Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Aimee Davis

Success Story Interview - Aimee Davis

An Interview with Aimee Davis (aimeedavis on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Keir Alekseii of Jennifer Azantian Literary Agency.

06/27/2023

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?: Aimee Davis:
ALL HER WISHES is an adult fairytale retelling told from two POVs: Isabelle, a fairy godmother who hates her job, and Adrien, Isabelle's villainous ex who hates Iz's boss. I'm not actually sure what inspired me to write it other than I was in a career I felt super stuck in, and the job of my dreams (being an author) seemed really far away. Which got me to thinking I wished I had a fairy godmother to magic me a happily ever after, which then got me to thinking how fairy godmothers don't give people dream careers, which turned into wouldn't it be weird if a fairy godmother hated that about her job? Or just... hated her job in general? It sort of spiraled from there.
QT: How long have you been writing?: Aimee Davis:
Approximately forever. I think I wrote my first short story when I was about four or five. I completed my first novel when I was 13 and sent my very sad first query when I was 14 (sorry, Tor).
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Aimee Davis:
May 19, 2020 according to my file information, so going on three years.
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Aimee Davis:
Not just felt like, actually have done, several times. And honestly, I don't think there is a course to be stayed upon. I am a huge advocate of if you need to quit, you should quit. Pursuing publishing can do a ton of harm to your mental health, and there's no story more important than the one you're living right now. There's no guarantee in publishing. No magic formula. There's no advice I could give to answer this question that hasn't either (a) been given better by smarter people; or (b) will be some magic formula to success. The first one I will leave to people who have better query statistics than I do and the second one doesn't exist. It's luck and many other things we have no control over. I will say, however, that giving up and giving myself the grace to go on and live a life outside publishing was immensely cathartic (difficult at times as well, yes). But knowing there's a life outside and that I'll be just fine makes all the rejection that comes with publishing much easier to tolerate. I don't NEED a book deal to continue living my own most important story. And neither does anyone else.
QT: Is this your first book?: Aimee Davis:
Nope. I don't actually know what number book this is. I keep trying to count and losing track. I think maybe 16. It's the third book I have seriously queried (not counting that one when I was 14).
QT: Do you have any formal writing training?: Aimee Davis:
Yes. I have a degree in English and creative writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?: Aimee Davis:
Oh no way. I work in software, there is no world in which a routine can exist for me.
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Aimee Davis:
Uhhhhh... the draft I queried was draft 11. Not all were major rewrites, though. There was: (1) one rewrite from YA to adult; (2) adding a new point of view; (3) one big edit prior to Pitch Wars; (4) cutting 19,000 words during my first round of edits during Pitch Wars to tighten pacing and really focus in on motivation/goals/conflicts of the characters; (5) adding back IN 16,000 new words to amp up the emotional content of the book for my next big Pitch Wars edit; and (6) rewrote the ending three times.
QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?: Aimee Davis:
Yep, quite a few.
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Aimee Davis:
Absolute pantser. I do not know how to plot, please do not ask me to try. I am now a huge advocate for the REVERSE outline thanks to my Pitch Wars mentor, however.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Aimee Davis:
I queried this book very intensely from February 2022 - April 2022 then set it aside for a bit while I went back to querying a rewritten YA. I tried another round of queries of this in August 2022 which is ultimately the round I got my agent with.

I have been actively querying one book or another since 2017.
QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?: Aimee Davis:
84
QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?: Aimee Davis:
1. Do they represent my genre?
2. Do they have a manuscript wishlist that looks like it could potentially be a fit for my book?
3. Do they have an anti-manuscript wishlist that includes things my book has?
4. What are their sales like? (Not only how much they're selling but who to - is this in alignment with my goals of where I see my book on the shelf)
5. If they're new, what are the agency's sales like? And who is their mentor?
6. Is there anything about them or their agency that is known in whisper networks that might make them a bad fit for me?
7. Will they represent me with integrity?
8. Bonus: Might they represent some of those other books I have on the backburner?
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Aimee Davis:
Not every one, some I did, especially in the beginning. But I found really quickly that personalization wasn't doing much of anything to improve my query stats and trying to farm information from endless Twitter scrolling for that perfect little soundbite for a query was taking way too much time and was stressing me out. There was not very good return on investment for that labor, in my experience, and I absolutely hated doing that kind of "research."
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Aimee Davis:
Find your community. It's hard, I know. I spent so many years querying mostly alone, feeling totally disconnected from this "great thing" everyone called the writing community. If it was "so small" why couldn't I find my way into it? Writing itself is already pretty lonely, and querying and the rejection that comes with it makes it lonelier still. I don't want to generalize but most people feel this way I think? They're scared, too. And nervous and awkward and weird about just crashing into DMs or throwing comments onto Twitter or whatever. It's harder now than it has ever been, too, for a variety of reasons. That makes it even more crucial, which sucks. To the best of your ability, put yourself out there to find some people. Make a little Discord, doesn't have to be huge. I have a group of 6 writers I met during the last Pitch Wars waiting period who are some of my closest friends. It took me more than four years to find out I was the reason I wasn't being invited in. As it was, I had to knock. Repeatedly. With a hammer. But do try to find some people and when you do, hold on tight.
QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?: Aimee Davis:
I am happy to do so, but I had really terrible query stats, so I am not sure I am the shining example of a great query letter. It is below:

Success Story Interview - Aimee Davis

Query Letter: