Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Elaine R. Frieman

Success Story Interview - Elaine R. Frieman

An Interview with Elaine R. Frieman (elainefriemanherbert on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Lissa Woodson of The Macro Group.

02/04/2026

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?: Elaine R. Frieman:
My novel is called THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT CLUB. It was inspired by YouTuber and author Allison Raskin (whom I don't know in person, by the way) and my own divorce. I'm an elder millennial and have followed certain YouTubers for a while such as Just Between You (Allison Raskin and Gabe Dunn whom I'd followed since their Buzzfeed days), Fleur de Force, and Mr Kate, among others. I remember Allison being absolutely delighted to get engaged. She'd been one of those people who openly longed for marriage, and in 2020, her engagement ended and I felt absolutely crushed for her. My first marriage ended in 2016 and it was a shock but soon after I met my "forever husband" and I hoped so much that Allison's story would have a happy ending (and it did). All this makes me sound a bit weird. Anyway, flash forward to 2023, I'm trying finally to become an author, a longstanding dream, so somehow I had the idea for a "broken engagement club." What if after their engagements ended, a group of people got together to support each other? The idea went from there. I wrote a character who is very different from me. She longs to be a wife and mother and her engagement ends and she doesn't think she will get that. Of course, the eclectic group of characters help her through her heartbreak and she also meets a hunky Swedish romantasy author to help her – plus she decides to do the whole parenting thing solo (and go for IVF), which isn't as often written about.

Originally, my novel had three perspectives (I hope the writing isn't wasted and will become sequels) but I worked with developmental editor Kristen Weber, who is a former editor at Hachette and Penguin, who specialises in rom coms and mysteries and she advised I focus on one narrative. I set my novel in West Yorkshire. I'm British-American and hope to set future novels in the north of England and in the American South, where I grew up and went to uni and graduate school (I have an MA in Literature).

In summer 2023, I attended an Arvon course, right after I'd finished my first attempt at a novel (probably forever to stay in the figurative desk drawer). I met the most lovely group of writers, and the course tutors, Andrew Michael Hurley and Katherine Clemments, were so inspiring. All of the group was so far ahead of me in their journey, but with zero publishing connections or even writer friends at the time, I was determined to learn all I could about the business.

By January 2024, I'd won a Mslexia Pitch Competition for their March issue with feedback from literary agent Catherine Cho. That feedback was invaluable, but one of the stipulations of the competition was that the novel had to be ready to publish. I only had a few thousand words. In my semi-delusional state, I thought Cho would read my pitch and want to reach out to me to read the full MS and offer me representation, and I'd have nothing to show for it, so I wrote the novel in every spare hour I had within six or seven weeks. At that time, my Father was unexpectedly taken ill and dying, too, and I was absolutely devastated and unable to write for a while (understandably – and some of the themes of grief and loss have certainly made it into my novel). In March, I started working with my developmental editor, and I re-wrote the novel about two and a half times before it was ready to query. I also paid a copy editor (despite being one for my day job) and had my beta readers pick up on any errors, too.
QT: How long have you been writing?: Elaine R. Frieman:
I've been writing since I was young, winning the odd school competitions, writing my thoughts in emails to myself (in lieu of a diary, which I sometimes kept). But besides the odd creative writing class in high school and university, I didn't write religiously through my 20s like many. I started a Substack (called Why We Met) in 2023 (age 36), which was really my year I started to try and make my author dreams a reality (I'm now 38 and will be 39 in June). So many "author" stories act like you need to give up your day job and write for seven hours per day, but that's not been my reality. I need my day job (and expect I will for some time) so writing has to fit in the margins. When in the flow of a project, I work on it for half an hour to two hours per day in snatched time, sometimes longer on weekends, but I also have to have a life and see people and spend time with my cat and husband, etc. It helps I don't have children and that I have a good job, both of which are an immense privilege when it comes to tackling writing novels. I can write and edit quickly, too.
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Elaine R. Frieman:
I'd say over a year on and off from writing to editing to querying to representation. And there will be a little more work before we submit to publishers in March. Of course, many writers take years to finish books and I'm sure they are all the better for it. Everyone has their own timeline!
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Elaine R. Frieman:
When in the query trenches for five months and getting hundreds of rejections, I wondered if I would find my one champion, but I knew I had another novel in the wings to query if I needed (as I wrote three in total in the last two-year period). I follow many agent and author Substacks, and many people say it took their third novel and ten years (as an example) to make it, so I "knew" it would happen if I persevered. I hoped it would happen with THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT CLUB, but I was willing to keep going with the next project if need be.
QT: Is this your first book?: Elaine R. Frieman:
It's my second try at a novel and one of three total. The first one was good practise and keeping the promise to myself to finish a project of this length. Despite reading 50-100+ novels per year, it's difficult to know how to do this, how to write a novel, how to do it as well as others. But it's also good to remember that what you see on shelves has been rewritten (possibly) and edited several times, so one cannot compare a first draft to a finished, professional product. I felt it was important to keep reading craft books, keep studying books I enjoyed, and keep going – and working with a professional developmental editor certainly helped; although, I fully appreciate not everyone has the budget for this type of service.
QT: Do you have any formal writing training?: Elaine R. Frieman:
I have a master's degree in English/Literature and have taken some creative writing courses, but besides reading craft books and being an avid reader across many genres, I do not have any formal training.
QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?: Elaine R. Frieman:
Querying threw my entire schedule off! It has been such a stressful process with researching agents, crafting query letters (I went through eight iterations of my letter), and personalising only for some agents to reject quickly and others to ghost completely. In general, thinking to when I wrote the two novels in 2024, my schedule was getting up early with my cup of tea and my MacBook in bed and writing from anywhere from half an hour to an hour before work. I'd sometimes write in my lunch break or after work if I was inspired, but I tried to show up to the page for at least half an hour per day. Little and often gets it done. And my former therapist always said, "Done is better than perfect," which I find a perfectly inspiring quote. So many of us dream of being novelists and never actually do the work. But there will never be a perfect time. Be a planner or a panster but just start writing even if you only have ten minutes per day (better than no minutes per day).
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Elaine R. Frieman:
I re-wrote my book at least a couple of times. My developmental editor told me my original MS was very entertaining but it was missing a plot and was more like "loosely connected short stories." Thankfully, I took that as constructive and wasn't too devastated. I'd plotted it out and everything. I also told the story from three character perspectives and was advised to focus on one character so there was enough time to develop the story, which necessitated cutting almost 40,000 words from the manuscript. By the time I'd given full attention to the story, the MS had ballooned to 115,000 words, and I cut it back to 97,000.

