Success Story Interview - Helen Z. Dong

An Interview with Helen Z. Dong (helenyxd on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Carey Blankenship-Kramer of Belcastro Agency.

11/11/2024

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

Helen Z. Dong:
Sure! I got my offer of representation for a YA horror (with crossover potential) about a girl who cheats in order to stay ahead at a prestigious music school, but when her secret causes hallucinations to cloud her mind, she has to decide whether the promise of success is worth her sanity. Music was a big part of my life growing up, and so was academic competition, so there's a lot of me that went into my main character and the horrors that she experienced. Writing this was like a fever dream.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Helen Z. Dong:
For as long as I can remember! When I was five and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said I wanted to be an author.

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

Helen Z. Dong:
Not very long, honestly. I had some idea that I wanted to write a dark academia centered around the arts since the beginning of this year, 2024, but I only started drafting it in June and it's currently November.

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

Helen Z. Dong:
Yes, absolutely. The first book I queried died a slow and painful death and I wrote this book to help me cope in the aftermath. My writing friends supported me through a lot of my grief and anxiety. That, and I guess I always knew that I couldn't really give up. Writing is everything to me and being a published author has been my dream for so long that I could never have truly given up, despite how often I thought about it.

QT: Is this your first book?

Helen Z. Dong:
Nope! I had another original book before this one and several fanfictions before that (which have been lost to time).

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Helen Z. Dong:
I took a two week speculative fiction course with Brown University's pre-college program when I was 16. And, recently, a game writing masterclass that was more so about the gaming industry than about craft. That's about it.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Helen Z. Dong:
When I'm in the thick of drafting or revising, yes. I find that if I don't set a deadline for myself, things will never get done, so it's really for my own benefit. Outside of my drafting and revision times, I don't really stress about whether or not I'm writing consistently.

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

Helen Z. Dong:
Once.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Helen Z. Dong:
I had friends who read the book as I drafted it (my alpha readers, I like to say). After that, I had one beta who read the entire book and two who read only the first act.

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

Helen Z. Dong:
I made a one page synopsis for my book before I started. That was kind of my outline? I stuck to the bones in that synopsis while I drafted, using it to guide me when I felt stuck, but most of the details I came up with as I went.

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

Helen Z. Dong:
I only queried this book for about a week, but in total I queried for a year (my QueryTracker Premium subscription expired the day after my offer call).

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

Helen Z. Dong:
25.

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

Helen Z. Dong:
If they represented my age category and genre and I knew that I would seriously consider an offer from them, they were on my list.

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

Helen Z. Dong:
I did for the first book I queried, but for this second book I didn't tailor any queries. And for when I did tailor queries, it would always just be a brief sentence about something specific (always something specific!) that I noticed on their MSWLs.

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

Helen Z. Dong:
Find a good community of writers who can support you through the emotional highs and lows of this journey. Cheer each other on. And remember to run your own race! It's so easy to get caught up in how quickly other people hit their publishing milestones, but so much of this industry is about timing and luck, and how fast you reach those milestones is not an indicator of how good or bad you are at your craft. We write because we love to write, but publishing is a business. Nothing good comes out of comparing your journey to others.