Regarding landing a literary agent, 12 x 12 member Christina Rodriguez-Unalt thinks “the whole process is difficult.” (Can you relate?) Yet the hard work paid off!

Congrats, Christina! 

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

I have been searching for an agent off and on for four years. At first, I was seeking agencies that specialized in illustration for children’s publishing. These agencies usually just ask for a few portfolio samples or a website. At this time, I had just finished my MFA in Illustration and was eager to get back into the market with my new found style. It was not until a year ago that I started really focusing on my writing, as well as what it was that I wanted to write about—and that usually has to do with what it is I want to draw! This opened the door to agencies that were looking for author-illustrators.

What kind of research did you do before submitting?

I would mostly look at the clients that the agency has first and see what kind of projects they were publishing, and what houses they were working for. Some time ago I had been represented by an art agency. I did not know much then about the publishing business or having representation. That experience taught me a lot about the pros and cons of both. Going to conferences and listening to webinars and podcasts taught me even more. Hearing other people’s experiences made me realize that I wanted an agent who was going to champion my work and not leave me lost at sea to compete with other people at the same agency.

It became important to look for someone who was personable and who I could build a strong connection with. I knew I was looking for a long-lasting relationship. Beyond the initial online search, I attended virtual and in-person workshops with agents. This helped me find out more about the agent and their agency, as well as their style of agenting. For example, some agents are more editorial and hands on with your entire process.

Another important tool I learned by attending workshops hosted by agents was the secret sauce to the query letter process. Having that paragraph by paragraph breakdown, as well as seeing examples of successful query letters, was invaluable. Most of the time attending these workshops will also offer an exclusive opportunity for attendees to submit. This is when I really started getting serious about the query process and had been attending workshops and submitting for about a year.

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

I tried not to keep count! I also did not even hear back from some, including one agent that invited me to submit to them after hearing my pitch. In all honesty though, I probably submitted to about 10 agencies when I was just submitting portfolios. Then another 7 with query letters involving a pitch and a picture book manuscript.

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

I think the whole process is difficult! But, no I did not find it difficult to find an agency who represents authors just focusing on picture books. I am also an illustrator so that does provide some leverage since there are some agents out there who prefer to have only author-illustrators when it comes to picture books. 

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

Sheila Fernley of Storm Literary is my agent. Interestingly, Sheila found me! I had heard of Storm Literary because I had just attended the New York SCBWI Conference and participated in the portfolio showcase. There were hundreds of illustrators there, and we all swap postcards for souvenirs. I remembered seeing the agency logo, and whenever I see an agency that is new to me, and one that represents a picture book illustrator, I always look them up and keep them on my radar.

As I was working on querying at a few other agencies, I heard about the PBParty hosted by Mindy Alyse Weiss. It was a competition where you have to submit a query letter, a picture book manuscript, and, if you’re an illustrator, a few sample illustrations. I had just finished revising my manuscript for the New York Conference and decided I had nothing to lose. Heck, it was FREE—why not?

Well, this competition had me on the edge of my chair, because Mindy, along with 8 or so other published and listed judges, went through every query letter, and if they liked it, they’d go on to the manuscript. If majority voted for it to be a YES, then the submission turns green. Mindy and the judges were taking only 50 manuscripts and 20 illustrations for the finalist round (because they had such a hard time choosing it ended up being 55 manuscripts and 25 illustrations!). The finalists’ entries would be viewed by at least a hundred agencies and publishing houses. If reviewing the almost 1,100 submissions was not enough, Mindy and the other judges have a special Facebook page and twitter handle where they posted teasers about the submissions they were reading. Sometimes you can’t help but wonder if they were mentioning yours!

Well, long story short, I made it in as a finalist in the Illustration Showcase! Sheila was browsing and wrote a very nice comment about how she loved the Latin vibe of my illustrations. I was so flattered because I was also the only person she requested a submission from in the entire finalist round! After officially submitting my query to Sheila, she got back to me within 48 hours! She asked for more picture book pitches and asked to have a zoom call with me. We chatted and she made me an offer the very next morning!

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

On that initial zoom call with Sheila, I was so nervous, but after about 2 minutes I immediately felt at ease. The chat ended up lasting for an hour and a half and, honestly, could have probably lasted longer! We realized we had a lot of the same interests when it came to picture books and writing. She also had a lot of great things to say about both my illustration and my manuscript. I knew she was serious about getting my work in the hands of the right publishers, and I also really liked the fact that she was new at the agency, but not new to the publishing industry. She is growing her list of clients slowly in order to give a lot of attention to each of her clients. I knew after that initial zoom chat that the match felt right, but I sat with my decision for a few days to let it marinade. I wanted to make sure I was not being swept away by the flattery of the offer.

In those few days, following the offer I did more research about the agency and even reached out to some of the clients. I saw how supportive all the agents are of one another, and how open they are with their clients through the process of their submissions. When I was able to tell Sheila I was accepting her offer, we celebrated and had another wonderful zoom call! She dove in right away, and my project is going out on submission within the next few weeks!

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. )

In fact—yes, it did! I found 12 x 12 through the New York Conference. I saw a lot of attendees with these cute little pins pinned to their shirts and wondered what it stood for. I researched it as soon as I returned home and was in awe at the plethora of information on the website. I knew I had to work on my writing, and I wanted to find a critique group.

12 x 12 helped me challenge myself to just put words to paper without worrying about how bad the first draft is! I realized the first draft is ALWAYS bad—but it will never get to be the polished version of itself unless you first get to that really, really, really bad first draft. THEN, the Facebook group is just amazing. I pop on at least once a day and read the questions people post and all the responses. It is such a wealth of information!

One day, someone posted that it was the LAST day to get your submission into PBParty. I was like, “Huh, I wonder what that is?” Well, in the last hours of the deadline I managed to put my submission together and give it a shot! I am so glad I did! So, thank you to that person who posted in the group! Perhaps that is why Mindy mentioned this year was by far the largest amount of entries! The 12 x 12ers rallied up!

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

Not really, and honestly I am still new to the writing part of all this. My main obstacle is to get from idea to first draft. Then I usually have a hard time with wrapping up my story after the climax. Luckily, I have a critique group I found through 12 x 12, and then formed another with 4 other PBParty finalists. Both groups have been instrumental in helping me develop my writing. Both groups have a mixture of seasoned pros, author-only picture book writers, and author-illustrators. When both groups give similar feedback to my manuscript, then that is a good sign something isn’t flowing. I revise, revise, revise, and resubmit to my critique groups. I know it is ready for Sheila once the feedback gets more and more nitpicky about word choice or punctuation. When the story has a solid frame work, I show it to Sheila. Then she has her own revision process to help the manuscript sparkle!

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

Just don’t give up! Use every available resource! Take advantage of the virtual webinars, listen to podcasts, and make sure you attend at least one workshop where an agent discusses how to draft a proper query letter. The people who make it to the best sellers list persevered despite the obstacles because they chose to keep going after the failures. There will always be more rejections than yeses when starting out, then when you get better at your craft, those rejections get outweighed by the yeses! And besides, when starting, all you really need is that first YES! But make sure it is a perfect fit for you, too!

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

No, I mostly used Instagram for posting illustrations and hoping it would lead followers to my website, but it is hard to keep up with all the platforms these days. I had more luck with webinars, workshops, and reviews.

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 )

I have a lot of places I want to travel to! I realized I have to use my travel destinations as a source of inspiration for my writing. Then it is a win-win, and I always feel inspired!

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

Submitting my debut project as author-illustrator! I am also continuing to work on my other manuscripts so that I have projects in various stages of the pipeline that can come next. And of course in between all of that I am drawing and painting and hoping to add some new work to my portfolio for middle-grade in hopes to expand my audience and publishing house reach.