A surefire way to determine an agent is the best fit for your manuscript/writing career is by learning everything you can about them. Such information is great when choosing who to query and deciding who you’d love to work long term with. As a site dedicated to guiding writers through the publication journey, we’ve put together awesome agent interviews for you!
Today, we’re introducing Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong of The Purcell Agency!
- Path2pub: How did you become an agent?
I fell into it on accident, actually. As an author, I had some time on my hands and my own agent had recently lost a couple of agents, so I volunteered to look at some of her slush pile to help her out. From there, it seemed like a natural progression in that she needed someone and I was interested in agenting, so she took me on and began training me.
- Path2pub: What genres do you represent and why did you decide ‘these are what I want to help bring to the world’?
I represent both YA and Adult Fiction in the genres of Women’s Fiction, Romance, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romantic Fantasy. I chose these genres because they’re what I enjoy reading.
- Path2pub: What instantly catches your eye in a query letter/manuscript?
A well-written letter will always pique my interest, especially one that’s concise and doesn’t ramble with a lot of extra information. But the real key is a well-written manuscript. I’ve taken on quite a number of clients in the last couple of years so I have far less time for hands-on editing than I did when I first started. For that reason, I’m always looking for a well-polished manuscript that needs very few revisions.
- Path2pub: What is that element that makes you know at once that a story is not for you?
If you don’t have my attention by the end of the fifth page, I know I’m going to pass. As a reader, I do the same. There are so many great books out there and I don’t want to muddle through the opening pages just to get to the good parts.
- Path2pub: How hands-on are you editorially?
Not so much anymore, though I do have relatively high line edit expectations. So toward that end, I have an editing document I share with my clients and ask them to go through before they submit their next project to me. On this documents are all of the most common issues I find in manuscripts, and it goes on to explain what it is and how to fix it.
- Path2pub: How submissions-ready do you prefer a queried manuscript to be?
My preference is that it should be as polished as the author can make it. While I’ll work on some small issues with an author, my preference is to have it submission-ready by the time it gets into my hands. With that said, that rarely happens and I don’t expect it to happen every time. We all make the same types of writing error until we understand we’re making them, so if it’s a consistent one or two-thing issue, I’ll point it out to the author, show them how to fix it, and hope they can take the information and run with it.
- Path2pub: Do you have goals for how many clients you want to acquire in a year?
Not really. I take manuscripts on as I “connect” with the story or writing.
- Path2pub: What is your favorite trope?
Oh gosh. In Romance, I think it has to be enemies to lovers. In Mysteries or Thrillers, it’s probably a tie between locked room and an unreliable narrator. And for fantasy…I’m just now really getting into fantasy romance, but I find I’m really liking retellings.
- Path2pub: What are some books you think everyone should read?
Well, my go-to is To Kill a Mockingbird because I feel like the empathy aspect is what shaped me a the adult I am today.
Other than that, some of my all-time favorite books are: Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry), I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb), and The Last Time I was Me (Cathy Lamb)
- Path2pub: If a writer could write a book specifically for you, what would you want it to be about?
It would be about empathy. I’m a strong believer we need more empathy and understanding in the world, so something with a strong undercurrent of empathy. In terms of actual storyline, I honestly don’t know.
- Path2pub: What advice do you have for querying writers?
Never ever give up. The publishing process is hard, and I’m a firm believer that 75% of it is patience. So many amazing authors will never be published because they give up, and that makes me really sad. So regardless of how many passes you get for your queries, keep going. You just need your words to stick with one agent to get started in the right direction.
- Path2pub: What are your non-publishing related hobbies?
I’m a huge Oklahoma Sooners football fan, so you can often find me watching college football during the fall months. I’m also a major Garth Brooks fan, so I’m “following” his career and always waiting for the next album to drop. Other than that, I’m a rabid fan of everything my (now-adult) kids are into and waiting for the day I might get to spoil grandkids.
Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong is a Senior Literary Agent at The Purcell Agency based in Chicago. A member of the Association American Literary Agents (AALA), Cathie represents Young Adult and Adult Fiction in the categories Women’s Fiction, Romance, Mysteries, Thrillers, and Fantasy. Cathie never accepts queries by email, but when open to submissions, you can query her at QueryManager.com/QueryCathie.
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