BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency

Time Is Money

2009-11-24T08:00:00.004-05:00

I have just signed with a well known commercial agency. The trouble is, the manuscript isn't finished yet. I met the agent at a writing convention, and pitched them the book. They asked me to send them the first three chapters as soon as possible. They offered me representation straight away and I signed the contract after sending them about 15,000 words (all I have so far). They were completely aware from the start that it is unfinished, but are really excited to see the rest.

My question is, do I spend as long as it takes to get the manuscript word-perfect or should I just finish it as quickly as possible and worry about any imperfections later?

I've read your blogs on 'timing' and am worried that if I take too long, the marketplace will have changed. I am generally a slow writer, and like to edit as I go along. The book is a supernatural fantasy/horror for 9-12 year olds by the way.

Congratulations are definitely in order. You must have a fantastic and unique idea and must have written 15,000 words that blew your agent away. As always when I receive a question from an agented author, I urge you to open discussions with your agent and talk with her not only about your concerns, but about her expectations. Every agent is different, and of course without knowing what your idea is it’s difficult for me to know how timely it really is. I also wonder if your agent expects you to finish the entire book or is hoping to sell on proposal. My guess is that most editors will want or need to see the finished product, but this is something only your agent will know.

All that being said, I will of course answer your question. First of all, slow writers drive me nuts, not because I have anything against them but because I’m impatient, and when I get excited about something I want it yesterday. You should see how much batter I eat when I’m craving chocolate cheesecake. That being said, waiting the hour for the cheesecake to cook and the eight hours for it to chill properly is like a little slice of heaven. The batter might have been good, but the finished product is so, so worth the wait. So is a great book. While I might get impatient with a slow writer, it’s so much better to give her the time she needs to create the perfect book than it is to rush her through and be disappointed in the end. Half-baked cheesecake misses the mark; so does a hastily written book, and I’ve definitely learned the art of patience.

Moving away from my craving for chocolate cheesecake, let me give it to you straight. Take the time to write the best book possible. Yes, there’s always the possibility that the market will change, but a poorly written book isn’t going to sell well (to publishers or readers) just because the market is looking for that. A really great book can actually create its own market.

Jessica

What Will You Do to Publish?

2009-11-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

There’s a difference between writing and publishing. It’s something we’ve discussed before and something that will inevitably come up over and over again on this and other blogs. Writing is a craft or a hobby, publishing is a business and for many your career.

One of the distinct differences I see between authors, those I represent and those who comment on or read the blog, are those who will do anything to be published and those who simply want to write. Now, before I go any further, let me make it clear that there’s nothing wrong with either. Some of you write simply to write and allow your creativity to flow. Others, however, have made the decision to write as a career. This means working on books, writing for magazines or writing for newspapers. I know many or all of you will say that you write because you have to. That it’s not a choice. Publishing, however, is a choice, or can be. Sometimes, unfortunately, it’s not a choice we can make on our own. But what if it is? What if you found out that there was an easy way into the publishing world? Would you take it or would you still prefer to write?

Here at BookEnds we pride ourselves on our ideas and enjoy brainstorming with our authors. Sometimes we come up with ideas in-house that we think would make a perfect mystery series or untapped romance idea. Sometimes one of these ideas is perfect for a particular author and at other times it goes on a list that we keep at hand for the author who might need an idea down the road. Editors aren’t much different. It’s common in both fiction and nonfiction for editors to have terrific ideas and search for authors to write them. I know that during my days as an editor I prepared a number of series bibles for different types of books and worked with agents to find the writers. In fact, more than ten years later, some of those series are still alive and doing very well.

How you deal with an idea that’s handed to you is really up to you and has to be a personal decision. Are you willing to write anything to build a publishing career or would you prefer to develop your own ideas and wait it out if necessary? Again, there’s no wrong answer to either of these questions. There have been many times when I’ve talked to authors about ideas I’ve had or editors have had and they’ve chosen to walk away, feeling the idea wasn’t exciting enough or wasn’t for them. I respect that. What I tell my clients any time an idea comes up is that you need to really feel passionate about it, because it’s the one idea, the one book series, you’ll be writing for the next twenty years. On top of that, there really are no guarantees. I’ve had authors write book proposals based on ideas from editors but fail to sell the book anyway, primarily because the visions the editor and author had for the book differed. I’ve had ideas I’ve given to authors that have sold, but didn’t sell well, and I’ve given authors ideas that didn’t sell.

Career writers often find that they sometimes need to write books they aren’t necessarily passionate about, but might enjoy anyway, and many have great success at it. My one bit of advice is that if you are ever offered the opportunity to write a book that comes from an agent or an editor, make sure it’s something you’re excited about no matter what and make sure you know why you write. Know if it’s more important to write your own ideas and create your own stories or know if being a career writer is what you really want. If a career is the path you choose then sometimes it’s important to remember that career writing, like any career, sometimes means doing things we aren’t necessarily passionate about, but that pays the bills.

Jessica

Pseudonyms

2009-11-20T08:00:00.002-05:00

Over the years I’ve received a lot of questions about pseudonyms, mostly related to query letters or at what point in an author’s career a pseudonym should be chosen. One of the things I’m not sure many authors understand is that a pseudonym isn’t always a choice you get to make yourself. Many times when an author makes a book deal or decides to use a pseudonym, there are discussions with her editor on name choices and what they can agree on would be a strong pseudonym and suit the genre and audience you are targeting.

Recently a reader asked the following question: I'm considering writing under a pseudonym, of sorts, because my name is orally very similar to that of a wildly popular author. I'm thinking of just adding an initial somewhere, but I'm wondering what the legal ramifications of that are. I know that with normal pseudonyms, the contracts all have to be signed under normal names, but would it be requisite to legally change a name for just an initial? Is adding an initial even the best route to go? Or does it even matter if my name sounds similar but maybe it really doesn't sound like it?

It’s difficult to answer this question without knowing exactly how similar your name is to another’s and who that other author is. It seems like adding an initial might not be a big enough change, but again, without knowing how similar your name is, what your plans are for that initial, or what you’re writing I really am not sure. All that being said, there is no need to ever legally change your name to a pseudonym whether you are using an entirely new name or just an initial. No matter what you choose your contract will be in your legal name and the pseudonym will be noted as the name you are writing under.

Since you came to me with this question I’m going to assume you’re unagented and unpublished, in which case I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. Worry about writing your book. Finding the name to write under can be something you discuss with your agent and your editor. I know many authors feel they need to choose a pseudonym now so any other writings they do can be under that name, and while that’s not a bad plan, it also doesn’t mean your publisher will want you to use that name when the time comes.

My best advice is to worry more about the writing and less about the name. If you achieve name branding success before finding an agent and a publisher they will likely want you to keep that name. If not, it’s not going to be a big deal to find another.

Jessica

My Dream Client

2009-11-19T08:00:00.003-05:00

I’m often asked what my dream client would be, I think, primarily, from those hoping that when they do get an agent they can do nothing but make the agent happy. Well, just like all of you have different visions of what your dream agent would be and do for you, I think all agents have different visions of what a dream client would be.

I think there’s no doubt that there are probably some attributes about my dream client that have changed over the years, probably even since the time I first started writing these types of posts for the blog. That will be no different for you as an author. What you envision your dream agent to be like now, as an unpublished author, will change as your career changes. Those of you who have had agents and are back in the search again probably have very different criteria for what you’re looking for than you did the first time around. Those of you still with agents probably find that the criteria you had when you first signed with your agent had none of the things that you are (hopefully) thankful she does for you now.

Before I get into what I want out of a dream client, let’s clear up a little about what I don’t care about or expect. I don’t expect a client to be perfect and I don’t expect her to be a lemming. In other words, I don’t want her to blindly follow my lead and agree to everything I say. I don’t want her to yes me to death or hide when things go wrong for fear that I might get angry. In other words, the very first thing I want from my dream client is a feeling of freedom to be as open and honest as need be. When it’s wonderful, fantastic news I want to hear you squeal over the phone; when it’s the last thing you want to hear and you’re not sure you can take another round of revisions, I want you to call and vent and scream and let your frustrations out; and when you just need to spend time talking about revisions, ideas, concerns, or career goals I really want to be as involved as you want me. In other words, I want an open line of communication.

In exchange I want you to want honesty from me. I don’t want to feel like I have to couch my opinions when you ask for them. If you want my honest thoughts on your next book I’m going to give them, whether or not you want to hear them. If you want my honest thoughts on the direction you see your career going I want you to be able to hear what I have to say and not just listen and ignore later. Most important, though, my dream client will respect my professional opinion. It doesn’t always mean we’ll see eye-to-eye of course, but hopefully you’ve hired me because you’ll trust me to guide you and tell you the truth.

The last thing that popped into my head when I thought about the dream client, and I think one of the things authors should expect from dream agents as well, is the need for flexibility. Publishing is not a straight line and it’s not a circle either. It’s a series of bumps and bruises, hills and valleys, and for an author to really succeed she needs to have flexibility. She needs to be ready to shift her goals and change directions, sometimes with the market and sometimes because publishers and readers decide it for us. I’ve seen mystery authors become romance authors and romance authors become fantasy authors. I’m sure for many it wasn’t where they saw themselves, but it was where life led them, and because of the ability to be flexible and follow a new path they’ve been able to achieve the success they wanted, just not in the way they expected.

I don’t think there’s any set list of who the dream client is or what she’s like, there’s no such thing as perfection. What we can do to make a relationship work is be honest, communicate, and be the best we can be.

Jessica

The Benefit of Critique Groups

2009-11-18T08:00:00.002-05:00

A while back on the blog one of my readers said something about critique groups that really got me thinking. Her comment was that while she loved her critique group she didn’t always trust their feedback. She had mixed feelings about that since she has learned a lot from them, but wasn’t sure they were always steering her in the right direction.

While I’ve never been in a critique group I think in some ways this is a great sign. A good critique group, like a good editor, shouldn’t always be telling you how to write or fix your book, they shouldn’t even always be able to identify what exactly is wrong. What a good critique group should do is help guide you, point out concerns, and get you thinking about your writing in different ways.

The truth about editing and edits, whether they are from an agent, an editor, a good friend or a critique group is that it’s all subjective. The dream editing partner is someone who understands you and understands your writing, but is still willing to address concerns even if she thinks you won’t be receptive to them. For example, I might tell you that the hero in your book is too manly and not sympathetic enough. Ultimately, just because I said it doesn’t make it right or doesn’t mean other agents, editors, and readers won’t feel differently. It’s just my opinion. Whether or not you make changes has to be up to you. However, if it even gets you thinking about your characterization, then I’ve done my job.

The very first step to success in this business is learning to trust yourself. Take everything you’re given from agents, editors, and critique partners and absorb it, weed through it, and decide what works for you and what doesn’t. Unfortunately, there’s never a guarantee in this business and that goes for edits too.

Okay, all of that being said, to have a good critique group I do feel you need to be getting something out of it, and that isn’t just on critiques of your own work. I honestly believe you can learn more from reading and critiquing the work of others than you can from the critiques you’re receiving.

There’s no magic answer in the arts. That goes for writing, painting, quilting, cooking, or photography. We all come to an art with our own ideas and our own baggage. Let others and their ideas help you learn, grow, and reevaluate your writing, but don’t expect someone else to tell you how to do it.

Jessica

Writing Without Chapters

2009-11-17T08:00:00.002-05:00

I'm writing a light fantasy, and was wondering if having chapters is absolutely necessary. So often do I read that people have to send in "their first three chapters" or some such thing. I never think in chapters, and just write as it comes to me, frequently alternating between different points of view. Do I have to put in the chapters later? If so, where do I put them?

Based on your question I’m going to assume that you’re still writing the book and haven’t reached the point where you’re revising or even finished yet. This is one of those tricky questions to answer because without reading the book myself I don’t know how your book without chapters is flowing. On top of that, it’s a stylistic issue, and when agents are asked general stylistic issues about books we haven’t read our answer is going to be advice about what generally works and what doesn’t. Of course that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try your own things, it just means you’re probably paving a more difficult road for yourself.

Okay, now that we’ve cleared that up let’s get to your actual question. Honestly, it sounds to me like you are still very much in the beginning stages of writing your book and that you’re going to have a lot of work to do before it’s finished. Why do I think that? Phrases like “write as it comes to me” and “frequently alternating between different points of view” gives me the sense that your style of writing is just to sit down and free-write, which means, basically, write as it comes to you. Once you reach the end of the book, I suspect you’re going to spend a lot of time doing serious edits and revisions to shape the book, and at that point you’ll probably find that chapters will make sense.

While I couldn’t think of any off the top of my head, I’m sure there have been books published without chapters. Unfortunately chapters aren’t always just a convenience to readers, giving us an easy place to put the book down and fetch another cup of coffee; they are also a part of building the story. One of the things new authors learn early on is the importance of ending a chapter at a point of tension in your story to make the reader want to come back for more. There’s a pacing to every book and chapter breaks can help add to that pacing. They can also help make things like shifting points of view easier for a reader to follow.

So yes, I think that at some point you’ll probably have to add chapters later. However, if for some reason you find that your book is more magical without them then you can probably just send along the first 35 to 50 pages, wherever you can find an appropriate break in your book that makes sense to readers.

Jessica

Trusting Your Editor

2009-11-16T08:00:00.002-05:00

In an article I posted on Editing and Authors, one reader commented that she was having trouble trusting editors and agents. Her question was, How do you trust an agent or editor when they make an obvious (not subjective opinion) mistake? How do you communicate with them professionally if you feel like you can't say a word or else? How do you clean the coffee off your computer screen when they suggest you rewrite history? And it's not an alternate history novel?

Well, first of all I don’t ever think you should have an editor you don’t feel you should be able to say a word to. You said you don’t feel you could say anything or else. Or else what? An author-editor relationship is a partnership. You’re both trying to make your book stronger. While the author is often primarily focused on the story, the editor has a secondary concern, and that’s your audience. If you really have concerns about suggestions your editor made, then you have to have a conversation addressing your concerns and, most important, really finding out from her what her concerns are. It’s all too easy for an author to misinterpret the suggestions an editor has made. Maybe she had no intention of rewriting history, but was using that as an example of what could be done in an attempt to make the book stronger in other ways.

Every editor is different and edits differently. My style is that I typically tell the author what isn’t working for me, and in my attempt to explain why something isn’t working I give suggestions for how it can be fixed. Frankly, I couldn't care less if the author takes my suggestions or not. The reason I give suggestions isn’t because I think it’s the only way to fix something or because I want to put my stamp on the book; the reason I give suggestions is to better show the author what I’m thinking and hopefully help the author start thinking in a different direction herself. It’s brainstorming for me and the author. I use the suggestions as a way to explain myself and hopefully as a way to help the author start thinking of other possibilities and in other directions and to ultimately make her book stronger.

I think your question is a clear case of why agents can be so helpful. If you find you’re really in a battle with your editor, then it’s time to call in the big guns, your agent. Hopefully your agent can take a look at the book, if she hasn’t done so already, and mediate a solution that will make your book stronger and please both you and the editor. Another option is to get a second opinion from your agent. More often than not a client of mine will get edits from her editor and then ask me to take a look and give edits as well. It’s never that she’s hoping to pit us against each other, it’s that sometimes the problem the editor has can be easily solved by a suggestion from the agent.

As to how you trust an editor when she makes an obvious mistake, I guess you’d have to ask yourself how big the mistake is. I make mistakes daily and I’m thankful my clients don’t hold them against me, just as I don’t hold mistakes against them when I see errors in their manuscripts. None of us is perfect and editing is subjective. Communication, however, can make all the difference.

Jessica

A Query Hiatus

2009-11-13T08:00:00.004-05:00

Since the beginning of October I have officially been on a query hiatus. In my ten years as an agent it’s something I’ve never done and was very reluctant to do. Yes, part of the reason for my reluctance is fear that I’ll miss out on something great, but another part is the fear that the queries won’t come back once I return. Probably a totally insane thought, but one I’ve had nonetheless.

I have to tell you, this hiatus is nothing like I ever expected. I’ve done query statistics reports for you where I tracked how much time it takes me to read and respond to queries—roughly two hours for 60 letters—but even with that I don’t think I knew how much time queries took out of my day. It’s enlightening and it’s unbelievably lightening. Without queries flooding my inbox I have an amazing amount of extra time in every day. I had no idea how much time I was spending just opening, sorting and responding to queries. No clue. I would guarantee you that on my hiatus there’s at least an extra hour in every day to work with my clients, get my office organized or even, on those rare evenings, put my feet up and read something I don’t have to. More then that though, it's been a really nice mental break for me. Queries are something that, no matter how much we love the possibility of a new client, always hang over our heads. They never stop coming and we will never get caught up. Taking this break is like a mini-vacation. I'm getting time to renew and refresh.

In January (not until the end, folks) I’ll be opening again to queries and I’m sure I’ll be looking forward to the discovery again. For now, though, I’m enjoying the time to get so much more done and accomplished in a day and I think that this query hiatus might become a regular thing for me. Why not take a month off here or there just to unwind from query stress and focus on what I really need to be focusing on, which is my clients?

Kim Lionetti will also be closed to submissions from 11/15 to 1/17. Therefore, BookEnds will not be accepting any queries for the next two months.

Jessica

Who Does This?

2009-11-12T08:00:00.002-05:00

***Warning to all reading this: It’s full of sarcasm and nothing but a rant, but I had a really good time writing it.

Not too long ago somebody (I’m not sure if it was a man or woman, or even using her real name, so we’ll go with “she”) thought it would be a good idea to send an angry diatribe of an email to roughly 400 publishing professionals. How do I know 400? Because all of our email addresses were there for the world, or at least 400 publishing professionals, to see.

The email was entitled “confidential memo.” I mean, really, how confidential can anything be when it’s from a stranger and blindly sent to 400 people, many, or most, at generic submission addresses? But if that’s what you think, I’ll respect that. Okay, no I won’t.

The email started by telling us all how much writers disregard the publishing industry and hold us all in contempt. My first thought was that you must not disregard us all that much if you’ve gone to the effort to collect 400+ email addresses and send this email, but I’ll keep reading. Apparently, according to this writer, bestseller lists only promote shallow and marketable books and there’s nothing being published that’s written by anyone with any lasting talent. Interesting, the same was said of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen, but what do I know? Maybe they’re just hacks.

The funny thing about bestseller lists is that publishers don’t actually place the books on the lists themselves. They are there because readers love those books, buy them in mass quantities and, lo and behold, they become bestsellers. I guess it would be better if we only published books readers didn’t want to read or buy? Ah, so many things I’ll have to consider.

And then of course there were the usual complaints about expecting writers to “sell” their books to agents and how writers aren’t salespeople and that the system needs to change. Blah, blah, blah. How do you think we’re going to find authors if you in some way can’t at least tell me about your book in a way that’s enticing? Because if people are getting published daily, new authors, it’s somehow the system’s fault that you’re not?

Okay, so this was my favorite part. The part about how it was a crime that hardworking people spend years writing a manuscript only to get it rejected. Newsflash! I never asked you to write that manuscript. If it’s a crime, it’s a crime you perpetrated on yourself. Don’t blame me, or should I say the 400 of us, because what you wrote isn’t publishable (or at least that’s why I’m assuming I got this email).

And then of course there was a lot of misinformation about how unethical agents are, how writers who are successful are whores, how publishers only want books by actors and politicians and then something about if I liked Vanilla Ice or MC Hammer then I’m nothing but a sheep.

I really only have one thing to say to this person: insult me all you want, but insult my authors and you are a complete fool. Don’t ever assume any of the clients I represent are thieves, whores, or hacks. They are talented writers who have worked hard to get to where they are. I’m not representing them because I’m looking for easy money or to fill bestseller lists (although we’re hoping to do that too), I’m representing them because I like the books they write. No, I love what they write, and this might surprise you, so do thousands of other people.

Don’t worry, it’s people like this who only give other idiots a bad name. Oh, and give me something to rant about. I mean, seriously?!

Jessica

An Author's Credentials

2009-11-11T08:00:00.003-05:00

When you're reading query letters for fiction books, does the background - or lack thereof - of the writer ever help or hinder a request for a partial? I realize with my query letter it probably helped considering I have a background in the subject matter I'm addressing, but what other things are you looking for that writers should potentially discuss? What would turn you away?

Luckily, for all of you authors trying to find something to put in that author bio section of your query, my answer to this is really nothing but good news.

If you have no background other than working with a critique group or being a member of one of the major writing organizations, you’re in fine shape and have nothing to worry about. In fact, I don’t even care if your only background is that you’ve been writing books. What I care about when it comes to fiction is the book, and if your query resonates with me I might not even read that final paragraph before jumping to request more.

However, if you have a background in the subject matter, writing credentials with literary magazines, have won numerous awards or are previously published that might help, especially if I’m on the fence. If I’m wowed by your query I’m not going to care about you as the author. If, however, I like your query but wasn’t wowed, those credentials will probably push me to request more simply because it looks like you can write, so I’m curious if maybe your book is more impressive than your query.

There are only a few things that really turn me off when it comes to author credentials and most of them are done by those who haven’t properly done their research before submitting. It’s the author who tries to convince me that winning a third-grade writing contest or spelling bee (and yes, it happens) qualifies you to suddenly be a published author, or the author who tells me more about her personal life and how she’s writing to fill the time than focuses on writing.

Jessica

It's Not for Me

2009-11-10T08:00:00.002-05:00

If you were to put a percentage on the reasons you most often reject queries, what would they be? (ie: the writing, the premise, the wrong genre, etc.). Knowing that feedback from agents regarding rejections is next to impossible, considering their excessive workload, I'm just trying to get a feel for the most common problems.

Without keeping a tally while I’m reading queries, I don’t know if I could give a percentage of the reasons. I can give you some overall thoughts though.

While there are definitely times when I get an influx of inappropriate queries—wrong genre, wrong agent, unprofessional—for the most part I think the queries I receive are serious and well thought out. There’s no doubt that agent blogs, writer forums and the Internet in general has given writers an edge. While it’s probably making you all more anxious, it’s also giving you the knowledge you need to succeed.

I think the biggest reason I reject something is that it just doesn’t excite me. The idea might be okay, the writing good, the query fine, but the idea just feels done, like I’ve seen it a million times. In all the research you do on querying and all the work you do on writing the query, there’s one thing that writers will never be able to fully grasp unless you sit on my side of the desk and read the queries, and that’s what everyone else is doing. If I get 50 queries a day and 35 of them are vampire romances you’re going to have to work really hard to convince me that your vampire romance is going to excite me. After a while they all start to sound the same. I’ve talked before on the blog about insurance adjustor mysteries. How, to the best of my knowledge, there’s never been one published and yet regularly I receive a query for a mystery featuring an insurance adjustor as the sleuth. This just does not excite me.

That does not mean it’s all about the idea because certainly in reading the queries there can always be that one author who, with her voice, writing, and the presentation of her idea, can convince me that everyone wants to read about a vampire insurance adjustor.

So I think the most common problem is that the query just doesn’t resonate with the agent for some reason and often that reason is nothing more than “while I found it intriguing I don’t think it’s for me.” The truth more times than I can count.

Jessica

Licensing Your Rights

2009-11-09T08:00:00.002-05:00

In lit sales (books and screenwriting) there is always "the sale" of the material, which is normally an outright sale, wherein a writer gets a flat or projected agreement of residuals, but loses all power to make other sales off the same material; say to TV or games, etc. Are there attempts to update the writer's rights and to license material more instead of out right "sale"? As in licensing a "Harry Potter" or "Twilight" for x-amount of films within x-amount of time, spin-offs, TV, games, toys, novelties, etc?

To limit use of material, say by a Random House, that if sales drop below a certain number the property comes back to the writer?

In reading this email what I discovered is that my response was going to be less about answering your questions and more about correcting your misinformation. Whenever we talk about signing a contract with a publisher we discuss it in terms of “selling” the book, which is really the wrong term. Except in very rare instances (writer for hire projects), an author does not sell a publisher her book, she licenses to the publisher the right for the publisher to publish her work. What additional rights the author licenses are really up to the terms of the negotiation.

If the deal made with the publisher is for World rights that means she is giving the publisher the right to act on her behalf when licensing publication rights throughout the world. In this instance the publisher and the author both share in any earnings made on those books. What the split is (whether it’s equal or the author gets a majority) depends on the publisher and the deal made. There are other variations of how the book might be sold, North American Rights for example, in which the publisher only has the right to sell the book in North America and it is up to the author (and her agent) to find other licensees to sell the book around the world. In those cases, when the author holds the rights, the Publisher does not share in any of the earnings.

The same holds true for gaming, movie, TV and any other rights you can think of. How these are handled depends on the terms of the negotiation. Typically though an author will hold on to all performance rights (TV, movie, etc.) as well as merchandising and commercial rights (calendars, games, etc.). In these cases she and her agent will approach the appropriate parties to make the “sale” and the publisher does not share in any of the earnings (other than the increase in book sales, of course).

As for your question for limiting use, this is why you want an agent: there are frequently clauses in contracts that revert the rights back to the author if a book isn’t selling over a certain period of time, and in many cases agents can add a clause into a contract reverting any licensing possibilities if the publisher has not made any sales. For example, if the publisher has not sold any foreign rights after a certain period of time, the right to sell those reverts to the author.

I hope I was able to clarify without confusing, and please don’t worry about Stephanie Meyer and JK Rowling, the two are doing quite well on every product and movie you see based on their books.

Jessica

National Bookstore Day

2009-11-06T08:00:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is Publishers Weekly’s first annual National Bookstore Day, “a day devoted to celebrating bookselling and the vibrant culture of bookstores.” And who doesn’t love a bookstore?

So check out the Publishers Weekly web site for a list of participating bookstores, and even if you can’t find one in your area, take a moment to stop in to your favorite store, pick up a book or two (the holidays are right around the corner) and thank the store for hanging on in this stinky economy and giving us a place to go to satisfy our cravings.

Choosing Your Genre

2009-11-05T08:00:00.003-05:00

As I write Science Fantasy, Science Fiction and Fantasy it makes sense to focus on one if I want to succeed as a writer. But which? Fantasy has more shelf space, but there’s more competition: Does an agent take more Fantasy novels on knowing there’s the market for them ready and waiting? In comparison Science Fantasy seems criminally under represented, but does that mean Agents can afford to wait for the guaranteed blockbuster before taking a punt on a smaller genre? Is the truth somewhere closer to Science Fiction which lies somewhere in the middle?

Of course this applies to all genres. Paranormal romance seems to be everywhere at the moment, much like Fantasy. Crime thriller series, the Pattersons and the Deavers, appear to still be massive. Or is it simply because agents receive more MS’s in one genre from another? They just take on a similar proportion of all genres received and I’m reading too much into it?

I think you’re reading too much into it. The trick isn’t to go for a genre that you think is hotter or easier to break into, the trick is to figure out which of your ideas is the most unique and which you think you can execute the best.

I suspect the reason you’re seeing so many more agents representing Fantasy than Science Fiction these days is because of the recent crossover between Fantasy and Romance. When I was an editor there were agents who represented SF and Fantasy and those who represented Romance. While there was some crossover, it was rare. In fact, I remember when Jennifer Jackson started representing Romance in addition to her SF/Fantasy list and I remember thinking that was unusual. I suspect because of the crossover between Paranormal Romance and Fantasy there are more books in those genres being published, represented, and bought right now. However that doesn’t make it an easier area to break into; in fact, the competition can often make it more difficult. Crime thrillers are the same way. While it might seem to you that this is a massive market, the truth is that it probably seems that way because those are many of our bestsellers. I find it to be a very difficult market for debut authors to break into.

This is one of those classic situations where I would tell you not to chase the trends or, in your case, the agents. Sit down and write down your ideas and find the one that resonates best with you, the one that you think will help you stand out the most in the market and the one you’re most excited to write. That’s the genre you should be pursuing.

Jessica

Query Length

2009-11-04T08:00:00.002-05:00

I’m currently trying to write a query, but can’t decide on its length. When short and concise, it leaves the plot open for wide interpretation. The setting has certain elements that lend it to books with similar settings, but it truly does not follow those. I don’t want agents imagining something they're not going to get, and I don’t want to waste my time or theirs with fruitless submissions. Yet, the longer version seems overly detailed with little mystery. As an agent what do you recommend? What do you expect from a query?

I suspect that your query length belongs somewhere in the middle, although it’s really hard to critique a query I haven’t read. My very first suggestion is that you scroll through the Must-Read Posts section of the blog and take a look at some of the queries I have posted from my clients. I think, or I hope, the first thing you’ll notice is that none of them are the same. There’s no cookie cutter formula to writing a query and, if you ask me, that’s a good thing. A query, like a book, should follow general guidelines, not strict rules.

The only length I would suggest you stick to is keeping your query to one page. Beyond that, how long the blurb is, is really up to you. That being said, it sounds like you’re struggling with the two biggest mistakes I see in queries. The query that doesn’t tell me enough, that sounds more like a movie tagline and doesn’t help your book stand out from the pack, and the query that’s so long and wordy that by the time I’m done I’m actually more confused than when I got started.

My best advice is to find a trusted group of people to share your two queries with, preferably people who haven’t read your book before. Get their opinions and advice. Would they want to read your book after reading either query? If not, then it’s back to the drawing board for something that really shares the essence of your book, but not every detail.

Jessica

Fixing a Stalled Career

2009-11-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

Let's say you have a client who has published a handful of novels, all of which failed to earn out. The client's working on a new project. Do you recommend that she finish the new novel on spec, and submit the whole thing? Or do a handful of chapters/outline? Do you tend to get more/better offers for full manuscripts than partials, all else being equal?

Honestly there is no way to answer this question since it’s going to be different for each and every client. If all of your novels failed to earn out and you are working on a new project, I’m going to assume that you aren’t going back to your previous publisher with the book or that your publisher has already passed on your option material. It means that you are starting from scratch, except that you have those numbers dragging you down.

What this author doesn’t say, but I want to make clear, is that earning out isn’t necessarily the sign of an author who's a good or bad risk. Earning out your advance only matters to the publisher who paid the advance. What others are going to be interested in is your sales track record. Let’s say you were paid an advance in the mid-six figures, your advance didn’t earn out because the publisher only got orders for 50,000 copies of your book. However, you sold 40,000 copies. That’s not bad at all. Well, it is to the publisher who isn’t recouping the advance, but to other publishers those are pretty decent numbers, and if they like your next book it’s likely they’ll snap you up and pay an advance comparable to those 40,000 copies you sold.

Now that’s the good news. Based on your question, my guess is you got a smallish advance (say $10,000), and not earning out $10,000 means not a lot of copies were sold, essentially stalling your career. So do you need to write the full book or would a partial work? The problem isn’t going to be what you submit, it’s going to be overcoming those numbers. If I were your agent it would depend on what you’re writing. If it’s in the same vein as your previous books I don’t think you’d need a full manuscript. You might however need a pseudonym. If you’re writing something completely different (going from mystery to women’s fiction, for example) you’d probably need to complete the full manuscript, not because of your numbers, but because you are making a dramatic shift in style and editors will want to see that you can do that successfully.

The only person who can really answer this question is your agent, and the answer is going to depend on the agent, the work and you as the author.

Jessica

Random Questions

2009-11-02T08:00:00.002-05:00

I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am for all of you who continue to send questions for the blog. It certainly makes my life easier when I don’t always have to come up with a topic on my own. That being said, frequently there are questions that have merit but are not lengthy enough for a full post. And that’s what we have here. A grouping of random questions sent in by readers.

After reading your blog, I was wondering is copyrighting one's material before sending it out for proposals something I should consider? Is that even done?

It is done all the time, but I don’t think it’s necessary. For one thing, the material will likely change drastically from the time you copyright it to the time it’s published, and for another, a copyright date will show an agent exactly how long the book has been shopped for, and if I were you, I’d like to keep something like that a secret.

I'm currently writing a humorous narrative based on my blog. When I submit my work to you, do I submit a Query letter and a Proposal for non fiction? I think I understand both processes, but the proposal seems very scientific for a collection of humorous short stories.

The “scientific” proposal, as you put it, is for non-narrative nonfiction. Narrative nonfiction, whether a collection of short stories, a memoir, or a collection of essays, should typically be submitted as if it were a fiction proposal. That means you will likely submit the first 50 pages or so and a synopsis. Keep in mind, the only time you send a proposal to BookEnds is if it’s requested. We ask for simply a query first.

If you don’t mind, I am wondering if it is appropriate to send a query letter with proof of delivery? Or would that be considered rude?

I don’t think it’s rude, just a matter of peace of mind. Just make sure no one has to sign for anything, ever. It makes an agent’s life easier. All that being said, it might just be cheaper to send out your queries and requery in the specified amount of time if no answer is received (and you know you’re following guidelines).

I am currently unpublished, but I have a background in business and marketing. For work I write one of the blogs for our younger customers, as well as the product descriptions for the newsletter and promo blurbs for when we launch new products and for when we send out press kits. I never thought of actually mentioning this in my author bio. Do you think I should?

I think it’s up to you. Certainly you can mention them because they are writing credits, but if you’re currently writing fiction I don’t think it’s going to give you an edge either way. Let’s put it this way, it can’t hurt, but it’s not necessarily going to help either.

Jessica

Happy Halloween

2009-10-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

I love Halloween. It’s so fun for me to dress up and pretend to be someone else for the day. Planning this year’s Halloween costume had me thinking of all the great characters of literature and how much fun it would be to be them for the day, not just in dress, but to actually become one of those characters for the day.

The choices are endless and not easy. If I choose the self-serving and vain Scarlett O’Hara it means that for a day, just one day, it’s all about “me, me, me.” While I might dread the fight to find an 18-inch waist, stomping around with gads of admiring boys in a hoop skirt could be fun.

Hannibal Lecter, while one of the creepiest characters in literature, is also fascinating and brilliant. What would it be like to be this mastermind for the day? I’ll promise you one thing: if this is my final choice, I’ll only try it if I can avoid eating.

While Sherlock Holmes probably would not be my choice, I know that you amateur sleuths might immediately be drawn to this clever and highly observant gentleman. One of the most appealing factors about Holmes to me would be the time period. I mean, we’re dreaming, right? So that means to actually become these characters we’re also traveling into their worlds.

And whether you were a fan of the books or not, I don’t think anyone can argue that Harry Potter would be so much fun that a day might not be enough. I don’t know about you, but I think I might need at least a week to master that game of Quidditch.

What about you? If dreaming about those great characters in literature, who would you like to become for a day, just one day?

Jessica

How Long Is Too Long to Wait

2009-10-29T08:00:00.003-04:00

If I’ve learned anything from writing this blog it’s what an anxiety-inducing process getting published is, and while the unpublished think it gets easier once you have an agent, I think I’ll have to disagree. It seems to me that having an agent, but still seeking publication and, heck, even having a publishing contract can still be equally anxiety-producing.

An agented author recently got in touch to ask how long is too long to wait for minor revisions and does silence from an agent mean the agent has lost interest.

Sadly there’s absolutely no way to answer this question without holding a couples counseling session with the author and agent. How long is too long? Is it a proposal or a full manuscript? What is your definition of minor revisions? How many rounds of revisions have you already been through with the agent? What else does the agent have on her plate during that time and has the agent given you a due date? Without knowing at least some of that information I probably can’t answer your question as clearly and concisely as I should. That being said, let me give you some guidelines so you have a time frame in which you should feel comfortable checking in.

I think that if you have only a proposal you should hear within four weeks. I know that seems long, but I’m giving all agents the benefit here. One week is too short. If I don’t have advance notice that your material is coming I can’t promise a one-week turnaround because I might already have two proposals scheduled for revisions that week. Two weeks seems very reasonable to me, except that it could take me a week to even get to the proposal and another full week to get my feedback together (sometimes I will have to read the material a couple of times and frequently I have to sit on it and think about it). Three weeks probably makes the most sense, so four weeks gives everyone a safety net. If you haven’t heard within four weeks, definitely check in.

What about a full manuscript? Well, the same timeline holds true in terms of how long it might take an agent to actually get to the book, the difference is that it’s 400 pages versus 50. It takes a lot longer to read and put together notes on, and if any parts need to be reread, it’s going to take even longer. I still think however that it’s reasonable to check in after four weeks. That seems plenty long to me and at least by that point you should be able to get a time from your agent for when she will get back to you.

Minor revisions means the work you’re doing should be minor. It means that presumably you won’t be recreating characters or deleting entire plot points. It does not mean the work the agent is doing is any less than if you were getting major revisions. In fact, in my experience minor revisions often mean more work for the agent. While major revisions are often a short letter telling you to go back to the drawing board, a minor revision letter can go through the manuscript point by point and often end up being 15 to 20 pages in length.

As for whether an agent has lost interest. There’s absolutely no way to know unless I’m in that relationship, but waiting for revisions doesn’t necessarily mean a loss of interest, just not enough time.

My very best advice is get to work on your next book. Lose yourself in another project so those weeks fly by as quickly for you as they always do for the agent.

Jessica

A Writer's Insecurities

2009-10-28T08:00:00.002-04:00

These questions came to me from a group of writers. Apparently it’s a topic frequently discussed on forums and blogs and I suppose shared anxiously through emails and phone calls. These authors, all agented, wanted to know if I am aware, or other agents are aware, of the insecurities and concerns of a writer. In this case they were specifically talking about those long stretches of silence when they are waiting to get feedback on revisions, waiting to hear that the book is going out on submission or just waiting for a response to an email or phone call.

I think that most agents are aware of a writer’s anxieties and insecurities, it’s probably even easier to be aware now with blogs and the Internet than it ever was before. I know that I’ve learned a lot from my readers and what is posted in the comments. I’ve also learned a lot from perusing writing groups and forums. However, being aware of general writer worries and reacting to them are two different things. As an agent I need to be considerate of the feelings of my clients, but I also can’t assume that all of them feel the same way. What I try hardest to do is be considerate. I try to let my clients know roughly when I’ll get to the material I have to read, I try to keep them in the loop as much as possible on their submissions, and I let them know that at any point if they are feeling insecure or worried they should feel free to get in touch.

The difficult thing about insecurities is that you can’t expect someone else to take care of them for you. We all have them and yes, agents experience times of insecurity too. Who wouldn’t? It’s a business where you fall in love with something with all of your heart and then have to try to find that one other person who feels the same way. That’s enough to make all of us batty.

My suggestion for dealing with your insecurities is to figure out how to calm yourself without making others crazy. Easier said than done, I know. The trick to quelling anxiety is to take control. No you can’t go to your agent’s office and force her to read your material or send it out on submission, but you can talk openly and frankly about timelines. When does she think she’ll have feedback to you or what is her thought on when the submission process will start? Getting an agreement on dates might not necessarily mean it will happen by the date chosen. I know for example there are times I’ll tell an author I’m starting the submission process the next day, only to discover it’s taken me two days just to finalize the query and another day to get my head wrapped around which editors I think would be most enthusiastic about the work. I have no problem with the author checking in though, especially if I had told her I was going to be starting.

I know that some of you are going to immediately chime in about how this is all well and good if you have a good agent who does communicate, but what about the bad agents? We talk about the “bad” agents a lot and we hear the horror stories of those who were lost in piles and never hear from the agents they work with. Those are horror stories and hopefully not as common as the good stories. I got the impression from this group of readers that all were happy with their agents, just anxious, and being anxious about working with an agent certainly does not mean the job isn’t getting done.

Jessica

The Influence of a Blog

2009-10-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

How influenced are you by a writer's web site or blog? As a book designer and typesetter (and author) I'm very much affected by what I see on the screen. Some blogs, such as yours, are clear, well-organized, and readable (i.e., black type on a light background rather than the more dramatic and infinitely less readable light type on a dark background). A couple of the agent blogs I follow are appalling to read. Fancy fonts, justified type (ragged right is ALWAYS best for blogs as well as manuscripts), and cluttered with a dozen snippets of recent posts all jostling for attention. In other words, a mess. Now, all things being equal, I'm sure I'd be thrilled to have any one of these agents representing me; but, should the day ever come when they're actually fighting over me, the one with the clear, crisp blog will win.

This is an interesting question and frankly I think one that I could get a lot of mileage out of. I come from a newspaper background and back in the day one of my jobs was to actually help lay out the day’s paper. That meant making sure there were no gutters (that’s the white line that travels from the top of the page to the bottom), setting size-appropriate headlines, and arranging the paper in a way that was pleasing to the eye as well as to the newshound. Because of that background I’m a bit obsessive about how pictures hang on my walls (no gutters allowed) and was very controlling when it came to the design of our own site and blog. Yes, there have been a number of changes as we’ve gotten feedback from those who are much more knowledgeable than I, and yes there were probably a few clunkers along the way. Ultimately though my goal was to make it easy to navigate, as quick to load as possible (despite the huge number of photos we have) and informative. Most important, though, I wanted our site to make it clear on what we were about. Whether we like it or not, a web site is the professional face of your business and it’s important that it gives the impression that you want to be given. Luckily I think we’ve accomplished that.

