From First Draft to Book Deal: Debut Author Anna Brook-Mitchell and Agent Jemima Forrester on What It Takes to Get Published

Anna Brook-Mitchell had just been made redundant when she decided to write her first novel. Three years later, she had six agent offers and a publishing deal with Pan Macmillan for her debut novel, Motherfaker.

In this episode of The Novelry on Writing, Anna and her literary agent Jemima Forrester (David Higham Associates) sit down with The Novelry editor, Josie Humber, to walk through the entire journey. They discuss what it’s like to be mentored by a published author, to work with and receive advice from an external editor before approaching agents, and what the querying process was like.

They cover:

→ How Anna got the idea for her novel

→ Why Anna joined The Novelry after finishing her first draft

→ What Jemima saw in the submission that made her want to represent Anna before they’d even met

→ The editorial feedback that stung — and turned out to be right

→ What to do when rejections pile up mid-submission→ What a healthy author-agent relationship actually looks like

→ Jemima’s green flags and red flags when reading queries

→ How to know when your manuscript is ready to send

Chapters:

0:00 – Introduction

1:40 – Anna’s story: BBC rejection, redundancy, and deciding to write a novel

4:07 – What Jemima saw in the submission that made her say yes immediately

6:12 – Why Anna joined The Novelry with a first draft already written

13:26 – How The Novelry’s coaching changed the manuscript

15:46 – The ‘Plan’: why knowing your hook and genre matters

20:55 – Taking editorial feedback without losing your voice

28:00 – The querying process: six offers in a month

36:00 – Choosing the right agent: what to ask in the meeting

43:53 – What a good author-agent relationship looks like

50:05 – Submission red flags and green flags

52:35 – Rapid fire Q&A: advice for writers

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Show Description

Learn how novels work from publishing’s top experts at The Novelry, the world’s #1 fiction writing school for novelists. Hosted by our bestselling writing coaches and publishing editors, this podcast is a practical, helpful guide to writing novels for every genre. Enjoy inside tips and tricks to make your writing a joyful experience while building your expertise in writing craft.