EXCITING NEWS! (How It Happened + the Query Letter)

First off, HAPPY WEDNESDAY EVERYONE! :)

I have some exciting news. If you missed it, I've been working on a WIP titled STEEL LILY. I actually posted a short teaser from it in this post, so if you're curious, go check it out! :) Well, I'm excited to say that Steel Lily landed me an agent!!! ::does a happy dance::

I am officially represented by Lauren Hammond of ADA Management! ::throws confetti::

When I tweeted about it, I had a friend ask if I would blog about it. While I hadn't planned on it, it seemed like a good idea, so here we are. :)

When I started querying, I had a friend of mine go over my query with me. She helped me make it shine. When we were finished, I thought we had put together a pretty darn good query...definitely the best one I've submitted with. So, with much trepidation, I hit the "send" button to agents. But this time, unlike the others, I only queried agents I *knew* were people I liked. People I knew would be great to work with, had qualities I wanted, and that were well versed in the literary world.

I thought it'd take a while to get bites, but thankfully, I was wrong. I queried Lauren on April 12th, and got a request for the full the same day. I was beyond thrilled! I also got other requests (8 total, I believe) for fulls as well, so I was pretty excited!

Then came the first email. The agent was VERY excited about my book, but wanted some revisions. I agreed with them, so I set to doing them. All the while, Lauren had my manuscript. We'd tweeted about random things, and she was fun. I wondered if she was liking the book. I got a couple declines, and then it came.

"The Call."

I missed it, because my phone was on silent.

OH. MY. GAWD.

I checked my voicemail and there it was, Lauren Hammond telling me she wanted to talk about representing Steel Lily. I squealed. I scared my 9 month old child with my giddiness.

And I called her back. :)

We talked for quite a while, and it was great to chat and hear her vision for Steel Lily, as well as get to know her style as an agent. I got off the phone wanting to tell her yes, but wanting to give the other agents time to read, as well as sleep on the decision. (ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS give the other agents that have your MS time to read. It's just the nice thing to do. If you physically/emotionally/mentally cannot do that, then at least email them and tell them you're pulling it from consideration. Don't waste their time by having them read something they won't even be able to acquire if they do like it.)

We agreed we'd reconvene in two weeks. I notified all the agents that still had my MS. But...I started to really look into Lauren's other clients. Talked to a few of them. They were all super positive about their experiences, and Lauren's deals on Publisher's Marketplace made me confident in her abilities (ALWAYS check your agents on PM. If they're not recording deals, then will they be able to land one for you??). I talked to my husband, my writer friends, heck, even non-writer friends about it. I really liked what I was seeing, but I thought I should wait.

I made it through the weekend.

After an email came from an agent who declined, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had told my husband I was going to feel bad having to tell them no, because I wanted Lauren. He looked at me, with all his sensibility (God love him), and said, "If you know who you want, then why don't you just accept her offer?"

Made sense to me.

So I emailed the remaining agents and let them know that I was going to accept Lauren's offer. I couldn't wait. I knew who I wanted.

I called Lauren, we chatted, and I said "HECK YEAH I WANNA BE ON TEAM HAMMOND!"

Or something of that derivative. :)

So that's my story. I'm thrilled to have Lauren as an agent, and I can't wait to see what she does with Steel Lily. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to tell you that it has a home, and you'll be able to pick it up in a bookstore near you!

As for any writers that may be reading who are still looking for an agent, don't give up. It only takes one yes. :)

**EDIT**

I had a fellow Tweep ask for me to post the query letter that I sent to Lauren. Here it is! :)

Dear Ms. Hammond,

Fifteen-year-old Avery Pike is the most powerful girl in Dome Four, only she doesn't want to be.

Steam is all that's left as a resource after a massive war has left the world in ruins, and Avery's ability to control it is the best hope that her Dome has to survive. But providing steam power for an entire city taxes Avery's body, leaving her exhausted for days afterward.

Enter Atticus Riggs, the enigmatic headmaster of Chromelius Academy who's promised her a new life, far away from the Dome and free from being a government tool. But Atticus's estranged son, Jaxon, has other plans for Avery. He presents her with two choices: trust him with her freedom, or remain under a regime of uncertainty and fear. It seems as though everyone but Avery is in control of her future. But when you can control steam, you can learn to control anything; including the fate of your world.

STEEL LILY is a 95,000 word YA dystopian steampunk fantasy. I've published three novels. My BRIDGER series is a consistent Amazon best-seller in multiple categories, and have sold over 5,000 copies. The first book, Bridger, has sold over 4,000 and Traitor was just released in March. I have a growing social media platform, with nearly 4,000 followers on Twitter, and an active blog and author website. Per your submission guidelines, I have included the first three pages of Steel Lily for your consideration. Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Megan Curd
www.megancurd.com
(Insert phone number)