Millie Abecassis

If you follow me on social media and/or are a subscriber to my newsletter, you probably know that I am now represented by A.J. Van Belle at the Booker Albert Literary Agency, and that I just signed with Row House Publishing for the release of my debut novel A LEGACY OF BLOOD AND BONE this fall.

It’s been a long journey to get there, and I’m incredibly fortunate to have landed an incredible agent and a book deal pretty much at the same time. I thought it would be insightful to share my journey with whoever wants to learn more about querying and how some people succeed despite the odds against them.

Now, let me be clear: this is not an ordinary “How I got my agent” post. You won’t find stats here, but an overall recap of my querying journey, what it took me to get there, and a bit of advice to survive the insanity that is querying.

Part 1: Three years

I started writing with the goal of being published in late 2020. Not because it was the pandemic and I had time, but because I finally had a good idea for a novel. Fast forward, I sent the first query for this novel in the summer of 2022. Fast forward again, I signed with my literary agent in the spring of 2025.

That’s three years. It’s long. But it’s actually short. Some people query for a decade or more before landing a literary agent. I’m glad it took “only” three years because I have a full-time job and I’m already in my thirties. I know it’s not old at all and some of my favorite writers got their first publication in their sixties, but I’ve wanted to make writing my full-time job (or at least, a serious second job) for a long time. The sooner my writing career begins, the more likely I am to achieve this goal before I retire from my day job.

Part 2: Two manuscripts

It took me two manuscripts to land an agent. While it’s true, it’s also a lie.

A LEGACY OF BLOOD AND BONE is indeed the second manuscript I submitted to literary agents, but it’s not the second I wrote. Between my first manuscript that I wrote in 2020-2021 and started querying in 2022 (which is titled THE CRIMSON PILGRIM) and A LEGACY OF BLOOD AND BONE, I wrote:

• THE CORPORATE WITCH, a urban fantasy novel that I shelved because it needs a major rewrite and I wasn’t motivated to do it. I may come back to this manuscript one day, or I may not. It’s not completely lost, not only because I learned a lot by writing it, but also because I turned the first chapter into a short story that you can read in Fall Into Fantasy 2024.
• Three novellas and one novelette: BRIGHT CITY, SHATTERED (written in 2021-2022), THE COLOR OF TIME (written in early 2023), MOON DUST (mid 2023), and DAUGHTERS OF THE BLUE MOON (late 2023), that I submitted and sold to independent publishers. DAUGHTERS OF THE BLUE MOON was my debut novella, released at Anuci Press on February 25, 2025; BRIGHT CITY, SHATTERED is coming June 30, 2025 at Polymath Press; MOON DUST is coming September 15, 2025 at Baynam Books Press; and THE COLOR OF TIME is on sub again after I got the rights back from the original publisher I sold it to, but this time with the help of my agent.

As you can see, it’s a lot of writing and submitting. Except that I didn’t submit those manuscripts to literary agents. Most agents aren’t interested in taking new clients with a novella, so I submitted those manuscripts to independent publishers. I’m glad I did, because it helped me begin my writing career and I met great people working in the small/indie press space. It’s also why I created #SmallPitch and found such an amazing community, and why I signed with Row House Publishing, which is an independent publisher.

Part 3: Three hundred rejections

I said I wouldn’t share stats, but to give you an idea of how many “nos” I received: a lot. Over three hundreds, and only for my two manuscripts that I queried to agents. If we include the novellas, novelettes, short stories, we’re probably over four hundred. Maybe five hundred? I stopped counting.

I want to speak about a specific topic in this section: querying a manuscript that’s not query-ready. THE CRIMSON PILGRIM went through a complete rewrite with the help of a professional editor, which helped improve the manuscript tremendously, but looking back at it, it was probably still not worth sending to literary agents. I received a grand total of two requests for it, which is better than zero, but eventually I read the writing on the wall and shelved it.

Sometimes I wonder: was it a good idea to submit this manuscript to agents? And the answer is: ABSOLUTELY. Here’s why.

• I couldn’t know it wasn’t ready at the time. It was my first manuscript. I was a newbie. I worked hard on it, and it was decent enough to show to others. My beta readers liked it a lot. And two agents wanted to see more.
• It helped me get familiar with the querying process and gain more confidence. That’s the main learning from this experience. If I could send this thing to a hundred people and survive the rejections, the next querying experience would be a walk in the park.
• I learned how to pitch a book. Not just by writing a query letter, a synopsis, finding comps… but by participating in pitch events, too.

I consider the writing and querying of THE CRIMSON PILGRIM as the foundation of my success with A LEGACY OF BLOOD AND BONE. I couldn’t have successfully found an agent and a publisher for it without trying my luck with my first manuscript. I cried a lot when receiving rejections for THE CRIMSON PILGRIM. I shrugged when receiving twice more rejections for A LEGACY OF BLOOD AND BONE.

Lessons learned and take-aways

1. Find your people. Find a community of fellow writers who are also querying their novel. Querying is soul-crushing, and having a place to vent and cheer each other is essential to keeping your mental health okay.
2. It’s a numbers game. If you think you’ve sent enough queries, you probably haven’t. You should stop only when you truly have exhausted all your options and/or exhausted yourself/your mental health. It’s okay to pause or stop. But if you still have the energy, keep going. Send more.
3. Don’t self-reject. Everyone says it because it’s true.
4. Don’t burn bridges and act professionally. It’s essential in every industry, and it includes the publishing industry. More than that, just be a kind person, you know? Don’t be an asshole.
5. Trusting your guts is a good thing. When you have to make a serious decision such as accepting an offer from a publisher or a literary agent, you want to consider all your options and study them rationally. But sometimes… it’s also good to listen to your gut feeling. Those who know the details of the end of my querying journey know that my gut feeling was to sign with A.J. Van Belle, and I initially didn’t. I eventually did (YAY!) but I almost missed that opportunity because I didn’t listen to my gut feeling when I should have.
6. Work on the next thing. It will take your mind away from the downs of querying and will help you think about future opportunities in case this one doesn’t work.
7. Keep in mind that the odds are against you. I hate toxic positivity and the “your turn will come!” posts as if it comes for everyone. It doesn’t. Some people will never get an agent or get published. It doesn’t mean they aren’t good writers. It often means they aren’t lucky. Luck is a big part of success in the publishing industry (sending the right manuscript to the right person at the right time), and odds are against you. Competition is fierce. The world sucks. Back to number one, find your people to vent. The #SmallPitch Discord server is a great place for that, should you feel inclined to join it. You will find no toxic positivity here, only healthy negativity! (We still celebrate successes, of course.)

If you’re still there, thank you for reading. And if you are a writer querying their novel right now: good luck. Stay strong, keep honing your craft, and again, find your people!