Look Mama! I’ve Got a Literary Agent

At the close of 2021 I inked my first deal with a literary agent. And it didn't happen the way that many writers expect. I hadn't written the novel of my lifetime. I did not attend conferences all over the country pitching on hopes and prayers. In fact, nothing that resembled the traditional path applied to me. I'm an indie author. I was satisfied with my writing journey thus far. I'd only toyed with the idea because a renowned ghostwriter I admire has an agent. Maybe one day in a distant future I'd need an agent. Agents were for the "big dogs", not me. Simply put, getting an agent wasn't really in my line of sight.

I agonized three years ago about sitting down with an agent for 15-minutes at a conference I attended. But I didn't want her to sign me. I just wanted to hear how agents think and maybe bounce a few ideas around. Then this year that same agent announced a pitch day. It was on my birthday; surely a sign I should book the meeting! I'd been dabbling in some fiction writing with my Writing with Wine cohort and decided to duck tape a storyline together. I was starting my personal new year doing something different, bold, brave and down right scary. She smiled at my idea and encouraged me to actually write the novel. She'd be "interested in reading it." Again satisfaction settled in. I'd successfully held her interest for another 15-minutes. I celebrated surviving my first (and likely only) pitch. Three months passed, and the very same agent announced she was closing her query window. She sorta liked my idea back in the summer. Maybe I should send something over. I actually started writing the novel and submitted my formal proposal. Four to six weeks. That was the timeline listed on her website. If nothing by then, not interested. Fine with me, I could still write and publish the novel. I own a publishing company. No. Big. Deal. Except it was. When her email finally arrived it was a bulleted list of all of the things I needed to fix for further consideration. Not a 'no', but certainly not the coveted 'yes' either. I filed the moment in my "later" mental folder. I didn't want to be a novelist any way. I just wanted to be a highly successful and sought-after ghostwriter. Did I need an agent for that?

Then it happened. I received an email, "Have you written anything in this specific genre?"

"Have I?! It's really where my ghostwriting 'success' was birthed and lives."

I sent off my list of samples. Within an hour I was on an unscheduled Zoom with the same agent from three years ago. Three months ago. Three weeks ago.

I became an agented author for my ghostwriting! I was quiet for weeks as I overanalyzed every single detail. I already had a meeting on the calendar for the partially written novel. The public announcement came. My tone and direction changed. I needed onboarding. I needed to become a student again. I didn't know what any of this having an agent business really meant! Well, I knew, but not as a ghostwriter. I'd been jotting down some questions in my phone anyway. It was now or never.

Now that I've crossed the initial line into this world, I figured it'd be nice to share the journey with you. I'll do my best to share the experience with transparency. To start, check out this article explaining exactly what a literary agent is, by my agent, Jevon Bolden.