Success Story Interview - Nicole Loos Miller

An Interview with Nicole Loos Miller (NicoleM on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Lauren Galit of LKG Agency.

10/14/2025

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
This book is a YA speculative with a hint of mystery, humor, and romance.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Nicole Loos Miller:
I've been writing since childhood but have been consistently querying for eight years.

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
I got the idea for this book five years ago, tinkered with it off and on, and have been actively working on it for over two years.

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
I actually signed a contract for a picture book twelve years ago, but the signing editor retired and the publisher decided not to move forward with publication. I did give up for a few years after that! I've been close to giving up many times since, too, but I always come back to writing. I often come back just to get a story out of my head and then share it with my critique partners, because why not? It has always spiraled from there. I'm lucky to have critique partners and writing friends who are some of the most supportive, thoughtful, and clever people around!

QT: Is this your first book?

Nicole Loos Miller:
This is my third novel. I wrote more than a dozen picture books before that.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Nicole Loos Miller:
I took a few creative writing classes in college. Informally, I've had the privilege of working with Hannah VanVels Ausbury as a developmental editor through RevPit and learned so much from her. Attending writing conferences, workshops, writing for contests, and reading craft books have all helped me improve as well.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Nicole Loos Miller:
I do not have a writing routine or schedule. I usually write for thirty minutes or an hour at a time over my lunch break or during my kids' evening activities. But every minute adds up! I think about my stories when I'm not writing which helps make the time at my computer more productive.

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
I had to re-start this book twice as it went from one POV to two, and one of the main characters had a complete personality change! I revised it twice before handing it to beta readers, then went through two rounds of revisions and critique partners before hiring an amazing developmental editor (Hannah VanVels Ausbury again!) to help refine the query and first 50 pages. And my agent worked with me on a revision which I resubmitted before she offered. What does that add up to? It felt like a million.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Nicole Loos Miller:
Absolutely! Thank goodness for their thoughtful eyes, honest feedback, and overall support and encouragement!

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
I outlined and then had to throw my outline out the window and then had to write an outline again to help me with revisions. Each story I write needs a little something different and I've learned to roll with it.

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
I queried this book for two months before the R&R, it took me two more months to hand in the revision, and then a month to hear back. So five months from my first query to the fist offer but I'd been querying picture books and other novels for eight years prior to that. I wrote a middle grade that was a RevPit 2023 winner. After a substantial revision, I queried that for eleven months and landed my first agent. Less than a year later, that agent had to let go of a large portion of her client list for personal reasons. Luckily, I was already writing this YA so I had a shiny new manuscript ready for the query trenches!

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
I sent out 80 queries for this book.

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
I selected agents who represented both young adult and middle grade. I also wanted to make sure I was querying agents who had experience or were being mentored by experienced agents.

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
If the agent had requested the full of my previously queried middle grade, I mentioned that.

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

Nicole Loos Miller:
First, find your writing people. You need feedback, you need support, you may need to vent. And it helps to know the struggles that other writers face, no matter where they are in their journey.
Second, remember that everyone's journey is different. I don't know that I would have landed my first agent if I hadn't been a RevPit winner and I firmly believe that my high(er) response rate when querying this YA was because I had already been agented. It's tempting to compare your journey to other writers' but you only see the tip of the iceberg.
Third, keep writing! I had no idea I would be back in the query trenches so soon after signing with my first agent. Thankfully, I'd been writing something I was interested in and it had already been through a few rounds of critiques when my first agent and I parted ways.
And fourth, read! Read, read, read in the genre you write. Read books published within the last five years. Reverse outline your favorites, practice writing pitches for them, and figure out exactly why you love them so much.