Dashboard Literary Agents Success Story Interviews Oana Bell

Success Story Interview - Oana Bell

An Interview with Oana Bell (oanabellwrites on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Lauren Spieller of Folio Literary Management.

08/15/2024

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?: Oana Bell:
My book is a contemporary enemies-to-lovers romance called Hear Me Out. It's about a woman named Millie who returns to Seattle after being away for five months, only to find out that the band she founded with her best friends has replaced her as their guitar player. In her place is a guy named Caleb, who swooped in, changed the songs Millie wrote, and even changed the band's name. Naturally, Millie is furious at this development but she also can't blame her bandmates: she was gone for five months and the reason for that has to remain a secret. The book is about Millie's journey to get back in the band, get her friends back, and get rid of Caleb. You may be able to guess what happens when she realizes that, aside from being incredibly handsome, Caleb isn't the jerk she thought he was. The book is largely inspired by my husband, who is a guitar player, and by my never-ending love for the band Paramore!
QT: How long have you been writing?: Oana Bell:
I've been writing on and off since I was about 10, but mostly short stories, with swathes of time when I did not write at all. It was about a year ago, when I really started reading romance, that I decided to try and write a novel.
QT: How long have you been working on this book?: Oana Bell:
I started writing this one in late December 2023 and finished it in March 2024. I sent it to beta readers at the beginning of March, made some edits, and then started querying it in late April 2024.
QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?: Oana Bell:
I never thought about giving up writing entirely because these books bring me genuine joy and pride. What I have thought about occasionally is giving up on traditional publishing. What really kept me going was the feedback I got from beta readers, critique partners, and even agents who rejected me. So many agents I got rejections from had such wonderful things to say that I felt confident enough to keep going.
QT: Is this your first book?: Oana Bell:
Nope! My first book was also a contemporary romance, but it didn't do as well in the query trenches. I got a few requests for it, though, and some good feedback that made me feel more confident in writing Hear Me Out, which is my second book.
QT: Do you have any formal writing training?: Oana Bell:
I don't, unless you count this summer writing course I did when I was 17! However, I did get a graduate degree in psychology that involved a lot of writing, albeit non-fiction.
QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?: Oana Bell:
Not really. I write when I have time from my day job, which means some days I don't write at all, and others I write a lot. Usually, when I start to get really into the groove with a manuscript, I can get about 1500 to 2000 words a day.
QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?: Oana Bell:
I did two main rounds of edits. One right after I finished it, before sending it to beta readers, and one after getting beta reader feedback. Unlike my first book, Hear Me Out didn't go through any major developmental edits, but I have a feeling it might, now that I have an agent :)
QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?: Oana Bell:
Yes, three!
QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?: Oana Bell:
I write from the hip, for the most part. I usually think of the concept first, then about an opening scene that would be intriguing, and then I kind of go from there. Sometimes I like to sketch out a couple of chapters in advance, but most of the time I don't end up sticking with that sketch anyway.
QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?: Oana Bell:
I queried this book starting at the end of April 2024 up until August 1st, when I got my first offer of rep. I queried my previous book from November 2023 until about May 2024.
QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?: Oana Bell:
About 110. I started with around 40, but once I got my first full request, I started querying widely.
QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?: Oana Bell:
Query Tracker does a great job of filtering by genre, so I mostly used that. Whenever possible, I looked up the agents on Twitter, found their #mswl, and made sure that my book could be a good fit.
QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?: Oana Bell:
For the most part, no, unless it seemed like my book was a perfect match for their #mswl. In my personal experience, I haven't found that to be a factor in getting full requests.
QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?: Oana Bell:
It's hard to think of any advice that would make this process less stressful, but I'll say this: a few days before I received my first offer, I wasn't feeling good about my book and how it was doing in the trenches. I didn't know how to make it better. Only days later, I had offers and people complimenting me on my writing. Nothing about my book changed in those days, it was exactly the same. It just needed to get in the right hands. Oh, and one other thing! I *almost* didn't query my agent because it felt like I was reaching too high. Can you imagine if I hadn't?! Any one of those queries could be THE ONE.

Success Story Interview - Oana Bell

Query Letter: