Success Story Interview - Becky Taylor

An Interview with Becky Taylor (Patience on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Emma Patterson of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc..

11/11/2010

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?

Becky Taylor:
What a perfect opportunity to use the bar pitch I came up with at one of those “How to Land an Agent!” writers' conference sessions. Okay here it is: It's about a sixteen year-old girl exploring her family's gothic English manor. She's looking for clues to her mother's disappearance and trying to elude the man she thinks is responsible—her mother's childhood love.

As a side note—I have never actually used this sentence for anything (other than this interview, of course.)

QT: How long have you been writing?

Becky Taylor:
My first story was of the oral tradition when I was 3. It was about a princess who, “just had too many shoes and just didn't know what to do!” My mother published it for me on our eight-track recorder. She still has it in the garage—somewhere. But writing for publication? I started my first novel (fiction aimed at the adult market) in 2002 when I was pregnant with my daughter. I queried over seventy agents with various responses but never THE ONE response I needed. I ended up self-publishing that book, A Better Life, under my maiden name, Rebecca Burgess, in 2008.

QT: How long have you been working on this book?

Becky Taylor:
Since December of 2009

QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?

Becky Taylor:
I have “given up” many, many times. I eventually get over feeling sorry for myself and go sit back down in front of my computer.

QT: Is this your first book?

Becky Taylor:
No (see above.)

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Becky Taylor:
No. I have read many, many books, blogs and websites about writing. Any “training” I've had would predominately come from being a lifelong book reader. I got hooked on books in second grade and I haven't been able to stop. I guess some of the writing stuff just sank in.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Becky Taylor:
When I'm on a roll, I get up around four and write until my kids wake up or until it's time for me to go wake them up to get them ready for school and me ready for work. Word count can vary but when I'm working on the first draft I shoot for at least one thousand words per days. I will write on my lunch break and after the kids go to bed—so sometimes the writing is broken up throughout the day. With my schedule, I don't have the luxury of waiting for “The moment” to strike. I write when I can as often as I can but never when it means sacrificing the order of my priorities—kids first.

QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?

Becky Taylor:
That's hard to say. A lot of the re-writes happened while I was actually writing. Oh, and with this book I had started out with about fifty pages that I wasn't crazy about. I ended up scrapping those and starting over. I'm actually still editing and revising now—with Emma's help.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Becky Taylor:
Yes, my mom and my husband were the two people who read the whole thing before I started querying agents. I also belong to a writers group and we (sometimes) meet every two weeks. The thing about a writer's group is that it can be a slow process, especially if you write faster than the group meets. So they had gotten through about sixty pages of it before Emma offered representation. It's helpful if you have a few “friends” who are willing to read it start to finish.

QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?

Becky Taylor:
I do both. The feeling around for the characters tends to be more from the hip. But once I start to get where we are heading, I plan out chapters, story arc and conflicts. Characters will take on lives of their own, but certain things must also happen. I have this posted on my monitor “Keep Moving Forward!” So either the story or the characters must be developing at all times. No random sidetracks. Oh, I also like “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swi…” I steal a lot of motivational blurbs from Disney movies. Very positive folks they have working there.

QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?

Becky Taylor:
I started querying in October for this book, Emma Patterson with Wendy Weil offered in November. With my first book I sent out queries for over a year before deciding to self-publish.

QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?

Becky Taylor:
I sent out 21 queries.

QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?

Becky Taylor:
I queried agencies and agents who had represented books I liked along with agents who stated they were actively looking to build their YA list.

QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?

Becky Taylor:
Not unless I had read something they had represented and/or met the agent before. Aside from that, I sent the same query to every agent.

QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?

Becky Taylor:
Keep trying. Educate yourself as much as possible by reading industry books, blogs and websites. Be honest with yourself about the quality of your current work. Do you enjoy reading your own book? Are there parts you skip over because the writing is boring? Are there things happening in your book that just don't make any sense? If you don't like reading it, no one else will either. You can't just send it out hoping someone (i.e., an agent) will help you fix all this. Yes, it does need to be near perfect before you start sending it out, there are just too many of us out there competing for space.