Brenda Drake . . . under the influence of coffee: The Writer's Voice ... a success story

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Writer's Voice ... a success story

I'm excited to announce that we have a success story from The Writer’s Voice contest!

ValerieCole has signed with awesome agent, Lauren MacLeod, and you can read the entry that grabbed Lauren’s attention here.

In Valerie’s own words...

First, I have to thank the coaches—Mónica, Krista, Brenda, and Cupid. The Writers Voice was a BIG event. I cannot even imagine how much work this must have been for them, and if it weren’t for their dedication to us, the writers, I wouldn’t be writing this post.

When The Writers Voice was first announced, I thought I would sign up, submit my work, meet some other writers, and get a little feedback. I never in a million years thought I would tweet chicken pictures, find a new friend in my coach, Mónica, or end up signing with an agent!

The week that the judges picked their teams, I joked with Brenda Drake on TheWritersVoice hashtag that I needed to do something to grab Mónica’s attention. Since Mónica owns 11 hens, Brenda advised me to find a picture of a chicken with a bow around its neck, and send it to her. I rummaged through Google Images, found one, and tweeted it to Mónica. Shortly after, she picked me for her team—although she swears that the chicken picture did not influence her decision at all.

Coaching week flew by, Mónica and I went through two rounds of revisions. On Monday morning of the big reveal, I anxiously waited to see if I would get a vote (or request) from one of the eight participating agents. At 9AM, Marcy Kate tweeted, “Hear that silence? It's the sound of 44 writers holding their breath”—and that’s exactly what it felt like! A few minutes later, Lauren MacLeod from The Strothman Agency voted for me, and I couldn’t breathe or focus all day. Seriously, I’m pretty sure my boss wanted to strangle me!

I couldn’t wait to send my manuscript, and I was ready to settle in for a long wait, but then Wednesday, Lauren emailed, “THUMP made my heart skip a beat! I've finished it and I thought it was fantastic and I'd love to speak with you about it.”I went into total shock, and had to try to keep it together at work, but I was bouncing off the walls all day.

When we talked the next day, I was really nervous, but Lauren was so nice! We talked about my project, books, and about how an agent/client relationship works. She made excellent editorial suggestions, and I couldn’t wait to work with her.

Thank you so much, Mónica. You are an amazing coach and writer—I cannot believe this happened and now we share an agent! I owe you a million more chicken pictures!

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Congratulations Valerie! I can't wait to read this story!