Resources

I'm glad you asked! In addition to the amazing folks running the We Need Diverse Books program—including scholarships for writers, stipends for publishing interns, and a long running mentorship program—there are also other resources popping up. These include organizations like POC in Publishing, Latinx in Publishing, KidLit Authors of Color, Lit Agents of Color, KWELI, Representation Matters and more. There are also particular affinity groups for writers of color on Facebook and Discord, but one of the best ways to connect with other writers is simply through social media, too. Don't be afraid to reach out. We're all connect by our love of story and books, and now more than ever, representation matters.

Not necessarily. While an MFA can be helpful—especially if you're like me and thrive under outside deadlines with real consequences—it isn't required. In fact, you can become a successful writer without any formal training at all. MFAs can be great for allowing time to focus on craft and giving yourself real, dedicated time to write. They can also be awesome (or awful) in terms of building a writerly community, and yes, sometimes connections, too. But these days, you can find writers' groups and critique partners to offer feedback, or take any number of short-term workshops from institutions like Highlights, the Loft, SCWBI, and countless literary conferences and retreats. Keep in mind statistics that state some 75 percent of creative writing graduate students never end up publishing traditionally at all, and many programs are not fully funded, meaning that MFA degree could cost you big time.

Finding an agent can be a challenging task. If you've written, rewritten, shared, gotten great feedback, and rewritten again—may I suggest one more revision. Haha, I know. But you want that full manuscript (and yes, you need a full manuscript) to be as solid as it can be. Once you've got a really strong draft, it's time to write a query letter—short, sweet and to the point, with a tight, one-paragraph pitch, a few lines about you and your writing history, and space for a line or two about why you're pitching each particular agent.

While you're editing, though, there are some things you can do to start figuring out the agent query process. Where would your WIP comfortably sit on the shelf—what books could it be shelved next to? Grab some of those titles and check out the acknowledgements to see who the agents were on those books. Start a list (or, let's face it, a spreadsheet) tracking those  agents, and research them. If you can afford it, splurge for a month of access to Publisher's Market to see who's selling (and who's buying) what, and narrow down more names. Check out the Manuscript Wishlist hashtag on Twitter, and the website, too, to see if there are other agents who might be a good fit for your story and genre. Check out resources like Absolute Write and Query Tracker for research, too. Read interviews and listen to podcasts with potential agents. Once you've refined your list and query, it's time to start hitting send. Remember, just the short and sweet emailed pitch—don't send the manuscript unless it's requested.

There are multiple strategies for querying, but it's smart to be strategic and perhaps send in small batches (5 to 10), so your query is solid and will garner some positive responses. As rejections come (usually inevitable), send out more queries to your carefully researched and cultivated list. You might also look at curated pitch fests like DVPit or RevPit to see if you can make connections there—with agents, but also with other writers. And if it doesn't work out with this manuscript, keep writing!

GREAT BOOKS ON PLOTTING AND CRAFT: 

Paper Hearts, Beth Revis

On Writing, by Stephen King

Save the Cat, by Blake Snyder

Story Engineering, by Larry Brooks

The Hero’s Journey, by Christopher Vogler