I have an amazing AGENT!

What a rite of passage this post seems to be... 

But it really isn't, of course. 

Dozens... maybe hundreds of you are still unagented, and you may very well be future award winners, bestsellers, and superstars. This post doesn't mean anyone's "made it"...least of all me. There is no "leveling up." ;)

This post is a joy to write, but I know that so many of my dearest friends continue to dream of it. Drafting sentences and saving gifs in their minds. 

This post is for them. For you. 

You're all awesome.

You wanna know who else is awesome?

I'll tell you.

You won't believe it. She's too brilliant. Okay, I'll tell you anyway...

My agent, *faints* *revives* *continues* the incredible Jessica Sinsheimer of Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency.

I swear, I did this exact dance for 34.2 hours following her phone call.
Made it hard to eat, of course, but I managed. 

Not only is Jessica one of the most beloved tweeting agents in the history of twitter (I mean, come on, she made Fizzygrrl's list, which is basically the holy book of Awesomeality), she is notoriously kind, passionate, and eager to find a reason to love your writing.

Are you swooning? I'm swooning.

She wants you... every bit as much as you want her.

When we spoke, I actually had to stop and ask her point blank, "Are you really offering to represent me... or are you just being awesome?" because she was so complimentary and excited... I thought she was trying to let me down easy or something.

She had a desire to take the long road with me. It wasn't just about one project... it was about the whole package. I was floored.

My journey to this point was relatively short, and so even though it felt like it's taken several millennia, I won't insult those of you who've toiled for ages by saying so. All the cool kids share their stats, and I know they're super interesting so here are mine:



Unsolicited queries: 15
Requested queries/partials from (1) conference and (2) contests: 16
--- of those 16, 12 became fulls
Revise and Resubmit requests: 2 (I only took on one of those)

TOTAL submissions: 31

Straight up rejections: 28 (18 of those rejections were prior to a major revision which ultimately changed my entire manuscript.)

First query sent 5/22/12
Signed with Jessica 12/17/12
I spent 6 months and 25 days in the query trenches.

Offers: 1

... At least, I only fielded one. I trust my gut IMPLICITLY and when I knew that Jessica was my chosen representative, I withdrew my MS from consideration from a few remaining agents, and a couple more unbelievably brilliant agents bowed out (I might have been a bit too excited when I notified them).

That being said, there's a lot of super interesting story leading to this point. Story about how I knew Jessica was the one, and how it is that she came to offer on my manuscript a mere 7 days after it landed in her inbox during the busiest bit of the season, but it's jut going to have to wait for another day.

And about what's next for my little DAMSEL DISTRESSED.

But, a girl can't tell all of her secrets at once.

Thank you to every single one of my CPs and betas, who toiled and cried and loved this manuscript along side me. Those who texted me and tweeted with me and floofed with me. Those who pushed me through the darkest days in the query trenches, and who let me cry on their shoulders when disappointment threatened to weaken my resolve. Thank you to everyone who wielded a red (pilot G2) pen, and those who filled dozens of Word comment bubbles, and those who just read it in mere hours and gushed when I needed a boost.

I love you.

Thank you all.