Pub Rants

Author Archive

Home From Dallas

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: This time I arrived in Dallas on time. I’ll take it. Several years ago for the Dallas RWA, my plane was supposed to arrive by 4 in the afternoon. I reached the hotel at 1 in the morning.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? DOWNTOWN TRAIN by Rod Stewart (and yes I know that Tom Waits is the original songwriter)

Tomorrow the conference really gets started with the literacy signing. If you are in the neighborhood, be sure to seek out a few of my wonderful writers. The Autograph session begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regence, downtown Dallas.

RUMBLE ON THE BAYOU
By Jana DeLeon



‘SCUSE ME WHILE I KILL THIS GUY

by Leslie Langtry

MOONGAZER
Marianne Mancusi

PRIME TIME
By Hank Phillippi Ryan

GAMES OF COMMAND
Linnea Sinclair

DAMSEL UNDER STRESS
By Shanna Swendson

Public Service Message Take Two

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m off to RWA in Dallas tomorrow so it’s hard to say when I’ll be able to blog. I’ll do my best.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? U CAN’T TOUCH THIS by M.C. Hammer

This is for all soon-to-be published or already published authors.

When you receive the brand-spanking new cover art and you hate it, don’t go with your first impulse of wanting to pick up the phone to call your editor. Trust me, an author’s worst moment is seeing cover art they hate and this is not the time to have a conversation with your editor when emotions are running high. Don’t do it. Call your agent instead. We are trained to handle it.

Okay, maybe not trained to handle an emotional distraught client but it’s better for us to hear the emotional outpouring first.

For an author, a bad cover feels personal—like it’s a reflection (and not a good one) on all their hard work. It’s not uncommon for a client to burst into tears at the thought of the general populace associating such a horrible cover with his/her project.

For an agent, cover art is business. It’s just another issue that needs to be handled dispassionately and professionally. We know how to couch the feedback in terms that won’t get the editor defensive and will allow him/her to approach the art director in a reasonable way that might generate results—such as getting the cover changed.

And ultimately, that’s the bottom line objective.

Etiquette: Talking About Your Former Agent

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: My hubby has been out of town all week but is finally back tonight. That puts me in a great mood.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SHE’S LIKE THE WIND by Patrick Swayze

These blog postings might have several facets. We’ll see.

A recent letter I received got me thinking about this topic. In the letter, the writer was looking to switch agents because her project hadn’t sold. That in itself isn’t a problem. I can understand the frustration. The problem rested in how the issue was presented in the letter. The writer had incautiously written that the agent had only submitted the work to a few junior editors and then had promptly lost interest.

This may be true but it’s not in a writer’s best interest to present it that way. Maybe these are some up-and-coming young editors. Maybe X number of houses for the submission was appropriate. Maybe the Agent did his/her job. Ultimately, the inquiry letter ended up sounding more like sour grapes from disappointed hopes rather than a professional statement of the circumstances.

In other words, the writer sounded like a potential problem client, and I’m sure that wasn’t the writer’s intent.

Now I can totally sympathize with the disappointed hopes part and feeling abandoned by the agent. What I’m recommending here is that if this is the case, you feel it privately, but that’s not what you share in your new cover letter to prospective agents.

Keep it professional. Simply state, “I am currently looking for a new agent. I do have a project that was previously submitted to XYZ editors. I have revised it significantly and would like to go back on submission to some new venues for the work.”

And that’s if you really need to disclose this information at all in the first round of contact to agents. I always recommend just sending out a general query letter first so as to get agent interest. Then if sample pages or a full is requested, then ‘fess up to the prior representation and submission—sticking only to the facts (as in it was sent to “XYZ editors at XYZ houses).

Keep all other opinions to yourself. Once established with the new agent and you feel comfortable sharing the more personal perspective, then go for it. But in the query letter, just the facts ma’am.

