Success Story Interview - Karis Rogerson

An Interview with Karis Rogerson (Karis_93 on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Eric Smith of P.S. Literary Agency.

06/20/2023

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

Karis Rogerson:
The book is called NAT & CAMI'S GUIDE TO RUNNING AN UNDERCOVER GSA, inspired by my years at an American boarding school in Europe, my childhood growing up evangelical, and my own journey to understanding my queerness and then leaving the church. The book follows Nat & Cami as they start a secret, "illegal" Genders & Sexualities Alliance in their super conservative and homophobic boarding school...and then fall in love!

QT: How long have you been writing?

Karis Rogerson:
Gosh, so long! I've been writing my whole life, but I started working on the first book I ever queried in 2013, so it's been 10 years of writing novels and querying them!

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

Karis Rogerson:
Yes, of course, because it's been a really long journey! But the strength of my dreams is what helped me stay on course — I knew this is THE dream of my life, to write and publish books, and I couldn't give it up without losing a dream I've nurtured since childhood...and I simply wasn't willing to do that!

QT: Is this your first book?

Karis Rogerson:
This is the seventh novel I've completed!

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Karis Rogerson:
Yep, a BA in Creative Writing, and I'm pursuing my MFA at VCFA!

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Karis Rogerson:
I had quite a few, at all different stages -- the book I queried was my fifth draft, so I had friends reading every single draft before then and giving me feedback, and that was truly invaluable.

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

Karis Rogerson:
This is the first book I ever outlined, and it was so successful in producing a good first draft that I'm hooked now!

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

Karis Rogerson:
I queried this book for about three months before I got my first offer, but I sent my first query for my first book in 2014, so it's been a long journey overall!

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

Karis Rogerson:
82!

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

Karis Rogerson:
I actually didn't, beyond addressing them by their name. I find that, in my case, it didn't really affect whether I got requests or not.

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

Karis Rogerson:
Find a community of people who can cheer you on. Whether that's friends you meet on Twitter, in a writing group IRL, or anywhere else, it can be life-changing and life-saving to have that community when you're in the trenches.
Also, longstanding advice has been to query in batches, but I found I didn't get much if any actionable feedback on my queries, sometimes not even on my full rejections, so I kind of eschewed that advice in favor of sending like 30 queries at once and then replacing each rejection with a new query. It feels good to take a step forward after a rejection!
Finally, it's okay to mourn and grieve rejections, because they absolutely suck. But please don't stop believing in yourself!

QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?

Karis Rogerson:
Sure!

Query Letter:

Dear [Agent],

NAT & CAMI’S GUIDE TO RUNNING AN UNDERCOVER GSA is a 64,400-word dual-POV sapphic YA romance featuring queer found family and rebellion against patriarchal and homophobic institutions, set in the Italian town of Trieste. It will appeal to fans of the protest ending of Casey McQuiston’s I KISSED SHARA WHEELER, the “queer American in Italy” vibes of HOW IT ALL BLEW UP by Arvin Ahmadi, and the swooniness of Jennifer Dugan’s SOME GIRLS DO.

Cami is a 15-year-old lesbian, one of the few out queer students at her conservative missionary boarding school for international students in Italy. She just wants to focus on getting her paintings in a student gallery and kickstarting a vaunted art career—but first, she’ll have to survive the next two-and-a-half years of bullying. Seeking refuge from her roommate’s cruelty one night, she hides out in a bathroom—only she’s not the only one there.

Nat is a closeted-even-to-herself senior whose homophobic, deeply conservative parents are pressuring her to win valedictorian. At 17, she’s the head of her class, the fastest runner on the cross country team, and the captain of the girls’ soccer team, but all she really wants is to feel like she belongs somewhere. Her depression and insomnia keep her up all night, and she takes refuge in the ground-floor bathroom where Cami shows up one night.

As they spend time together over the following nights and Nat sees how bad the school treats queer people, the two girls concoct a mildly hare-brained scheme: to create an undercover Genders & Sexualities Alliance (GSA) where queer students and allies can bond.

Nat and Cami’s long nights together eventually lead to them falling for each other. Nat embraces her bisexuality and is ready to embark on a relationship with Cami, but in a place as repressive as their school, Cami’s not sure she’s brave enough to face even more hate. Except when the school administration discovers the GSA, everyone involved is threatened with expulsion—which puts Nat’s status as valedictorian and Cami’s artistic career in danger. With their hopes for the future on the line, will they still be able to revolutionize the school for the better? To achieve their goals, Nat and Cami will have to find their way back to each other.

I am a writer and blogger whose essays about mental health and YA novels have been featured in We Need Diverse Books’ blog as well as LitReactor.com and other sites. I am pursuing my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,

[NAME & CONTACT INFO]

--

Thank you again!