It Started with a Sticker

It was the first night of the Vision Christian Writers Conference and my first time on the faculty side of the appointment tables. I'd scrambled into my seat at the last minute after wrapping up a few issues with conference registration. When I'd applied to teach at this year's conference, I hadn't thought about the timing conflicts that might arise the first night between my duties as registration supervisor and a faculty member taking appointments from attendees.

Thankfully, as a new adjunct faculty member focusing primarily on art rather than writing, I didn't draw too much attention the first night (no pun intended). Jen Babakhan of Books and Such Literary Management, sitting next to me, was another story. Her line of attendees was a steady stream of activity.

I'd been so excited when my dear friend Helen informed me I'd be sitting next to Jen that night. I'd noticed shortly before the conference that Jen was accepting queries for children's picture books, and as a hopeful picture book author and illustrator, I was eager to connect with her at some point during the conference.

I carefully arranged the colorful stickers featuring my artwork I'd brought on the table in front of me and waited for an opportunity to introduce myself. In the meantime, I visited with friends and attendees who came by, handed out stickers, scheduled a couple of appointments, and had fun watching all of the people around me making connections. As someone who had attended conferences often in the past, I knew how many hopes and dreams were carried by the precious souls gathered in the room. I wondered what their stories were, and how many of them would experience the incredible "God appointments" with others that always seem to happen here.

There was finally a lull in Jen's line, and I introduced myself and offered her a sticker. She thanked me enthusiastically and browsed through my collection.

And chose the sticker of Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake hugging.

That's when I knew, folks. Any agent who purposely chose two of my favorite 80s girls in sticker form was the perfect agent for me.

A few more people came through Jen's line, and I got to visit with more friends. Somewhere in that time, Jen said, "Wait, you drew this?"

I can't remember if I'd already asked for an appointment with her by that point, or if I asked then. I should have written my conference summary a month ago when my memories were clearer. But the general idea I got was that Jen was interested in setting up an appointment with me, and even more so when she realized the sticker she'd chosen was one I'd drawn.

The conference was one of my favorites ever. At some point, I hope to share some of the special highlights here on the blog. For now, I'll just say it was my first time teaching at a conference, and I loved it in spite of my nerves! I had seventeen people show up when I was hoping for at least five. I didn't have any technical difficulties with my computer (thank you, Jesus!), and my audience found my class helpful (hooray!). The best part was looking around the room and seeing the beaming faces of the dear friends I'd made in this community over the years. There's nothing like doing something you love while sharing it with wonderful people who love you and believe in you.

I met with Jen the next afternoon. I didn't have an official pitch for my book. To be honest, I'd spent all of my energy prepping for my class, and after the extreme adrenaline of the day before and getting through teaching, I was wiped out. So I sat down and showed her my concept art for the characters and talked about the story. I shared some of my other art pieces, too. I was wearing my Disney Tangled-inspired outfit, so I think that came up in conversation, and I'm pretty sure my love for 80s characters came up again.

In what seemed like no time at all, our fifteen minutes were up. Jen asked me to submit my story to her. Her one request was that I cut the story down from 800 words to 650. I knew it would be a challenge, but said I would because I knew if nothing else, my writing partner-in-crime Sarah could butcher some words for me. ;)

I apologized for not having an official pitch prepared, but then joked that maybe it was nice for her to have a more casual appointment. Jen laughed and agreed that it had been nice. And she made a comment about loving "this" while gesturing to all of me (to borrow a quote from How To Train Your Dragon). She made me feel so seen and appreciated.

The conference came and went, and as soon as I got home, I started editing. By some miracle, I was able to get my story down to 649 words, with one whole word to spare! Anyone who knows me and my wordiness knows how amazing that was. I emailed Jen my proposal and manuscript.

Then came the hardest part. The waiting.

I tried to not check my email obsessively every day. I mostly succeeded.

One day, about three weeks later, I looked over my proposal again and realized I'd missed a typo that happened to be the link to my old blog. Since it seemed like a somewhat significant typo, I emailed Jen to apologize and let her know. She emailed me back the same day, assuring me it wasn't a big deal, and then asked if I would be available for a Zoom meeting the following week to discuss my book.

I didn't want to get too excited by this, but I knew that a definite no wouldn't warrant a Zoom meeting, so I figured it was at least a maybe. Hopefully.

The day of our Zoom meeting arrived, and I frantically scurried around the house getting my little corner situated. Things had run a little late at the gym, so I didn't have time to shower and make my hair and makeup as perfect as I'd planned. Thankfully, a little water and teasing made my hair look decent enough. I slapped on some makeup, set up my phone, logged into Zoom, and nervously doodled while I waited for 2:00.

The moment our meeting began, all my nervousness melted away. Talking to Jen was like talking to an old friend. Every bit of the conversation confirmed how much we had in common. She mentioned that my art reminded her of some old books from the 80s.

"Do you remember those books that were about this wide? I had one about a little dragon named Persnickety."

I smiled because I knew exactly what she was talking about. "The Serendipity Books? I have a collection of them." I shared how much I'd loved them as a girl, and how I'd recently had the opportunity to talk to the author, Stephen Cosgrove, over the phone. "You know that he's rereleasing the books this month, right? I can link you to his Instagram in case you need to order some."

Jen had some suggestions and requests from Janet Grant, the head of Books and Such, so we discussed those. And then talked about more 80s stuff. And cats, as my oldest daughter's cat, Bus, chose that moment to crash our meeting.

We signed off, with Jen stating she'd talk with Janet again and then get back to me later in the week.

This wasn't my first time querying an agent, so I figured it would be a process. I'd probably need to work on my story a bit more, maybe provide some more art samples. Jen hadn't mentioned the non-impressive size of my platform, but I knew it might be an issue.

All this to say, I thoroughly enjoyed our Zoom meeting and knew that if Jen asked me, I would jump at the chance to have her as my agent. If nothing else, I just wanted to hang out with her and be her friend! But I had no expectations of anything happening any time soon.

So that's why, an hour or so later, my husband and I went to the soft opening of Five Below to see if there was any cool Strawberry Shortcake stuff I might like to add to my collection, followed by a trip to Safeway to see if there was any of the good tri tip on sale left.

Toys and food: our official love languages. :)

I was pretty tired after Five Below, so I stayed in the car while Nathan went in to check on the meat. Out of habit, I checked my email.

And that's when I saw it: an email from Jen with the subject line "Offer of Representation."

My hand flew to my mouth as I stared at the words again in disbelief, trying to process what I was reading.

And that's how my husband found me when he came back to the car. (With no tri tip, sadly. Not that I was thinking about tri tip at that moment.)

Already long story short?

I agreed and signed a contract with Books and Such.

I don't think it's possible to express the absolute joy of having someone believe in my stories and my art and me enough to offer representation, even though I don't have millions of followers, even though there are things I'll probably need to change about my stories. After fifteen years on this crazy, wonderful, hard, amazing journey, I can only thank Jesus for this adventure, this unexpected blessing, this important next step.

I'm not foolish enough to think everything will be smooth sailing from here on out. Now the real work begins. But knowing I have someone so incredible on my team makes me happier than I could possibly say.

Thank you, Jen, for being my literary agent. Thank you, Janet, for saying yes. Thank you to the countless friends and family members who have supported me and believed in me through the years. Thank you, Jesus, for all of the little steps along the way that have led to this moment. Thank you for giving me time to learn and grow before handing me this opportunity.

Here's to the next chapter and whatever it brings!

P.S. Since I didn't realize the significance of the moment, I didn't get a picture with Jen at the conference. But I did get a picture that included her arm. So I guess this is our first official picture together: