Success Story Interview - Hannah K. Zhang

An Interview with Hannah K. Zhang (hannahzhang on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Keir Alekseii of Jennifer Azantian Literary Agency.

03/19/2024

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?

Hannah K. Zhang:
My book follows a young diver recalling the monsters, family, and ruin he found at sea before his execution in twenty-seven days. I wrote it out of spite after I didn't get an internship.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Hannah K. Zhang:
I remember the first story I wrote for school was an image prompt in kindergarten, a picture of a kangaroo on a bicycle. My first line was, "Wow! A kangaroo on a bicycle." The first stories I wrote for fun, though, were written in third grade, and my first novel happened in seventh-eighth grade (it was horrific).

QT: How long have you been working on this book?

Hannah K. Zhang:
I created the document in June of 2023 and got my offer mid-February 2024! Still working on it, though.

QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?

Hannah K. Zhang:
I just remembered that I wrote this book because I didn't get an internship and I needed to get it published by the publishing house that rejected me. It's my villain origin story.

QT: Is this your first book?

Hannah K. Zhang:
No, it's book number...five. Second one in the query trenches, though!

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Hannah K. Zhang:
I've gone to the same writing summer camp for, like, seven years, if that counts. I've also taken two creative writing workshops in college, but one was poetry and the other started when I was already querying this book.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Hannah K. Zhang:
Not really. I think I usually just write when I'm supposed to be doing homework. But whenever it happens, it's either a two minute staring session or I black out and come to seven hours of writing later, not having eaten or peed or moved the entire time.

QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?

Hannah K. Zhang:
I'm gonna say probably a solid three and a half. Going on four and a half at the moment.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Hannah K. Zhang:
Yes! It was so great having such a diverse pool of readers--for me it included a super generous freelance editor, friends from Discord, friends from school, a couple strangers, and my mom.

QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?

Hannah K. Zhang:
I am a hip-writer by nature, though I've been dabbling in a form of semi-outlining that consists of blobs of caps-locked bullet points a couple enters down from where I'm writing. There I rant about ideas I just came up with and barely organize my existing thoughts.

QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?

Hannah K. Zhang:
For this book, I queried from August 2023 to January 2024, sending out batches of 10-20 queries at a time. The first queried book I mentioned drew out over a year, in smaller batches and with a horrible query letter.

QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?

Hannah K. Zhang:
Around 75! I'm seriously blessed to just be in the double-digits. Fun fact, the agent who offered was one of the first ten people I queried.

QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?

Hannah K. Zhang:
I narrowed it down through MSWLs, from a starting pool provided (with my utmost gratitude) by QueryTracker and Duotrope filters. The agent who offered was actually introduced to me by a friend I encountered completely by chance, and it's completely thanks to this friend that I'm here now. So, chance as well!

QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?

Hannah K. Zhang:
If they had a bunch of interests overlapping with my work, I wrote them a little introductory blurb listing those things. Otherwise, not too much tailoring here.

QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?

Hannah K. Zhang:
Join pitching events and talk to other authors! They might introduce you to somebody who might introduce you to somebody who might introduce you to your biggest fan, or your future agent. And don't get discouraged if your pitches don't get any agent attention (trust me, I got zero agent attention in the two pitching events I participated in with this book), and keep calm, stay querying, however that old phrase goes. Have fun and love your work, try not to get bogged down by numbers. Wallow when you must, but don't get stuck in the wallowing. And respect agents' guidelines and privacy! Rejections suck bad but man, when that first full request hits, you'll be on cloud nine and it's gonna be really hard getting you down. Preserve yourself for that day, because it will come!

QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?

Hannah K. Zhang:
Sure! Here's the latest copy of it!

Query Letter:

Dear [AGENT FULL NAME],

[OPTIONAL PERSONAL INTRO HERE]
Pyrda has twenty-seven days to kill before the gallows of Port Morling kill him.

Five years before her last surviving crew member is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, the Scarlet Seafinch is the wealthiest whelking ship in all of Gaea. The Seafinch owes her overnight success to the elusive barnacle whelk, a highly sought-after edible snail that sticks to the first big thing it can find, be it a rock, a whale, or a man-eating abalone. In pursuit of something of his own to stick to, Pyrda—a hotheaded young diver who can't keep himself out of trouble—abandons his tiny hometown and joins the Seafinch on her voyages across Gaea's thousand seas.

Through perilous dives and the occasional miracle, Pyrda encounters sea monsters reminiscent of his uncle's stories, and others no man has ever laid eyes upon. That is, aside from Pyrda and Rham, his diving partner/rival/lifeline/kind-of-friend (it's complicated). As he explores the world beyond his hometown alongside the Seafinch's motley crew, Pyrda starts to realize that home may not always be in one place—or be a place at all. And when he loses everything at the hands of a vengeful pirate, he knows it.

A Barnacle Whelker's True Tales of the Sea is a 74,000 word YA fantasy novel that explores the multicultural, syncretic mythology of seafarers, and the home and hope you can find in the people you love. Whelker focuses on different types of love—queer romance, found family, wanderlust—and how each form brings Pyrda ever closer to finding where he truly belongs. As a round-the-world quest for purpose across seas steeped in myth, A Barnacle Whelker's True Tales of the Sea is what you'd get if Rachel Hartman's Tess of the Road and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson's Greek Gods converged in the age of sail. More books that expand on the terrestrial lore of Gaea are on the drawing board, including a possible sequel to Whelker. [OTHER AGENT INTEREST/ACCOLADES]

I'm a sophomore at [COLLEGE LOL], where I study classics and creative writing. As a classicist, I have always been fascinated by the myths and monsters that were passed down to us, and even more so by those that weren't. [OTHER LITTLE PUBLICATIONS]

I've pasted/attached [REQUESTED PAGES/SYNOPSIS] below, and I sincerely hope they're to your taste. Thank you for taking the time to consider my novel! I look forward to your response!

Best,

Hannah Zhang