Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Hannah Hartley

Success Story Interview - Hannah Hartley

An Interview with Hannah Hartley (HKing on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, LLC.

07/24/2024

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?: Hannah Hartley:
I’ve written an adult contemporary romance/romcom that bends genre quite a bit because I want to write something that gives readers the teenage feelings of an unhinged crush. I knew I wanted to do this when eighteen-year-old me decided to read the classics Pride and Prejudice and Emma (the enemies to lovers/friends to lovers blueprints) and again when twenty-year-old read Twilight for the first time, then yet again when I read The Hating Game—those books had me feral. I just had no idea *how* to do it back then.
QT: How long have you been writing?: Hannah Hartley:
I have been writing since late 2019—about five years. In the early days, it was on and off while I was learning the craft (and still am), so I’d say *seriously* writing for two.
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Hannah Hartley:
I got the initial idea for this book in 2019 and jotted some notes. Then, after a few false starts, began drafting from start to finish between Jan-Oct 2023. I then self-edited for a few months, queried too early (oops), acquired an author mentor (shoutout Amy August Jones), and completed a developmental revision. In total, I’d say 18 months to the version that led to an offer.
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Hannah Hartley:
Funnily enough, there wasn’t. What helped me stay the course was the rabid response from my lovely alpha/beta readers, the support of my writing groups (shoutout ADHD crew/KissPitch mentees), and my unwavering delusion.
QT: Is this your first book?: Hannah Hartley:
This is my second. I wrote my first novel as a practice, and while I still love it, it needs major revisions.
QT: Do you have any formal writing training?: Hannah Hartley:
No, but I come from a science and education background—lots of technical writing in those degrees. I did one online four-week creative writing course, Unlocking Creativity at The Writers’ Studio which was excellent.
QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?: Hannah Hartley:
Not at all, I wish I did. I’ll have periods of writing every day to the detriment of all else, then periods of recovery.
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Hannah Hartley:
This book essentially flowed out close to its final form, but I did four rounds of full edits. I also prefer to draft clean, and did *a lot* of editing as I wrote.
QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?: Hannah Hartley:
I had alpha readers who read a chapter at a time as I was writing and approximately twenty beta readers.
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Hannah Hartley:
A bit of both. I outlined chapters with a sentence or two, then wrote toward satisfying the aim of the chapter. The characters decide how they meet their goals.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Hannah Hartley:
This is the first project I’ve queried. I queried for three months, got a mentor, and pulled everything. Then, queried the revised manuscript for an additional two months before receiving my offer.
QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?: Hannah Hartley:
Two hundred and sixty-nine… To be fair, many were repeats after withdrawing and resubmitting. I queried for a total of about 20 weeks, which averages to 13 queries sent per week, 2 per day.
QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?: Hannah Hartley:
I had a list of agents who I really wanted and thought would love my book and sprinkled them in. Then, queried everyone who accepted my genre as long as I also matched their anti-MSWL.
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Hannah Hartley:
In the first round, yes. I mentioned specific things from their MSWLs or sales records. But once my query was working, the most personalization I did was triple-checking the agent’s name. My offer was on a non-personalised query (but was an agent I really wanted!)
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Hannah Hartley:
I think there’s a lot of luck involved in getting your work into the hands of the right agent at the right time. Believe in your projects and don’t give up!

Success Story Interview - Hannah Hartley

Query Letter: