When Agents Say No: Overcoming Setbacks with Jessica Yen

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When you get negative feedback from an agent on your writing you can do two things: adapt and improve your writing, or quit. In this episode, I am speaking with Jessica Yen, a Camp Structure graduate, about the recent challenges she faced while dealing with discouraging feedback from a literary agent. Join us as we explore how agents think, what the market may–or may not–be looking for, and how to regain your power when difficult feedback knocks you down.

Episode Highlights

• 5:41:  The Agent Mindset
• 10:55: Are We Ready for COVID Stories? 
• 13:12: The Demand for Parenting Books
• 15:10: Finding Your Book’s Essential Question
• 24:10: Taking Your Power Back
• 27:15: A New Take on Writer’s Block

Resources for this Episode: 

• Categorically So by Jessica Yen
• Beauty by Jessica Yen (nominated for a Pushcart Prize)
• How I Went From “Big 5 or Die!” to Ecstatic Self-Published Author by Denise Massar
• Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong-Merrill
• What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• The True Meaning of Success and The Multiple Paths to Publish Your Book with Courtney Maum
• Recovering from Cults and Religious Trauma Through Writing with Tia Levings
• How to Stop Gaslighting Yourself with Ingrid Clayton

Jessica’s Bio: Jessica Yen is a Chinese American author who explores the intersection of memory, family, culture, language, identity, and history. Her work has been supported by an Oregon Literary Fellowship, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Caldera Arts, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, and Voices of Our Nations Arts. She is a twice-Pushcart Prize nominated essayist whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Fourth Genre, The Masters Review, Oregon Humanities, and Best American Travel Writing, among others. She is currently working on a memoir. By day, she writes grants and edits academic manuscripts for non-profits, university departments and scholars, and clinics who seek to address health inequities. You can find her online at www.jessicayen.com.

Connect with Jessica:
Website: www.jessicayen.com

Connect with your host, Lisa:
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Produced by Espresso Podcast Production