Author Accelerator Member Spotlight: Lynn Katz
Celebrating a writer’s success
We’d like to introduce Lynn Katz, one of our Author Accelerator members. Lynn recently landed an agent and we invited her to sit down for a little interview to talk about the experience. So without further ado, here is Lynn!
Q: How did it feel to get “the call”? Tell us the story and how you felt the moment you knew it was real.
Lynn: I still don’t believe that this is real! I’ve discovered that with every milestone, I have a tendency to focus on the next milestone instead of celebrating the moment. (Is this a common writer personality flaw?)
Q: Tell us a bit more about your agent
Lynn: It’s Kristy Hunter of The Knight Agency.
Q: What pitch formats did you use for approaching agents (e.g., conferences, online contests, cold pitching)?
Lynn: Cold pitching based on a wish from Manuscript Wishlist. The manuscript I pitched is not the same one I’ve worked on with my coach. But I applied everything I learned from my coach when revising a different manuscript (a middle grade novel.) All of that work paid off when I queried the revised version of my MG novel that was literally sitting on a shelf for a year because I had given up on it.
Q: What pitch format ultimately worked best for you?
Lynn: Cold pitching.
Q: What attracted you to pitch to the agent you signed with?
Lynn: Her description of what she was looking for on the Manuscript Wishlist site.
Q:What led you to believe he/she was a great choice for you?
Lynn: She’s a published author and her bio on your website along with her coaching style made me choose her as one of my top choices. My instincts were right.
Q: What is your favorite thing that the agent said about your work?
Lynn: When she got to a twist in the plot-she “gasped and covered her mouth with her hand and everything.” She looked forward to reading my work. . .what’s better than that?
Q: Will you be doing any work on the manuscript before it goes out on submission, and if so, will the agent help you revise?
Lynn: My agent is very editorial — she’s already had me do two rounds of revisions and now she’s ready to send it out. As for The Surrogate (the novel I’ve worked on with my coach), she wants to read it-but I’m going to do another round of revisions based on Amy Nathan’s feedback. Then I’ll let my agent read it.
Q: What advice do you have for writers approaching the pitch stage?
Lynn: If you have critique partners, spend time sharing your query letters with them. My CPs helped me make significant changes.
Q: Why would you recommend coaching to get to a finished draft?
Lynn: I felt that for me, coaching was like having my own personal MFA program. The weekly expectations and the quality of the feedback worked together to help me improve as a writer.
Q: Would you be willing to share the query letter that landed you your agent?
Lynn: Of course!
Q: Where can people follow you and your writing journey?
My Website: https://goodlifeactually.wordpress.com/
My Twitter: https://www.twitter.com@lynn_katz/
Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us, Lynn. And again, congrats on your huge accomplishment!
Originally published at medium.com on May 14, 2018.
