Hard work and a little struggle pays off in the end. Don't believe me, ask Teresa Richards, our latest QK success!
Hi everyone! I'm thrilled to announce that I've signed with agent
Mallory Brown from TriadaUS, as a result of a request made during Query
Kombat this year. My entry was for a manuscript called Windfall,
nicknamed My Boyfriend Rigged the Lottery, and made it to Round 4 of the
competition. I received eight requests during the agent round.
One of the requesting agents was Uwe Stender, founder of Triada. After I
got knocked out of the competition, I sent the requested material to
him, along with the other agents. Then I waited.
I worked on another writing project. I enjoyed the summer. I went on
vacation with my family. I sent out more queries. I got my kids started
back at school.
By mid-August, I'd heard back from a couple of the other requesting
agents with either rejections or requests for more material, but hadn't
heard back from Uwe. Since Triada is well-known for its quick response
times (their query guidelines state that if you haven't heard back in
two weeks, then they didn't receive your query), I decided to follow up
to make sure he'd received the material I'd sent him. He responded right
away that it must have slipped through the cracks and that he'd take a
look soon. I am *so* glad I followed up!
Two weeks later, he emailed and said that he'd passed it along to one of
his agent assistants, Mallory Brown, who wanted to see the whole thing.
Five days after that, Mallory emailed me with an offer of
representation! She listed all the things she loved about Windfall and
all the ways she'd connected to the story! After talking with her on the
phone and hearing her enthusiasm, I was convinced she was the right
agent for me and the perfect person to pitch my book to editors.
And now it's official. I've joined #TeamTriada and am now rep'd by Mallory Brown!
*Commence freaking-awesome mildly embarrassing happy-dancing*
Of course, news this big requires a celebration. Since I did things a
little backward and already have a book out with Evernight Teen, I'm
going to celebrate with a giveaway! Up for grabs is an Emerald Bound
prize pack, including a signed copy of the book, a metal Shepherd's-hook
bookmark with emerald charm, and a custom-made Emerald Bound key chain.
The giveaway will be live on my blog, http://teresarichardswrites.blogspot.com/ until
October 4. Emerald Bound is a YA fantasy, so it's a different genre
than Windfall. It's a dark retelling of The Princess and the Pea, in
which the pea is an enchanted, life-sucking emerald.
For those who are interested, here are my query stats for Windfall:
Queries sent out: 79
Partial requests: 10
Full requests: 4
Rejections: 46
No response: 33
No response: 33
The bulk of those 79 queries were sent out before Query Kombat. I had a
much higher request rate on the queries I sent after incorporating
feedback from the competition. If you ever have the chance to enter
Query Kombat, or even just stalk the entries and read through the
feedback they're getting, DO IT!
Thanks again to Michelle, Laura and Michael for running this awesome
competition and for the gobs and gobs of amazing judges and writers who
took the time to read my entry and provide feedback. This success
belongs to all of you and I am profoundly grateful!
And now, if you'll excuse me, I must go finish my happy dance.
_________________________________________________________________
Teresa
Richards writes YA, but loves anything that can be given a unique
twist. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has a degree in
Speech-Language Pathology with a minor in piano performance. When
Teresa’s not writing, she can be found either chasing after one of her
five kids, or hiding someplace in the house with a treat her children
overlooked. Her debut, Emerald Bound, was released in 2015 by Evernight
Teen.
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