When it comes to taking on new clients I’m not that influenced by the design of an author’s blog or web site. If it needs work I figure that’s something we can discuss once the book is sold. However, I do think that once you’ve signed the contract with a publisher it’s really important to talk to a professional about your web site or blog (while I had a lot of say in our site I did not even pretend I was going to design it myself). While it’s true that most people won’t come to your site until they’ve become a fan of your work, this is a professional site and you need to show a professional face. We’ve come a long way from aol, dial-up and creating your own site just for the fun of it. Web sites are now serious business and should look like they’re serious, and the design of your site is just as important as what you’ve written.

I haven’t done a comprehensive look at different author web sites for a while, but the last time I did I was struck by two things: one, that so many of them looked exactly alike and there was no real pizazz to them; the second was the sites that just didn’t tell me what they were selling. The focus seemed to be on the author and not the books or just generally all over the place, and I had trouble navigating or finding any information at all. Since I’m not a designer it’s not my natural inclination to review or think consciously about design, however I suspect when I don’t like a site, design is a huge part of that reason.

I’m going to leave the web design advice to the designers who visit and will hopefully comment. Instead I’m going to give you some of my thoughts on things authors should consider including on their web sites.

List of books w/downloadable cover pictures (in case the media needs a shot at the last minute)
Easy to understand blurbs for each book as well as quotes from great reviews
Links to bookstores (to place orders)
Blog for updates (and please keep it updated). This doesn’t have to mean daily posts, but at least updates on how the writing is going, your next book, signings, etc. Weekly or even monthly posts would be acceptable.
Author photo—5x7 color downloadable (again, in case the media needs a shot)
Email/Contact—mailing list, contact information for those who might be interested in buying rights to your books, etc.
Links to other sites (if necessary)
Recipes, craft projects, or other fun information related to your book’s hook—something to make your site stand out a little from other author sites
About the author
Appearance information when available (book signings, etc.)

Jessica

Deadlines

2009-10-26T08:00:00.004-04:00

Deadlines. Feared by some, loved by others. It’s likely that the minute you became serious about your writing you started setting deadlines for yourself. Maybe it was a weekly deadline for your critique group or a daily deadline for yourself. Whatever deadlines you’ve been working under, however, will change dramatically once they become contracted requirements. Suddenly you aren’t just trying to meet a date set by your writing group or even by yourself, but now this date means something. It’s the difference between getting paid or not getting paid, it’s a legal obligation and it’s a date your editor and agent are counting on.

As contract negotiations commence, inevitably the author and I are going to need to have a conversation about deadlines, and inevitably I’m going to question every single date the author gives me. While I do this more frequently with those experiencing a first sale, I do this with my more experienced clients as well. Why? Because let’s face it, it makes all of our lives easier if the deadlines are reasonable from the beginning. No one likes missing a deadline, and certainly it’s not going to make writing the book easier if you’re worried about hitting that date. When questioning my clients, it’s not that I doubt anyone’s ability to pick dates, it’s that I think in their enthusiasm to have a published book on the market and prove themselves to editors, authors tend to underestimate how much time writing a book actually takes, especially when they have the other obligations of being published to contend with.

When committing to a contracted deadline my first piece of advice is always to buffer it. Sure you finished your last book in six months, but you also had no pressure to do so. Now you are going to feel the pressure of a publisher and readers and it’s going to make things harder on you mentally. Okay, it might not, but it doesn’t hurt to give yourself a month or six weeks leeway just in case, right? The worst that can happen is you deliver early.

The other thing I want authors to consider is that no matter how professional we try to be, life gets in the way. When considering deadlines don’t forget to consider life. Again, you finished your last book in six months, but the kids were in school and by some freak of nature no one got sick. Now your deadline (if you’re choosing six months) falls smack in the middle of summer vacation. Do you really think you’re going to get six hours of writing done each day when the munchkins are around to hound you about things like lunch? Be honest with yourself about what your life might look like during those six months and give yourself time to enjoy it. One of the things I most notice is that when scheduling deadlines authors think of themselves writing 24/7, and trust me, that doesn’t work for anyone. You need to allow yourself time to get sick, take a vacation or just dig in the garden. Remember, a writer’s best friend is the time to create, and sometimes that means time away from the computer.

The last thing I find I need to explain to debut writers is the publishing process. Sure you finished your last book in six months, but you didn’t have another book to think about. Let’s say you get a three-book deal. The first book is finished because that’s what you sold on. Now the only thing you need to do is write the second book, right? Wrong! While you’re writing book number two you’re also getting revisions from your editor on book number one. That’s going to take you away from the book you’re trying to meet the deadline on for maybe a week, maybe two, or maybe a couple of months. There’s no way to tell for sure, but a buffer on the deadline would definitely be helpful in this case. Okay, revisions are done. Now you can simply move on and write and write and write, right? Wrong. Once revisions are done you have copy edits, once again pulling you away from book number two for a few days or maybe a week, and once copy edits are finished and turned in you have page proofs to review.

At the point page proofs come in hopefully you’ve turned in book number two and can start on book number three, but what? You have a pub date now? So now you’re reviewing page proofs for book number one, doing revisions on book number two, trying to start your publicity efforts on book number one and, oh yeah, you’re under deadline for book number three.

Okay, okay, it’s not as bad as it sounds. This is fun and you’re going to make it through and not all of this is going to happen on the same day. My point though is that when choosing deadlines you’ll have a lot more on your plate than just writing a book, and since you can’t guarantee how smoothly those things will go I strongly advise adding a month or even two to your original projected deadline. No one minds a manuscript that’s finished early, and certainly finishing early means a lot less pressure on the author than when you need to ask for an extension.

Jessica

Agents Do More Than Sell Books

2009-10-23T08:00:00.004-04:00

I want to start this post with a little background information. I represent both fiction and nonfiction books, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my many years as both an editor and an agent, these are two very different worlds.

Typically a fiction author comes to the table with a great deal of knowledge. It’s almost required. For a fiction writer to have success she has already spent years honing her craft and learning about the publishing business. This is to her advantage. She goes into the situation with knowledge. Typically she really knows and understands what an agent’s job is, what an editor’s job is, and what her responsibilities are as the author.

Nonfiction authors on the other hand need a platform and a great idea. Many of them spend little to no time researching the business and jump in feet-first. This makes perfect sense. Why would you need to research what seems easy? What that means is that most nonfiction authors learn as they go. They might have heard they need an agent, but don’t really have a full understanding of what an agent can do for them, and that’s the point of today’s post.

Recently I was talking to the author of a nonfiction project. She clearly had a good idea and the experience to back it up. Unfortunately she didn’t have knowledge of the publishing world. This author had gone directly to the publisher with her project and received an offer. This isn’t uncommon, nor is it uncommon for editors of nonfiction to go directly to authors after reading articles or developing ideas on their own. Once she had an offer she contacted a handful of agents, but in the end decided it was a waste to go with an agent and was instead planning on using a literary lawyer. Ouch. I think this is a mistake.

The author’s assumption was that since the book had already been submitted it would be smarter just to hire the lawyer, pay a one-time fee, and have someone else negotiate the contract. Her thought was that if she has another book later then she’ll go out and try to find an agent. What she doesn’t seem to realize is that an agent’s job doesn’t end with the contract negotiation and it doesn’t even start with the submission process. An agent’s job is a lot more than that. Let me just tell you some of the things I have done for and with nonfiction authors when it comes to the publishing process.

Sure I submit the book, often garnering multiple offers, which only goes to increase the money paid to the author and hopefully help us sign with the best publisher for the project. In this case it’s quite possible I could have sent the book around to other publishers to ensure that the one the author signed with was the most enthusiastic and not the only one who saw the book. My ability to do this would of course depend on the situation (which I don’t have full knowledge of).

I negotiate the contract. BookEnds actually has spent a great deal of time learning from literary lawyers to develop publisher boilerplates and checklists that we use during negotiations. All of this helps us make sure we are getting the best we can for our clients. On top of that though, we have relationships with publishers that can sometimes work in our favor.

I hold hands. Now many of you say you won’t need hand-holding, so let me use a stronger term, I guide. When you dislike your cover or title I can help discuss possible alternatives with you and the publisher as well as mediate any conversations, or hold them myself, to try for change. I can also help edit if necessary or give second reads on material that you might feel needs an extra eye.

I know publication dates. If your book is a diet book scheduled for release in November I know to tell you that’s probably not the best time to release a diet book. It’s the holidays. Who’s thinking of dieting? Now January and New Year’s resolutions. That’s when you want your diet book on store shelves. At that point it’s a discussion I will definitely want to be having with the editor.

I plan. I help you plan your publicity efforts, your next book and your overall career path as an author. I can help you look at a list of ideas and decide what is probably the best direction, and of course I can work with you to make that happen.

Do I think the author is making a fatal mistake by going with a literary lawyer? No, not at all. What I think though is that she hugely underestimates what an agent does, and because of that I guess I’m a tad offended.

Jessica

Not Just Because

2009-10-22T08:00:00.002-04:00

I have been an agent for nearly ten years now, a packager for a year plus prior to that, and an editor for five years prior to that. In other words, I have some experience in this business and have learned what works for me and what doesn’t work for me. This holds true for submissions and queries as well as material I’m planning on submitting to clients.

When setting guidelines for authors I’m not making arbitrary rules just to make your lives harder. In other words, I ask for a query letter because before picking up a book or a partial I like to know what I’m reading first. In fact, that’s one of my biggest pet peeves about the Kindle. I miss the cover art and the back cover blurb that reminds me why I bought the book in the first place. I have shelves of yet-to-be-read books throughout my house and my office. When it’s time to pick up a new title I browse those shelves in the same way you browse shelves in a bookstore. I evaluate the cover art and reread the back cover blurb, sometimes time and time again before the right time comes for that book. For me the query letter is that cover art and blurb. It sets the tone for me before reading the material or helps decide if I even want to flip the cover open. It also helps me to determine if I’m in the mood to read the material that day or should wait until tomorrow.

These same sorts of guidelines apply to my clients. I don’t make them rewrite proposals (fiction and nonfiction) because I want to read each proposal 10, 15 or even 20 times. I ask them to do the work because after 15+ years in this industry I know what a proposal needs for me to sell it. Other agents might have other ideas, but this is what works for me and has worked for me over and over again. I don’t ask for revisions on a manuscript because I want an author to do unnecessary work or because I like to see authors sweat. I want them to do the work because I feel, based on my experience, that without changes editors have an easy reason for rejection.

Think of it this way: Wouldn’t my job, my life, be a lot easier if I simply submitted manuscripts exactly as they were when I originally received them from an author? If instead of asking for revisions again and again, reading the manuscript or proposal multiple times, and sending out revision letters, I just left it up to the editor? Wouldn’t it be easier for me to submit without crafting the query/cover letter I need to include to send to the editor? I spend hours on revisions, hours on the letter and even more hours following up with editors. Wouldn’t it be easier for me if I didn’t do any of that?

Life and getting published is not about easy. It takes work and I’m willing to do the work to help you build a successful career. Since it’s your career I would think you’re willing to do the work too.

And just so you don’t think I’ve gone off my rocker, here’s what caused today’s little rant: “I can't write a synopsis, summary, or blurb to save my life. My mind simply doesn't work that way. For this reason I will save you the trouble of reading the drivel that would be my traditional query attempt. Here are the first few pages of my novel.”

In any job or career there are things we love and things we have to do. In publishing, hopefully writing is what you love; revisions, editing and queries are things we have to do. I’m sure most firefighters love fighting fires, but there’s probably also a long list of things they have to do, like rescue potential suicide attempts or pull cars from frozen rivers. Wouldn’t it be a shame if all firefighters simply decided they were only going to do the parts of their jobs they loved?

Jessica

Which Tense Is Best

2009-10-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

I've written a couple of manuscripts, though not found myself at the point of querying yet. I'm also an avid reader, mainly of women's fiction, chick lit, romance and erotic romance. This will sound ridiculous, but it just occurred to me that nearly everything I read is in the past tense, yet I always write in the present tense.

As my goal is to produce, polish, and submit a novel so knock-your-socks off that you simply have to take me on as a client - would you say that I should adapt my style to the past tense?

This question coincidentally arrived the day I posted the question about writing a memoir in present tense, and while I’m going to ask you to go back and read that post and the comments readers made, I also think it’s a topic that’s worth revisiting.

In the previous post I said that I don’t believe in rules, that I’m more of a guidelines gal and yes, that still holds true today. While we certainly have, and need, rules of grammar and punctuation, I don’t think there should be rules when it comes to how a writer chooses to actually write the book. That’s part of what is often called voice, an author’s ability to make the work her own. That means writing in the way that best works for your book (and keep in mind what works for your book might not always be preferable to you as the writer). That being said, should you be writing in present or past tense?

Without reading your book I can’t say for sure. What I can tell you is veering too far outside the guidelines can be a bit like trying to sell Beef Stew Ice Cream to a traditionally chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream eating culture. While we’re certainly open to new things, we still like those new things to feel vaguely familiar. Present tense might be a more difficult treat to swallow.

However, it’s about more than trying to appeal to an audience or make something familiar. It’s about the craft of writing. I think the trouble writers have when writing in present tense or even first person is that it becomes a little too much about you telling a story, and the important pieces of storytelling (the showing) are actually left out. You forget the importance of other viewpoints, body language and description, for example. Of course writing present tense, just as writing first person, feels easier because it’s about you and this moment you’re in. However, when you really sit down to read it, it’s not easier to read. In fact, it’s more difficult. It doesn’t give the information that makes a story really sing for the reader or listener.

If you want a straight answer I would encourage you to start honing the craft of writing in past tense. Once you master that skill go ahead and try present tense.

Jessica