Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Mackenzie Crone

Success Story Interview - Mackenzie Crone

An Interview with Mackenzie Crone (MackenzieCrone on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Helen Lane of The Booker Albert Literary Agency.

09/24/2024

QT: How long have you been writing?: Mackenzie Crone:
I've been writing in some form since middle school, but turned my attention to novels and the pursuit of publication in 2019. So, just over five years now.
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Mackenzie Crone:
From the time I started outlining until now, it's been about two and a half years. But I did have an eight month break in the middle while I queried it the first time.
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Mackenzie Crone:
Oh my gosh, all the time! But I have an amazing community of writing friends (shout out to the Coffee Shop and Team Unhinged) who offered so much encouragement along the way. They helped me work through some of the major issues with plot and structure in those very messy early drafts, cheered me on as I applied to every mentorship I could find (14, if you're wondering, accepted to none), and helped me to keep perspective during the query process. But, with all that being said, I had given up on this book when my offer came in. I had gone through two rounds of querying with a major rewrite in between and even though I was getting a good number of requests and personalized passes, it was starting to take a significant toll on my mental health. A few months prior I had decided to let my active queries run their course, but that I wouldn't be researching any new agents. I had two left on my list that I planned on querying when they opened. My offer came from one of those two.
QT: Is this your first book?: Mackenzie Crone:
This is my 5th complete novel, though the first that I queried.
QT: Do you have any formal writing training?: Mackenzie Crone:
Aside from a few summer workshops in middle and high and school, I have no formal training in creative fiction. Though, I'd like to think my undergrad in English Lit and 150 audiobook/ year habit offer a strong foundation.
QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?: Mackenzie Crone:
Not really, no. I try to sneak as much in the evenings as I can, but I have a very demanding day-job that has three big stretches of long hours throughout the year. During these times I set aside two weekends a month where I write for 3-4 hours each day. I also take ample advantage of talk-to-text on my notes app, and tend to dictate as much as I can while I'm driving to work. Because of this, I have to be really conscious to carve out to work on my projects during revisions as I can't talk my way through the same way.
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Mackenzie Crone:
After my first draft, I did two major rounds of developmental edits, and two editing passes. And once it became apparent that I had some significant pacing issues in the opening act, I pulled my queries, did another developmental edit and another edit pass, and then tried again with much greater success.
QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?: Mackenzie Crone:
Yes, and they were amazing! 3 for the first version, and 3 for the second.
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Mackenzie Crone:
I am a reformed panster, and use a bulletin board strung out in a four act structure to plot my books. I put up a little index card with a one sentence description of each beat, and move them around as needed during both the planning and editing phases.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Mackenzie Crone:
All together I queried this book for two years. Though in reality I queried it for three months the first time, pulled it for eight months to complete a rewrite, and then queried it for another year before signing with my agent.
QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?: Mackenzie Crone:
I sent around 137 queries. Most were through QueryTracker, but I'm sure I've lost track of a few that were submitted via email or website form.
QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?: Mackenzie Crone:
My search criteria was pretty broad! I started by looking for agents who were interested in science fiction, dystopian, near-future, or romantasy in both the NA and YA categories, and I made a GIANT list. From here, I eliminated anyone who listed key elements of my book on their Anti-MSWL and those who were open but hadn't hadn't responded to queries in more than a year. This trimmed about 50 agents from the list. For the rest, I checked to see if they were at a no-from-one agency, and if they were, kept only the agent I thought would be the best fit on my list. Did I accidentally break the no-from-one rule? Sure! but in my defence it was because of a pitch event like.
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Mackenzie Crone:
I did! Because I did so much research on the agents I queried, I made sure to reference 1-2 elements noted on their MSWL, or in tweets, with my metadata. If they had elements on an Anti-MSWL that were common to my genre, I also made a point of noting what my project was not. Additionally, I included trigger warnings wherever requested, and sometimes even when they weren't if I'd seen an agent posting about a particular topic on their social media.
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Mackenzie Crone:
Be patient. It's so easy to think that you're doing something wrong when you see the writers in your community or on social media talking about high request rates and short query windows. These stories are amazing, and I'm so happy for everyone who had the chance to experience them, but this isn't the reality for a lot of writers. Your journey might take months, years, or several books, and that's just fine! Try your best to focus on your own personal growth, because comparison really is the thief of joy, Find a community that lifts you up, and try your best to do the same in return. And beta read! I can't say this enough. Take the time to learn how to give good, constructive feedback, and beta read for others even if they aren't doing the same for you in return. You learn so much about structure and craft, as well as what does and doesn't work for you, when you read for others - and it comes with the added bonus of helping your friends along the way.
QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?: Mackenzie Crone:
Of course! Please see below.

Success Story Interview - Mackenzie Crone

Query Letter: