Success Story Interview - Demi Michelle Schwartz

An Interview with Demi Michelle Schwartz (demimschwartz on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Ciara Smith of Spencerhill Associates.

11/20/2025

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
The book Ciara offered on is a young adult fantasy called A FLURRY OF SNOW AND GEMSTONES. This story features an original gemstone magic system and folklore, found family, forbidden romance, political intrigue, and a girl on a journey to discover her bejeweled destiny. I have always wanted to write a fantasy with a unique magic system, and since I love jewels and folklore, I decided to make one based on gemstones and precious metals. I love winter imagery, so I set the story on a fictional island near Antarctica. The book has thriller undertones, too, because I also write young adult thrillers.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
I have loved writing since I was young, but I began taking writing seriously when I decided to get an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. I started my program in 2019 and graduated in 2022.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
I wrote the original draft of A FLURRY OF SNOW AND GEMSTONES toward the end of 2023.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
I wouldn’t say that I ever felt like giving up, since I’m not one to walk away from a dream. However, the lowest point on my publishing journey so far was when I made the choice to seek new representation. It was emotionally and mentally difficult to go from being on submission and feeling like a publishing deal was just out of reach to starting all over in the query trenches. Aside from not losing hope in my stories and finding joy in plotting a new book, my friends in the industry are the reason why I was able to pull myself together and keep going. I’m so incredibly grateful for every single person who has supported me this year because I couldn’t have done this alone.

QT: Is this your first book?

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
No, this is my fourth.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
Yes, I have both an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction and BA in Creative Writing from Seton Hill University.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
Only when I’m drafting or revising a project. While drafting, I try my best to write every day, usually a whole chapter, or if the chapter is longer or more complex, a complete scene. I’m a very fast reviser, so I typically revise several chapters in a day and finish edits in a week or so. For me, sticking to a schedule while drafting and revising is important because this allows me to get into the flow and ensures I finish what I started to do. This being said, I don’t write every day in general, especially when I’m getting ready to draft a new book. I’m a huge plotter, so I usually take a few months, sometimes up to a year, to outline, research, and prepare. I love writing short stories for anthologies, though, so I work on smaller projects during my plotting phases to consistently work on new manuscripts and keep growing as an author.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
This question made me laugh because I honestly have no clue, since I do multiple rounds of developmental and line edits each time I tackle a revision. According to my folder for A FLURRY OF SNOW AND GEMSTONES, I did four major revisions, but each of those had several passes.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
Yes. Shoutout to all the fabulous authors who helped me make my story sparkle.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
Like I said above, I’m a huge plotter, maybe even too much of a plotter. So, yes, I outlined the book, and trust me, you don’t want to know how many words my prep document is.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
This was my second time in the trenches, since I was previously represented. The first time I queried was from July 2022 to October 2023, and I queried three different manuscripts. This time, I queried A FLURRY OF SNOW AND GEMSTONES from April 9 to October 27. I got the email for the call on October 28 and my offer of representation on November 4.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
I queried two different versions of my manuscript, since I did a major revision about halfway through querying. From April 9 to July 4, I sent 88 queries. At the beginning of July, I got incredible personalized feedback from an agent on my partial. I decided to pull all my outstanding queries, partials, and fulls to revise, and I let the agents know I would resend my materials in a few weeks. From July 21 to October 27, I sent 53 queries, but some of these were resubmissions with my updated materials.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
I started by building a list of agents who represented my genre and age category, then did further research for things that were important to me. First, I made sure the agents I queried had sold books in my genre, or if they were early in their careers, I checked to ensure other agents at the agency had made deals for books similar to mine. Along with this, I did basic searches to double check that the agencies were reputable and didn’t have any red flags. Being able to trust my agent fully is a top priority, so I also did what I could to get a sense of what the agents were like in general, both from following them on social media and being aware of agented authors’ experiences.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
I tried my absolute best to personalize every query letter. The ones I was able to personalize the most were agents I had interacted with in the past, some who invited me to query them when they saw I was seeking new representation, and others I met at conferences. For the rest, I noted specific elements and tropes on their manuscript wishlists that matched my book, highlighted shared interests, and added other details to show why I chose to query them, like citing something they said in an interview that resonated with me, a post I saw on social media, or something else along those lines.

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

Demi Michelle Schwartz:
My biggest piece of advice is to make sure that you truly believe in your heart that the agent you’re signing with is the perfect fit for you. Know what you’re looking for in an agent before you start querying, and especially before the call. If you receive an offer, and the vibes are off, or if you just feel like you haven’t found your perfect match, it is absolutely okay to not accept the offer and keep querying. Trust me, I know how rough querying is, and I understand that you want to get out of the trenches as soon as possible, but sometimes, a door needs to close for the right one to open. There will always be new opportunities, new books to write, and new agents to query. Every author pursuing traditional publishing deserves to find their dream agent, and whether that happens in seven months or seven years, the wait will feel eternal, but it will be worth it, I promise.