Welcome, this is the start of a weekly interview series with other querying writers for querying writers. For first time querying authors, querying is the process of trying to find an agent for your manuscript. The right agent will be able to help you prepare your manuscript for submission to publishing houses, broker book deals, and hopefully establish and grow your author career. If you’re someone who is thinking of querying your novel, have been querying, or are generally curious about the process this is the interview series for you!
This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Evaline who also goes by @TheEvaline on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Evaline, can you tell us a little about your writing journey? Did you start out writing for fun or always knew you wanted to be traditionally published?
I’ve known I wanted to be traditionally published since I was 10 years old. I remember I spent that summer writing my first book (it wasn’t very good), and I mailed it off to Scholastic. One month later, they mailed back my full manuscript, with a rejection letter telling me they only take agented submissions and a little Goosebumps bookmark. That was my first rejection letter ever. My rejections of late have been sorely lacking in free Goosebump bookmarks.
Rapid fire, name 5 things that you do while querying that is not repeatedly clicking refresh on your inbox?
I don’t know if I have five specific things, but I try to keep myself busy doing things I love, hanging out with friends, taking fun trips with my dog.
It helps to get out of the house, away from the computer. We all need the occasional reminder that life goes on outside of publishing and querying and it can actually be pretty good!
I see that you took part in #QuestPit on February 14, 2024. For writers that don’t know, this is a X (formerly known as Twitter) based pitch event for authors to showcase their work. Could you tell us a bit about what you prepared for this event and any other writing-related events (on or off X) that you’ve taken part of?
I had a mood board already made just for fun and when I saw #QuestPit was going on, I decided to participate on a fly, more for the community building and making friends. A long time ago, the first time I queried, I participated in #DVPit. I took it much more seriously back then—which ended in a lot of unnecessary heartbreak when my pitch got no agent interaction. I’ve now learned to just do these events for fun!
Every writer has their inspiration, what inspires you?
I love Asian dramas, C-Dramas, K-Dramas, J-Dramas, I watch all of them and I’m a massive Anime fan. As an Asian-American, I always knew the reason I wrote was because I wanted to see more stories on bookshelves for children like me. My main inspiration has always been the hope that one day stories of Asians having magical adventures and living out their lives as, not side characters or token characters, but as the main character, would be published and read widely.
How long have you been querying your current work and is it the first one you’ve queried?
I’ve been agented before. I left my agent at the beginning of this year, and now, one month later I’ve jumped back into the query trenches. This time around, I’ve only been in the trenches for a week—and it’s been quiet. I’ve noticed responses are much slower than when I queried 2 years ago.
The first time I queried, I was in the trenches for about three and a half months before I signed with my first agent.
There are so many agents out there, some writers find it difficult to know where to start. What are you looking for in the agents you are querying?
I’m a big fan of MSWL’s (manuscript wish lists). They give me the best sense of what an agent is looking for. I particularly gravitate towards those who actively say they enjoy Asian culture, anyone who states they like Asian dramas, or anime. They get bonus points if they’ve traveled to any of the Asian countries and extra bonus points if they’ve learned one of the languages (I did find one who had learned Japanese!). This tells me there’s a genuine appreciation and respect for my culture.
It’s such a trying time for BIPOC and marginalized authors, and with book banning, and various publishing horror stories we’ve been hearing, marginalized authors are more marginalized than ever before. When I see an agent express a genuine appreciation for a culture different from their own (any culture! Doesn’t just have to be Asian), I get the warm and fuzzies. This tells me that the push for diversity for this particular agent is more than just lip service or clout chasing.
Rejection is tough, and there’s plenty of it when one goes through the querying process. What comes to mind when you receive a rejection and do you have any advice for other writers that may want to stop querying after getting a rejection?
Rejection is always hard. It’s especially hard when you’ve put so much into something, because writing a book is not easy, and it will always feel a little unfair when someone coldly turns down all your hard work and passion with a simple and vague form letter. But it is also a part of this business.
One thing I always try to tell myself when a rejection comes, be upset about it. Whatever emotions I’m feeling, I let myself feel it completely.
It’s tough.
There’s so much hope that goes into querying and trying to get your book published. For a lot of authors, this is the ultimate life-long dream. And when you’ve been waiting for weeks for answer and all you’re getting is a no, it’s hard to sit there, in the moment and tell yourself things are going to be okay and that you’re going to get the offer eventually.
So I always just let myself be upset. Then when I’ve got all of that out, I take a step back and take a breather and I keep going. I always try to tell myself that the reason I’ve kept at it for so long, despite constant disappointment, is because deep down I do have this belief that it will happen for me one day. I think it’s the same little voice of hope that keeps all authors going. So always hold on to that.
Finally, I’m intrigued by all the posts you’ve shared about your work (I am a complete sap for kyudo and true love curses). Would you be able to give readers a short pitch on the work you’re currently querying?
Yes! I’ve been pitching my book as a JUJUTSU KAISEN x THE UNTAMED Queer YA Romantasy. But I recently shared on twitter that this book was originally conceptualized as REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA but with kyudo instead of swords.
For those who are unfamiliar with anime, in publishing speak, this book has the Asian-magic and setting of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh and the star-crossed angsty Queer romance of The Dark Rise Trilogy by C. S. Pacat, as I wrote in my query letter.
It’s a love story, but I explore a lot of themes of Buddhism and spirituality through this book. I’m incredibly proud of how quintessentially Asian this tale is.
Thank you again to Evaline for taking the time to answer all my questions and hopefully the questions of other querying authors, be sure to follow her on X here.
Love,
EJP