A long time ago, before PLANETSIDE, I wrote a fantasy novel. It was not a good book. I started querying it without ever having a critique partner or beta reader look at it. So…yeah. Don’t do that. For whatever reason, agents wanted to see it. I sent maybe 15 total queries out, and I got 6 or 8 requests. Some of those requests were from some big agents in the fantasy world. I was psyched. Analyzing it later, I feel like my premise must have been appealing to get that kind of response (at the time, I didn’t know that wasn’t normal!) Of course those agents are all very good, and when they read my pages, I got quick rejections from all of them. Except one.

I am not going to name this agent, but they are no longer in agenting, as far as I know. This agent was fairly new compared to the others, and didn’t have the same qualifications (again, at the time, I didn’t really know that it mattered.) They took quite a bit of time looking at my novel, to the point where they reached out, told me they were thinking hard about it, and that they would be in touch once they decided. Again, I was psyched. I didn’t yet know that my book wasn’t good. To be fair, there were parts of it that were good–flashes of quality. I did some things well, even then. Just not enough to warrant an agent. But like I said, I didn’t know that.

Ultimately that agent passed, and that was the best possible thing that could have happened to me. Once again, I say that in retrospect. At the time, I wanted that agent. But if I had signed with that agent, who knows where I would be? That book would not have sold. Who knows what I would have done, or how I would have reacted to that? Would have gained the self-introspection to realize that I had a lot to learn? Would I have ever written the next book, which went on to sell to Harper Voyager?

Here’s what happened in the real world. I found some critique partners. I rewrote that book a couple of times, and I made it better. It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t good enough, either. I learned. Seeing what was wrong with that book, I knew that I had to get better. I studied. I read craft books and blogs. I did critiques for other people, which helped me learn to see the flaws in my own writing, and then, eventually, how to avoid some of those flaws in the first place. Then I started writing PLANETSIDE. It was another year before I queried again, and this time I got a much smaller response. I got 5 requests on 32 queries. The premise didn’t appeal to very many agents, apparently. Thankfully, the five requests were all from very good agents, so they were all I needed. I signed with Lisa Rodgers, and now my book comes out in just over a month.

I think there are some lessons here that apply, especially when you’re doing a pitch event like #SFFpit.

First, not every agent is good. Anybody can call themselves an agent and favorite a pitch in this (or any other) twitter pitch event. Do your research, and know to whom you’re sending your material. Let me say that again. Do. Your. Research. Sometimes it’s easy. You can be pretty sure the agent is reputable if they have clients, and those clients have books with solid publishers. Sometimes it’s harder. Newer agents might not have clients with sales yet, but they’re often building their lists. They require deeper research. Are they with a reputable agency? Are they getting leadership and mentorship from an established agent? If so, it might be a chance to get in on the ground floor of a good thing. Maybe they have sales pending that haven’t been announced yet. If they’re with a reputable agency, at a minimum it’s safe to send them your query and materials. If they offer you representation, you can do deeper research then (hint: Ask to talk to clients. They should say yes.)

Next, not every rejection is bad. Sometimes you need to get rejected. It sucks. It really does. But getting rejected was what made me realize that my writing wasn’t where I thought it was. It’s what made me work to get better. Now, I still work to get better. Everyone should. But I mean I *really* worked, back then. If getting rejected is what makes you grow as a writer, then it might be a necessary evil. If you’re not ready, getting an agent won’t help you. It might even hold you back, because you might think you’re ready. (This is kind of a Catch 22, because good agents are going to know if you’re ready or not. It’s their job, and they’re good at it.)

Third, even good agents might not be a good fit for you. I know a lot of writers with agents. You know how many of them have parted ways with at least one agent? I don’t know…half? It’s definitely close to half. It’s a partnership, and it has to be the right fit. ‘I like their personality on twitter’ isn’t a great determining factor for how you’ll mesh with your agent. Unless it is. We all want (and need) different things. I need an agent who will tell me when I can expect to get things from her, then stick to that schedule. I have to have it. I couldn’t work any other way…it’s just one of my quirks. I need an agent who will tell me plainly when something isn’t working, and who gives notes that really matter. The kind where you read the note and it’s immediately like ‘Yep. I get what she’s saying here, and she’s right. I need to do something different.’ I have that agent. She’s great. But maybe you need something different. That’s cool, too.

Look, I know that querying sucks. For me, it was literally the worst part of my writing life. No doubt. That feeling that it’s never going to happen for you. That feeling like somehow you’re not good enough. That you want to sit at the cool table, and make an announcement on twitter, and everybody will like it and it will be great. But getting an agent isn’t the goal. Getting published is. Yes, getting an agent is a very important step. But only if it helps you get to the next milestone. Getting an agent is like graduating high school when you know you’re going to college. It’s great, and you should celebrate. But there’s more work to do. You want to be in a partnership with the right agent…the one who is going to help you get there.

If you want to read more about agents, you might want to check out my post What an Agent Does for You.

And of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my debut novel, PLANETSIDE, comes out on July 31st. You can pre-order it here, if you’re the pre-ordering type (The pre-ordering type is great, BTW) Or you could add it on goodreads, here. That’s free.