HIGMA...J

How I Got My Agenting Job and what happens next!

I lost my agenting job back in July - and wrote all about what happened here. Honestly, I struggled a lot in the interim. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stay in agenting - or indeed in publishing - and I was forced to make some incredibly hard decisions about my career. Ultimately, though, I’m so relieved and happy to announce my new agenting position at Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Photo by Tolu Akinyemi 🇳🇬 on Unsplash

Here’s the story of how it all worked out!

First thing you need to know: I started out 100% determined to find another salaried job, agenting or otherwise. Apart from a three-month period when I relocated to the US, I’ve never experienced anything but a stable 9-5 - it’s what I know and what I thought I needed. So, I tried applying to every full-time, salaried publishing position in the US I could find - and some outside of publishing, too!

Honestly, the vast majority of my applications met with no response and the rest were rejections. That hurt. I knew it was competitive out there - but with 11 years’ solid experience under my belt, I’d felt reasonably confident.

Alongside this ongoing train of disappointment, I interviewed three times for, was offered, and then turned down an otherwise perfect job due to its location. I spent weeks tearing my hair out, wondering if I’d screwed everything up by walking away from that offer, agonizing about why I’d applied in the first place when I hadn’t been sure I would relocate.

But what happened in the meantime mattered more than I realized. Sometimes your eye’s on one prize, while the world is gifting you another. I received a lot of support and picked up a lot of small jobs and, to my surprise, after a couple of conversations with heads of agencies about commission-only opportunities, I realized it could work. Here are the jobs I currently have:

• Freelance editing for publishers (a mix of editorial reports and smaller jobs like Anglicisations)

• Freelance editing directly for writers via Reedsy and Jericho (everything from query reports to developmental edits)

• Teaching creative writing workshops and doing industry talks for Futurescapes & other organizations

• Social Media Management for Writing Day Workshops

• Bookselling 1-2 days a week in a wonderful indie bookstore (just confirmed - details tba!)

• Writing! (Yes, still, if/when I can!)

All right, it’s a bit chaotic. I’m not the most naturally organized person in the world and my entire work schedule now rests on my own shoulders with a LOT of moving parts! But ultimately I’m doing stuff that I love and making it work. I don’t think I’ll ever be rich - but who knows? I could get comfortable, at least, in time. And frankly, I’m not sure any other industry will have me at this point!

Adding agenting back into the mix will be a huge deal for me. Over the last 10 weeks, not agenting has felt like a gaping hole in my life. I’ve missed the thrill of reading something brand new and exciting, of sending that request for a call, chatting to talented authors I admire. I’ve missed the unparalleled excitement of sending something out on submission for the first time - and, even better, receiving an offer! Passing on good news to my clients! But also, supporting them through tough moments and simply chatting about their creative plans. Catching up with editors, talking shop. Yes, even the waiting, the refreshing my email obsessively. I’ve missed all of it.

So, what happens next?

I learned a lot from my experience over my first year of agenting - and I’ll be doing things slightly differently this time around.

1. I will be open to queries one week per month. It’ll be either the third or fourth week of every month - this is because I’ve seen a lot of agents opening on the first week and I want to balance it out! The idea is that I’ll spend the rest of the time reading these and won’t fall so very behind. (I left The Bindery with literally thousands of queries unread, to my horror.)

2. I’m determined not to get overwhelmed, which means opening to specific genres/age groups to fill specific gaps on my list. The first time I open will be for middle-grade only. The next time… we’ll see! I realize this is limiting and probably a bit annoying but I can’t let FOMO allow me to overload my own inbox. There will of course be exceptions for anyone who, for instance, pitches me at an event, or whose work I specifically request, or who comes to me via a referral.

3. I’m the only agent at DMLA with a background in middle-grade, which means I’m keen to fill out that part of what we represent as an agency and will be balancing my list. I’d like to focus 60/40 towards MG/YA with the 40 being a mix of adult fiction and a bit of adult non-fiction.

4. I won’t be taking on as many clients as I did before. I built my list quite rapidly and am bringing 14 clients with me from my 14 months of agenting (I lost 3 clients, sadly, in the interim). As I won’t be dedicating my full-time attention to agenting, it’s likely to be a slower build going forward.

5. I need to let everyone know that if you pay me to edit your work in any capacity, even if it’s only a query package report, I cannot represent you. Them’s the AALA rules!

I’m opening very soon to MG only - but you can find my general MSWL here! If you don’t already, follow me across socials for the very latest news.

Part of getting back into agenting is jumping back into this newsletter in a way that focuses a bit more on agenting topics. So please let me know if you have ideas for what I should write about - or burning questions you’d like answered.

Until next time!

Kesia