[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Congratulations to Angela Kunkel! Her story is full of tough love and encouragement. Let it inspire you to do that thing you’ve been afraid of doing. We can’t wait to read your debut picture book, Angela!

How long had you been writing before seeking an agent, and what made you decide it was time to look for one?

I’ve been writing on and off since childhood, but I was one of those “secret” writers who thought “real” writers’ first drafts came out whole and perfectly polished. Writing was always something I put after work, family, and household tasks. At an author event in 2016 (where I had my own very active kids in tow), I asked then-pregnant Lindsay Eagar what her writing routine was, and how she made it work with children. She just kind of looked at me and said, “if you want to write, you’ll write.” Something clicked. I appreciated the bluntness and realized that if I kept waiting for the perfect moment, it would never happen. I started writing picture books that same week. I committed to giving up (even more) sleep, writing before my children woke up for the day.

I will admit that I definitely started querying agents before I was ready and, after a round of rejections, realized I needed to slow down and work on craft. However, when I wrote the first draft what will be my debut picture book, DIGGING FOR WORDS: JOSÉ ALBERTO GUTIÉRREZ AND THE LIBRARY HE BUILT (Random House/Schwartz & Wade, Fall 2020), I knew I had to try again. The book is based on a true story and had received a lot of coverage in the media. My fear was that if I didn’t put the work out there, someone else would. I loved and believed in that manuscript like nothing else, and wanted to push forward.

I was also afraid that if I didn’t keep querying, I’d revert to being a “secret” writer who didn’t actually do very much writing. There are two quotes I find particularly motivating around this. The first is from poet Mary Oliver: “The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.” The second is from Amy Poehler: “Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it. Doing what you’re afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that- that’s what life is. You might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that’s really special and if you’re not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself.”

I think both Oliver’s and Poehler’s words apply to writing and to the agent search. Yes, it is a good idea to have three to six submission-ready manuscripts. Yes, you should study the craft. Yes, you can always revise one. More. Time. BUT, don’t spend so much time being afraid you’re not ready “yet.” “Yet” can get pushed back by your less-confident self again and again. At some point, if having an agent is your goal, you just have to push send and get the work out there. At some point, it’s as ready as it’s going to be, and so are you.

What kind of research did you do before submitting?

Researching agents was something I got better at with practice. Once I joined 12×12, I made a habit of reading the featured agent profiles even though I wasn’t a Gold member. Then, I started following agents on Twitter and discovered hashtags like #MSWL. Attending 12 x 12 webinars by agents like Stephen Fraser and agent sessions at conferences helped me get a sense of how the process worked. SCBWI’s The Book is also a great resource. I found the “Agented By” section the most useful. Once I had a clear idea of my own manuscript’s comp titles, and could see who had agented work with a similar feel, I was able to focus my queries much more effectively.

The dreaded questions: How many queries?  How many rejections?

For earlier manuscripts, I queried nine agents and was rejected by . . . nine agents.

For DIGGING, I queried five agents and, while I was still getting rejections, they were getting a bit more personalized. I took that as encouragement that I was on the right track and closer to that one “yes.” I was also workshopping this manuscript a lot more—I took it to conferences and had feedback from editors, and I had the sense that it was saleable.

Liza Fleissig of the Liza Royce Agency was the fifth agent I queried after bringing the story to the Rutgers One-on-One PLUS conference, and I ultimately signed with her in February 2018.

Was it difficult to find an agent who wanted to represent an author focusing on picture books?

I think it just has to be part of your research process. There’s no point in crafting your best query letter to someone who only reps YA. Again, SCBWI’s The Book and hashtags like #MSWL are helpful here. Also, see which agents are following hashtags like #PB or #PBpitch.

There are certain agents who I love to follow on social media or listen to on podcasts, but they don’t rep  picture books. Why would I waste my time and theirs trying to convince them otherwise? They’re still great resources in other ways!

Who is your new agent? Tell us about getting the news.

I’m happy to say I am represented by Liza Fleissig of the Liza Royce Agency! While she also attended the One-on-One PLUS conference at Rutgers in October 2017, she wasn’t my assigned mentor, nor did I meet her in person that weekend. I queried Liza post-conference based on the fact that she represented Laurie Wallmark, the author of the picture book biography Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine. Liza (correctly!) asked if I wanted to spend a bit more time applying the feedback I had received at the conference. I spent another few months revising, sent her the updated draft in February of 2018, and got “the call” in March of 2018. I think the lesson here is that Liza left the door open for follow up, and if I hadn’t followed through and maintained contact, I wouldn’t have gotten the offer.

How did you know your agent was “the one”?

Once I had a phone call with Liza, her enthusiasm and energy for DIGGING was so clear. I knew she that believed in the book, too. Also, Liza struck me as an extremely straight shooter and a good communicator. She had questions for me and didn’t shirk any questions that I had for her, either. I do best with straightforward feedback (remember how Lindsay Eagar’s bluntness finally spurred me into action?), and thought that Liza and I would be a good fit in this regard. I need someone who is grounded in reality and tells it like it is.

If 12 x 12 helped you in any way during your agent search/development of craft, can you tell us how? (P.S. It is TOTALLY okay if the answer is no. I am not trying to “lead” you  )

This is kind of a vague answer, but I think being a 12 x 12 member just helped normalize rejection (and I mean that in the BEST possible way)?! While my family and friends are super supportive, a community like 12 x 12 has so many like-minded people who know the extreme ups and downs of writing, querying, and submitting. Every time another member posted a rejection tale or a success story (or a champagne rejection that was a mix of both!) it gave me the encouragement I needed to keep going. I appreciated the honesty of other members being willing to share their highs and lows!

Has your writing process changed at all since signing with an agent?

Honestly, I have tried not to let it? I’ve learned, thanks to other writers, that the cycle of querying, submitting, and possible rejections doesn’t end with signing an agent. If I think about Liza or an idea’s sales potential during the writing process, I find myself stuck with writer’s block pretty quickly. To paraphrase Jane Yolen, writing is an art, publishing is a business. I try separate the two, let ideas come, and draft manuscripts on my own/with my critique partners until they feel relatively polished.

What advice would you give to picture book writers looking for agents today?

Try to strike a healthy balance of doing your due diligence and listening to your gut. And, while it’s easy to say, don’t let rejection derail you. There have to be “nos” on the way to that “yes.” It’s just what happens.

Do you think your platform (blog, social media) helped you find your agent?

Liza and I haven’t talked about this directly, but when I took a break after my first round of queries, I followed Jennifer Laughran’s advice on Literaticast and built a basic website that linked to my Twitter and Instagram accounts. That way, I had a platform in place and, going forward, potential agents could see I had an Internet presence.

Tell us something that is on your “bucket list.” Something you’ve dreamed of doing all your life but have yet to accomplish (besides publishing a book, which is inevitable at this point )

Oh my goodness. So many things. I’d love to spend some time volunteering at José Alberto Gutiérrez’s foundation, La Fuerza de las Palabaras, in Colombia. I want to teach myself how to paint and how to play piano (I bought watercolor supplies in July and they’re still sitting in a drawer, ha!). I’d love to travel more, and one locale on the top of my list is a sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica. And I’d love to meet Dolly Parton one day because between her music, her sense of humor, and her Imagination Library, she is my absolute favorite person. I think mainly I just want to keep adding to my bucket list, because staying engaged and curious about the world is what makes me happy (and what keeps those ideas flowing).

What’s up next/what are you working on now?

I’m working on a picture book biography of an amazing woman from 19^th-century New England, and, on the opposite spectrum, a fictional, low word count picture book series that’s teaching me how to “write tight.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]