It's still so hard to believe I have an agent!!
And from my dream agency!!!
I signed with the incredible Elisa Houot and the amazing team at The Seymour Agency and have finally calmed down enough to share the crazy story of how this all came to be.
So, for my like-minded nerds who appreciate a good timeline, I think that will be the easiest way to organize the chaos!
Here's how it went down:
Early Sept. 2020: Began querying picture book agents.
Sept. 29, 2020: Queried a wonderful agent @ Seymour (much earlier than I probably should have...)
Oct. 1, 2020: The very kind agent gives an encouraging pass and asks me to send more work after the new year.
Nov. 6, 2020: I participate in a video pitch with the same agent, different story. She requests more work!!
Nov. 10, 2020: Another super kind pass, but recommends I send the manuscript to a colleague, Marisa Cleveland, also at Seymour.
Nov. 12, 2020: I query Marisa and indicate it is a referral from another agent. The waiting begins...
(Background info: I had no idea this happened until after I signed with Elisa, but Maggie, Seymour's lovely assistant, and Marisa both fell in love with the manuscript. BUT there was no room on her list. So, she kept my query in her inbox for months hoping to find room to sign me! Don't give up hope, friends! The right agent will move mountains to work with you!)
Nov-Feb. 2020: Many other queries are sent, mostly with form rejections. I start to become discouraged and fed up with "the rules" that are hampering my creativity.
Feb.18 2021: I am stressing out that I haven't heard back from Marisa and assume it's a pass, but a tiny shred of hope tells me there could be another reason she hasn't responded. I (very nervously) push SEND on a nudge email to Marisa. She responds that she and Maggie have it on the schedule to discuss in the coming weeks. I am both relieved and frantic at the notion!
March 4, 2021: Still no word from Marisa. "That's a good thing, right?!" I say to myself on an hourly basis.
In my agitated state, I decide to throw caution to the wind and pitch this VERY "rule-breaking" middle grade pitch in #pitmad. It was the only pitch I sent.
March 5, 2021: I check for friends' success stories in the Discord channel and see a post that says: "I see Ashlee got an agent like! Congrats!" I frantically check my Twitter notifications. Sure enough, Elisa Houot from Seymour liked my pitch!
But what to do?! The rules said not to query more than one agent at Seymour at a time, and Marisa still had my query!
I comment on Elisa's post about the situation. She tells me to go ahead and wait to send her my middle grade until I hear back from Marisa.
Now, at this point, I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes, but Elisa later informed me that she was SO UPSET another agent had my work because it was the only MG she requested that day and she REALLY wanted to read it!! 😍
March 6, 2021: Marisa emails me to say she saw my comment on Elisa's post and can I schedule a Zoom meeting soon!!
Minutes later, Elisa emails me asking to go ahead and send her the full.
I'm FREAKING OUT!! 😵😵😍😍🎉🎉🤞🤞
March 16, 2021: I have "The Call" with Elisa, Marisa, and Maggie. It goes sooooo well and I want to accept the offer right away, but I give a couple weeks to inform other agents who had my query that I'd been offered rep.
I also find out that Marisa and Elisa will work together on my picture book submission, so I basically had TWO amazing agents that wanted to work with me!!
March 26, 2021: I accept the offer of representation from Elisa!!!! I dance and faint and dance again and squeal. It was a wonderful day!!
So many things had to line up for this dream to come true, but I had amazing friends to walk beside me and support me in every step. When I was so discouraged after my 50th form rejection, my writing friends and the kind words from a few agents kept me going.
And I'm SO THANKFUL to be doing what I love with any awesome team behind me!!
I hope if you take anything from this story it's this:
Be BRAVE
Be PERSISTENT
Be YOU
And the perfect agent will come along at just the right time.