Success Story Interview - Laura Gabriel

An Interview with Laura Gabriel (Lauragabrielauthor on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency.

02/19/2026

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

Laura Gabriel:
I had a dream about this novel that takes place in ancient Mesopatamia and wrote the draft within a month. I spent the rest of the year polishing it before beginning to query.
EDENFALL is about a devout female Robin Hood who must team up with an enemy prince to deliver a set of sacred tablets to the gods before their divine war destorys the mortal love and everyone she loves in it.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Laura Gabriel:
12 years

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

Laura Gabriel:
1 year

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

Laura Gabriel:
Giving up was never an opion for me but there were times I did need to take breaks for life, work, and mental health. Writing is a life long passion and knowing that the difference between success and failure was simply persevering. I learned from every book that didn't get me offers of representation and learned to be a better writer because of it.

QT: Is this your first book?

Laura Gabriel:
This is my 4th book and I queried them all with QT!

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Laura Gabriel:
No.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Laura Gabriel:
I now try to write every day or if I can't hit every day my minimum is 10k words a week.

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

Laura Gabriel:
This book went through 5 drafts.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Laura Gabriel:
Yes! Many. This was the secret sauce to my success. I went first to my 2 critique partners for feedback then to the beta readers and that helped a lot.

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

Laura Gabriel:
I'm a plantser so I had a basic outline but filled in most as I wrote.

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

Laura Gabriel:
This book I was querying about 4 months but the others I queried for years in some cases. QT kept me organized and getting to see the data helped me decide if an agent had passed, was a maybe, or just hadn't gotten to it yet.

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

Laura Gabriel:
A LOT.

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

Laura Gabriel:
I started with a slow batch method of a tiered agent system and then toward the end when I had interest, sent out to the remainder of my list all at once.

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

Laura Gabriel:
I tailored about half my queries to specific agents but found that unless I had a very specific personal connection it was more or less a waste of time, I got ust as much interest without personalizing. Every agent's different.

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

Laura Gabriel:
Don't give up and keep iterating! If you're not getting bites in the beginning, it's probably your query. Try to think about how you would be selling your book if you were the agent. So figure out the Log line and to the best of your ability, make your concept clear and sellable (high concept). Then try a few different query letters, your book is what is going to shine in the end but it's about getting enough agents intrigued to read it in the first place.

Query Letter:

Dear Sara,

When the Tower of Babel falls, a female Robin Hood is forced to team up with an enemy prince to stop the gods from destroying the mortal world…and everyone she loves in it.

EDENFALL, is a 95,000-word historical fantasy. It’s a feminist retelling of Mesopotamian mythology like Babylonia (Costanza Casati), in a slow-burn, heavy banter, enemies-to-lovers adventure like Heavenly Bodies (Imani Erriu).

Keva Alakko is no savior. She’s a thief who steals from heretic elites to keep her starving community alive. A devout worshipper of the forbidden Eden gods, she survives by slipping through the shadows of Babylon. A city that’s forbidden her faith and sided with the death god, Nergal, in the divine war.

When Babylon’s destroyed in a godly assault, Keva’s best friend is mortally wounded. With her final breath, she inducts Keva into a secret sisterhood entrusting her with the key to ending the divine war. To prevent the annihilation of the mortal world, Keva must travel through hostile lands to Eden itself, where the Gods dwell. However, Nergal is determined to stop her before she arrives.

Hunted by Nergal and his emissaries, Keva’s forced into an alliance with Prince Shamash, the arrogant heir to the heretic regime responsible for her parents’ murder. She should despise him. She does. But survival binds them together, and distrust gives way to something far more dangerous—connection.

When Nergal abducts Keva, she is confronted with a forbidden truth and an impossible choice. To stop the war, she must decide what she is willing to sacrifice: the Gods she reveres, the man she loves, or the world itself.

I write SFF/speculative romances with bad-ass female heroines for readers who love escapist stories with deeper meaning. I’m also an entrepreneur with experience in sales and marketing, have a B.A. in Creative Arts, an A.A. in Biblical & Mythological Studies, and a growing Booktok following of over 10,000 romantasy readers.

This novel has series potential and has never been published. Thank you for your time!

Laura