Welcome to my stop on Day 1 of “The Call” Blog Hop! During this blog hop, several Seymour Agency authors will be sharing their “call” experiences – when they received THE CALL from their literary agent!
Participating authors will post on their blogs Mon Jan 7th, Wed Jan 9th & Fri Jan 11th. There may even be some GIVEAWAYS along the way, so be sure you drop by the other authors’ stops as well and read all about how they got “the call.”
Special thanks to Tonya Kuper, our fabulous Promotions Manager and Intern at the Seymour Agency, for hosting this blog hop!
Today’s topic – Before “The Call”
What category and genre do you write?
I write urban fantasy and paranormal romance. My debut novel, RED (Transplanted Tales #1), released in August 2012 and is available as e-book and paperback from Kensington Books. The second book in the series, THE BETTER TO SEE YOU, releases February 7, 2013, followed by ALONG CAME A SPIDER in August 2013.
What to you do other than write?
In addition to my writing life, I work full-time as a fundraising professional for a non-profit. I’m also a wife to my husband of thirteen years and mom to two amazing boys! They definitely keep me busy! 🙂
How did you end up in contact with your agent from the Seymour Agency (cold query, conference, etc.)?
I queried my agent, Nicole Resciniti, about six months into the querying process for RED. Nicole was actually at the top of my list of agents I wanted to work with, but I didn’t want to query her until I’d tested out my query letter and had perfected my pitch, etc. She requested the full after reading the first few pages, so I sent it right away. Unfortunately, she never received my email!
Lucky for me, she emailed me a month or so later to see if I was still planning to send the manuscript because she was definitely still interested in reading it. You’d better believe I made sure the email message made it through this time. 😉
Did you communicate with your agent before you got “the call” from them (did you talk at a conference, email, do a Revise & Resubmit)?
As a matter of fact, I did. She and I traded emails a couple of times a few months after I sent RED to her for consideration, and she let me know how much she liked the way I write. Of course, there’s more to the story, but you’ll have to wait until Wednesday, January 9th, to hear the rest…. 😉
Stay tuned…
And to thank you for dropping by my little corner of the blog hop, I’m giving away an e-book of either RED or THE BETTER TO SEE YOU – winner’s choice! 😀 Just enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Wow, congrats on getting with the agent you were wanting. 🙂 And good thing she liked those first few pages. lol. Great story!
Oh, dear! I have a few outstanding submissions that I’ve never heard back on. Maybe I should make sure they were received in the first place. How lucky Nicole was on the ball and noticed she’d never received your full!
Dastardly technology almost struck again! Can’t wait to hear your call:)
Wow! Close call. Did the email get spammed or something? Anyway, can’t wait to read more!
Congrats on Red in paperback! Woot!
Wow, an email snafu on your submission? Funny how everyone is commenting on this part of your story – this is the horror we live with in modern times! Can’t wait to read the rest, Kate.
Ahhh! This is exactly why I freak sometimes & am terribly paranoid that people get the correspondence I send them if I don’t get a reply. I’m so glad she prompted you after a not hearing from you! Huge congrats on Red going to print! I will HAVE to read it. It’s right up my alley.
Thanks for stopping by all!
@Kate M. – I do notice a theme among the comments! I’m definitely more concerned about my email messages making it through spam filters, etc., these days!
@Loree – I’m still not sure what happened to my email message. I’ve had message show up in my inbox days, weeks, even months after they were sent…
@Melissa – Those first few pages are SOOOO important! You have to hit the ground running!
@Laura – That’s always a tough one! There are some agents who simply won’t respond if they’re not interested. When I was querying, I sometimes wondered if that was the case or if my message got lost somewhere along the way. Or maybe theirs got lost in *my* spam filters. Luckily, it all worked out for the best in my case! Hang in there!!
Thanks for stopping by, Tamara! 😀
@Tonya – Thanks so much! 😀 I’m super excited that RED’s in paperback now! I hope you enjoy it!
Whoa! You nearly slipped away because of a stray email?! So glad that Nic followed up with you, agency sibling! 🙂
Wow, the drama of a missing email! Thanks for sharing that story. 😀 So glad Nicole asked what happened to your pages.
Ug! Loosing that email is my worst nightmare! It’s wonderful that Nicole followed it up. If that’s not a sign of a terrific agent than I don’t know what is.
[…] Manager and Intern at the Seymour Agency! If you missed my stop on Monday, you can check it out here. And be sure to go read the other agency authors’ stories by clicking on the blog hop button […]
@Jen – Me, too! So glad to be part of the “family”!
@Marisa – I know, right? Luckily, it all turned out okay in the end. 🙂
@T. Drecker – Nic is the BEST, that’s for sure!! 😀 Thanks for stopping by!
[…] by Tonya Kuper, Promotions Manager and Intern at the Seymour Agency! If you missed my entries for Day 1 and Day 2, be sure to check them out! And don’t forget to visit the other authors’ […]