I did three rounds of edits with various additions and cuts.

I had agent feedback from Jenny Bent (Richard Osman's agent) and Jane Dystel (Colleen Hoover's agent), the only other agents to request my full manuscript, and I added chapters and edited the manuscript after that feedback as well. After Jenny's feedback, the MS crawled back up to 99,000 words.

And since securing my agent, I'm doing another quick edit before we send the MS to editors at publishing houses. I had to cut parts of some chapters and rewrite bits of others and we are left with a 99,000-word book

Books can always be edited more and stories perfected more, but there's also a good time to know when it's enough.

I know that even after all of the work I've already done over the many months, if I get a book deal in the US and the UK, each of those editors may have different visions for the book and there many be further edits and revisions to consider.
QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?: Elaine R. Frieman:
I did have beta readers, and any and all feedback from readers is invaluable.
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Elaine R. Frieman:
I am an outliner/planner, but I had to rewrite my plan at least once when I rewrote the book and sometimes my characters and story went in their own direction. Sometimes I'd start waking up in the morning and my characters were playing out a scene in my head, and I knew I had to get it onto the page.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Elaine R. Frieman:
I queried this novel for five months. This has been the only novel I queried.
QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?: Elaine R. Frieman:
Some agents I queried aren't on QueryTracker and I also kept my own detailed spreadsheet of the process and the batches of queries, and the letter I sent (as I went through eight iterations of my letter). I queried at least 190 agents, which is way more than many authors query (eek!) but I only got three full requests in that time. I had some personalised rejections, though, as well. It all made me feel a bit despondent that it would never happen. I knew that I just needed one champion for my work, though.
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Elaine R. Frieman:
During the early batches of querying, I very much tailored to each agent and made the query very specific but as I went along, I mostly just kept it generic and said something along the lines of "because your manuscript wishlist includes rom coms." I think the response to personalisation will vary from agent to agent. Some agents want to know that you specifically want them and why and others will not pass up on a good story that piques their interest simply because you didn't personalise the letter. I suppose if someone is put off by not having personalisation, that agent may not be for you!
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Elaine R. Frieman:
Keep going and don't give up. But also make sure your query package is strong, that your manuscript is well edited, that your story has a hook or unique angle. There is so much advice out there – many valuable Substack newsletters on what agents look for. It only takes one agent to love your work so keep going. If you get an offer, you can also reach out to other agents and let them know and give them a deadline to read your MS and you may get multiple offers to choose from. I did not go this route as I felt I wanted to invest in the agent who already invested in me, but that's also an option. I did not find that nudging with MS requests made agents take notice, however. QueryTracker does make the whole process much easier to manage, so thank you!
QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?: Elaine R. Frieman:
My agent was mostly attracted to the title of my book. I think many agents were intrigued by the concept. Of course, the agents who didn't sign me perhaps didn't think I delivered on the promise, but my agent has been a wonderful champion so far and I'm excited to see what happens when the novel is sent to publishing houses.

Keep in mind this is the eighth version of my query letter - if your letter isn't getting replies, re-write it, tighten it, figure out what isn't working, and keep going. By this point, I wasn't personalising the letters, either.

I have other versions of my letter that focus on the larger cast as well, which I absolutely love, but this one focused on my main character. I've seen various bits of advice, and it's so difficult to boil down an entire novel into a two-paragraph pitch.

"In the midst of grief, Kathryn’s elderly neighbour hands her a poster for something called The Broken Engagement Club and encourages her to go. There, she meets Celeste, a Tarot reader, yoga teacher, healer, and commune dweller who lost her partner of twenty years when he reconnected with his recently divorced high school sweetheart; Arabella, a British-Lebanese influencer, jilted at the altar, is developing feelings for Ben, charming and helpful, always with a bird-embroidered hankie to mop shed tears, but he’s hiding a secret which they all hope to discover; next, is the plucky property law solicitor Jane who has lost another fiancé to her workaholic tendencies, and, finally, sweet Cerys, whose savings have vanished because of her gambling out-of-work plasterer ex-fiancé. Though vastly different, their shared experience bonds them."

Here's my letter:

Success Story Interview - Elaine R. Frieman

Query Letter: