3.18.2012

My Agent Story. The Directors Cut. Part un of deux.

Part I: Inclining Roller Coaster-- The Creaking, Wooden Variety. 

The Hated Prologue
 
If you're reading this you're here for the long version of the story. I went back and forth on posting this because it all felt so me-me-me-me-self-centered. And I'm really bad at talking about myself. But, as my lovely critique partner, Valerie, pointed out, this is my blog. Plus, I loved reading these stories when I was querying, so I hope you'll feel the same. Yeah, if you follow this blog or follow me on Twitter then you already know how lucky I am to call the fantastic Miss Molly Jaffa (Folio Literary Management) my agent. And if you didn't know that, then-- SURPRISE! Anyway, if you're really curious or really creepy (yay, creepy!!!) here's a breakdown of how it all went down.

*I plan on doing a blog post about what I did differently from MS1 to MS2, so this post will just focus on the querying process for my second manuscript. That being said, I received 50+ rejections on my first manuscript-- many of those from agents whom I received offers from (including Molly! If you're reading, Hi Mojo Molly 1 of 2!). So, I get rejection you guys. I really do.

WARNING: As with all my blog posts, poor grammar ahead... and foul language, too. For one of those things, I am sorry.

Chapter One: The Query Shuffle

I started dipping my toes in the query pool sometime around the first week of February. I wasn't 100% sure of my manuscript, but at the same time I was at this point where I didn't feel I could take my MS any further on my own. And, too, I was scared of over-editing and losing my voice. So, know when to query. But, above all, don't query too soon. Because I've done that before, and it's bad news bears.

So, I received a handful of requests and a couple rejections, too. Things started to feel like they might be getting serious, so I decided to examine my list of agents to see who I had yet to query. I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. On that list of un-queried agents was Molly. And, full disclosure, I almost didn't query her. Mainly, because, even after putting one manuscript to bed, I was still terrified of rejection. And, well, from what I'd seen on Query Tracker and on different forums Molly seemed to be really selective and I had always admired her and I didn't want to have to highlight her name in red on my nifty query spreadsheet. In fact, I couldn't ever really remember seeing any recent requests from her. And if I got rejection from Molly with this MS, well then that was it. So, I figured why bother? I didn't see the point in adding another rejection to my stats (which is really freaking stupid). But, then I started chatting up my critique partner and another good friend, and we came to this conclusion: WHY THE HELL NOT? I had already done all the leg work, all the internet stalking, (ya know, the dissecting of every word of every interview you can find), and had already trolled her bio page on the Folio website. (Read: hit F5 68,000 times to see if her bio had updated for whatever reason. Creepy, I know.)

Okay, anyway, on Monday (2/20) at like 1 in the morning, I grew a pair and queried Molly.

Chapter Two: Wear Your Best, Because You Got a Fucking Request

That chapter title made no sense. Roll with it you guys.

I woke up a few hours later, after sending my query, and pretended like it didn't happen so I could just function like a normal human being at work. Then, later that afternoon I pulled out my phone and that goddamn light was blinking. EMAIL. EMAIL. EMAIL. I took a deep breath and told myself it would just be a stupid email from Sephora or something. But then I opened my email and it wasn't from Sephora or Petsmart or Amazon or any of those things you should really unsubscribe to before querying because every time that light blinks you go into cardiac arrest. It was most definitely a reply from Molly, and in less than 24 hours. Molly replied using my first name and to my querying friends you know what this means. It usually means good news or at least a semi-personalized rejection. But it wasn't a rejection, it was a full request, saying she was "captivated". Well Holy Pangea, y'all.

So I got home from work that night and sent that bad boy off. All the while, I was participating in Cupid's Blind Speed Dating contest, Miss Snark's First Victim's Secret Agent Contest, and Operation Awesome's Secret Agent Contest, which was B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

Molly sent me a lovely confirmation email upon receipt of my manuscript. She said it would be a couple weeks. So, I prepared myself for a long wait.

Footnote: Let me go slightly off topic for just a minute and say, Molly was so lovely in her emails. A lot of times when I've received requests, in the past, I've had this feeling like the agent was doing me a huge favor just by thinking about maybe looking at my manuscript. Now, agents are obscenely busy people, OBSCENELY, and I don't expect for them to fawn over me-- not in the least, but Molly genuinely made me feel like reading my manuscript was a priority for her and she expressed real interest.

Chapter Three: You've Got Mail

Okay so back to the waiting. Alright, sent off my full on Monday (2/20).
Tuesday.
Wednesday.
Thursday. By Thursday 2/23, I had received a few more requests since Monday (and if I recall, some contest results had begun to trickle in which I received requests on as well). And around 5pm, I was headed to an author event in North Dallas with some friends. (Breathless Reads Tour!!!) We were stuck in this horrible bumper-to-bumper traffic and thankfully I wasn't driving because my phone effing beeped. It was Molly. She couldn't put down my manuscript and she would "love, love, love" to talk to me about it.

OMG. You guys, I tried to get out of the car because I was so freaked out. Bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway.

I screamed. I couldn't even talk. I had to show my friends the email because I could barely breathe. Then I called my Ian. Then I called my mom nineteen times before` she picked up, and when I told her she SQEEEEE'ed big time too. I went to the author event and proceeded to live on Cloud 9 for a couple hours, but then I started to think "Okay, what if she just wants to talk R&R?" (*non-writer friends R&R=Revise & Resubmit) Which, by the way, would not have been bad news. Just a different kind of news.

So, we arranged a phone call for Monday morning-- exactly a week from the day I had sent my initial query.

That weekend was hell. I was so nervous I thought I might swallow my tongue at any moment. Then Monday came, and I woke up at some hideous hour because I was too excited to sleep. I kept telling myself not to make any inappropriate jokes... because 9 out of 10 things I say are usually inappropriate... or not to ask any intrusive questions... because if I ever want to know something I just ask, whether or not I should.

Chapter Three:  People Still Talk on the Phone?


If you're still reading this, you're a freaking champ. Seriously, go get yourself a wine cooler.


It should be said, that I am horrible at talking on the phone. HORRIBLE. So, for this phone call, I was especially petrified.


Monday morning came and Molly called right on time. I had done my homework and made a list of questions I would ask, should she offer. I had also stood in front of a mirror for hours trying to talk about myself and my work, for practice. Unfortunately, I am not kidding.


We talked. We normal talked. We book talked. We food talked. We Texas talked. And we career talked. Molly answered all my questions, without me ever really having to ask anything at all. We talked about my book and about me as a writer.

Molly talked about me and my work in words I never knew I always wanted to hear. I had never put much thought into what I wanted people to say about my writing, but when she talked, I had to stop myself from screaming, "YES THAT!!!" She used words that I had only ever used to describe my favorite authors and their books. And this is important you guys, because when it comes down to it, whichever agent you end up with is your advocate. And how they talk about you and your books matter.

Then she said, the magic Candy Land words, "You can consider this my formal offer of representation." Or something like that, I really don't know. I was in shock and my heart kinda like fell into my butt.
That's it for Part I! I'll have Part II up in the coming days! I'll be talking about the fourteen requests, along with some unanswered queries, I still had out when Molly offered, and what I though my "dream agent" was!

Feel free to leave a comment in the good old box! (Don't make me beg!) Questions, non-questions, links to cat videos-- whatever! *Cat videos preferred, obviously.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for THE LIST by Siobhan Vivian! It's my first giveaway, so if you don't enter I'll be heart broken and I'll probably never get on the internet again. 

28 comments:

  1. As your critique partner, possessive best friend, and bitly enforcer, I can only say how extremely happy and proud I am of you! I can not wait for what comes next.

    You had a winning combination of voice, premise and pitch. You are going to write many great stories in this lifetime, Julie Murphy. Just let me read them all first :)

    Now can we please get some google analytics and SEO packages built into your site so we can diagnose your web traffic???

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    1. Valerie, when you stop talking Portuguese, call me.

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  2. Julie, your presence in print is a force to be reckoned with, wrestled with, celebrated with, engaged with, in fact it is to be with you; you are genuine, expressive, and allow the joy that oozes from your every pore, to preface the ink before it dries on the page. Thank you for writing, for sharing, for being!

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    1. Ann, Ann, Ann. You make my heart smile so hard!

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  3. Julie, I am sooooo excited for you!!! You are more talented than you realize! Proud of You..;)
    Mom xoxo

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  4. Loved reading your success story...and I didn't even need a wine cooler!

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    1. You may not have needed a wine cooler, but you should always have one handy!

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  5. Yay! Congrats again, Julie. Your story gave me goosebumps (literally)! That's a good lesson to those of us who fear querying those agents that **never ever** request material. I will query widely on my second round with my ms, for sure.

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    1. Thank you so much Jessica! And, it's true-- never discount yourself or your work!

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  6. Still so happy for you. :) And don't feel bad about writing about yourself. We're hear to read your blog. We WANT to hear about YOU!! (And I, too, love success stories like these.)

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    1. Lauren! I am so *happy* for you! Can't wait to hear how the first round of revisions went!!!

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  7. Thanks for this post, Julie. It's so awesome to hear your story! I'm very happy for you and I know this is just the beginning but it sounds so great already! Congrats!

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    1. Ashley! My first reader ever! Thank you so, so, so much!

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  8. Yay! Congratulations! I have been watching Cupid's contests and have even entered this one coming up. Which entry was yours? Or did you already blog about that?

    Thanks for sharing you're story and I look forward to part 2! So, how many rejections did you receive on this second ms? I'm currently querying my 2nd ms.

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    1. Hi, Rachel! I did blind speed dating back in February, my entry was #4... I think?

      I'll be sharing all my stats on part 2, but a quick overview-- I received 8 query rejections and received 18 requests in all.

      Good luck, good luck with your querying!!!

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  9. I am so excited for you! What a great, funny, inspiring post to read. I'm telling you, when I read your entry on that Cupid contest, I thought to myself, "no wonder why there such an agent scramble for this one!"
    And I like how your mom's comment is from "anonymous." Help her sign up for an account already! LOL!

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    1. Thank you, thank you! For me, the Cupid Contest was a big confidence builder. Those contests really take the edge off of querying!!!

      Yeah, dear old Mom! At least she knows how

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  10. Great success story. Totally understand the first phone call thing. Congratualations. You're on your way, babe.

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    1. I was so jittery! Thanks for your and kind words and thanks for reading!

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  11. Loved reading this story. I'd be lying if I said I didn't daydream about something like this happening to me. Which basically means you're living the dream! How awesome is that? :)

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    1. Trust me, if it can happen to me, it can happen to everyone!

      It is SO awesome! I feel like I'm just waiting to wake up!

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  12. I absolutely LOVED reading this story!!!
    It's so inspirational, and it gives me hope for the few fulls that I have out right now!!!!
    I'm so excited for you Julie and wish you nothing but the best!!!!!!!
    Oh, and I can't wait for part II! :D

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    1. Thank you, thank you! So much good luck with your requests! I can't wait to read your success story!

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  13. I. Love. You. This is my first time ever at your blog and if I weren't crying so hard from laughing at your post, I would be crying because I've missed out on you for however long you've been blogging. You are hilarious. I love your honesty, I love that when you write a post I feel like we're having coffee and you're just telling me the story using grand hand gestures and faces while I double over laughing in my latte begging you to give me a moment to catch my breath already. Not surprised about your agent story at all. I look forward to your publishing news in a matter of months at most. You're far too good to stay hidden. Congrats on Molly Jaffa - GREAT agent to have. You obviously deserve it. Now, I must read this one more time because the tears are drying and it's got to be the best Agent Story I have ever read. Ever.

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    1. awwww Jennie! Let's be bestfriends! I'll bake you cupcakes! :) Just posted part two of my story, I sincerely hope you'll keep reading!

      Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm not kidding, I tear up every time I someone leaves kind words.

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    2. ps- I love pits! (And basically everything else on four legs!)

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    3. You had me at "cupcakes", but you sealed it with your pittie love. We're totally besties now! And I'm off to read part two of your story.

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