“After 199 rejections, I finally earned a contract with a literary agent!”
Story
As someone who survived an abusive and unusual childhood, I have heaps of stories to share with the world.
The story I’m most proud of, is how I came to the States at 18 with only an 8th-grade education, and went on to earn a Ph.D. I’ve written a memoir in verse chronicling my education at a different school for every grade, including Italian public school.
After being on both sides of the couch as therapist and a patient, I have unique insight into complex relationships and their effects. This, combined with a passion to share what I’ve learned, has been my driving force toward publication.
Once I had several polished manuscripts, I pursued representation by a literary agent, but that was met with 199 rejections! Feeling discouraged, I literally turned those No’s into a YES by printing my rejection letters and dipping them into paint to spell out the answer I wanted.
I earned an agent on the 200th query! But sadly, the search for an editor to champion my debut manuscript was met with more No’s.
Until I got a YES!
But that yes was for a small contract offering only 100 copies, which would never have put it into the hands of the kids who needed it. The desperate and abused kids like me.
I went back to school and earned my Masters in Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. I worked really hard and VCFA helped me become an even better writer!
After graduation, I left my agent and started querying new agents. After about 50 more “Not for me’s,” I found my agent-soulmate, Joyce Sweeney of The Seymour Agency!