!)
Write short personalizations for each agent on your short-list.
Double-check each of those agent's submission requirements.
Don't rush! The process of pitching takes time. You don't want to make a mistake with one tiny little detail that ends up jeopardizing your chances with a great agent because you didn't put the right subject in your email.
Jennie has some useful tips that will save lots of time in the long run (even though it might take a while to set up in the beginning).
We haven't talked much about beta readers and how they fit into the pitching prep process. Should you have your writer-friends beta read? Or should you have your reader-friends beta read?
My last Hail Mary question for Jennie before she turns me loose on the final leg to pitching is this: comp titles! I get a wee bit nervous and start second-guessing my comp titles. Jennie heads to Amazon to help me answer my comp title questions, and we work through what works best (and what the comp title's actual purpose is in the query letter).
And then...
I'm off to pull everything together before I hit send on my first query on Season 3, Episode 9 of Mom Writes!
It's the Query Letter Episode!!!
I have written my query letter no less than 45 times (and it feels like 45 ka-zillion times). Some passes over my query letter have involved big, sweeping changes. Others have been small tweaks, looking to do things like cut an overabundance of adjectives. But every change brought me closer and closer to what Jennie has deemed a query that is "KILLER GOOD."
The first time we tackled my query was on Jennie's Creative Live class called How To Land A Literary Agent. You can find the course here. We recorded it live in Seattle a few years ago, and guess which literary agent we use as our example?
If you guessed Alec Shane, you are correct.
Since writing this query, my book has undergone several revisions. Therefore my query needed updating. I had a solid start, but I ended up scratching my book's blurb and starting fresh.
It was so hard! Soooooo harddddddd.
Why is writing a query so hard?
“It’s because it’s a sales thing. It’s not the same kind of writing at all.”
You've got to look at the big picture for the query, not what the plot is about, but what the story is about. And you have to do it in a way that is short and sweet, so listen in while Jennie and I tear up my query--again--on this episode of Mom Writes.
When you finally choose an agent to pitch (or 20 or 30), what do you do? I'm interested in sending out a series of exclusives. It's a weird strategy, and it might not work. (As a matter of fact, I might scrap the whole thing after this first round. You never know!) But for whatever reason, this is where my gut is telling me to start.
In this episode, we discuss the one cardinal rule in pitching agents: FOLLOW ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS TO A "T."
If the agent says they want the subject line to say your name, title, and date of your last flu shot, then by God, you write your name, title, and date of your last flu shot! It's not time to get fancy or creative because there very well may be a filter on their inbox that weeds out any email which doesn't follow this exact format.
We also discuss my first chapter and why it's essential to nail it. Frankly, I had a tiny blip early in the chapter that took Jennie out of my story.
“An agent is a highly tuned reading machine, right? She is gonna be scanning this super-fast, like, ‘Oh, that’s so cute. That’s so great. That’s so awesome. BLIP. Ugh. Done.’”
In my first chapter, I referred to a conversation between two characters in the scene. Jennie wanted to see the conversation instead. She wanted to see the conversation because it allowed my main character to react to it.
It ended up being a small tweak, but a fun one to incorporate because it gave me the chance to add in a little more "Mr. Rafferty."
Sidenote, Mr. Rafferty is the character that every one of my beta readers (EVERY. ONE.) said they loved (and wanted more of!). He's a retired pirate, and he's a grumpy, snarky ol' talking rat with a great big heart.
I've learned during this whole pitching-prep process that sometimes little changes make a big difference.
Today we have (surprise!) more talk about agents. What if you're pitching an agent, but you are open to eventually dipping your toes in self-publishing or hybrid publishing? Or changing genres? Or co-writing?
“And when you get to a conversation with an agent, these are things you might want to say: I have a million ideas! I might want to do a collaboration with someone. I might want to do a picture book. I might want to do an adult thing. And I know you might not represent all those things, but what are your thoughts about them?”
Basically, you want to know where a potential agent stands on any path you may want to walk.
What are other things that you need to consider when comparing different agents and agencies? What kind of business relationship are you looking for?
We turn to the internet and do a little digging on one agency. The Jill Grinberg Agency has a beautiful manifesto of their beliefs on their website. In it, they talk about how they approach their work with writers and how they work as a team with fluidity between departments.
So what am I looking for in an agent? My answer may surprise you! (Especially because I'm not sure if she exists!)
Today Jennie breaks down agents and strategy in all kinds of different ways.
First, she talks about agents and what they strategically do for your career (and what they don't). Agents aren't going to say to you, "Llamas are hot right now! Bring me a book featuring llamas!" (Llama just say, I thought this was kind of how it worked.)
All agents work differently and have different personalities and styles. Some are more editorially focused. Some are great at laying out a strategic career path. As a writer pitching agents, you should have an idea of how hands-on you want them to be.
Because as Jennie keeps saying, "You get to choose, too." Choosing an agent is a two-way street. Yes, they choose you, but you can say no if you talk to them and realize it's not a good fit. Or, as I said, you can turn down the agent if s/he turns out to be a Mr. Collins. (That's for all you Jane Austen fans out there.)
Turning down an agent is very difficult for a new writer to do, by the way!
We also talk a bit about my very off-beat pitching strategy. Jennie usually suggests pitching agents in small batches, but I've decided I want to do something... different.
Because God forbid I do things like everyone else.
I know how some of us are feeling. We've worked hard (possibly for years) on a book, and when it comes time to pitch it, there is a worldwide pandemic.
So what do we do? Do we change our stories to reflect the new "normal?" Do we hold off pitching agents? Are agents still working? Are they taking writers?
Do any of these things even matter?
Today Jennie and I talk about how the pandemic has affected the pitching process. My question to Jennie was this: is it better to pitch more established agents who already have all the connections?
Jennie goes over more pros and cons about pitching agents at big agencies vs. small ones. Seasoned agents vs. young scrappy and hungry.
She also takes some time to dig deeper into one agent on my list. She dives into the internet to try and figure out what she can about him, illustrating that sometimes you have to channel your inner Sherlock Holmes when researching agents.
Today we talk about what to expect when you’re pitching agents. From what to do with your documents to how to keep track of agents, Jennie lays out all the things you need to consider when starting the pitching process.
(And I have one word for you, folks: spreadsheets.)
I also fret because my top, wish-listed agents represent some pretty big names. But Jennie has some good advice for me there, too.
“They’re not usually like, ‘Well, that’s it. I got one really big one! I’m done!’ They’re in this game for good. So there is no aiming high. Like if you’re aiming for people who represent really prominent, famous authors, they’re just as likely to take your book and love your book as anyone else.”
I talk a little about how I narrowed down the agents on my list that I wanted to pitch and why. Jennie explains choose agents to pitch is not so much a science as it is an art.
So how do you go about choosing what agents to pick? And what makes a good agent? What if you don’t hear back from an agent? What if you hear from multiple agents at once? All these questions plus a few more on today’s pitching prep episode of Mom Writes.
Season Three of Mom Writes is all about pitching your completed manuscript to agents! Book coach Jennie Nash walks me, Abby Mathews, through the process of pitching my middle grades novel in hopes of finding an agent, and in turn, a publisher.
But let’s start at the beginning. The first eight episodes are dedicated to preparing your pitch and your agent query.
Today, Jennie talks about the number one thing people get wrong when they pitch their books to an agent: they RUSH.
We also talk about the two things you have to get in shape to pitch: your materials and your mind. What do we as writers need to do to make sure our book is pitch-worthy? First, I asked myself, “Is this book something that realistically an agent can sell?” And the answer was no.
So, I made some changes to my story that I felt would make it easier to sell my book, and we talk a little about that. I had to kill a few darlings in the process, but in the end, I think my manuscript is in better shape to sell.
We also talk about the idea of your book being “good enough” to pitch. It was my friend KJ who said, “It has to be good enough to go out, but not so good I can’t change it.” Because one thing you may or may not realize is agents and editors will all have suggestions for your story. These suggestions help you craft a story they can sell. What you have to have crystal clear on the page is your big vision for this story. And you have to find an agent who can catch that vision and run with it.
Here’s where we move from a purely creative realm into the realm of BUSINESS. And this is a hard thing shift!
But I’m getting ahead of myself. To start, you need a query letter and a “good enough” manuscript. So welcome back to Mom Writes as we present pitching prep!
Hi, everyone! We have a Mom Writes season 3 update.
One important announcement I have is that Mom Writes is moving! You will no longer find our current show notes on the Author Accelerator website. Seasons 1 and 2 still live on the Author Accelerator site, so all our old show notes are there. But anything new from this point forward will be…here! On my website www.AbbyMathews.org.
And you guys, I spell my last name with ONE T. Like the everyone’s least favorite subject in school, math.
Just kidding.
Kinda. I mean, some people love math. I just said that so you would remember my name has one T in it, like math. ;-)
Season 3 is going to be structured a wee bit differently, since we are headed into uncharted territory (or at least it’s uncharted for ME). Season 3 is all about pitching, and when you query agents it gets unpredictable. So, whereas you could previously count on me to write my 20 pages every other week on Seasons 1 and 2, I don’t really know what kind of rhythm Season 3 will have.
That said, we’re starting out with 8 episodes where Jennie lays out pitching prep, and we’re going to release them pretty quickly. Most likely M W F, M W F, M W and then I’m going to hit send on my first query letter as close to “live” as we can get it. (As a matter of fact, Jennie is going to be on the phone with me when I hit send, for moral support. Because she’s awesome like that!)
Mel is still around, even if you don’t hear her voice at first. FEAR NOT. She is alive and well! But like Mom Writes, Mel has also made a big move across state lines. She just needs a little time to settle and adjust before jumping into the fray! So, as long as I don’t mess up the tech on my end, look for a new episode coming Monday, October 5, 2020!
