Success Story Interview - LaDonna Witmer

An Interview with LaDonna Witmer (LaDonna_Witmer on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Trinity McFadden of The Bindery.

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?

LaDonna Witmer:
My book is nonfiction, a memoir about leaving the US. I was inspired to write it because of the current political and social climate in the US and the fact that more Americans than ever before want to leave the country.

QT: How long have you been writing?

LaDonna Witmer:
I have been writing all my life. I have a journalism degree and have always made my living by writing.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
Technically only 4 months, although much of the material that I based the book on is essays and things I’ve been writing for the past 4 years—I just didn’t realize it would turn into a book.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
In January, only about 6 weeks after I started querying agents, I just had a week where I was incredibly discouraged. I got several agent rejections as well as a flood of rejections from literary magazines and I was just feeling like it would never happen. I wasn’t thinking about giving up so much as I was just feeling like the process itself was pretty brutal. But I had a long conversation with a friend who is also a writer and that helped me to keep my head on straight.

QT: Is this your first book?

LaDonna Witmer:
It's my first nonfiction book, I have published a few poetry chapbooks in years past, but I never had representation for those.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

LaDonna Witmer:
Yes, lots. A degree in journalism as well as years of experience as a newspaper journalist, and decades of experience as an advertising copywriter. And a whole lot of assorted writing classes, retreats, lectures, seminars, and fellowships.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

LaDonna Witmer:
Sometimes. I write every day. Sometimes just for 15 minutes, sometimes for 6 or 8 hours. I’m a mom and I also work, so the time I get to myself to write isn't always predictable.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
Once before querying. I am in the middle of editing now.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

LaDonna Witmer:
No.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
I believe outlines will save your life, so I outlined the heck out of this one.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
I started querying for this book in mid-November 2024 and received an offer of representation at the beginning of March 2025, so about 3.5 months.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
31

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

LaDonna Witmer:
When I first began, I was pulling books from my shelves to see what agents represented my favorite authors. Once I got the hang of querying, I just searched for agents who were looking for memoir or narrative nonfiction and then read as much as I could find about them to see what kind of books they were into. I also did not query any men. It was really important to me to have a female agent.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
Yes. I had a query letter template, but there was one paragraph that I tailored especially to the agent I was querying to tell them why I was seeking their representation, specifically. Sometimes that was about books or authors they had represented, sometimes it was about something they wrote on their MSWL, sometimes it was something in their bio. I tried to find a personal touchpoint.

For the agent I ended up going with, however, I actually wrote a whole new letter. I could tell from her MSWL and bio that we had a lot in common, so I wrote a query that really leaned into that. It had elements of my template query letter, but it was longer and more detailed than other queries I had sent. I kind of went with my gut on that and it paid off.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
Early in my search, someone told me to remember that it’s a numbers game. That the more I could query, the higher my chances of finding an agent. That helped as the rejections began to roll in. In the beginning of my search, I felt like I was knocking on a door and asking permission to enter. But somewhere along the line I realized that what `I was actually trying to do was find my people. I started thinking of it like this: I’m at a party and there are tons of people I don’t know and I just have to keep trying to talk to people or listen to conversations and eventually I’ll find the people I want to talk to, who also want to talk to me. Changing the search from seeking permission to finding my people really altered my perspective, because it reminded me that I have power here, too. This is not just about someone choosing me, but about me choosing them.

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

LaDonna Witmer:
No thanks, that feels a little too personal to me right now.