Pub Rants

Author Archive

Feeling A Little Warm Fuzzy

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I almost cracked the cover last night but refrained. It’s going to be a long week. Good thing there are exciting things happening at the office to distract me.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? MACK THE KNIFE by Louis Armstrong

I think I’m allowed to pat myself on the back every once in a great while. Today I passed on to several agent friends a manuscript that I liked but wasn’t right for me. I thought they would be a better fit.

Then I got this email. I’m a former English professor and corporate trainer so I’ve always enjoyed teaching. Last April, I did a query workshop at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference and Aaron was one of my victims—I mean volunteers. I really enjoyed his writing (and yes I looked at sample pages) but I knew the project wasn’t right for me. Armed with a great query letter, he obviously found the right person.

Yea Aaron! Yea Kristin for giving a query workshop where a participant actually learned something! (I always wonder if I’m being helpful…)

Hi Kristin,

I’m not sure if you remember me, but you gave me a tremendous amount of help drafting a query letter at this year’s PPWC–I was lucky enough to be one of the “projects” in your stellar workshop on query writing. In addition, I read and reread all the blog entries I could find of yours about how to write a great query. I wanted to let you know that I just found representation for my novel and I couldn’t be happier. My new agent is at Levine Greenberg in New York.

I made it to my agent thanks, almost entirely, to you. Not only did I use your advice to write (and edit and edit and edit…) my query letter, but I also used your list of agents that accept email queries as my sole source for submissions. After submitting to every agent on your list, I had three requests for partials, which quickly turned into two requests for fulls, which turned into two agents for me to choose between.

In addition to being my query guide, you have often inspired me and made me laugh with your blog. I really don’t know how to thank you for how much you’ve helped me and, I’m sure, countless other writers eager to enter this business–so I’ll just say: Thank you, thank you, thank you for your incredible generosity, wisdom and good humor. I hope the karma bank keeps paying you dividends for years and years to come.

All the best,
Aaron Brown

By the way, that list can be found online here. (Reminds me, I need to update that darn thing…)

Read Your Contract

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m trying really hard to be good. My copy of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS came on Saturday. I know that once I start reading, I’ll ignore everything else and I don’t think my clients would appreciate that with all that’s going on this week. So, I must wait until Friday night but then, look out.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? CAN I CHANGE MY MIND? By Tyrone Davis

When it comes to contracts, I’m incredibly anal. I can easily spend hours on one contract making sure that all my boilerplate items are included and that nothing has changed in terms of a clause changing or something being included (or being deleted–Simon & Schuster comes to mind).

Even with this, I live in fear of simply being human and missing something, so that’s why both my contracts manager and I read all the contracts that come in.

Even so I would prefer that my clients also read their contracts (one more set of eyes can’t hurt). Whether they do or not, I couldn’t say since they have never pointed out an error.

I recently heard a rumor from a reliable (but will remain unnamed) source that some agencies got caught not reading the new S&S contracts carefully and missed the change in the out of print clause.

Clients received those contracts and might have even signed them. Now I also heard that the errors were corrected but yikes, that thought alone makes me want to admonish writers to read their contracts!

Friday Randomness

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I actually spent most of last night reading sample pages. I might actually be caught up after this weekend. This idea shouldn’t excite me but it does. I’ve been feeling the guilt for making writers wait for a response. I may be guilt-free by Monday. That will last for about 2 weeks…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE by The Cure
(Okay, even I think the coincidence is a little strange.)

I’m just shaking my head. I’m now dubbing it The Thigh-high Stocking controversy. It has yet to end.

Smart Bitches now has close to 500 comments on the issue. If you’ve got some time, like a couple of hours (because you’ll need it), you can read all about it.

The news even made the GalleyCat blog today.

Personally, I’m hoping those two simply laugh all the way to the bank. Show your support for Liz and Mari and go buy their books. And if you don’t agree, well then, don’t buy their books. Simple enough.

I also want to point out a new blog I just discovered, and here’s the embarrassing part. I only discovered it because Joe had some awfully nice things to say about me although in general he thinks agents are evil incarnate.

Okay, I made that up…

Joe of Publishing 2020 is the Vice President and Executive Publisher of the Professional/Trade division of New York publisher John Wiley & Sons. So what I’m saying is that this guy is a bit of a gearhead and is in the know…

And I bet you blog readers didn’t realize that Sara, my amazing assistant, also blogs over there on our myspace page. She’s giving out a lot of good information for free so you might want to check it out.

TGIF folks!

What I Always Counsel

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Today was as exciting as a root canal. Accounting. Need I say more? Still, even if there is a bookkeeper involved, one must balance the books and ensure everything is in order.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? MONEY by Pink Floyd
(Funny how this works sometimes. I swear; it’s really what is playing right now.)

When I was at the RWA conference last week, an author came up to me and disclosed that she wanted to leave her agent and would I give her some advice.

And I’ll tell you that when an author contacts me with this thought in the mind, I always ask this question first: “Have you spoken to your agent about your desire to leave?”

Why do I ask this? Because the answer has always been NO and I always counsel that an author thinking of jumping should have a heart-to-heart talk with the agent before doing so.

Now, this is working on the assumption that the agent has done his/her job. In other words, the author hasn’t just discovered that the agent is a scammer. This also rules out any agents who might have acted illegally or fraudulently. Obviously if this is the case, a heart-to-heart, to put it simply, is rather unnecessary. High tail it on out of there.

But I operate in the world in the same way that I would want to be treated. Karma and all that. If one of my clients were thinking of leaving, I would certainly hope that they would give me the opportunity to hear what the problem is and allow me time to fix it, which is why I always counsel the author to talk with his/her agent first.

I’ve not landed new (and very desirable) clients by providing this type of counsel, but I sleep well at night. And who knows, ultimately the break between that author and agent might be unavoidable and they can certainly come knocking on my door again.

But they have to know that I’m going to ask them if they had that heart-to-heart first…

Now if the author has already formally made the break, that’s a different story. They aren’t asking for counsel. They’ve already made a decision.

No Such Thing As Bad Publicity?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I spent the day on the phone. Literally. Like four hours straight. I thought I would lose my voice at the end there.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? TURNING JAPANESE by The Vapors

Authors that spark controversy get noticed. Just recently one of my YA authors asked me how she could have her novel banned. Banned books get noticed and she’d love to be on a banned books list.

I must have looked a little flummoxed by the question because I never thought of it that way before but she’s right. Banned books get attention.

I said she just needed to use the word “scrotum” in her work.

And no, I’m not going to explain the joke because I know many of my commenters can help you out with that. But here’s the truth. Authors don’t set out to write a book that’s going to be banned. They start by writing a book that embraces an honest or essential truth (which can then offend a segment of the population). As you can probably tell, I’m not one for banning books.

But I like the idea of authors garnering attention for their books. Have you ever heard of the phrase, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity?”

For example, right now there’s a controversy unfolding regarding my author Marianne Mancusi and her promotional partner Liz Maverick and the costumes they chose to wear at their RWA signings. They basically dressed like the futuristic characters in their books forDorchester’s new Shomi line (MOONGAZER and WIRED).

I personally think they could give Alicia Silverstone in the movie CLUELESS a run for her money. Cute is the word that comes to mind for me. Here’s a pic if you want to see for yourself.


But boy, aren’t they just the talk of the town. Check out the discussion going on at Smart Bitches. And if you are of the mind that being in the limelight keeps your books in the forefront of readers’ minds, then this isn’t a bad thing at all.

I guess the real question is whether publicity (controversial or not) translates into sales.

A Case For A Cover Change

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Feeling jubilant. A cover issue crisis has been solved!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? ORDINARY WORLD by Duran Duran

I can’t possibly compete with Jeff Kleinman’s superb magnum opus on Bella Stander’s blog about when you hate your cover (which I think should be mandatory reading for all writers) but I do want to add one last thing that you can add to the list.

Most authors focus, with emotion, on the aspect they hate most. Maybe the cover looks cheap, doesn’t accurately reflect the story, or what have you. These arguments don’t really carry much weight because sales/marketing/art department are looking at other aspects such as will the cover pop while on a shelf or riser stand.

The most effective argument for a cover change almost always revolves around whether the cover effectively targets the core audience for the book. If you can make a substantial case that it doesn’t, you have a good chance to win the argument (and if the B&N buyer hates the cover for the same reasons you do and tells the editor so, that helps a lot too.)

I’ve won every cover argument sans one. Thank goodness the author has forgiven me for that. I can’t even tell the publisher “I told you so” because the book did very well—even with that cover. Which is good but I hate when that happens.

Rule Breaking Novels

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: First day back in the office after being away for a week. Let’s just say there is a lot on my desk that needs handling. I did pretty well today but tomorrow will be the real determiner

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LITTLE RED CORVETTE by Prince

I did another panel last week called Bye-Bye Box: Writing And Selling The Rule-Breaking Book. We all had some interesting talking points so I thought I would share some of mine.

1. If you are breaking the rules, it’s all about the writing to make it work. The writing needs to be way above average and spectacular to really catch the eyes of the editors. (An example I gave was Diana Gabaldon’s OUTLANDER but CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR would be another good example. Or better yet, FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC.)

2. The biggest question that editors will have if the novel bends or blends genres is where will it be shelved? This carries a lot of weight.

3. My job as an agent when selling a rule-breaking book is not to focus on the rules being broken but how the uniqueness can be a selling point. (By the way, that’s a mistake writers make in their query letters when pitching an out of the box idea. They highlight the strange, different, or “out there” aspect. That doesn’t work. Your pitch should focus on what makes the story so human despite let’s say an unusual world, or setting, or plot twist or whatever. You have to focus on uniquely capturing your character’s conflict in a way that feels universal despite the rules being broken.)

4. Remember, world building becomes very crucial if you are rule-breaking. It has to be clearly defined and believable—even if you are setting the story in 2007.

5. For the rule-breaking book, are you leading the trend or are you behind it? Makes a big difference.

6. For “taboo” subjects, what’s the purpose for it? Is it simply to shock the reader or is the taboo subject an integral part of the story and the key to its unfolding? Big difference. I see a lot of queries that focus on the shock value and not on what will make the story appealing to readers to read.

7. Rule breaking comes with either great risk or huge reward. There isn’t much in between. Lots of rule-breaking books flop big time. We tend to only remember the huge successes.

But ultimately, it’s only writers who can do it extraordinarily well that end up being able pull it off.

Most Valuable Asset

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I had to get up early this morning for an 8:30 a.m. panel. Thank goodness for Chai lattes! And yes, I don’t normally blog on a Saturday but I making up for Wednesday’s missed blog. Have a great weekend.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? STAND BACK by Stevie Nicks

Last night I was at the Bantam/Ballantine cocktail party at The Mansion on Turtle Creek where I ended up chatting with a B&N book buyer. She said that the most important tool an author could have is a website.

And I agree. The buyers do actually look at author websites and potentially use them for their internet marketing.

But what is clear to me (and what I actually chatted about incoherently on today’s early morning panel) is that it can’t be any old website. It has to be dynamic.

Websites by nature are static. If very little changes, it won’t draw readers back to the site (and the purpose of the site ceases to be all that valuable). So here are the tips I shared with the attendees this morning. How does one make a dynamic site?

1. Have it professionally done. Amateur sites can hinder more than help. If you aren’t a plumber, then you wouldn’t try to tackle sweating pipes. Leave it to the professionals. It’s worth paying for expertise.

2. It’s all about the content—of course! You need to provide it. If it’s just about your books or you as the author, it won’t draw repeated visits. Make it valuable.

Ideas

Provide resources
Add deleted scenes that you love but didn’t quite make it into the final book
Get creative. Interview your characters.
Write a series of letters to your fans and post them there (and share them with Borders, B&N etc.)
Have ever-changing content or decide to blog (hint: If you can’t do this on regular basis, then don’t do it. It has to be regular to keep readers coming back).
How can you be interactive on the site? Chat sessions? Start a round robin story where fans can participate in the writing. Teach an online workshop.

Yes, this might mean you need to get more technologically savvy but remember, that could actually turn out to be fun. The internet is growing in importance for author marketing and since it’s not going away… embrace it!

The Big Picture

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Squeezing this blog in before the day gets too crazy. It will be a miracle if I’m back to my hotel room before midnight tonight.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? WINDMILLS OF THE MIND by Sting

Tip of the Day: In the course of your publishing career, know that one or all of these things might happen to you at some time.

1. A Bad cover
2. A low advance
3. A book that doesn’t quite reach its projected sales potential
4. Writer’s block while on a deadline
5. Another author being jealous or spiteful of or to you
6. An editor leaving
7. A contract cancelled

And when the bad happens, let it roll off you because in the course of your publishing career, know that one or all of these things might happen to you one day.

1. A gorgeous cover
2. Hitting a bestseller list
3. Having your whole backlist bought for a reprint
4. An advance from your dreams
5. A book that does reach the projects sales potential and then goes beyond
6. Being a lead title
7. Another author supports and helps you with a blurb or cross-promotion etc.

That ultimately it’s the journey that you must savor not just the end result of what you might define as “success.”

Now here are a few shots of several authors who are at the start of this journey.

One Path to Career Suicide

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Yes, I know. I didn’t blog yesterday. I got back to the hotel too late to form a coherent sentence. I’ll try and make up for it tonight.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? WICKED GAME by Chris Isaak

Here’s a bonus tip garnered from an informal agents’ roundtable I attended (otherwise known as the bar). We were chatting about things that might not constitute author career suicide but might come close and that is when an author disses his/her editor in a public forum (be it blog, chat loop, on website, etc.)

This might seem rather obvious as something that might not be wise to do but it’s obviously not for some folks because I heard a number of stories where an author had done just that. So let’s highlight a few things.

1. Know that the editor will always find out. (Just take my word on this. The Grapevine is powerful.)

2. This makes an editor rather disinclined to help that author (or to want to continue with that author).

These types of public proclamations do not forward a writer’s career. Enough said.

On to much more fun topics such as the first RWA Spa Day hosted by yours truly. Yep, it was good to be a Nelson Agency client on Wednesday.

My authors (and their editors who could attend plus some few key guests) had a day of pampering at the Spa at the Crescent.

From left:

Top row: Nancy Berland, Linnea Sinclair, Me, Lucienne Diver, Simone Elkeles
Bottom row: Sherry Thomas, Brooke Taylor, Leah Hultenschmidt, Marianne Mancusi
Several authors/guests not pictured because they were off having amazing massages and didn’t pop into the lunch area until later (or they weren’t willing to be pictured in a bathrobe!) There were 17 of us total.