Saturday, December 10, 2016

JOIN: Celebrating Literary Agents and Writing Lessons Learned


Every Saturday, join me as I CELEBRATE This Week 
with Ruth Ayres from Discover. Play. Build.


This week I have very big news to share! It's super exciting...I have a literary agent! I queried for about two years, which means I sent samples of my novel in a letter to agents who might be interested in representing me. And then Danielle Smith from Lupine Grove Creative offered to represent me. After notifying other agents who had my work and waiting to hear back from them, I accepted Danielle's offer. Hooray!



This is the first time I've ever had an agent and it's so fun. A few people have asked me what this means exactly...which was good because I forgot that not everyone knows what it means to have an agent in the book world. Basically, now that I'm working with Danielle, she'll pitch my manuscripts to publishers and editors who'll decide if they want to make any of them into books. I've written young adult novels and picture books, but no, I don't illustrate my own work. A publisher would choose an illustrator to create the artwork to go along with my text. And of course, all this will probably take a long time...but I'll let you know when I have more news to share! For now, check out the Lupine Grove website and see if you can find me on the Authors page. (Yay!)

I'm completely overjoyed. This is a big step but also one little step on my journey towards being published. So while I'm celebrating having signed with an agent, I'm also celebrating all the work it's taken to get here. I've written and revised, shared and considered feedback, revised and revised again. And all along the way, through the rejections and doubt, I surrounded myself with supportive friends and family, and I learned that I can keep going - sure, it might mean a good cry at Starbucks and taking a few days to muster up the courage to face revisions - but I know more about myself as a writer today then I did when I started seriously writing over five years ago. 

Thinking about your life as a writer, 
what can you celebrate in terms of what 
you've learned about yourself from actively writing? 
I'm excited to celebrate with you! 

Thanks for stopping in to celebrate with me!



13 comments:

  1. Oh Congratulations! I'm bookmarking this link as I start to consider what I might want to write and publish; and what a journey it was. :) I'm very happy for you, this is amazing news. I'll be watching your blog for updates!

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    1. Oh Congratulations! I'm bookmarking this link as I start to consider what I might want to write and publish; and what a journey it was. :) I'm very happy for you, this is amazing news. I'll be watching your blog for updates!

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  2. This is fantastic news, Jen. I remember you writing about NaNoWriMo, and all that you were doing, doing to make things happen. So exciting to hear, and can't wait to see a published piece. Then, I can say I know that author!

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    1. This is fantastic news, Jen. I remember you writing about NaNoWriMo, and all that you were doing, doing to make things happen. So exciting to hear, and can't wait to see a published piece. Then, I can say I know that author!

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  3. So exciting! Congrats on your new literary venture.

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    1. So exciting! Congrats on your new literary venture.

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  4. I'm super excited for you! Congrats on the work that has brought you to this point. :)

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    1. Thanks, Crystal! It has been a lot of work...but it feels good and it's awesome to know it got me to where I am now. I had a neighbor once ask, "Do you really think you'll ever get published?" And I told him I would never know if I didn't try...so I can at least say I'm trying and this is just another step hopefully in the right direction! :)

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  5. Congratulations, Jen. I love following your journey and seeing your progress along the way!

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    1. Thank you so much! It's been quite a journey so far. :)

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  6. I'm still so happy for you. Woo hoo!

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