Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Ashleigh Donnelly

Success Story Interview - Ashleigh Donnelly

An Interview with Ashleigh Donnelly (AshleighDonnelly on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Sandra Sawicka of Marjacq Scripts.

03/04/2024

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
It is an adult fantasy romance set in a world where magic is failing, and a mysterious curse afflicts the land, killing people who suffer from a broken heart. The story follows our 22-year-old protagonist as she navigates a duplicitous court after she is thrust into a scheme to bring the magic back to the land. I was inspired to write the story after I couldn't get a particular scene out of my head. I wrote the scene, and then I had to find the story surrounding it.
QT: How long have you been writing?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
Like most people on here, I've been writing since I was a child. I wrote short stories as a kid and became deeply entrenched in the fanfic world as a teen, and I have been writing here and there ever since.
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
I've been working on this particular novel for around a year. I sat down to write the first page in mid-February 2023 and signed with my agent in March 2024.
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
There were times when I grappled with self-doubt, wondering if the story was good enough, but I was determined to finish the first draft, and knowing that I could fix any errors in the subsequent drafts kept me motivated to just reach the final page.
QT: Is this your first book?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
This is the first book I've written to completion; I've started many novels and shelved them over the years, but I was determined to see this one through.
QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
I do; as a mother of two young children with a partner who works nights, I struggle to find time to get away from my laptop in the daytime. Because of this, it's become somewhat of a ritual that come 8:30pm, when my kids are in bed, I will make a large mug of tea, then sit and write until my tea is empty, or I'm inevitably called back to my mum duties. I always told myself no matter what, I had to write 500 words a day. 500 words is maybe 20 minutes of writing, so it didn't feel like a considerable strain, and I would often surpass that goal. But on days when I was tired or my motivation was lacking, I always made sure to get down at least 500 words, which all adds up over time.
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
I believe the draft I submitted was the 5th draft. The first was a messy zero-draft that was fleshed out over multiple revisions, then cut down in another draft when the word count had gotten slightly away from me.
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
I'm definitely what people refer to as a "pantser". I used to structure novels but found the story often changed as I was writing it, and I lost steam as I tried to get it back on course. Writing what feels organic in the moment works best for my style. Though it does make revisions a bit of a bugger.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
I started querying this novel in November of 2023, though I stopped in December as most agents had closed their query inboxes; all in, I was querying for around 4 months.
QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
I sent out 44 queries in total.
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
Initially I did as I had heard this was best practice, but my personalisations often felt somewhat contrived even to me, so after the first 15 or so, I stopped personalising and found that it didn't make much difference. I think if you are going to personalise, it should be for something specific, like your book falling into their MSWL criteria, or you love the style of a particular author they rep, or they liked your pitch in a pitch event, for example. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about including personalisation.
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Ashleigh Donnelly:
Don't take the rejections to heart. This business is truly subjective, and a "no" isn't a reflection on you as an individual.
There are so many reasons an agent might say no, but it only takes one yes for you to get an agent.

Success Story Interview - Ashleigh Donnelly

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