How I got my fairy godmother - or what some call a literary agent.

I am thrilled to announce that I have signed a literary representation contract with agent extraordinaire, fellow Boricua and overall fairy godmother, Saritza Hernandez from Corvisiero Literary Agency.

 Saritza is ranked the top agent for Digital YA sales in Publishers Marketplace so I went into a total state of shock and disbelief when she 1) responded to my query within 30 minutes; 2) read my manuscript over a weekend; 3) offered representation four days later. This is the kinda stuff that I always heard happened to other people. I marveled at their “how I got my agent” stories like I marveled at those girls who made MC Hammer pants look cool when I was growing up. I never (in a gazillion years) thought it would happen to me. And yes, I had a pair of those pants: green with blue hearts. Yes, I know.During our initial email exchange, I was humbled by Saritza’s outpouring of love for my manuscript. Her observations were spot on. And when we finally spoke over the phone I knew right away I wanted her to be my agent. The crazy part about all this was that it had taken me four years to get “the call” and when it happened the whole thing was a done deal in less than four days. I don’t know if it was the Query PTSD speaking (this is a real thing, people), but I actually thought this would be a painfully long, emotionally draining, drawn-out process. Like that one time I thought building our new house would be “fun.”If you are still in the trenches, don’t despair. Again, it took me FOUR years to get “The Call.” In that time the only things that kept me going where my passion for telling stories, endless perseverance, a thick skin for rejections, the support of my husband, my writing critique partner Marie Marquardt (buy her YA novel here) and multiple trips to the ice cream store. Shout out to the staff at my local McDonald’s. Your vanilla sundaes with chocolate hot fudge saw me through many rejections.   

If you are wondering how this all came about, here is a timeline with the highlights:

• February 2011 - I took an online course on Writing YA fiction and began working on my first manuscript, a YA fantasy.
• October 2012 - I attended a Georgia Romance Writers conference and met my critique partner Marie Marquardt. It was love at first sight!
• Summer 2014 - After many, many, many failed query attempts, multiple writer conferences and critique workshops, I decided to temporarily shelf the fantasy manuscript - this is where Query PTSD comes in - and write something different, a funny contemporary YA with romantic elements.
• Summer 2015 - I worked with freelance editor Deborah Halverson. This was the best investment I have made in my entire writing career. I cannot sing this woman enough praises. She is simply amazing.
• September 2015 - Marie’s first book Dream Things True came out! The news inspired me to keep going and gave me a much needed confidence boost.
• February 2016 - I began a new round of queries using a combination of the Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents, Publishers Marketplace and Twitter. I set up three Twitter feeds on my Tweet Deck panel: #MSWL, #MSWL Diverse and #MSWL YA.
• February 19, 2016 - Saritza’s tweets kept popping up on my #MSWL Diverse feed. I clicked on her name and read a bunch of her tweets. She seemed to be looking for exactly what I was writing. I searched her name in Publishers Marketplace and it listed her as the top agent for Digital YA sales! So I went for it. Thirty minutes later she responded that she loved my query and the sample and wanted to read more. I almost fell off chair.
• February 22, 2016 - I got an email from Saritza saying she wanted to “talk about the book.” I called Marie trying to be all cool but really freaking out. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: What did she mean “talk about the book”?

Marie: She’s going to make you an offer.

Me: But she didn’t say that. She would have said that. Right?

Marie: That’s what it means, Mayra.

Me: Maybe she just wants to tell me what she thinks - give me some feedback. Do you remember (agents who shall not be named)? They also wanted to discuss!!!

Marie: Yeah, that was bad. But this is different. I’m just going to be happy and celebrate.

Me: Fine. I’m going to walk around feeling sick until tomorrow.  

• February 23, 2016 at 3:30pm - My husband - seeing that I was more nervous than on our wedding day - set up a conference room for me with a poster of “I am James Bond” taped directly in front of me. Our conversation went something like this:

Chris: Just pretend that you’re James Bond.

Me: You want me to be James Bond?

Chris: He has a gun. No one messes with the guy with the gun.

Me: Am I Sean Connery or one of the other guys?

Chris: You decide.

Then he started pacing outside the room to make sure I hadn’t burst into a fit of hysterics.

• February 23, 2016 at 4:00pm - I got the call! And it was AMAZING! Saritza offered representation right out of the gate (long relief exhale). Then we went over all my questions - I had a long list - this took about an hour.

And then, the celebration dinner!

 To all of you amazing talented authors out there, keep dreaming, keep writing, keep querying, keep going! It’s gonna happen!