How I Got My Agent (Part 1): Writing the Book

Introduction

I know have a great agent! And I know how thorny the journey to securing representation can be. In this three-part series, I will share my story of how I landed an agent, in the hope that some of it may be beneficial to you. In Part I, I’ll highlight the relevant elements of the process of writing the book itself, focusing on the key competences I tried to develop, and how I shaped my novel to support pursuing my vision.

1. Learning from the experts: using best-practice to maximise my chances of success

At the start of my writing journey, I recognised the need to learn my craft. I conceptualised learning to write as being similar to having learned to offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: I would have to identify the competences writers develop expertise in, learn about these in a general way, and then learn and practise these in more detail, culminating in getting feedback on my application of the skills, in a continuous learning cycle.

I began with Masterclass.com, which offers video courses ‘taught’ by renowned authors (via pre-recorded videos). Each course is also accompanied by a workbook which has further reading recommendations. Through these classes, I began to learn the basics of competences like character, plot, structure, dialogue, setting, editing, and reading like a writer.

Off the back of the reading lists for these classes, I read books about writing (one day I’ll make a page with my recommendations on) focusing on specific topics. This was during lockdown: from staying inside all the time I developed back problems, and I remember reading some of these books when I’d be laid up on the sofa on my side!

When I had learnt a bit by myself, I enrolled in writing courses offered by the Arvon Foundation, Curtis Brown Creative, and Faber. I was fortunate that, like many people, I decided to take up writing during the pandemic, so lots of courses had moved online. I was also fortunate that I was still able to work, as my employer switched quickly to remote working, so I could pay for these courses. Different courses have different amounts of live teaching and feedback from tutors and/or other students. The courses consolidated and deepened my knowledge about the competences I’d tried to teach myself; receiving constructive feedback allowed me to refine my storytelling skills.

The reason why I flag this up is that ‘how I got my agent’ articles can often focus on the process of querying, when the quality of the writing – both in terms of what story you’re telling and how you’ve structured and paced it, as well as quality of prose - is important and will precede the querying stage. Maximise your chances of success from the start!

2. Starting to navigate the publishing industry

 When I decided to write a novel, I thought there was no point writing something if nobody else wanted to read it. (Other opinions are available and valid.) I guessed that, for a book to be published, it would have to be similar to previous books that had been published. (I was sort of correct in this, but my understanding of ‘comps’ improved over time – this is a good article on them.)

This was not about copying ideas or trying to be formulaic, but rather understanding the expectations of the genre and creating something that could stand out whilst still meeting readers' needs. (I’ll admit I started out by thinking ‘I’ll write a book like one I really enjoy – ‘Case Histories’ by Kate Atkinson - which was a bit ambitious, but I think I’ve done alright off the back of that high aim.)

To help me learn more about writing, and also understand the industry, I set up a Twitter account specific to writing. (This is back when Twitter was called Twitter and was more functional – like most writers I’m more active on BlueSky now.) This allowed me to gain insights into some of the workings of the industry, learn about which agents I might want to query, spot competitions I could enter (more on those in the next post), and build up a supportive community of fellow writers – the latter being probably the most important thing!

Writing and editing the book before querying my agent took something like 21 months (around a day job), so it’s hard to remember all of the conscious decisions I made during the writing process based on my perceptions of the industry. However, I do know that I conceptualised my novel as crime/thriller. Understanding some of the expectations within the crime/thriller genre (including by reading widely within that genre), I tried to home in on the elements that would appeal to readers whilst still maintaining the integrity of the story I wanted to tell. This included trying to meet expectations like word length, plot, and pacing. However, I have always balanced this with writing a book that I would want to read, and that I am proud of having written.

Summary:

When I started writing Flat 401, I decided to approach this as a process of continuous learning. By immersing myself in courses, books in the same genre as mine, and gaining insights into the publishing industry, I hoped that, from the beginning, I was setting myself up to not only engage end readers but also attract agents and, eventually, editors.

In Part 2 of this series, I will look at the process of editing. Spoilers: there was WAY more to this than I’d expected!

Curious about this novel that secured me representation? You can read more about, and pre-order it, here!