How long did it take you to sell?
I had been writing for a little under 4 years before I sold. At the time I’d completed four manuscripts. I ended up selling the first two. The last year before I sold was a whirlwind. I finaled in the 2005 Golden Heart Contest (with my third manuscript, The Unthinkable) in March, got an agent in early April 2005 (my first agent actually ended up leaving the business a few months later, but two agents in the same agency took me over), and had “the call” in November 2005.