Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Madelaine Atteberry

Success Story Interview - Madelaine Atteberry

An Interview with Madelaine Atteberry (mratteberry on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Bethany Fulk Hendrix of Spencerhill Associates.

05/26/2026

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?: Madelaine Atteberry:
My book, titled QUILL, is an adult cozy romantasy that tackles grief and loss through the lens of a magical quill maker. I wanted to capture the solace I felt after a string of family deaths in late 2024, and this book sprang to life from that strange time of mourning and peace.
QT: How long have you been writing?: Madelaine Atteberry:
I’ve been writing most of my life, but more seriously since 2017 when I was in grad school.
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Madelaine Atteberry:
I wrote and edited this book from June to December of 2025, and began querying it in January 2026. I’ve never written anything so fast in my life.
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Madelaine Atteberry:
With this book, everything felt right. But with my first manuscript, I felt incredibly confident about it until I took it into the Query Trenches. The many, many, (MANY!) rejections I received on it were so demoralizing. Luckily, taking other authors’ advice to just keep writing eventually led to my book that has now secured representation.
QT: Do you have any formal writing training?: Madelaine Atteberry:
All of my formal writing training after high school was scientific or technical. I am a published author in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. I always carried my flame for creative writing, but for a very long time it didn’t expand very far beyond a hobby in the shadow of my scientific research.
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Madelaine Atteberry:
I didn’t ‘rewrite’ this book at all, but I did come back to it after I thought I was finished to add a few more chapters to the end. I edit as I write, which many authors swear against, but I like to reread my words after finishing a chapter. Sometimes I can spur new ideas by going back through what I’ve already written.
QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?: Madelaine Atteberry:
Only a few friends!
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Madelaine Atteberry:
I’m a combo panster/plotter. I wrote (read: word vomited) a plot skeleton in my notes app, and once I had my eyes on a scene I couldn’t wait to write, I sat down and blasted out all of the plot I needed to get to that scene. I followed the skeleton, but many fine details came freely.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Madelaine Atteberry:
About 4 months for this book, over a year for my first book (plus a short stint of querying in 2017 WAY before that manuscript was ready.)
QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?: Madelaine Atteberry:
About 70.
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Madelaine Atteberry:
No. I personalized my queries with my first manuscript, and it clearly didn’t help.
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Madelaine Atteberry:
Keep writing. Reassess your work if it is enormously long. Lean on your support system as those rejections come in. Celebrate your wins. Remember that agents are people too, and if you received 1,000+ emails in a single month you might feel stretched a bit thin, too.

Success Story Interview - Madelaine Atteberry

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