My Indie Journey to a Literary Agent

Hey, writer friends!

So, if you’re like me, you like to research all the avenues to publication and gaining a readership. It’s great that we have so many options now, but it can also be a little overwhelming. I thought it might be helpful for you to read about how I found my agent.

I self-published my dystopian, World of Shell and Bone, in December 2012. In January 2013, it went on to hit Amazon bestselling lists (ranking in the 200s in the entire store at one point). That was such an amazing thing. I have to say, though, I was a bit clueless about how to handle the success. I’d been expecting it to sell a few copies, but nothing like that. When readers began to ask for a sequel, I panicked. I definitely didn’t have one ready to go, and I needed time to plot and write it. I was too focused on what everyone would think of the sequel, so I decided to take a break and write my next novel instead. This one was a completely different genre–realistic NA fiction (social issues)–and needless to say, not a lot of my sci-fi/dystopian readers wanted to follow me there. Though the novel got great reviews by those who read it, it just wasn’t being seen. It wasn’t a hot genre like my dystopian was at the time I released it, and the cover was, unbeknownst to me, screaming romance. The book is most definitely not an NA romance.

So sales began to dip. I was disappointed, but I reminded myself that this is the whole thing with a creative career. Unless you’re willing to write what the hottest trend is, sales will fluctuate, sometimes wildly. I’d heard other indies speak on the matter, so I was prepared. It still stung, though, because I LOVED my realistic novel. My craft had grown in leaps and bounds between the two books, and I knew people would love it…if only they could find it.

Now I’d never been one for either 100% indie or 100% traditional publication. I wanted to go where the readers were–that was my only criteria. I was in this state of mind when, in late August 2013, I got an email from a literary agent. She said she’d found my realistic book because it had been featured on a blog (see why I love book bloggers so much??). She’d bought a copy and read it because the premise was enticing. She loved it and wanted to talk more.

My jaw dropped. I remember calling my husband over to ask him to read the email. We both sat there, staring, wondering what to do in this situation. Having a literary agent contact me was a goal in my five-year plan. It had come to fruition nine months after I self-published World of Shell and Bone. Once again, I was completely unprepared. But that was okay, because Thao seemed to know how overwhelming it all was.

The great thing about my agent is that she’s enthusiastic and supportive. She sees my career as that–my career. She understands that she is there in a supportive role, as a business partner and sounding board (and fabulous editor). My main issue was that I’d find an agent who looked down her nose at self-publishing or would try to convince me never to self-publish again. That’s definitely not been the case with Thao. She’s completely open to every facet of publication, and so willing to listen to what I want. I went with my gut after speaking with her because I have a good sense of people, and every time we spoke, I only got more confident that she and I would work well together. She negotiated the agency’s contract terms to be more amenable to me, which was a huge leap of faith.

Hugh Howey, indie extraordinaire, says that every writer in this day and age should self-publish first to gain a readership, and, as their craft grows, wait for an agent to find them. I listened to his advice because it made sense to me, and it has definitely worked in my favor. If I had queried World of Shell and Bone, it probably still wouldn’t be published (publishers stopped buying dystopians right around the time I wrote it). On the other hand, having an agent for a book like Secret for a Song is probably in my best interest. What I want, more than anything, is to find the most readers I can for any given project. And I think having an agent and a publishing team will help in that regard.

I won’t sign with a publisher who doesn’t respect me as an author. I’m looking for readers, and now that I’ve found them once on my own before, that whole “enigma” part of publishing has gone away for me. Now I just want to partner with people who want what I want: to pair great books with the right readers.

I hope this helps some of you! I’ll keep posting as I go along this journey with what my findings/experiences are. Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at sandhya@skfalls.com or use the contact form above.