Pub Rants

Author Archive

Featured At Book Expo

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s a rainy day in Denver. Perfect for working on an edit. It was also a quiet email day. Folks are getting ready for the long weekend and then BEA in New York City.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HOTEL CALIFORNIA by the Eagles

Yep, it’s happening next week. Get ready for publishing to shut down for a couple of days while we all party at the Javits Center. And I do mean party. Parties in the Publisher exhibition booths. Parties at external locations. Invitation only parties. And parties worth crashing.

And I’ll be there—reporting from the floor if I see anything of interest for blog readers.

BEA 2007 is a banner year for the Nelson Agency. I have four authors who are being spotlighted there.

So if you are wandering the convention floor, you might want to pop in and say hello to some of my authors and get an autographed copy of your favorite book.

MOONGAZER
Marianne Mancusi
Friday, June 1, 2007
12:00-1:00 p.m. Dorchester Booth 3681

CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY
Ally Carter
Friday June 1, 2007
Hyperion Booth 3956
3:00-3:30 p.m. Author Autographing Area: table 16
(sorry for the neon green. That’s how blogger uploaded it and I couldn’t fix it. Honestly, the cover is not that weird green.)


DIVORCED GIRLS SOCIETY
Jennifer O’Connell & Vicki King
Saturday, June 2, 2007
1:00 pm Adams Media Booth 3915


PRIME TIME
Hank Phillippi Ryan
Saturday, June 2, 2007
2-2:45 Harlequin Booth 3874

INSIDER DATING
Jennifer O’Connell
Saturday, June 2, 2007
2:30 p.m. Author Autographing Area

Critique Me In St. Louis?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: This has been a crazy day. I really needed to finish an edit for a client but it’s already 4 in the afternoon and I haven’t touched it. Guess I’ll be up late tonight.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SHOOT THE MOON by Norah Jones

Okay, I’m embarrassed to admit that my Mom & Dad read my blog (and boy did I get in trouble when I didn’t call to tell them about Chutney’s trip to the emergency room.) I got a cold blast when my Mom called to tell me she had read about it ON MY BLOG. Sniff.

Won’t make that mistake again!

But she did send me a tidbit to share with writers because she noticed that commenters often asked about how they can find people to critique their work.

So, if you happen to live in St. Louis, Missouri and are looking for a critique group, this post is for you (and you can give a warm thank you to my mother and the article she found).

You might start with the St. Louis Writers Guild. This association has many different affiliate chapters such as the Chesterfield Writers Guild (which is a township within St. Louis). According to my Mom (and the article she was reading), they each have a mission of providing for and promoting a community of writers of all genres and levels of experience within the area. They offer workshops, peer reviews, groups, speakers etc.

If St. Louis has this, I bet other communities to do. Just do a Google search for [YOUR CITY NAME] Writers Guild and see what pops up. Get connected.

Writing is solitary business but it doesn’t have to be.

Goodbye Miss Snark! I’ll Miss You

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: A little sad. See below. Just a heads up to let you know that Chutney is doing well. Her stomach is giving her occasional problems but you don’t really need details about that.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SAVE A PRAYER by Duran Duran

I heard the very sad news this morning when a friend emailed me the link. Yes, it’s true. Miss Snark is retiring.

Why am I sad? Because she would often say (and rather bluntly) what I could not as a non-anonymous, very nice literary agent.

She could be our mouthpiece for the truth that needed to be said without any sugar-coating. And I know I’m not the only agent who felt that way.

But don’t worry, I don’t have any plans to end my blogging but I can sometimes sympathize with Miss Snark and Jennifer Jackson. Some days it’s a real stretch to come up with a topic worth blogging about. As long as you don’t mind a few blog lights here and there, we’ll probably be fine.

Now on to the topic that still has me steamed. I’m particularly enjoying the S&S’s most recent press release where they manage to dance around everything but the real issue—that without sales thresholds for POD copies, there’s no way for rights to revert (which is not in an author’s favor) despite all those good proclamations about how this is really a benefit to authors. Read the press release for yourself right here.

Snort.

Oops. Did I just do that aloud?

So some key phrases: “we are willing to have an open and forthright dialogue on this or any other topic.

I guess I’ll soon find out.

Another key phrase: “to keep the author’s book available for sale over the term of the license.”

Well two things here folks:

1. We have OOP clauses so we don’t have to specify an exact term of the license in the publishing contract because once it’s out of print, rights revert (when sales thresholds are included that is).

2. As discussed with my contracts manager, we would be open to specifying an exact term for the license but at the moment, we didn’t have to because we had very specific Out of Print clauses that made the term of the license clear. And the vote is not in yet on whether S&S will be “open and forthright” about a dialogue concerning license term limits specified when negotiating the initial Grant of Rights.

I guess I’ll soon find out about that as well.

I Can’t Go For That—No Can Do

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Here is some fabulous news I finally get to share. It’s official. Walden Media (Chronicles of Narnia) has bought I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU from Disney. This is great news because Disney had decided to sit on the project (never what we want) and now things are finally moving forward. Now the big news will be when it goes into production. Then I’ll believe that the film might actually be made.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? WATCH YOUR STEP by Anita Baker

Just a little note to add to yesterday’s blog. Did the Authors Guild over-react regarding the news just in from S&S?

Folks, I have to say that I’m not sensing that. I didn’t just get that AG alert and then blog about it. I’m pretty interconnected with a lot of agents and we are all talking to each other.

My S&S contracts haven’t hit my desk yet but they have hit the desks of agents I know and those folks are currently battling for sales threshold language that used to be a standard negotiated item. (Side note on how it works: Publishers have boilerplate contracts that agents renegotiate and that renegotiated contract becomes the agency’s standard boilerplate with that publisher. That way we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time we do a new deal with that publisher. Our previously negotiated language is automatically included.)

Today’s Publisher’s lunch reports that it is Authors Guild executive director Paul Aiken’s understanding that S&S is no longer going to add sales thresholds to the Out of Print Clause and it is non-negotiable.

And from what I’m hearing from those currently dealing with S&S contracts, that’s not off the mark.

It’s fine if S&S wants to change their boilerplate OOP language. I don’t have a problem with that. They can have whatever language they want to include. It’s the “non-negotiable” part that’s potentially the issue.

(Side note here: both Random House and the Penguin Group have already digitized their lists and neither has any problem including sales threshold language in their OOP clauses.)

Lunch also reports that “agents are prepared to pushback vigorously if presented with such a change.”

Blaster or light saber anyone?

That’s No Moon; That’s A Space Station

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: A new client said YES and came on board today! Hooray! It was stiff competition to but I’m so excited about this novel. When I can talk about it more, I will. I also spent a lot of time on the phone today and the receiver is now glued to my left ear. Chutney is still struggling because she’s having trouble keeping food down. At least she is willing to eat plain white rice and that seems to be settling her stomach.

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

How can I not have thoughts about an evil empire when word comes down (mainly through the Authors Guild) that Simon & Schuster would now like to change their boilerplate language for their Out of Print Clause and let me just tell you that it’s not in an author’s favor.

And to sum it up succinctly, they want to change the language so that the books they buy never go out of the print, the rights won’t revert back to the author, and they get to hold the rights into perpetuity.

How will this be done? By 1) not allowing language that restricts the OOP definition in terms of X number of copies sold during a certain period, and 2) by also not allowing language that states that electronic versions only will not constitute the work being in print.

In the age of digitalization and Print on Demand, that means “into perpetuity” folks.

Here’s the sum up from the Authors Guild:
The new contract would allow Simon & Schuster to consider a book in print, and under its exclusive control, so long as it’s available in any form, including through its own in-house database — even if no copies are available to be ordered by traditional bookstores.

Red Squadron get ready since I’m expecting several S&S contracts in the next week or so.

I have to wonder what S&S is thinking because I know what I’m going to be thinking if they adhere to this “new” boilerplate language and that is that I might need to sell my projects elsewhere.

