Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Jessica Merry

Success Story Interview - Jessica Merry

An Interview with Jessica Merry (JessCarice on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Juliet Pickering of Blake Friedmann Literary.

10/08/2025

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?: Jessica Merry:
My story is a contemporary romance set between the south coast of England and Scotland, between a frazzled social worker on the verge of burnout, and a policeman with a mysterious past. It's the first contemporary novel I've written - I'd written three historical romances, all set in the late Victorian era with a focus on women seeking to follow their passions into employment/suffrage. But this story had been bubbling under for ages and it finally had to come out.
QT: How long have you been writing?: Jessica Merry:
Around five years.
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Jessica Merry:
Probably around a year including many, many rounds of edits.
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Jessica Merry:
No - this book wanted to come out and I loved writing it. It was a joy to tell this love story and get immersed in it. In terms of querying, I plodded slowly, and I think that helped me not to get too overwhelmed. I did change my query package and refined it/sharpened it up as I went. I never got to the point of wanting to give up querying, but I did find it hard to concentrate on writing sometimes when I was working on my query materials.
QT: Is this your first book?: Jessica Merry:
No - it's my fourth completed novel.
QT: Do you have any formal writing training?: Jessica Merry:
No.
QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?: Jessica Merry:
I write almost every day - evenings and weekends. Just as and when I am free, but usually it's a couple of hours a day.
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Jessica Merry:
Honestly, I couldn't estimate - I did lots and lots of rounds of edits.
QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?: Jessica Merry:
No. After I'd queried my now agent, I did receive feedback from a reader through a 'New Writer's Scheme' so I'd made a small number of changes based on that by the time the full MS was requested - but the changes were nothing major.
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Jessica Merry:
The story had been floating around in my head for ages before I outlined but after I'd got the story properly plotted out on paper, I'd say it was a good mix of keeping to the overarching outline with discovery writing along the way.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Jessica Merry:
I queried in fits and starts, over around six months I think.
QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?: Jessica Merry:
Obviously I wanted agents who were active in the contemporary romance genre. As well as QT, I looked at published books to find agents mentioned in acknowledgements, and I read some interviews with romance authors, one or two of which mentioned their agents. So that was quite a good way of finding agents who were actively working with current authors. I found my agent this way, and once I'd looked her up she went straight to the top of my wishlist. I love that she's a feminist and has an interest in working with working class writers, as well as working with some amazing authors that I'm frankly intimidated to be at the same agency with!
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Jessica Merry:
Not really - I wanted to keep the query as brief as possible and cut to the chase. It's so time consuming to query anyway, that if I personalised every one I would have had even less time for writing.
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Jessica Merry:
Just do not give up! It's a long process with lots of waiting, but lots of waiting does not mean you're not going to get there. Ignore anyone who queries for two weeks and gets 187 full requests - we've all seen those posts on X or wherever but that is not the norm and it's perfectly possible agents may have your query or full for many weeks or months, it doesn't mean they don't like it!
QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?: Jessica Merry:
First I just wanted to say that over time my query letter really improved from what's below - but this is what I sent the agent I signed with, so it's really true that it IS the writing that the agent is looking at more than swanky queries, although the more concise and catchy the query the better, I'm sure.

Success Story Interview - Jessica Merry

Query Letter: