Tuesday From The Trenches: Alyssa Reynoso-Morris

Welcome, friends to another installment of Tuesday From The Trenches! I'm so excited to be back with a new writer friend and can't wait to share Alyssa's story with you! I love how unique each story is, really showing that everyone's path to representation is different. If you missed our interview with Valerie Bolling last week, you can check it out HERE, and follow along with all of our Tuesday From The Trenches archives HERE. And to make sure you never miss an interview, go ahead and subscribe to this little blog of mine at the bottom of the page, please and thank you! And now, join me in welcoming Alyssa!

Thank you so much for joining us today, Alyssa! My goal with Tuesday from the Trenches is to help authors in the query trenches to see that there is no “one size fits all” on the path to representation and to encourage them to keep trudging through. I’m excited to talk about your process. It sounds like you took a more calculated approach to the query process. Can you tell us a little about your decision? How long had you been writing before deciding to query?

Before deciding to jump into the query trenches, I knew rejection was a major part of this industry. I had the statistic, “Only 1% of submissions are published,” etched in my mind. I knew - emotionally - I was not ready for the inevitable rejections, so before I started querying agents I did a ton of research and preparation. Before I started querying, I was (and still am) in 4 very active critique groups. I graduated from the Children’s Book Academy taught by the marvelous Mira and was being mentored by the prolific Las Musas picture book and middle grade author, Donna Barba Higuera. Her website is https://www.dbhiguera.com/ - check her out and buy her books. I also applied for the Editor-Writer Mentorship program organized by The Word and am fortunate enough to be working with the talented Jessica Anderson from Henry Holt Books for Young Readers (Macmillan Children's). Lastly, I applied for the PB Chat Mentorship program organized by Justin Colon. I was selected to be a mentee, but received an offer of representation before the mentorship began and therefore withdrew my application in order to provide an opportunity for another aspiring writer. Basically, I applied to EVERY opportunity I qualified for and LISTENED a lot. I made sure to pay attention to my voice of course, but I took this time to listen to experts. I am not a patient person, but I was self aware enough to know that I wanted to take my time on this journey and learn as much as possible before taking the leap, and I am glad I did.

Wow! That is an amazing story of hard work and really educating yourself. You had such amazing learning experiences and I love the calculated approach to waiting until you were ready. I wish I had been more like that... instead, I queried way to soon! Twice! haha.

Please share your query stats with us:

Time Spent in the Query Trenches: Two months

Number of Agents Queried: 23

Number of Requests for Additional Work/Full Manuscript: 3

Number of Twitter Pitch “Likes”: 7 likes from agents and 4 from editors

Number of R&Rs: 2

Number of Rejections: 9 redirections (I needed to stop thinking about them as rejections for my sanity) and 13 queries I never received a response about

Number of Offers: 1

Agent and Agency: Kaitlyn Sanchez, associate literary agent at Olswanger Literary

Wow! 2 months!! Good for you... makes my 2 years really seem long! haha. But I love how different your journey was... you talked about waiting to jump into the query trenches until you were certain you were ready. How did you know the time had come? What made you jump in?

I knew I was ready when enough industry experts validated my story. My mentors and critique partners encouraged me to participate in #pitmad and #pbpitch. I was not going to because I felt I was not ready, but changed my mind the day before after remembering my grandmother’s advice, “Anything is possible.” She said this in Spanish and she has since passed, but she lives on in my manuscripts. My abuela was the original storyteller in the family and my mom would say, “You have the gift, like Abuela.” I was a shy kid and my face was always in a book or on my Abuela’s lap listening to her stories that brought the family together. My goal is to share her stories with the world.

I adore that your stories are so personal and close to home. Your abuela sounds so lovely as well and I can't wait to read her stories. I know you didn't have a lot of time in the trenches, but what was your method for organizing queries? Spread sheet? Query Tracker? Etc.

Both. I used Query Tracker and Manuscript Wish List to carefully research the agents and make sure we would be a good match. Then I tracked my submissions using a Spreadsheet.

How did you handle rejections? Did any sting more than others?

Let’s say I ate a lot of chocolate. I got a rejection from a dream agent. I cried a bit and ate more chocolate. Then I called my mentor and she helped pick me back up. I highly recommend that authors build a support system for themselves before they query. It is important to have cheerleaders in your corner.

I absolutely agree! Chocolate and writing friends/cheerleaders got me through as well! Where did you find agents to query/how did you decide who to query?

Query Tracker, Manuscript Wish List, Twitter Competitions, Children Book Academy class, and my mentors. I like options and I love researching so this was overwhelming but so much FUN!

I love that! And your passion and enthusiasm for kid lit really shines even through the computer screen. How did you ultimately connect with your agent? Did you cold query? Participate in a twitter pitch event? Or connect in some other way?

I cold queried my agent.

Wonderful! It's always so nice to hear about success from the slush piles! Can you tell us about “the call” with your agent? How did you know she was the right choice?

I will never forget this call - EVER! My call started off as a revise and resubmit, which I was totally open to. I LOVE feedback. This is how we grow as writers.

We chatted about my manuscript and other manuscripts I’m working on. We chatted about parenting, about why we write, why she became an agent, some of our favorite picture books, this crazy time we live in (pandemic), our zodiac signs, our parents, our partners, and so on. We were on the phone for a total of two hours. We are both talkers. Hehe. It was like we were old friends from a past life, reconnecting in this life.

After 1.5 hours on the phone, my agent, Kaitlyn said something to the effect of I changed my mind. I want to represent you. I was excited and shocked and flattered. Then we chatted about the business aspect for 30 minutes and scheduled another call so I could ask more questions, otherwise we would have been on the phone for 3 hours. I cried from joy after our call. My poor husband had to hear me GUSH about how awesome she was. I called my mentor Donna to tell her the good news and she helped me weigh the pros and cons.

But, I knew she was the one during the call. We are both Aries with the same nickname “Energizer Bunny.” It was destiny.

Oh my goodness! I love that story so much! That is absolutely incredible. I can't even imagine that moment of pure joy when a "maybe" became a "yes!!" Kaitlyn really is a gem as well. I've been able to work with her a couple of times and walked away feeling like she was such a genuine person. I think you two are an incredible match!

If you could give querying authors a piece of advice, what would that be?

DON’T GIVE UP and KEEP WRITING. Do not refresh your inbox a thousand times. Send the letters and forget about them. I know, I know. Easier said than done, but not thinking about the letters helped me stay sane and enabled me to continue creating.

I was the absolute worst at sending and forgetting, and my refresh button was pushed way too many times... and it did nothing but make me crazy! So I know that your advice is sound!

Alyssa, this has been so much fun!! Thank you so much for joining us. Before I let you go,

where can we connect with you online?

Twitter - @areynosomorris

Instagram - @areynosomorris

Website - https://alyssaramosreynoso.wordpress.com - Books

Motivational Speaker Website - alyssaspeaks.com

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GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY!!

Alyssa will be giving the winner's choice of a query critique or a fiction picture book manuscript critique. Follow her on Twitter, and retweet this post to be entered to win!

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About Alyssa Reynoso-Morris:

Growing up, Alyssa's abuelas taught her about love, hope, and service through stories. They motivated her to found Schools for Sustainability, Inc., to establish environmentally sustainable schools to alleviate poverty.  And they inspired her to write. Alyssa is an Afro-Latinx writer, member of SCBWI, and graduate from the Children’s Book Academy after earning the Yuyi Morales Diversity and More Merit Scholarship.

About Kailei Pew:

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and picture book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary.

She is an active member of SCBWI, a 2019 Write Mentor Mentee, and a finalist in Susanna Leonard Hill's 2019 Holiday Writing Contest. She loves writing picture books that help kids see they can do anything they set their minds to.

Kailei can't wait to get her stories into your hands. 

Tuesday From The Trenches: Valerie Bolling

Hello fabulous writing friends! Thank you for hopping on over to Tuesday from the Trenches! I am thrilled to be officially kicking off this series! If you missed last week, you can read about my own story traversing the query trenches HERE.

And now, we'll jump right in to our interview this week with the amazing Valerie Bolling!

Thank you so much for joining us today, Valerie! My goal with Tuesday from the Trenches is to help authors in the query trenches to see that there is no “one size fits all” on the path to representation and to encourage them to keep trudging through. I've loved our chat, and I'm so glad to be sharing your story!

Please share your query stats with us (as far as you know/remember):

Time Spent in the Query Trenches: One year for a book to be acquired for publication (June 2017 – June 2018); three years to connect with the right agent (June 2017 – June 2020)

Number of Agents and Editors Queried: Fifty before getting published; 150 before finding the right agent

NOTE: I did receive an agent offer after 102 queries but turned it down.

Number of Requests for Additional Work/Full Manuscript: Two

Number of Twitter Pitch “Likes”: I don’t know the exact count, but I had great success with Twitter pitches (at least six or seven of my manuscripts received “likes”), which is why I highly recommend them. LET’S DANCE! was discovered in a Twitter pitch, and I received another offer of publication via a pitch.

Number of Agent and Editor Offers Before Selecting an Agent: Four

Agent and Agency Selected: James McGowan, BookEnds Literary Agency

That's all so great, Valerie! I love your persistence and determination to not just find any agent, but to find the right agent. I know they say that the wrong agent is worse than no agent at all, so good for you to take the time to find the perfect fit!

What was your method for organizing queries?

I’m a linear person, so I just kept a list that included the name of the agent or editor and the publisher; the title of the manuscript, the query date, and the date that a response was received – if a response was received.

Sounds like a great method. I did something very similar. Love that organization!

What kept you going through the query trenches?

Once my mind is made up to do something, Kailei, it’s on! I push myself harder than anyone else can. I also enjoy writing – particularly the laborious art of revision. In addition, knowing the competitiveness of this industry has helped me remain focused and committed. I didn’t expect to get published quickly; I knew it could be a long process. For anyone who wants to be published, you can’t give up! You’ve got to keep writing and keep querying – that’s the only chance you have of making your dream a reality.

I love that, Valerie! That determination is really the key in the writing world. And to really love what you're doing makes such a huge difference. I think that passion also comes through in your writing.

The support of my faithful writing partner, Lindsey Aduskevich, has also been an integral part and motivating aspect of my journey. I use the term “writing partner,” not critique partner, because Lindsey and I share everything related to writing. Yes, we read each other’s manuscripts and offer critique, but we share writing ideas before we even write, attend conferences together, boost each other on social media, and offer constant encouragement to each other.

That's huge! I love my writing partners as well, and I'm truly going to start calling them that instead of critique partners. What a great idea!

You had an amazing perseverance and dedication. How did you handle rejections?

I expected rejections because I know that’s how the industry works. I just kept writing and kept querying. There were times when I took breaks from querying but only because I chose to focus on revising manuscripts or researching agents to refine and refresh my query list.

Sounds like you had a great perspective! Did any of the rejections sting more than others?

Yes, Kailei, there were some rejections that stung more than others. After LET’S DANCE!, when other manuscripts didn’t receive interest by agents or editors, that was crushing for me and contributed to a feeling of impostor syndrome. At times, I believed that if a publisher didn’t like any of my other manuscripts, maybe I just got lucky, maybe I wasn’t a legitimate author. At another time, one of my manuscripts passed through various levels of a small press. Throughout the process, they kept me updated as they moved my story forward. Finally, I was told that as much as they loved my story and wanted to publish it, they had recently made an offer on a story similar to mine, so they couldn’t accept mine. This was definitely discouraging ... but I continued to forge ahead.

Good for you! I know it can be so hard to not take it personally when those rejections come, but essential to remember that this industry really is so subjective. Just like that press loving your work, but the timing being off.

Did you have any “close calls” that felt like they would be “the one?”

I had two experiences when I came close to finding an agent. The first was when an agent was interested in LET’S DANCE!. She asked that I send her two more manuscripts, but when I did, she said that she foresaw a “harder sell” with those, so she ultimately passed.

Another time an agent offered me representation after I sent her a manuscript as a result of her “like” in a Twitter pitch. I was initially excited, but since there was no ask for additional manuscripts, and the offer was made in an email with the option to schedule a phone call, I had concerns. After researching the agency, I decided to decline the offer.

I bet that was a hard choice to make, but good for you for knowing what you were looking for and for waiting to find the right agent, rather than just any agent.

Where did you find agents to query/how did you decide who to query?

I considered all agents who represented picture books, but I wasn’t necessarily strategic when I first started querying. Later, I became quite selective about who I queried. In fall of 2019, Lindsey and I pulled together a number of lists of agents from SCBWI and from Heather Ayris Burnell, and we created a Google Doc where we divided up the list, did our research, and compiled our findings. Our list represented almost 90 agencies. We wrote notes about each one as well as each of their agents, including information from Twitter, their manuscript wish lists, websites, and interviews as well as what we recalled from conferences and agent panels we’d attended. When our list was complete, I chose to query 21 agents in November and December 2019. In 2020, I queried only four more agents before receiving and accepting James’ offer.

Wow, that's incredible! That sounds like an amazing list, and that you really did your research. I love all of this work and the way you really honed in on who you were interested in working with.

How did you ultimately connect with your agent? Did you cold query? Participate in a twitter pitch event? Or connect in some other way?

On June 1, I reached out to James, via DM on Twitter, in response to his offer to answer questions from Black writers in support of #BVM. I asked if he’d be willing to provide specific feedback about a manuscript I’d sent him in December that wasn’t a fit for him. I was surprised when James promptly responded with, “Thanks so much for getting back in touch with me. Your name has been on my radar recently, since we share a publisher (and even an editor) ... I'd love to reconsider and see more.” I sent James the manuscript for which I’d requested feedback as well as two others.

I was shocked when I received an email the next morning in which James said, “I still absolutely love your writing,” and he described the writing in one of my manuscripts as “utterly beautiful.” I was beaming, but the sentence that floored me the most was, “I would love the opportunity to speak with you about these manuscripts and possible representation if you’re interested?”

WHAT? How was that possible? I had simply reached out to James to get feedback on one manuscript that I knew didn’t interest him. In no way was I expecting an offer of representation. I was totally caught off guard!

Oh my goodness! That's absolutely amazing!! I'm so glad that you took advantage of James's offer to reach out in support of #BVM and for the amazing response!! That's seriously so thrilling!

Can you tell us a little about publishing LET’S DANCE! and any thoughts on if publication helped you to sign with James?

I wrote the first draft in May 2017 and continued to revise the book throughout the year. I sent my first query on Jan. 1, 2018. I continued to submit queries during the year and participated in two Twitter pitches in June. I received a “like” in #PitMad that was turned down when I sent the manuscript, and I received another “like” later in the month during #PBPitch from to Jes Negrón at Boyds Mills & Kane. When I sent the manuscript to her on June 18, she emailed me two weeks later on July 2, requesting to have a conversation. During that phone call, I learned that Jes was interested in acquiring the story!

In my case, being published led to me connecting with James because we’d both worked with Jes (James’ book, GOOD NIGHT, OPPY, is scheduled for release in fall 2021). As I shared in my previous response, James had said I’d been on his radar and was happy when I reached out to him for the second time.

That's wonderful! And by the way, I love LET'S DANCE! and my girls both love it as well. It's amazing how well you tell the story of dance throughout the world in so little words. And then the extra information in the back just rounds it out so nicely.

It sounds like an amazing experience to hear back from James so quickly after you sent him your manuscripts. Can you tell us about “The Call” with him?

James and I talked so freely during “The Call,” which occurred two days after that email. He shares my passion for picture books, and we are well-matched in values and energy. He’s open, honest, professional, and personable. He has a pleasant sense of humor, too.

What also impressed me about James is that he was true to his word. He’d said during our conversation that the next morning he would send me a contract to look over and would connect me with two of his clients. The contract was in my inbox when I logged onto email in the morning as were emails from his clients.

During our chat, James offered feedback on the three manuscripts I’d sent him. The next day I revised one of the manuscripts, based on his feedback, and a critique partner said that it was my best revision yet.

Finally, I’m a person who’s organized, task-oriented, and responds quickly when people reach out to me. Though I realize that not everyone shares these characteristics, my preference is that my agent possesses these traits ... and, thankfully, James does.

James is definitely the right agent for me, Kailei, and I am extremely grateful!

It sounds like you are a great match! I am so glad that you connected. James sounds like a great agent. And I adore BookEnds and all they do for the writing community!

If you could give querying authors a piece of advice, what would that be?

Short response: Keep querying!

Longer response: Take advantage of all opportunities. Get active in the writing community: become a member of SCBWI; sign up for 12 X 12 with Julie Hedlund; join groups on Facebook. Participate in Twitter pitches. Enter contests. Attend conferences and Agent/Editor Days. Register for webinars. Make sure you’re in a critique group, so that you receive feedback (and motivation) to continue to improve your writing.

Yes, the ultimate goal is to connect with an agent, the right agent. However, you don’t have to limit yourself to querying agents. You can submit directly to certain editors and to publishing houses that accept unsolicited manuscripts and to small presses ... which is what I did. After all, LET’S DANCE! was discovered in a Twitter pitch by an editor. I had no agent at the time.

I wish the best for all of the authors – published and pre-published. Tell your stories; children need to hear them, connect with them, and love them!

That is wonderful advice, Valerie! You have been amazing and I'm so that that we were able to connect and share your story from the Query Trenches. Before we let you go, where can we connect with you online?

Website: valeriebolling.com

Twitter: twitter.com/valerie_bolling

Instagram: instagram.com/valeriebollingauthor

Thank you, Valerie! This has been a blast and I wish you all the best on your submission journey! I can't wait to see all the stories that you bring into the world!

About Valerie Bolling

Valerie Bolling has been an educator for over 25 years and a writer since age 4. She is a graduate of Tufts University and Columbia University, Teachers College and currently works as an Instructional Coach.

Her nieces inspired her to write picture books. Her desire is for children of all backgrounds to see themselves in her stories and feel valued and heard. Let’s Dance! is her debut book.​

Ms. Bolling and her husband live in Connecticut and enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, theater, and dancing.

About Kailei Pew

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and picture book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary.

She is an active member of SCBWI, a 2019 Write Mentor Mentee, and a finalist in Susanna Leonard Hill's 2019 Holiday Writing Contest. She loves writing picture books that help kids see they can do anything they set their minds to.

Kailei can't wait to get her stories into your hands. 

Tuesday From The Trenches: My Story

Hello KidLit friends! If you missed my Twitter announcement, I am beyond thrilled to tell you that I am now represented by the amazing Emily Forney of BookEnds Literary Agency! I am seriously giddy over this development in my writing journey and I am so happy to be one step closer to getting my books into your hands.

Because I know that the hunt for an agent is not for the faint of heart, and because I feel like so many people get discouraged when things don't happen more quickly, I'm excited to start a new Blog Series called "Tuesday from the Trenches."

I'll be sharing interviews with various authors about their querying process and path to representation in an effort to see that there is no "one size fits all" path. Yes, some get there very quickly while others take many long years to find their agent. And others end up somewhere in between. My hope with this series is to inspire you to keep moving forward. Send another query. Revise another time. Write another book. You can do this!

Today, I'll be sharing my own journey through the query trenches. If you'd like to share your story with the KidLit world, please reach out to me and let's get something scheduled!

My query stats:

Months in the Query Trenches: 20 (On and Off)

Queries Sent: 71

Agents Queried: 49

Requests for Additional Work: 11

Twitter Pitch "Likes": 16

Revise and Resubmits: 2

Rejections: 69

Offers of Representation: 2

1 Amazing Agent!

So to look at those numbers a little closer, you can see that I sent more queries than the number of agents that I sent to. This means that I queried the same agents more than once with different projects. You can also see that I had a number of "close calls" with agents asking for more work, even being super enthusiastic... which ended in nos. We'll talk more about that later. You can also see that over the course of 20 months, I didn't send nearly as many queries as I could have. I know some people who are much better about putting many lines into the water... more lines in the water=more likely a fish will bite, right? But quite truthfully, for my mental health, I could only send one or two queries a week max. And I did take quite a few breaks from the trenches to improve my craft, write better stories, or just take a step away from the rejections for a moment. Remember, this is your path. Do what works for you.

If you've been around these parts before, you might remember reading about the one time (okay two) that I queried too soon. That tells quite a lot of the story I'm about to tell you about my time in the query trenches, with some more details about my writing process and learning how to write better stories.

I jumped into the query trenches in January of 2019. I jumped in way before I was ready, but I didn't know that at the time. Luckily, one agent responded to my query, telling me why the story didn't have a place in the modern picture book market, and that was a game changer. So after only 3 weeks of querying, I took a break from the trenches to really hone craft (you can read about that in the post linked above). When I felt like I had some good stories, I jumped back in in August of 2019.

To organize my queries, I created my own simple spreadsheet. I listed agents down the left side, agencies next to them, and my story titles across the top. When I sent a query, I would fill in the date queried. Once I got a response, I filled in the corresponding color--bright red for a form rejection, deep red for a personalized rejection, yellow for a request for more, or blue for a "no response." And finally, green for an offer!

Here is a screenshot of about half of that spreadsheet:

I know it maybe looks messy and wouldn't work for everyone, but it worked for me. I know there are way better spreadsheets out there, and even some that automatically update the color when you change the date (for fancy people who understand excel way better than I do), but this worked well for me.

I found agents to query mostly through Query Tracker. You can search for agents by genre they represent, which was a great resource for me. I also googled different agencies, and even things like "new picture book agents." I feel like recently, I heat a lot of complaints that there aren't many agents taking author only PB clients, but there are definitely plenty who are. And like I mentioned before, you can query the same agents with a new project once you have a completely new submission packet ready to go.

As you can tell from my screenshot above, I had a few "close calls" with agents. A

couple that even said they loved my work but that their PB list was simply too full. While I appreciated that honesty and wouldn't want an agent who was stretched too thin, those rejections did truthfully hurt more than the others. Knowing that the work was there, but the timing was wrong was tough. But at the same time, those rejections really kept me moving forward. They told me that I could do it. That my work was good enough. And I just had to find the right agent at the right time.

Another trouble that I often ran into in the query trenches was that an agent would really enjoy one of my MSs, but not connect well enough with the others. This taught me two things:

1. This business really is super subjective. One agent would love something that another didn't connect with and visa versa.

2. I needed my additional manuscripts to be at the same level of my other work

If you take a close look at the screenshot above, you can see that the column on the far right was getting way more personalized rejections and requests for more work. I feel like my breakthrough in the query trenches was writing the right story. Once I wrote that manuscript, I saw a tangible change in the rejections. They were more personal and more encouraging. I felt like I was on the right path.

Back in June of this year, I received a number of requests for that MS through both PitMad and PBPitch. I sent the queries off, and received a few "I love this idea, but didn't connected with the pages as much as I connected with the idea." But one agent took the time to send an R&R that changed that MS for the way better. I spent three months on the revision and sent it back her. In the mean time, another PitMad event was fast approaching. I got my pitches ready, and hoped for some new attention, feeling very strongly now that the MS was truly ready to go. I knew that if I didn't get any "hearts" that it would be okay, because I would just jump into the query trenches in full force.

On the day of PitMad, I woke up extra early so I can engage. (You can read my post on how to have a successful pitch event HERE). It was an amazing and absolutely crazy day. My critique group was amazing at letting me send them the play-by-play as agent and editor likes came in. I ended the day with 6 agent hearts and 4 editor hearts. I was floored. I stayed up til midnight to send the queries off, got way too tired after sending off the queries to 4 of the agents, and tried to go to sleep. But I couldn't sleep well, knowing I wanted to send the remaining 2 queries off. I woke up at 4 AM and sent the other two queries. By 6 AM, I had an email from one of the agents (who had requested that I send her 4 MSs right away) asking for a call that afternoon. I was literally in shock. All of my other requests in the past had taken many weeks, and even months on the turn around. This time, it had been about 6 hours! I responded to the agent, and we set up a call for that afternoon.

The call was very fast, and I left with an official offer of representation! I couldn't believe it. I emailed the other agents (some who I had cold queried days or weeks earlier) to let them know that I had received an offer and to inquire if they were still interested. For 5 agents, I basically said something along the lines of "I know that I just send you this query this morning, and I apologize for the quick turn around. I'm still in shock myself." (Hopefully I sounded more professional than that, but I can't be sure because I literally couldn't believe it was happening).

Emily Forney was one of the agents that had requested my MS through PitMad. And quite truthfully, I had been obsessed with BookEnds Literary since day one in the query trenches. So I really hoped that she would respond! I think I screamed out-loud when she responded just a few hours later, requesting more stories. The next day, Emily sent me an email saying that she loved and was passionate about the MS she had requested, but she had some questions about the other stories I had sent, but said if I was interested that she'd like to jump on a call. I was so excited and so nervous, and I didn't know what to expect from this call, or what questions she would have about my additional work. We set up a zoom call for the following Monday (it was a Saturday that she emailed me to offer a call and a Sunday that we set it up), and I spent the next 24 hours on pins and needles.

As soon as Emily said "hello" on the zoom call, I felt at ease. We had an amazing call! Emily gushed about my Nonfiction manuscript (which was awesome to hear), and explained where she was coming from with the others. She actually had some really wonderful ideas to improve the others that I definitely connected with. I shared the pitches/ideas of some of my other manuscripts that I hadn't sent her, and she was very open to them. She answered all of my questions, and she had some for me as well. Overall what I can say about the call, is that it felt amazing! While the other call had been good, this call with Emily was exactly what I had hoped for on "the call." We had this energy and excitement between us that made me feel like Emily was the right person for the job. It's one of those things that's really hard to explain. It just felt right.

When Emily officially offered representation, it truthfully took all I had to not just accept on the spot because I felt so good about it. But I did want to be fair to the other agents who had my work, especially to the one who had requested the revision months before since I felt like it was thanks to her suggestions that the manuscript was in its current state. She ultimately responded that the revision was very good and she felt like it would definitely sell, but that her plate was too full with PB right now and she just didn't have the time to take me on. That was super kind of her, and made me feel really excited to move forward with this story.

I emailed both offering agents some follow up questions (because as prepared as I thought I was for the call, other things come to mind when it's over and your adrenaline is so high during the call that you just miss some things that are even sitting right there on your list). I weighed both of their answers, read both mock contracts that they had sent me, and reviewed my experience with both calls, and knew that Emily was the right choice for me.

When the two weeks was up and I had heard back from all the agents who had requested more, sending a polite thank you to decline the other offer was one of the hardest things I had ever done. To have to tell an awesome agent that I wouldn't be going with her was really hard. She was very gracious, and I will be forever grateful for that.

I emailed Emily and asked if she could jump on a quick call. We set it up, and I was able to officially accept her offer! That call was also really amazing. The same energy and excitement and spark that I felt on our first zoom call was there, and I knew that I had made the right choice. We chatted for awhile about the next steps and made a plan to move forward. Emily sent my actual contract over, and we signed it that night! It was amazing! BookEnds sent me a welcome packet and some amazing resources for new clients and I started on this next step of my journey feeling like I was in the very best hands.

I still feel like this is all a dream. It is such a weird feeling to go from 20 months of "nos" or "not yets" to suddenly having an agent from one day to the next. I am so very grateful and beyond excited to see where the next steps on this journey take me.

To authors in the trenches, I say: don't ever give up! You never know when your "yes" will come. Don't pass up any opportunity. Send another query when a no comes in. Write another story while you wait. Revise, revise, and revise again. Absolutely find a critique group! My two critique groups have been hugely important on my journey. It's important to find writer friends who cheer you on while you cheer them. And to have people who aren't emotionally attached to your work be able to tell you what needs to change. I'm so grateful for my critique groups.

Next Tuesday kicks off my "Tuesday From The Trenches" interview series. Make sure to subscribe to my blog below so that you don't miss an interview! I'm seriously so excited to be sharing these stories with you!!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

I'll be giving away the winner's choice of a PB MS critique (up to 1200 words), or a Query Letter critique! To enter: like and retweet this post on twitter. Two optional bonus entries:

1. Subscribe to my blog below

2. Comment on this post.

Good luck! Winner will be announced on Twitter Monday, October 5th.

Kailei Pew is a wife, mother, and picture book author represented by the amazing Emily Forney of Bookends Literary. She is an active member of SCBWI, a 2019 Write Mentor Mentee, and a finalist in Susanna Leonard Hill's 2019 Holiday Writing Contest. She loves writing picture books that help kids see they can do anything they set their minds to.

Kailei can't wait to get her stories into your hands.