Melissa Charles author

One of the most popular questions agented authors get is HOW. How did you do it?

There are a lot of things I could say, to make it sound like some dark, mysterious event. Probably involving some magic, candles, chanting, possibly a deal made with a member of Faerie whose name cannot be mentioned, or invoking a patron deity of authors through some mysterious rite under a full moon.

Which frankly, sounds amazing and way more interesting than the actual process.

And possibly less stressful.

The truth is, Ms. Rydzinski is my third agent. And I gained her interest through a combination of hard work and luck.

The most helpful thing I can probably say is that the harder I work, the luckier I seem to be. Not that it always works that way, of course, but it helps. The work is the one thing about this random mass of chaos that is publishing that I, as an author, have any control over.

No author can predict moods, what trends are waxing or waning, what voice or genre or age is going to send that, “I MUST HAVE THIS!” bell ringing for any agent or editor.

We’re all flailing in the wind, tossing our words into the storm and hoping something sticks.

So, for me, how I got my agent meant a few things:

One, I worked my butt off on the manuscript. I have betas that I trust to read over my rough drafts. One lovingly calls my very early work ‘brain puke.’ For me, that means not just revising, but completely rewriting, from beginning to end. That’s my process. It helps me discover the voice of my main character, when I’m not daunted by trying to fit a brand new line into an already established paragraph. I’m not afraid to mess around, change things here and there, delete what doesn’t work, and really dig in. I have some trusted readers that ask questions, and aren’t afraid to tell me if they think something doesn’t hit right. They’re also incredibly encouraging, wanting to know what happens next, which keeps my enthusiasm going and pushes me across the finish line. Then I had critique partners. The difference between beta readers and critique partners will be the subject of another post, so I won’t get into that here, but they ARE very different for me.

Then I edit again.

Once I thought I was ready to query, I sat down with both Query Tracker and Publishers Marketplace. After having had two previous agents, I was pretty clear about what I needed in an agent and from the author-agent relationship. I did a lot of research, then queried the ones who seemed to fit what I was looking for.

I threw out a bunch of queries. Fifteen, I think? Maybe twenty? At this point, I was confident enough in my ability to write a query package that I didn’t feel the need to test the waters. I’d been doing it a while, on and off.

Some agents I queried because, as a friend told me, “Don’t self reject. You never know.”‘

Two months later, the full request came.

I sat in shock for a bit before sending it over.

I talked to friends about it, because while I still believed that it would end in rejection, holy crap, I’d gotten a full request! I considered it a major accomplishment.

Then, a month after that, came the email.

Wanting to talk. On the phone.The same day.

The Call was something of a blur, and time hasn’t filled any details in. I’m relatively certain that I was something of a babbling yahoo, but thankfully, not so bad that the offer was rescinded.

I did my due diligence. I’d promised myself before I’d started querying again, that I wanted my next agent to be my last agent. I was going to be as careful as I could be, ask all the questions, gather all the information possible and listen to my gut.

And on Halloween of 2024, I announced that I was now represented by Tamar Rydzinski.

Of course, the why lingers. I’m not sure I’ll ever ditch the Imposter Syndrome that so many authors carry with them. And, I think, that the why is really an unnamable, intangible element that is as necessary as it is elusive. It’s the way one person looks at things, how it’s put into words, the cadence and the music that hovers behind, between, and under the words that sings to some while silent to others.

I guess I was wrong.

There is magic involved after all.

Where ever you are on this writing journey, I hope you find the magic and music in your words.