I always thought that landing an agent was like winning the lottery for a writer, but that’s not how it happened for me. My first agent sent my book to publishers, and when no one “bit,” my agent pretty much disappeared for over a year.
Because I was just starting out, I didn’t know what the agent/client relationship was supposed to look like, and I didn’t want to create a fuss or burn bridges, but I was filled with despair. I was already 50 years old, and it felt like my years of trying to become a professional writer were utterly fruitless. It’s not as though I would ever give up writing, but it felt like the publishing world had me in a half-nelson. I thought, “Maybe I should stop trying to get published.”
I’m so glad I didn’t. Despite my doubts, I eventually got to a place where I could live out my longtime dream of quitting my day job to become a full-time writer. Here’s how I did it.
I was always a writer
For my 8th birthday, Mom gave me a filing cabinet. For my 9th birthday, Dad got me a manual typewriter at
