It's my birthday!
Book Event Daydreams
April was a whirlwind of productivity. I finished revising both my middle grade book and my adult book, and then Roshani, Sandhya, and I finished the draft of Three Kisses, One Midnight and turned it in!
I don't know how this is possible, but every time I read that book, I love it even more. Writing is usually such a solitary activity, so co-authoring a book has been a delightful change. My favorite times are hopping on video calls with Roshani and Sandhya to work on Three Kisses, One Midnight-- Rosh usually looks glamorous while drinking a fancy cocktail, and Sandhya's often cuddled up with her sweet golden retriever. We laugh so hard when we're together on those calls; I can only imagine how fun the launch parties are going to be next year!
Speaking of which, I'm already dreaming of post-pandemic, in-person book events, and what kind of pastries we ought to have at the Three Kisses, One Midnight launch...
~evelyn
Book Updates:
Three Kisses, One Midnight (YA) by me, Roshani Chokshi & Sandhya Menon
coming 2022 - Turned in the manuscript to our editor, Eileen Rothschild, at Wednesday Books!
Works-in-Progress:
Project RJ (adult) - Overhaul complete, sent to beta reader for critique.
Project Sun (MG) - First draft complete.
Project Whimsy (adult) - on hold while I work on Project RJ.
May Obsession
It's my birthday today, and I'm celebrating with coconut cake! We decided to use a cake mix (because weekday), but my daughter wanted to make an extra coconutty pastry cream to go with it, so she whipped up this recipe, substituting full-fat coconut milk for the milk. It's divine!
READER Q&A ~~Since so many of you asked about finding literary agents,
I'm answering your Qs in a multi-part series~~
(this is Part 4 of 4)
Q: How did you get your agent? Did you query, and if so, what was the hardest and easiest part of querying for you? - Rey M.
A: For my first two agents, I did just send query letters. For my third (and current agent), I had a referral from Roshani Chokshi to her agent, and then I followed that up with a query letter. (I also queried a handful of other agents and ended up with several offers, so I got to talk to each on the phone and get a better sense of whether we clicked and shared the same vision for my writing.)
The easiest part of querying, for me, was writing the letter. (See last month's newsletter for tips on writing a killer query).
The hardest part of querying was figuring out how to choose an agent--both who to send queries to, and then who to pick when there are offers. There are loads of articles out there with lists of questions to ask the agents, but I boil it down to two:
- Do we share the same long-term vision for my career? and
- Do our working styles match (i.e., Can I envision us working together for years to come)?
Q: I recently finished the latest draft of my contemporary MG book and as a first timer, I would love to get your thoughts on querying. How many to query at once? Do you stagger? When to politely inquire again (if it is not clear based on the agent's blog/twitter/agency website)? - Rashmi D.
A: First off, congratulations! That is a huge accomplishment, and I hope you celebrate it!
For me, personally, I queried batches of 5 - 10 agents at a time. I'd wait for responses to come in for at least half, then I'd send out another batch of 5.
In terms of when to follow up, I'd say you can politely ping them after a month. I know others out there will have different opinions, but that was the loose rule I followed.
For more questions on finding a literary agent and writing, I highly recommend this website, which contains a wealth of information:
https://nathanbransford.com/literary-agents-book-publishing
Hope this series has been helpful!
~e
About me:
Evelyn Skye is the New York Times bestselling author of The Crown's Game and other books.
She has a B.A. from Stanford and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Evelyn was once offered a job by the C.I.A., she not-so-secretly wishes she was good enough to be on “World of Dance,” and if you challenge her to a pizza-eating contest, she guarantees she'll win. Evelyn lives in the
San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, daughter, and a dog who sheds more hair than he weighs.