Agent Update | May 8

in which I make an accounting

It’s been a beat since I talked explicitly about my book, Exit Strategy, and its path to publication. Is it still floating around in the ether-void of emails, seeking an agent?

Yes. Yes it is!

Have I been avoiding the subject of how querying is going?

Yeah, kinda!

Why?

Because I’ve hit the hump. The point where it’s starting to feel hard. Where all hope of being a wunderkind literary darling with a breezy, charmed path to publication has passed, assuming such an experience exists for anyone who’s out there cold-querying agents in this year of our lord 2026.

The task, as always, is to stay grounded and focus on elements within my control. To that end, let’s talk numbers!

I briefly paused querying during our move, but you’ll be proud to hear that I spent a good number of hours querying a fresh round of agents within the last few weeks, including the agent who reps Gillian Flynn (of Gone Girl notoriety). This person would be a great fit for my book, but I somehow missed them in earlier rounds, which goes to show the process is not a science, at least not for me. I’m proceeding with as much methodology as I can manage: a sort of purposeful, urgent fumbling toward a hard-to-imagine goal, and even that makes it sound much sexier than it is.

But I’m doing it, in my way! I’m still gathering agent names like a bird picking at scattered seed. I’ll jot names gathered from books, from the mouths of friends, from my Publisher’s Weekly emails, and later sit down to see what’s up. I’m far from running out of steam on finding an agent. I came prepared. I’ve heeded the warnings and know it can take hundreds of queries and still not happen. I am aware of the reality and know there’s no special reason for me to be an exception.

At the same time, I sense a quiet, dawning awareness regarding my limits. At a certain point, I will no longer want to query agents for any number of reasons. Maybe I run out of agents who seem exciting or even particularly helpful. Maybe I discover my book isn’t a good match for this moment in traditional publishing. Maybe I revise again. Maybe the process exhausts me.

It’s hard to say when my limit will be reached, but right now, it feels a ways off. I can only sense its general contours. Still, in the far eddies of my mind, I’m thinking about smaller indie publishers. Might that publishing experience be better aligned with my goals for the book?

sustaining beverage of late

Much of this boils down to what I want from the experience. The most important thing is to connect this book with its readership, and I’m pondering whether that readership is, perhaps, further afield of traditional publishing than I first considered.

I’m not making any moves on this besides continuing to gather a list of small presses. For now, I’m staying the course. I’m checking in with myself (these updates are at their most basic a commitment to self-reflection), and I’m providing pep-talks when needed. I’m drinking a lot—a lot—of homemade iced lattes. I hope you are, too, in your way. <3

For now,

Anne

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If you are wondering, the average price of my preferred coffee (black decaf Americano, like a serial killer) is currently $4.08, according to the first link I clicked on at the top of my Google search.

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