How I Got my Agent Back!

Whenever I feel like I've hit rock bottom, or I'm barely surviving a low in my writing / publishing career, something good tends to happen, something I'm truly not expecting, and this is a trend I've never really noticed until recently. Then again, hindsight is 20/20. 

Way back in 2014, a publisher I'd been signed with was careening toward an unavoidable implosion. I was terrified of what might happen to my books I'd published with them, to what I'd do next. I mean, how do you recover from something like that? And then, I snagged an agent. You can read all about how that happened HERE. 

Fast forward three years and I was once again facing another major blow in my writing career. Read all about that HERE. As a result, I'd parted ways with my agent. I was sad and discouraged and really on the verge of just giving up. But I didn't. I took some time to assess what I wanted to write and what direction I wanted to take my career. 

Fast forward another three years, and here we are at the end of a very long and difficult year. Despite it all, I've had a productive year in terms of writing and publishing, and while I'm happy with what I've accomplished, I was left feeling like I was still missing something. I'd finished a massive 6-book series, and I was floundering on what to do next. Did I dive into a new YA series I could self-publish? Did I write an adult book I could query agents with? Did I finally finish my series written as Lexi and self publish that? (Which is something I'd been considering for a while.) And then, I got an email....

The publisher of my Lexi books was investing in some new marketing for my book in January. Let me tell you how big of a boost this was! I eagerly jumped in to help with their efforts, revived Lexi on social media, and my enthusiasm for this series sparked once again. I reached out to my former agent, who had originally sold this series for me and who I'd always been in contact with throughout the years and let her know what was going on. During our discussions, I asked if she thought my publisher might reconsider publishing the 3rd book in this series. We agreed I'd ask and see what happened. 

Much to my surprise, they agreed to take a look at the 3rd book and reconsider!!!! And so, I gave the book (which had been written for years) another read through, cleaned it up, rewrote the ending, and sent it off to Dawn, who had agreed to submit it on my behalf considering she'd repped the first two books in the series. 

And now it's official---I have re-signed with my former agent, Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency!! 

She has sent my third Lexi book to the publisher, and now we wait for their decision. If they ultimately say no, I'll forge ahead with self-publishing it so I can continue to rebuild my pen name. And I'll eventually work on something new for Lexi as well. In the meantime, after speaking with Dawn about what she's looking for, I'm working on a proposal for a new series: small town cowboys that will ultimately be published in some form under my Kara name! I couldn't be more excited about this prospect, and I'm so thrilled to be working with Dawn again :-) 

Does no really mean no?

Before I answer that question, let me clarify. This is not some in-depth blog post about a person's right to say no or choices or anything else deep and thought provoking. Nope. This is simply the story of how I found my agent!

That's right! I have an agent!!!! <--- Can you tell how excited I am? 

I have signed with the wonderful Dawn Dowdle of The Blue Ridge Literary Agency. She is representing me for my series of romantic suspense books. 

Now, back to my question: Does no really mean no? Usually, yes. But in this particular situation, no. lol. Allow me to explain.

In December, I participated in the #pitchMAS pitch event. During that event, Dawn favorited my pitch on Twitter. So, I visited her website, did some preliminary research, and sent off my query on December 20th. According to the email reply I got stating she received my query, it would take two months for a response. And so the waiting began. I should add that other agents had requested as well, and the rejections were quickly rolling in, but still nothing from Mrs. Dowdle. 

Then, on January 31st, I got a response. She rejected. What a hell of a way to start the new year, huh? 

As much as it sucked, I didn't let it get me down. I revamped my query, revised my novel (again), and geared up for #PitMad, which was taking place on January 8th. The day of the event arrived, and I was ready to go. My pitches were pre-scheduled throughout the day, and I have a positive attitude. I'm happy to say that the requests started to trickle in. I was excited. 

But then Mrs. Dowdle requested. Again. 

I was shocked and confused, unsure what to do. Typically during this kind of event, if an agent or editor requests something they've already requested, they state to take the second request as a compliment but not to send another query. However, there was no such statement anywhere on her website or Twitter feed. Ignoring her request seemed rude. Tweeting directly to her seemed unprofessional. And I couldn't send her a direct message because she didn't follow me on Twitter. So I did what I always do when faced with a difficult decision -- I turned to my fellow author friends. 

The consensus: Send another query with a little note letting her know she's already seen and rejected my manuscript. So, that's what I did. Do I recommend everyone do this? No. I took a risk doing this, and I knew that, but I figured because of the unique situation of Twitter pitch parties and that she'd already rejected me, what harm could come from it? All she could do was tell me no again, right? 

The second query was sent to her on January 8th. On January 9th I received a reply stating because she'd requested again, she'd reconsider. Now, I seriously thought she was just being polite, but it was nice nonetheless. 

Then, a few weeks later, I got an email from her stating she'd like to set up a time to speak on the phone. So, we did, and now she's my agent!!! 

Overall, I'm thrilled with my decision to sign with Dawn, and I have the utmost confidence in her ability to sell my book(s). And I owe a HUGE THANK YOU to every single person who hosted these contests, retweeted my pitches, offered encouraging words, and supported me in this crazy, wild, emotional endeavor. I wouldn't be here without all of your help :-)