Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Brimming With Success Stories!

Here's this week's success story, in the author's words:

In 2005, I got this idea for a novel for kids (“middle grade” was not a term I’d ever heard of at that point) about a girl who secretly becomes a restaurant critic for The New York Times. Over the next three years, I worked full time, produced two of my plays, got married…and managed to draft about 60% of the book.


In 2009, my husband and I quit our jobs, sold all of our stuff, and embarked on our dream trip: a two-year, round-the-world honeymoon. I packed the novel-so-far in my backpack and vowed that I would come home with a finished book. I wrote by hand whenever I had a chance, and during the week when my husband climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, I parked myself in a coffee shop in Moshi, Tanzania, and wrote until I reached The End. (Hooray! Then I put it back in my backpack for another eight months until the trip was over.)


Upon our return to the states in summer 2011, I typed it up, got feedback, revised, and started querying. My first round of queries was form-rejected across the board, and I started to suspect that the beginning of the book wasn’t working.


That’s when I discovered Miss Snark’s First Victim. Reading back over months of Secret Agent contests, I came to understand what drew agents in—and what drew me in as a reader. I did a major revision and polished the heck out of the book’s new opening, finishing just in time to enter the October Secret Agent contest.


A few days after the contest, I got an e-mail from Authoress saying that Ammi-Joan Paquette had “read my entry with interest” and requested that I query her with five pages. This was exciting, since Joan is usually closed to queries. I sent the query off at midnight on October 30 and woke up the next day to my first ever full request. Happy Halloween to me!


I started querying again, and in November got into the Baker’s Dozen auction (yay!). I didn’t sleep well the night before the auction (did anyone?), and an hour before it started, forced myself to go back to bed to pass the time. I ended up sleeping right through my auction (oops!), waking up this time to evidence that a fierce battle had taken place.


I had an offer of representation a week later, and four more by the first week of January. And I’m thrilled to announce that the contract is signed and Ammi-Joan Paquette of EMLA is now my agent!


I never would have connected with Joan without this blog. And the beginning of my book would never have gotten into the shape it did without this blog. Thank you, Authoress, for creating this resource that both makes us better writers and gets our work in front of the people who can help us take the next step in our careers.


~Tara Dairman, who blogs HERE.

Here's Tara's Baker's Dozen Entry!

20 comments:

  1. Oh, I've seen this sample in other contests, too! I remember everyone simply gushing over it. Congratulations, Tara - you certainly deserve the success!

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  2. Congratulations Tara! I too was VERY impressed when I read your sample.

    -Holly

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  3. CONGRATS Tara!!! What a wonderful story (and experience). I could tell from the comments during the auction that this would get snapped up. Well done!!!!

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  4. Congrats! That's a great story, Tara. Good luck!

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  5. Awesome! I loved Tara's Baker's Dozen entry. Congrats!

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  6. Yay!! Gladys Gatsby Takes the Cake was one of my very favorite Bakers' Dozen entries. I just knew it would be snapped up (5 offers of representation!), and I know it's going to be a great success when it hits the bookshelves. Congratulations, Tara!!!

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  7. That's an amazing story! Congratulations! Now, tell me more about this two-year round the world honeymoon? How did you guys do it???

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  8. woo hoo! first, how exciting you both quit your jobs to travel! second, congrats on your writing success! christy

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  9. Tara, Congrats! I loved it too. Look forward to reading the whole book.

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  10. I remember this entry! It sounds like such a fun book. Congratulations Tara!

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  11. Needed this story as I near the home stretch for resubmission to waiting agents! Ammi-Joan is awesome, you are lucky to have her. Congrats!

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  12. I absolutely loved Tara's entry in the Baker's Dozen and am thrilled she found such a great agent.

    Yay Tara!

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  13. Love Tara's entry, love Tara's attitude. We became friendly during the auction, and one day when I needed an extra pair of eyes for my synopsis, she was there. Good things come to good people! Hugs and congrats!

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  14. Super congrats. I, too, loved this entry in the recent BD! Wow--five offers.

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  15. Congratulations, Tara! It was so cool to read about your journey and success! I also loved your BD's entry!

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  16. I never get tired of reading success stories (those are some of the best kinds of stories).

    Congrats bigtime on your new agent, Tara, and all the wonderful stuff that happened before you got her. It led you to where you are now, embarking into even MORE wonderful stuff!

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  17. Thanks for all the love, guys! It's awesome being part of this community, seeing some of the great stuff people out there are working on, and making new friends. =)

    @Tina Moss (and anyone else who's interested), if you want to know more about our travels, my husband and I kept a pretty detailed blog at AndyandTara.com. For info about the logistical aspects, go back to the earliest posts and/or find the "finances" tag, as we did regular posts about costs in different places in the world.

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  18. Oooh! Congratulations. I really loved reading your entry. It had tension, timing and good description. And, it made me laugh! And that is a sign of a great book!

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