Before I dive in, I want each of you to know how appreciative I am that you’ve been here reading along and cheering me on. But I know for some of you writer friends, the contents of this article may be the dream you too are pursuing.
This may hit your feed at a moment where you got a rejection on a query or a submission request on a full. This may land in your inbox on a day where you feel like it will never be ‘your turn’ or on a day where you too, are keeping a big little secret.
Wherever you are, you’ve done something remarkable. You’ve poured your heart into a story, and that is worthy of celebrating! So, as you read on, know that I’m rooting for you and the book you’re hoping to bring onto the shelves.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been soaking in the excitement of the beginning of an author era!
I finished my first novel in 2017 (A YA Dystopian you’ve likely heard me describe as 600 pages of really great vibes).
In 2023-24, I settled back into writing more regularly, and over the next year completed another YA contemporary on adolescent grief, and then an Adult Science Fiction novel.
In 2025, I moved on and wrote a sweeping, epic fantasy that very well may be my most cherished creation, and I do hope it lands on the shelves one day.
But then, I had an idea for a story that wouldn’t quite leave me alone, and after 6 weeks querying a dark academia novel about a stylish, quirky mortician hunting for her missing brother, on August 20th, 2026, I received an offer of representation from a Literary Agent (an officially announcement will come from the agency soon).
With my goal to be traditionally published, having representation by a literary agent means there is someone walking along side me and my stories to help get them in your hands (and maybe one day on the big screens.)
There is still quite a bit of work to do on my dark academia novel, and my agent and I will be completing revisions together and building a targeted list of editors and imprints we think this book would best fit.
So, yes, there’s still some waiting left to do and plenty of writing that will be done, but I’m overjoyed to be sitting here typing this special article in grateful, anticipatory celebration.
I want to take this space to address the writers: I don’t suddenly contain all this wisdom or secret knowledge on agenting or querying. Everything I did to create my query package is out there.
The only advice I have—the only thing I can encourage fellow writers to do—is fall in love.
Obsess over your characters.
Contemplate what sort of outfit they’d wear while spying on a suspect.
Decide if they’d choose to hide or fight in a moment of fear.
Give them little quirks that are annoying and adorable and reflect the things in your life that you cherish.
When I wrote the story that received representation, I understood my characters. There were typos in the prose, moments when I rushed a crucial scene, and my claim-to-fame of misplaced commas.
But ultimately, I felt confident if I plucked my protagonist out of this manuscript and dropped her into another, I knew exactly what she would say, do, and decide.
Are there places I’ll be strengthening all of those thoughts and actions—absolutely.
But if you’re working on your book and hoping to see it on the shelves, keep going! Your characters capture something lovely and rich and tragic through their unique point of view, and that, I believe, is the beauty of books.
If you’re still reading, thank you for being here and celebrating the next stage of my journey! My next steps (alongside working on manuscript revisions) will be to grow my newsletter platform.
Sharing this with a friend to subscribe for free will help me continue to get my words (and books) into your hands.
Send this to a book-loving friend!
I’ll be posting my query stats on social media in the coming weeks, so thanks to each of you who have joined me in this journey.
A Book I’m Loving.
After such a crazy month, I’m slowing down by revisiting an old favorite.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is a semi-biographical literary classic about a young girl and her mother living in the tenements of Brooklyn New York in the mid 1900s, and their journey through poverty, undeniable resilience, and the never-ending fight for family.
Happy reading,
Gabriella L. Nowak
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