A Two-Tiered System?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s going to be quiet all week. Lots of editors aren’t in the office. I’m working on two submissions that are going out in the next 2 weeks. I am so excited about both that I can’t keep from bouncing in my seat while I write up the submit lists and the cover letters. Can’t wait to share with editors.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? MISUNDERSTANDING by Genesis

Earlier this week I received an email from AAR (Association of Authors’ Representatives) that our contracts board is going to meet with S&S in the near future in order to discuss how recent developments in print on demand technology is affecting publisher out of print [OOP] clauses, etc.

I’m very glad that both sides are undergoing a dialogue.

For my impacted contracts, we are moving forward. I basically argued that these contracts were negotiated before the change and thus the previous boilerplate OOP language should be honored. And it was.

But I honestly can’t tell you what it will be like for future contracts and I’m worried about a two-tiered system. If a project is hot and the agent has leverage or there is an auction going down, I see there is flexibility with the OOP language. But if an author is mid-list and it’s option material time… it might be a whole difference experience. Too hard to say yet but it has me very concerned.

How To Snag A Copy Early

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: New York is quiet this week. Even though the holiday is tomorrow, lots of people take vacation time for the long weekend. Speaking of holidays, I won’t be blogging tomorrow. See you on Thursday.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? GLAMOUR PROFESSION by Steely Dan

I cannot tell you the amount of emails or comments posted I’ve received from readers dying to get their hands on SCHEMES OF LOVE by Sherry Thomas since that sale to Bantam last year.

These avid fans don’t want to wait until spring 2008 to read beyond the first chapter sample Sherry has posted on her website.

If you are one of them, I’ve got some good news. If you are going to be at RWA in Dallas next week, your wait is over. Bantam Dell is giving away 100 free ARCs of the novel and Sherry will be on hand to sign it.

So, if this is what you’ve been waiting for, you’ll want to take down this info.

First, Bantam renamed the book. They thought “SCHEMES” sounded too cynical. Now Sherry and I actually really like the new title PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS. However, we don’t want folks to be confused. The projects are one and the same.

Two. Look at this gorgeous cover. Bantam is even springing for the step-back (almost unheard of for a debut author).

Three. Check out who has read this novel already and loves it.

“A love story of remarkable depth…Entrancing from start to finish.”
—Mary Balogh, New York Times bestselling author

“Exquisite, enchanting…An extraordinary, unputdownable love story.”
—Jane Feather, New York Times bestselling author

Four. Be sure to attend the Bantam signing at the Hyatt Regency Dallas on Saturday, July 14, 2007

2:30-4:00 pm
Marsalis Ballroom, Section B(2)
Hyatt Regency Dallas

Watch That Over-Telling

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: For it be close to 100 degrees here in Denver is just downright unnatural. Don’t even get me started about global warming. If you haven’t seen AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, you should.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? COOL CHANGE by Little River Band (appropriate, isn’t it?)

I’m finally getting back to reading my sample pages inbox. I know. I’m way behind. But I’ve been noticing an interesting writing trend that I thought I would share with my blog populace.

Some writers have an annoying habit of restating (via a thought their main character has) what has already been made apparent by the scene or the dialogue.

For example, let’s say that two characters are having an angry exchange in a spot of dialogue. Then the writer will write something right after that reads, “Jane could tell that John was angry.”

I’m making this up as you can tell but the premise is sound. The “not nice” part of me wants to say, “Well, duh. You just showed me that through the dialogue that’s on the page. You shouldn’t have to tell me that the character has figured out that the other person is angry.”

So, I’m just asking you be on the look out for this in your own writing and delete any extraneous telling that might hinder your story.

Just this bit of tightening can make a HUGE difference.

Editors Do Read Blogs

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF! I’m off to my assistant Sara’s 10th wedding anniversary party.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SOMEBODY HAVE MERCY by Sam Cooke

But here’s the sticking point, they only read a writer’s blog or review a website when they are interested in potentially buying a project an agent has sent their way.

They want to see how savvy the writer is. How well he/she writes outside of the novel or the proposal. They might even take a look and see how the author photographs.

They definitely take a look.

Now, they don’t spend time perusing websites or blogs of random unpublished authors. That would eat up too much time…

Out.

Kristin’s Fav Blogs

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m checking the mirror to see if I’ve gone cross-eyed yet. Lots of reading today.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? I FEEL POSSESSED by Crowded House

I have to admit that it’s the end of a long reading day (I’ve been trying to complete feedback for several client projects in a timely fashion—as in a turnaround time of less than two weeks). Which means it’s 5:30 p.m. here in Denver and I have to blog.

But all I want to do is read some of my favorite blogs.

And then it hit me. Maybe readers of my blog would be interested in the blogs I tend to read daily (or maybe not but I’m going to post it anyway).

Just like y’all, I have my favorite blog watering holes. I might not read them every day but when I do, I try and catch up on all the news. Now my blog favorites are two-fold. There are the blogs I read for “work” and then the ones I read for work (sort of) and because I just enjoy them.

Now it goes without saying that I tune in to my clients’ blogs often so I won’t list them here (because they are tagged on the side bar after all).

So without further ado, here are a few:

Galley Cat
Confessions of An Idiosyncratic Mind
Thompson on Hollywood

Smart Bitches (although they are totally in my dog house for recently trashing one of my authors although it’s yet another great lesson for showing subjectivity in what people like and dislike)

Papercuts
Gawker
Shelftalker
Diana’s Diversions

Evil Editor (who made me snort water out my nose when he parodied me after Miss Snark’s retirement)
Romancing the Blog
Writer Beware
Man In Black
Making Light (off and on for me though)

Okay, now I have to add to the links to each so I’ll stop here…

Mum’s The Word!

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I love when editors email and say they are ready to buy!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HEARTBREAKER by Led Zeppelin

This is my public service message to help out all my fellow agents. A lot of writers (published and unpublished) blog these days so I want to send out a helpful hint to all you unpublished writers who blog and who now have representation and are just about to go out on submission.

As soon as your manuscript is submitted, mum is the word. You can’t blog about the manuscript, the submission, the editors who will see it, or any rejection letters because guess what, interested editors will often read the writer’s blog.

And how do I put this delicately? There is just information that we, as agents, want to control about the status of the submission (for example, who is interested or who has rejected it and if the writer is blogging about it… well, you can see where issues might arise).

Repeat after me. Mum is the word. Do not blog about it.

Agency Anomaly

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Plugging along. Only two weeks ago I was all pleased because I had caught up on everything. Ah, those were the days…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? ROCK THIS TOWN by Stray Cats

Sitting on the panel this past weekend also reminded me of a fact that I often forget—the fact that my agency is a little bit of an anomaly in this business.

The three other agents sitting on the panel all handled mostly nonfiction with an occasionally novel to fill out their roster.

I’m the exact opposite. About 98% of what I do is fiction with an occasional story-based nonfiction project such as Kim Reid’s memoir NO PLACE SAFE or Jennifer O’Connell’s book of collected essays EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING A GIRL I LEARNED FROM JUDY BLUME. This is actually unusual. The majority of agents sell nonfiction because it’s easier to sell (more quantifiable), takes less time to put together (because most nonfiction is sold in the proposal stage), and it usually tends to make more money (more six figure deals are for nf projects).

So why do I just mainly do fiction? Because that’s what I love and that’s where my passion is. And for me, for some reason, fiction is just easy to sell (and I do sell quite a few projects, even for debut authors, for high five or six figures, and I sell almost every project I take on). My nonfiction stats (early in my career when I handled both) couldn’t compare. I liked things that were too quirky for mainstream publishing. Go figure.

Now my agency thrives because I handle all types of fiction—including genre stuff such as romance or sf&f. A lot of agents are only interested in literary or commercial mainstream and let me tell you, literary fiction is one hard sell. When you understand how hard it is to place a literary novel, it becomes clearer as to why most agents concentrate on nonfiction to pay the bills.