Inside Scoops
For one thing, I discovered the RWA (Romance Writers of America). For a newby, it's a great resource. Just the market updates in the RWR (RWA's monthly publication) are well worth the dues. I read all the blurbs about what publishers and agents were looking for and figured out who might be interested in my work and who probably wouldn't. I went to the national conference when it was in Denver, as well as attending other local conferences. For someone just starting out, the craft workshops are fabulous. After I heard agent after editor after agent talk about how important the first five pages were, I went back and completely rewrote my first five pages. I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't done that, I would not be published today. (And let me tell you, I still struggle with those first five pages of any new project!)
I also heard a lot of people mention that the best way to never get published was to fail to do your homework. I did my homework. Some of the information that I had been told was absolutely vital (like all manuscripts should be in Courier 12 point) was bogus (Kristin changed it all to Times New Roman before submitting). A lot was really important. Writer's Market and similar books are terrific in terms of learning the basics of querying. If I hadn't researched those, I would have sent a full manuscript that would have gone straight into the trash or in a slush pile.
I will say that, in my case, the more I read, the more I realized that I wanted an agent. Yes, you can publish without one, and I know a lot of published writers who are perfectly happy without one, but IMHO, Kristin has been worth every penny of her commission and then some. She mentioned that, since I came across her rather unconventionally, I might not be able to give much advice in the agent search. I'm not so sure that's true. You see, Kristin read about me in the newspaper. She had just opened the doors to her brand-new agency, having worked for another agent in Denver. I had just started my two-year leave of absence to work on getting published as a romance writer. A local paper ran an article on teachers who had left Columbine High School in the three years after the shootings that it had taken the last of the kids to graduate. I was one of those teachers, however temporary the leave. Kristin contacted me through the paper and agreed to look at a partial. From there, she read the full manuscript, asked for a number of changes, and finally agreed to take me as a client.
She happened to contact me just at the point where I had been querying agents. I never mentioned in any my previous queries where I taught. I still feel really uptight about having it in the bio in the back of my books. But in all honesty, part of what may snag an agent or editor's attention is life experiences that may make for an interesting writer. Maybe it's an unusual job or having lived in a foreign country under unique circumstances. Maybe it's living through a school shooting and wanting to reinvent your life. On the one hand, I'm very sensitive about seeming to capitalize on a tragedy. On the other, I didn't ask to be a part of that; I would give up every word of every book I've written to get those kids and Dave back, but I can't. If what happened caught Kristin's attention, so be it.
So you want my advice about finding an editor or agent? Remember that you are not just selling your book. You're selling yourself, especially if you're writing genre fiction. Agents and editors are looking for writers with career aspirations, not just one book. I draw on all kinds of life experiences, and yes, the shootings are among them. (If you've read my books, you may notice a slightly darker, more serious voice than many historicals have right now). Go ahead and let the person you are querying know that you have a rich background upon which to draw.
Oh—well, and write a good book. One of the ways I finally let go of the guilt I felt about having Columbine appear in my bio was the harsh realization that if the book doesn't look too interesting, no one will read enough of it to ever get around to looking at that bio in the back!
Something else—I had been querying the big agencies in New York. It seemed to me that I needed someone with a big reputation who was located in the middle of the world of publication. I ended up going with a Denver-based agent who had just opened up shop. Now, she had previous experience, and that was important. An agent needs contacts. However I quickly learned that the fact that her agency was new and that she was in Denver were assets rather than obstacles. I’m not one of a hundred authors vying for her attention. When I send her an e mail, I get one back, usually within a few minutes, maybe an hour. She makes regular trips to New York, and she makes them count. She goes out to breakfast, coffee, lunch, drinks, and dinner with editors the whole time, and because she’s from out of town and has made the trip, they make the time for her. So my last bit of advice is not to rule out smaller, newer, or non New York based agencies. Good things can come in small packages.