Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Hayley Arens

Success Story Interview - Hayley Arens

An Interview with Hayley Arens (haylsgarrett on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Brent Taylor of Triada US Literary Agency.

03/17/2025

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?: Hayley Arens:
E&A is a cozy romantasy (I share the blurb below!) that combines my love for lush, fairytale-like fantasy settings with all of the shenanigans of a 90s rom-com. I was feeling burnt out in the query trenches and wanted to write something just for fun, not to query. The universe decided the joke was on me.
QT: How long have you been writing?: Hayley Arens:
It's always been an interest of mine, even when I was a kid. I first started intentionally writing novels in middle school.
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Hayley Arens:
A little over a year. I wrote the first draft in thirteen days (!!!) in the fall of 2023. I worked on edits in early 2024 before switching gears to a different project entirely. Late in the summer, I decided to revisit it and submit it for the SmoochPit Mentorship Program, where it was ultimately accepted.
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Hayley Arens:
Plenty. I am a big believer in giving yourself grace and kindness so if I needed a break—I'd take a break. I think you have to give yourself the time to refill your creative well when you need to. This is both a subjective and competitive industry, and so much of it ends up out of our control.
QT: Is this your first book?: Hayley Arens:
No. I have a lot of practice books that will never see light beyond my hard drive but that I keep to see how far I've come.
QT: Do you have any formal writing training?: Hayley Arens:
Not any formal training, no. I love learning about the craft, so I attend a lot of workshops and seminars.
QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?: Hayley Arens:
I don't. I try to write for at least an hour every day, but going back to giving myself grace and kindness: I listen when I'm creatively zapped and I just try to make it up on another day.
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Hayley Arens:
Right before I submitted this novel for consideration in SmoochPit, I decided I wanted to make a massive change to the manuscript. I did one major rewrite (about 60% of the book changed). I did one developmental edit on my own, one with my SmoochPit Mentor. And then after each dev edit, I did a round of line editing.
QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?: Hayley Arens:
I did! I hired an agent to read it pretty quickly after drafting (maybe too early, to be honest) and then had two additional beta readers after my first round of edits.
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Hayley Arens:
I outline, but my process is a little chaotic. I like to leave myself room for creativity, so I start with a loose outline and while I'm drafting keep editing and strengthening the overall outline.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Hayley Arens:
I sent out a tiny batch of queries for this novel in mid-January. My mentorship program ended with an agent showcase and a large portion of my interest came from there. My querying journey started over 15 years ago. It's been filled with a lot of rejections, tears, learning, and breaks. I took the longest break from 2017 to 2023, when I started querying again with a different manuscript.
QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?: Hayley Arens:
Most of my queries for this MS came from solicited requests. In total, between cold queries and requests I sent 11. (I know this is a small batch - on previous novels I sent upwards of 50-125)
QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?: Hayley Arens:
I looked for agents who had good support systems—whether that came from their sales history, their mentors, their agency. I also looked into MSWLs to make sure that the vibe seemed to align with the kind of stories that I like to tell.
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Hayley Arens:
I had a list of comps and would adjust based on specific MSWLs, but I didn’t do this every time.
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Hayley Arens:
Find a good support system. Understand that this industry is subjective and that sometimes it is “right desk, right time” that gets you the offer. Keep writing and keep honing your craft.
QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?: Hayley Arens:
Query, minus bio below:

Success Story Interview - Hayley Arens

Query Letter: