Getting an Agent: When Luck Meets Opportunity - a guest blog by Regan Rose

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I met Regan Rose at the New England Crime Bake this past fall, and I must have been the only attendee who hadn't heard the excited buzz about her debut novel. We clicked over our points of contact - Mainers, ex-lawyers, already knew a lot of the same people, both attorneys and writers. 

It was later I got the 411 on Regan's debut - sold on a preempt in what Publisher's Weekly calls "a major deal," her foreign rights agent mobbed in Frankfort by eager publishing houses from around the world.

But here's the thing: whether you get 500 or 500 thousand for your first book, the process - doubts , fears, rejection, elation - is the same for almost every author. And the equation Regan posits here holds true for most endeavors, not just writing: Success = Luck + Preparation + Opportunity.

There is something so swanky about “having an agent” that it’s one of the most common questions I get from people who know I’m an upcoming debut author. Even friends and family totally disinterested in writing or publishing are dying to know: “How did you get your agent?” 

I was usually too shy to ask this question of other authors, but I spent countless nights and weekends scouring the internet for answers to the question. The bedrock truth is what my dad liked to repeat to his students (who hung on his every word) and his daughters (who tried to see the TV around him): luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. 

Let me take this up to 30,000 feet for a second. Hi! I’m Regan. My first novel, a standalone drama about family, crime, and questions, will be published in summer 2021. I hit the book-deal motherlode thanks to my agent, the coolest of the cool, Helen Heller of Toronto. Here is the “you’re so lucky!” version of how she became my agent:

In December 2017, I read Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door in two short days. I was a couple months into writing my own suspense novel, and I saw Shari had dedicated the book to her agent, Helen Heller. In the acknowledgements, she also talked about how great Helen was. A few months later, I started a list of agents I might want to query one day. The first name I wrote down was Helen’s. 

 

 In October 2019, I submitted an unsolicited query to Helen. Twenty-nine minutes later, she requested my full manuscript. I sent it to her that night, and the next afternoon, she called me and asked to represent me. I said yes. I could skip everything in between and make it sound like I must be a literary leprechaun.

But that doesn’t help you if you’re interested in getting an agent of your own. And even if you aren’t, it doesn’t tell you the whole story. So here’s what happened in between those dates.

During the two-plus years before I queried Helen, I worked on my book like I’ve never worked on anything in my life. I got up every morning at 5 sharp, stumbled into the study, and sat down to write for two hours before work. I read every night for at least an hour. I took vacation days to write and said no to weekend invitations. I shared early drafts and took people’s advice. I edited the story over and over.

In summer 2018, about a year into writing the book, I participated in Pitch Wars, hoping to get selected for a serious manuscript overhaul. I wasn’t chosen, but I did learn loads about the querying process and how to write submission materials. I drafted my first query letter and synopsis for that contest. When I wasn’t selected, I kept editing my manuscript, collecting agents’ names, and reading about how to write a good query letter.

In March of 2019, I didn’t know how to make my book any better, so I decided to send out my first round of queries. From my giant list of agent names, I picked eleven to start with. With some exceptions, I chose people who seemed to be relatively new at their agency. I got a few polite rejections, a lot of radio silence, and a single revise and resubmit.

I stopped querying and focused on the R&R. I liked the agent’s advice and didn’t want to send out the sub-par manuscript anymore. Meanwhile, I went to Maine Crime Wave in June and met another agent there. We had great chemistry, and when I pitched her my novel, she requested the full manuscript. She said I could send it when I was done with the edit. (And she was not shy about how jealous she was to know another agent had already caught my eye…a good thing to keep in mind when you’re querying!)

I finished the R&R edit in early September 2019 and sent the manuscript to the two agents awaiting it. Smart or not, I didn’t send it to anyone else. At the end of the month, I got an email from the conference agent passing on the project. I had already looked her up on Query Tracker, and I immediately knew it was a form rejection. I wallowed for a few hours then talked to an author friend, who reminded me rejection is the name of the game. She recommended I send out a new batch of queries, and she asked how much work I was doing to vet the agents in advance. She told me to fork over the $25 a month it costs to subscribe to Publishers Marketplace.

Obviously I am a masochist, as every writer is, so I started by looking up the agent who had just rejected me. She had big sales, and lots of them. Obviously I am very critical of myself, as every writer is, so I burned with shame. I couldn’t believe I’d thought a hotshot like her (and I mean this in the best way) would ever represent me. But then I remembered agents do not waste their own time, and she had asked me to send my manuscript to her. I went back to my list and saw Helen’s name. Another hotshot, I thought. The next morning, I got up early and queried Helen and a few other agents I’d been too intimidated to try in March.

Helen called me with excitement, a strong vision for the book, and a plan to get it sold. I’d already seen her numbers online. I took a ten-minute breather then called her back and said yes. I could have done things differently, but I had a good feeling and I went with it. Another day I might return with the next leg of the story, but the short version is, she sold my book within a week.

 

 Per usual, I think my dad was right. When you look at my story, I got lucky, absolutely, in so many ways. But a big part of the luck in landing Helen was my preparation, especially in the work I did on my manuscript. (Is this braggy? Yes. [Editor's note: No.] But it’s also true, and I feel the need to say it when I’m not feeling too self-conscious about it.) If you want to get an agent, my advice is always going to be to spend the bulk of your time and energy on your manuscript. Then researching the process and the agents you’re interested in. Don’t rush. You want your materials to land you an agent, but you also want to land the right agent for you. Doing your homework can help you reach out for opportunities you want to say yes to. Your story won’t go exactly like mine did, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get lucky.

What do you think? Do you buy my dad’s equation for luck, or has life taught you different math?

Regan’s debut novel is slated for publication in the summer of 2021. It’s currently called A KINDNESS, but there’s a new title in talks. Set in a fictional town in southern Maine, A KINDNESS is equal parts family drama, crime story, and moral thriller. The story alternates between the past, when Julia Hall’s family was rocked by her brother-in-law’s sexual assault, and the present, when Julia is called to the home of the detective who investigated the crime. You can keep up with Regan and learn more about her book at regan-rose.com, where all of her contact information is available.