Pub Rants

Author Archive

Prickly Protagonists

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I worked hard on a contract today. That always requires my undivided attention.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? DIAMONDS ON THE SOULS OF HER SHOES by Paul Simon

I have to admit that as a reader, I’m often drawn to stories that have a hard-to-love main protagonist. I find the growth of that character’s story arc fascinating and so worth discovering.

Unfortunately, editors aren’t agreeing with me. I’ve shopped two manuscripts this year that had, shall we say, not so huggable main narrators and haven’t found a home for either project.

Main feedback from the editors? Main character was unsympathetic or too hard to like.

And then you wonder how something like Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed becomes big. For me, the writer accomplished the near impossible—a character who has done something despicable yet still maintains the reader’s sympathy. Not an easy thing to accomplish and shows the strength of the writer.

So now I’m pretty reluctant as of late to take a chance on a novel with a tough main protagonist. Just today I passed on sample pages that were beautifully written but alas, had this fault in the main character.

And yes it probably does mean I’m lacking in courage but when you get shot down too many times, you gotta take a break from it.

So don’t rule me out completely but know that I’m hesitating on those prickly protagonists.

The NYT List

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s kind of hard to top yesterday but still, it is Friday and that’s worth celebrating too!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? MY GIRL by The Temptations

How books make the NYT list is actually closely guarded proprietary information that the New York Times does not share.

However, what little is known about it is this: titles are selected based on a percentage of sales done in a certain period of time.

I’d tell you more but then, you know, I’d have to kill you.

NYT List Baby!

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: We are over the moon!!!!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY by Donna Summer

Sara and I can barely sit still because we’ve just heard the news.

Ally Carter’s CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY has just hit the New York Times Bestseller List (Oct. 21) coming in at #8.

Congrats Ally!!!! You are now a New York Times Bestselling author.

Unleashing My Inner Snark?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I have to say that the world of agenting is good right now. We’ve been having auctions and pre-empts at Frankfurt for Sarah Rees Brennan’s THE DEMON’S LEXICON. It is always fun when a title has international appeal.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THAT VOICE AGAIN by Peter Gabriel

This is interview week for me. I’m finally catching up on all the requests I’ve received. I have to say that most interviewers pretty much ask the same questions, but I got a really interesting question today.

The interviewer asked me why I decided to go with the “nice approach” when blogging and do I ever long to release my inner snark and just let it go in a rant a lá Miss Snark.

Well, I decided on the “nice” approach because that is basically who I am. I’m nice. That doesn’t mean I’m not tough (and I’ve heard through the grapevine that editors often call me that damn demanding agent in Denver). I’m just polite. So when Miss Snark was around, I never felt the need to unleash my inner snark because Miss Snark was around to attack the topic. I never had to.

Boy do I miss her because there are times when I want to pull out my hair and let it go but I don’t. It’s not my style. I’m not certain I could pull it off with her panache.

For me, Miss Snark had the perfect way of sharing the brutal truth with her razor wit while still keeping an eye on the goal of helping writers.

I know lots of people won’t agree and Miss Snark would probably shake her gin tumbler at me in defiance but that’s what I miss the most. I could be nice because there was Miss Snark to be snarky.

Number One Interview Question

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Gorgeous day here in Denver. Sara and I just had to have lunch out on a sidewalk café. You got to do it while the weather is nice.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? CLOSER TO FINE by Indigo Girls

With every interview I do, I invariably get asked whether it matters whether an agent is located in New York or not.

This question always makes me chuckle. Since I’m in Denver, I’m probably the last person to say so if it were true. But in my experience, it really hasn’t been a factor.

Editors care less about where I’m located and more about whether they are on my submission list when I’ve got a hot project to sell. Now that matters to them.

Those of us working outside the Big Apple travel there often enough. We do lots of lunches. We do the face time.

And here’s the big secret. When an issue arises, guess what New York Agents do? They pick up the phone to talk to the editor just like I do in Denver. They aren’t hopping on the subway to Random House on Broadway or wherever.

If something is crucial and important that I handle in person, well I’m going to hop on a plane. That’s still cheaper than office rent in Manhattan. (And yes, I’ve done that for several important meetings.)

I think where an agent is located matters more to writers and their perception of how the publishing business works. And that’s fine. If that’s a high on your criteria list of what you need your agent to have, then it is. For me, I think it’s more important to look at what the agent is doing in terms of a sales etc.

So does it matter where the agent is located? Don’t ask me because you know what my answer will be!

Frankfurt

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I was a reading demon this weekend. I also found out that Kim’s interview on NPR about NO PLACE SAFE happens tomorrow, Oct. 9th. I had originally said Oct. 10th.
You can click here to listen—even if you don’t get a chance to catch her live.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? DREAMS by The Cranberries

Some of you out the in the blog world might not know that the Frankfurt Book Fair is just about to unfold in Germany. It starts on Wednesday.

Frankfurt is considered THE international book fair and the world’s largest marketplace for trading in publishing rights and licenses.

In other words, it’s the biggest fair to sell translation rights for projects sold in the U.S. and vice-versa.

Lots of big foreign rights deals get done at Frankfurt.

And some happen right before. I’ve been fielding many an offer for a number of NLA projects currently on submission in foreign territories. Some nice auctions going down as well. Can’t really reveal details as of yet but will when I can.

I’m not there this year but my foreign rights co-agent is currently in Frankfurt on my behalf. I do, however, plan to attend one of these years so as to meet all the wonderful foreign publishers who have made my clients a success abroad.

Frankfurt does tend to make New York a little quiet this week.

4 Is The Number And The Number Shall Be 4

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s going to be working weekend as I catch up on some client reading.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LIGHTNING CRASHES by Live

This is more of an observation than a rant per se because there really isn’t anything wrong with doing or having this. It’s just sometimes when a query element is repeated often enough, it can become a cliché, and I don’t think there is any way for a writer to know this to be true unless I mention it on the blog.

Or maybe I should state it this way. If you are an African American writer tackling women’s fiction, you don’t have to write a novel about four girlfriends with intertwined lives.

Seriously, you really don’t have to. I know that WAITING TO EXHALE was an enormous and powerful book that really broke open this market (and for those of you who have been living under a rock and don’t know, this novel is about “four 30ish black women bound together by warm, supportive friendship and by their dwindling hopes of finding Mr. Right” (Publishers Weekly).

I have to say that for the last several months, Sara and I have not seen a query for African American women’s fiction that wasn’t about four girlfriends. Nary a one.

And we’d really like to. This is a market with plenty of room to grow. We’d love to see more African American women’s fiction but we don’t want to see a reinvention of EXHALE (which unfortunately the emphasis on 4 tends to create).

So, just an observation. It’s not like we are going to say NO to a query just because it’s about 4 girlfriends but it might make us pause and hesitate to say “yes”—and that’s never what you want an agent to be doing.

Great Covers, Film Deals, Good PR, That’s What This Job Is About!

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s one of those days where everything has come together. It makes being an agent perfect.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SONO ANDATI from La Bohème

First off I get the news that my author Kim Reid is going to have a live interview about her memoir NO PLACE SAFE on NPR this Oct. 10th.

She will be on the program News & Notes (which is the flagship African-American talk radio program on National Public Radio and is hosted by Farai Chideya).

I love NPR and it’s always a special thrill to have an author spotlighted on their radio program.

Then I finally get to share my most recent exciting film news. Universal’s Strike Entertainment has optioned Shanna Swendson’s Enchanted, Inc. Look for the Deal Lunch announcement to appear soon. This is especially thrilling because this deal has been three years in the making—not to mention this project was optioned by a whole other company about a year ago and that deal fell through. It’s the little film option that could!

And then, cherry on top, I receive the most gorgeous cover for a recently sold young adult project. It’s always amazing when a publisher gets it exactly right. Brooke and I are so in love with this cover, so if you hate it, I don’t want to hear about it.

Just kidding. Well…maybe not.

You’ll Die If We Don’t Sell Your Book Works Every Time–Not

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Good so far… that can always change in a heartbeat. No movie-making today that I can tell.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN by REO Speedwagon

Oh boy. I have to say that it has been a REALLY long time since we received a query like this. Sara and I are totally shaking our heads in bemusement.

First off, this query was in Bookman Old Style 36 point font. I’m not kidding. Seriously, I appreciate the writer worrying about my potential eye strain but 36 is a bit much. All caps to boot.

Now I know the query process is hard and frustrating. I get that but writing queries like this isn’t going to open any doors.

This writer asked me if I were a real agent. Hum…Then the writer mentioned that a real agent could get a book deal for anyone and for any book. I didn’t realize that only “real” agents sold 100% of what they take on. By that definition I guess I’m not real (although I just pinched myself and I feel solid enough.)

But the hardest part about these types of queries is when the writers resort to threats. For this query, that writer informed us that he/she is about to be homeless and will be again if we don’t get a great book deal for him/her right now and if the writer dies, we’ll be at fault.

We respectfully declined to look at material. We did receive a response to our rejection email that announced that we handle only trash and idiots (which I’m sure is news to our clients).

That didn’t, however, change our minds about reviewing sample pages.

Rumors Confirmed

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: With the mail, I’m reminded that it’s October royalty statement time.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? WHEN DOVES CRY by Prince

The rumor is now official. Harlequin is closing its NEXT and Everlasting lines. Not a huge surprise but now things need to be re-evaluated if an agent has an author writing for either one of those lines.

And I have to laugh. Publishers need to be able to move as fast as the word does and they rarely do. The poor editors. They all had to say they didn’t know anything about it until Harlequin made the official announcement (which happened today). Talk about being in an awkward position.

Once information hits the streets (and I do mean the virtual streets), word spreads rapidly.

Speaking of streets, virtual or otherwise, I had an interesting time getting to work this morning. Chutney and I were doing the usual walk down 17th street before taking a right on Wazee. Usually the streets in Lodo are a little quiet since most businesses are more uptown. Then I noticed there seemed to be an inordinate amount of attractive and well dressed people on the street and literally, standing in front of my office.

But hey, it’s a free country and fashion plates can stand where they like.

I walked into my lobby only to run into several of my fellow office building mates. They asked if I were “in it?”

Confused, I said, “in what?”

“The movie. They are shooting a movie.”

Ah. Well, that explains the people with the walkie talkies. I’m thinking not since nobody stopped me as I walked down the street. I probably ruined a scene and didn’t even know it.

Ends up they are filming an Eddie Murphy movie literally right outside my office door so when his next film comes out, look for the SH Supply Company brick building and you’ll know that is where the Nelson Literary Agency resides.

I have to say that car alarms were featured heavily in the scene they shot this morning because we would hear the command, the alarm would go off, and when “cut” was yelled, it stopped.

And no, I didn’t get a glimpse of Eddie.