The typical ‘How I Got My Agent’ post with a mystic twist.
By Marilyn La Jeunesse
Everything they say about querying is true. It’s terrifying to put a little piece of your soul — that novel you’ve spent years perfecting — into the world. It’s even worse to have it at the mercy of unsuspecting strangers hoping, wishing, praying (if you’re of the sort) that one of them will want to represent your work.
But, before we get to the heart-wrenching and completely unorthodox story of how I landed by agent, let’s start at the very beginning…
I started writing my first novel in early 2019 during a time when everything in my life seemed so uncertain. In an attempt to save myself from a never ending darkness, I escaped into a world with a little bit of hope for happiness. Thus, my YA fantasy was born.
I didn’t know the first thing about writing a novel, aside from the fact it should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. I’ve read thousands of books in my lifetime, so it seemed easy enough. But, reading and writing a novel are two distinctly different things. Countless YouTube videos and beta readers later, I had a working draft. But, I still needed help.
Fine, I needed a LOT of help. So, I applied to the Avengers of Colour mentorship in 2020 and was selected by New York Times best-selling author Aiden Thomas to be his mentee. A few months later, I finally had a draft of my YA fantasy that wasn’t a total flaming piece of hot garbage. I also made some of my first writing friends thanks to this mentorship — each of whom hold a special place in my heart for sharing their stories and expertise with me.
Armed with an extensive Google Sheets of various agents, I officially began my descent into querying hell on February 25, 2021 with nothing but QueryTracker , Manuscript Wish List, and a few pints of Ben & Jerry’s on my side. I tried my hand at a few Twitter pitch contests and generally hoped for the best, leaning on my writer’s group of fellow AOC mentees to help cheer me on.
As a journalist, rejection comes with the territory and it’s something I’ve hardened my heart to over the years. Still, receiving my first few denials hurt more than the trolls in Teen Vogue’s Twitter mentions. Querying is subjective, of course. A ‘no’ doesn’t mean your work is terrible, or that you should give up, it’s merely not the right fit for the agent you reached out to. When you zoom out, it’s easier to see the process as hunting for the right champion as opposed to an all-encompassing judgment that can make or break your dreams.
But, I didn’t see it that way when I was querying. Every ‘no’ felt like a dagger to my fragile Pisces heart. As a totally rational water sign, I dealt with the rejection by doom-scrolling on TikTok. My FYP ultimately led me to a tarot reading that would change my life. Sort of.
I don’t usually put too much faith in higher powers or messages from the beyond, but this tarot reader said my dreams would come to fruition. And a few other oddly specific things that I’ll keep to myself. It was a silly one-minute video that thousands of others saw, but the message stuck with me.
Sometimes you just have to trust the tarot side of TikTok.
And I’m grateful I did, because I received my first offer of representative about a week later on April 13, 2021. I was over-the-moon that someone wanted to represent the Latinx fantasy of my heart. Here’s where my querying story diverges from others you may have read in the past.
After notifying other agents of the offer, I was given the opportunity to revise-and-resubmit from a dream agent. That’s not the best way to describe the conversation we had on the phone, but for the sake of brevity, that’s what I’ll call it. This agent has a proven track record for championing Latinx literary work and currently reps some of my favorite authors. It was a pinch-me moment, but taking this opportunity would mean declining a guaranteed offer of representation. It was a gamble and, if you know me personally, I always air on the side of caution. Always.
After a decent amount of soul-searching and about a dozen pros-and-cons lists later, I turned down the original offer of representation. I know. I was surprised too.
But wait. Here’s where things get even more chaotic.
A few weeks after my deadline had passed, an agent offered to represent me on June 25, 2021. Yes, you read that right. A belated offer from someone I also admire. If your jaw just dropped, imagine mine when I got the call. None of the blog posts I read about querying prepared me for this. No one I asked had heard of something like this happening. It was peculiar and uncomfortable, but I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.
So, I reached out to the agent who offered me a revise-and-resubmit to explain the situation. I wanted to make sure they knew I hadn’t continued querying after accepting their offer (seriously, this was like my biggest fear!) and told them another agent reached out after-the-fact. To my surprise, they offered to represent me on the spot.
The rest is publishing history.
Author’s Note: There are, of course, weird specifics missing from this story, like a frantic email to fellow media-darling Hannah Orenstein on what the hell querying is, an accidental email to a book editor thinking they were an agent, and a million desperate texts asking if imposter syndrome could kill you to the one-and-only De Elizabeth. My querying journey was a one-in-a-million type of story that I’m grateful to share with you.
Marilyn La Jeunesse 