Success Story Interview - Michael Pogach

An Interview with Michael Pogach (mpogach on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Kimberly Fernando of Olswanger Literary.

05/21/2024

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

Michael Pogach:
It's a Viking novel that I first pitched as John Wick meets The Witcher. I had originally set out to write a ghost story, and then I got completely sucked into playing Assassins Creed Valhalla, and it turned into a Viking ghost story, and from there the horror elements began to slide into more of a subplot role with the John Wick-esque revenge theme taking over more of the main plot.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Michael Pogach:
I've been writing short stories basically my whole life, with my first one getting published 14 years ago. I've been focusing primarily on novels for about the last 12 or 13 years.

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

Michael Pogach:
About 2.5 years. But I originally wrote this book in first person, and then about 55,000 words in, I just lost that voice and decided to rewrite it all in third person and add other pov character focuses. So that happened after I'd been already working on it for almost a year.

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

Michael Pogach:
I think I've considered giving up on every book I've ever written at one point. I tend to hit a spot about halfway through that I lose confidence and need to take a break from it. So far, I've gone back to each one after a couple weeks off and finished every one I've started. So far.

QT: Is this your first book?

Michael Pogach:
This is my 6th novel. The first 5 include a 4 book series of dystopian thrillers, and then a standalone Gothic thriller. All 5 are published by Crossroad Press.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Michael Pogach:
I took a couple creative writing classes as an undergrad. Then I focused much more on creative writing in grad school. I don't have an MFA, but I did focus my MA in English on creative writing.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Michael Pogach:
I'm a husband and dad, with 2 young kids, and I'm a full-professor, so I don't get much of a steady schedule. Some weeks I might have 3-4 days to write; others there might only be one day with a brief 2 hour window. What I try to do is look at each week's schedule and out the writing times I can block off that week, however many or few it might be. And then whatever else happens, I do everything I can to keep those blocked out times for writing. I like to have a 2-4 hour window for each block time. That allows me to do a quick review of the last chapter I wrote, and then write the first draft of the next chapter.

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

Michael Pogach:
This book has been through 4 or 5 drafts, including that initial first person draft. That's about standard for me. I do 2-3 drafts on the computer, then print out the full manuscript and go over it on actual paper with a blue pen (there's a whole story behind the blue pen!), and then I'll do one more draft on the computer. And now, I've just finished my first round of revisions with my new agent, so that makes the 6th(?) draft of it.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Michael Pogach:
I have a writers group I've been with, off and on, for about 15 years. They're my beta readers, and I could not have done half of what I've written without them.

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

Michael Pogach:
I write primarily from the hip. Often, I'll put together a brief chapter outline for the next upcoming 4-6 chapters to give myself some direction and goals, but I almost always end up going off that script and making a new 4-6 chapter outline for the next bunch of chapters (which I will then invariably go off script from).

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

Michael Pogach:
I queried for about 6 months for this book. For my first novel, I queried for over a year--I ended up signing directly with a publisher for that first novel, no agent.

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

Michael Pogach:
I sent out about 80 queries for this Viking novel.

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

Michael Pogach:
I tried to tailor each query, but that's a really difficult task with so many agents out there, and some don't offer much more than a list of genres or comps to go on. But one of the reasons I queried Kimberly was a note in her bio about how she used to hide novels inside her textbooks at school so she could keep reading a book that she couldn't put down. And I did that too--in grad school, no less! So I opened my query with that bit of fun fact connection. I can't say it made any difference to her wanting to see more of my manuscript, but I don't think it hurt.

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

Michael Pogach:
Don't quit. You didn't quit writing your novel. You finished it. Such a small percentage of people who start never get to the point you're at. So don't quit now just because the next step is difficult (and it can be--rejections will hard some days, maybe even harder than we think we can stand--but we don't do this because it's easy). Keep revising that query letter. Get more eyes on it. Do query writing workshops--many of them are really good. Ask friends who have agents to see their successful queries. And don't quit.
And here's another that worked for me, I think. I had my celebration planned from the start. I knew exactly what I was going to do when I signed with an agent, just as I know exactly how I'm going to celebrate my first big book deal when it happens. For signing with Kimberly, I went out for a nice dinner. Nothing extravagant. Just nice, at a place I really like. For my book deal, I have a bottle of Scotch I've been saving to open. These are small things, maybe, but they give you something to look forward to, something to work for.