How I got my literary agent! 📝 querying trenches, R&R's, offers, and nudges

Hi, there! My name is Dami. I'm a science fiction/fantasy writer! and this is the story of how I got my agent.
Querying is a struggle bus and a half and there's no perfect formula to find an agent. If you're in the query trenches, keep on keepin' on!
Brandon Sanderson doesn't like queries either: • Lecture #12: Publishin...
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*SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS 🔗*
Website: www.damisalako.com/
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*GOODREADS 📚*
Add my debut “Children with Gifts” on Goodreads: / children-with-gifts
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*Chapters and Time Stamps*
00:00 - Introdution
00:14 - What is Querying?
00:56 - Querying my first book
01:18 - Querying my second book
02:11 - R&R (Revise & Resubmit)
03:26 - Reaction to the R&R
05:21 - Nudging Agents with the Revised Manuscript
06:11 - My first offer
09:12 - The Maybe Pile
10:36 - The Agent
11:46 - Soapbox: Publishing...and racism
13:54 - R&R - Honorable Mention
14:34 - Querying Stats
15:40 - Querying Tips(?)
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[@deezxc]

Congrats on signing with an agent, name sake 🎉🎉. You’re spot on with your observation about agents purporting to seek diversity but their deals or list reflecting anything but. I was querying in 2022 when D&I buzzwords were all the rage. Hoping to reenter the trenches next year. I certainly won’t fall for the lip service this time 😅. Thanks for sharing your journey and best of luck with your book. ❤

[@Just999Me]

I'm so glad people are sharing their journey and the behind the scenes. It's so helpful to aspiring writers. But also good as it prevents the gatekeeping of key information that should be shared. It gives people a more realistic and better perspective for it overall. Thanks for sharing your process!

[@damiwriteshere]

I'm glad this video was helpful!

[@daisneylacroix]

Love love love this video! Thank you for posting. I had one RR out of the 10 queries and my gut told me to pull all the others that were potentially in a maybe file. ABSOLUTELY nervous about what I did and not sure if the agent will want the new revision…but one thing for sure 😭 my characters have become even more distinct and I’ve fallen in love with my book again.

[@soiconic9446]

First of all CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! This video was very informative and I am so happy for you for lack of better phrase. Cant wait to read your works in the future!!

[@katiemetzroth907]

Thank you for sharing! The tip about having a safe space to vent is really helpful!

[@love.lauren...]

thanks so much for sharing, this was so helpful and insightful! i look forward to following your videos!! 🥰

[@caitlyncaballero9013]

Thank you so much for sharing your querying process and talking about R&R, this was SUPER insightful!!

[@MsWOCReader]

Hey nice to see more Black writers on here! I also write fantasy.

[@damiwriteshere]

AYOOOO ❤

[@writenowdream3882]

Glad to have found you, can't wait to see how your publishing journey goes! Thanks for sharing! Subscribed 😊

[@StoriesByKayla]

It's interesting to hear about your journey. I didn't know you could revise (by request of an agent) and tell other agents you've sent to that you have, so that's good to know! I'm glad to hear that you got an agent. 🙂 I like that you mentioned that it's okay to feel your feelings when someone suggests changes. Even if the suggestions are good, I know that it can feel like "*scoffs* Excuse me?!" sometimes lol

[@damiwriteshere]

I think the only exception to sending out revised manuscripts to other agents would be if an agent extended an *exclusive* R&R! And yes, I'll always advise to feel your feelings! Then re-assess the situation once you've got a clearer head lol

[@madisonnevin]

Love this video! I’m about to start querying soon too, just finishing up the second draft of my novel. Your video was very informative. Subscribed! Please continue to make videos 😊

[@lynndjung]

Thank you so much for talking about the r&r experience during querying, it's so rarely discussed! Also, welcome to authortube ☺️

[@lisev415]

Good job!!

[@kathleenschwab4645]

Thank you for all the info, it is very helpful for someone in the query trenches!

[@TheEccentricRaven]

Thank you for sharing your story ❤ So happy for you 💜

[@damiwriteshere]

Thank you!! :)

[@zeesummers]

💚

[@smokinggnu6584]

I'm about to start on this journey myself, just waiting for feedback from some beta readers for one last revision job on the manuscript, and then i'm striding into this experience.

[@damiwriteshere]

good luck!! YOU GOT THIS

[@smokinggnu6584]

@@damiwriteshere Thank you, i feel like i'll need good luck. The wait is killing me, but i guess it's good practice from what you detailed in the video. In any case, i keep myself busy by starting on writing the next book in the series (at least three), starting on another different book altogether and working on several short stories in the mean time. Keeping busy busy busy.