Success Story Interview - Michelle Carstarphen

An Interview with Michelle Carstarphen (michellecarstarphen on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Katie Gisondi of Laura Dail Literary Agency, Inc..

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?

Michelle Carstarphen:
The book that landed me representation is a sports themed romcom. I was looking to write something a little lighter than what I had been drafting, and one day a line popped in my head, so I wrote it down. Then, I don't remember fully what I was doing, but my brain decided "this" is the story it belonged to, and I just sort of went with it. I was watching a lot of Ted Lasso (though it's not a soccer romcom lol) and a lot of classic romcoms at the time, which probably also helped.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Michelle Carstarphen:
I've been writing since I was in middle school. But the idea of writing a novel didn't happen until about 5-ish years ago.

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
I started this book in April of 2023, and began querying it at the very end of December 2023. Though the idea had been in my mind for months before I ever wrote a single word of it.

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
Honestly, not with this story. I was so in love with it at every step of the process. Which is how I knew I wanted to query it. There were times while querying that I felt like it would never happen, but I have some amazing writer friends and a super supportive family, and whenever I started to get discouraged they lifted me up.

QT: Is this your first book?

Michelle Carstarphen:
It's not. I actually wrote 3 other books before I wrote this one. I dedicated last year to drafting all the ideas I had outlined (taking time in-between to revise and send to betas) so that I could spend this year querying.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Michelle Carstarphen:
I do not. I did start out as an English major in college, but outside of some creative writing classes, it was always for fun.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Michelle Carstarphen:
My kids are both in school, so while I'm home I try to sneak in at least one good writing session. Two if I don't have other errands or things that need to be done. Nothing set in stone, but whenever I'm drafting I make a conscience decision to get at least one hour of writing in every day during the week. Weekends are hit or miss, but I'm okay with that because family time is important, too.

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
I did three rounds of revisions, following each round of beta readers. Then I did 2-3 rounds of personal edits when I felt like the story was "there".

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Michelle Carstarphen:
I did. I had 3 rounds of beta readers. Each group was made up of different people so I could get as much honest feedback as possible. They were all people I trusted to be honest and constructive with their feedback, but that would also lift my story up so I didn't get discouraged.

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
I had a pretty in-depth outline for this story. I started with a "skeleton" outline, then did a few rounds of "layering" until it felt complete. I had to make several changes while drafting though, because the characters sometimes did their own thing and as long as it felt right, I let it happen.

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
I queried my first book for 4-5 months, and it still had a few fulls out when I chose to start querying this story. I queried this story for approximately a month and a half before getting my first offer.

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
I sent a total of 17 queries out for this story.

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
I did a lot of research before sending this story out. The original agent I queried was because they requested I send it to them from a Twitter pitch that included a little info and mood board. After that, I started looking for agents who represented not only romance, but were looking for romcoms and the vibes that my story had. There are tons of agents out there, but I wanted to start by querying those who seemed like they'd be a true fit. That was the main thing I looked at. I also used Twitter a lot, and the agent I decided to go with (I had multiple offers) was one I saw post about wanting what I was offering, but I also took the time to look at her Manuscript wishlist and the agency page (for all of them).

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
I only tailored certain queries. The ones I sent that were requested from Twitter or a pitch event, I was sure to mention that's why I was sending it to them. But outside of that I didn't do much personalization.

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

Michelle Carstarphen:
Do your research ahead of time. I knew I planned to query one of my stories when I started drafting the first one last year, and instead of waiting until I was ready to query to start the process, I began to find all the information out ahead of time. I listened to podcasts (esp. The Shit No One Tells You About Writing-a must!) I read blogs, I looked at advice from agents on social media... I drank in every bit of information I could find about getting my query ready and blurb writing, and it absolutely helped when I sat down to get my package ready. And be ready to do a lot of waiting and for highs and lows. If you're able to start working on something else, do that. Even if it's just an outline or jotting down ideas for what you want to do next, do it. Stay busy!