Multiple Voices (Or Are They Just In Your Head)?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m dragging today. I stayed up super late last night but this time it wasn’t because I had an exciting full manuscript to read. Nope. It was excitement of a different kind. I had to run Chutney to the emergency room. Her face swelled up like a hippopotamus out of nowhere last night. Don’t worry, she’s not perky today but doing well. I guess a swollen face is a sign of an allergic reaction. She had a big welt on her leg so we think she was bitten by a spider. She has got to stop playing with those 8-legged friends.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? PERSONAL JESUS by Depeche Mode

I did a phone teleclass today and one of the attendees asked me an interesting question. She asked, “can writers have different voices for different genre projects.”

The question stumped me because I had never really thought about it before. I rather assumed that a writer’s voice is his or her voice regardless of what the person is writing. That your writing voice is essential and unique to you and even though you might bend it to different genres, it will ultimately still “sound” like you or have your unique feel.

And that’s what I said but maybe I was just pushing air. Can writers have different voices for different genres?

Tips From A Borders Buyer

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I put another project out on submission this week. That’s always exciting.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? NO SURRENDER by Bruce Springsteen

When I was at the CRW conference this weekend, I had a chance to hear Sue Grimshaw give a talk to a room of already published authors. Sue is the Romance buyer for Borders and has the inside scoop on buying for that industry but I think some of her tips can cross over to other genres.

First, some interesting general factoids:

1. Readers do pay attention to author quotes on the cover.
(Good to know so going after those blurbs can be worthwhile)

2. On the Borders e-newsletter, readers have more click-throughs on author letters to the reader than on the Borders coupons.
(I don’t know what this means but it sounds like readers like to hear from authors and feel personally connected).

Some interesting romance-specific factoids:

1. Sexy covers continue to sell well
(so take that shirt off…but only if you are a guy)

2. Paranormal is still selling well. Readers like tortured heroes. Vampires are in abundance so think outside the box.

3. Sales for historicals are still flat.
(So if you are a fan and want this to reignite, go out and buy more books. Editors, however, are asking for historicals—as long as they are sexy).

Some marketing hints:

1. Have a website but also have something that brings people back to that site time and time again.

2. Interview your own characters. Readers love to know the hidden back story that might not be in the novel itself.

3. Post an excerpt on your website but not necessarily the opening chapters. (Sometimes readers might mistake that for having already read the book). Use a tension-building, exciting, or slightly sexy excerpt instead.

4. Get thinking about Book Trailers. Borders does feature them on their site and in their e-newsletters.
(Professionally done folks. 1 Minute or less. And if in romance, shadow the hero. )

5. Get to know your local booksellers. Sign stock (and yes, it’s just a myth that book stores can’t return those copies because they can). Have your own autograph stickers on hand though.

6. Ask your editor/publisher about a pre-sale tools such as Shelf talkers.

7. Advertise in industry publications.

Got Conflict?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I started my day on the phone with the tech people on why I could send email but people weren’t receiving them. I have to say that computer or email tech problems rank up there as high stress. Still, it’s just a complication—not a conflict.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? JUNGLE LOVE by Steve Miller Band

My author Linnea Sinclair gave a great workshop this weekend and a point she made in her class really crystallized an issue I often see in sample pages—and that’s the problem of writers confusing complication with conflict. They are not the same.

And here’s a good way to explain the difference.

Let’s say that a man and woman decide to head out to the park to have a romantic picnic. They have wine, cheese, and other yummy foods that incite romantic inclinations such as little smooches etc.

Suddenly the picnic is overrun by red ants (or something equally nasty) and the couple must spring apart and it derails the picnic.

This is a complication—not a conflict. The ants are simply present (and would be if the couple was there enjoying the picnic or not).

Now, let’s set up the same scenario with the couple, the wine & cheese, and the romantic picnic. Instead of ants showing up, the man’s wife appears on the scene.

That’s conflict!

Conflict is always personal.

Linnea also pointed out that misunderstanding, distrust, and coincidence are all minor complications (and not conflict). I see this in manuscript sample pages a lot too. The writer is relying on some big secret misunderstanding that if known, would have made it a non-story. That if the two main characters had just had a chance to talk about what they weren’t getting, then problem solved.

And I know as a reader, I always feel cheated if I read a work and ultimately it’s just a miscommunication. Makes me feel like the rug was pulled out from underneath me.

Now you can layer these complications into a manuscript. Just don’t mistake it for being the conflict.

Linked In

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Off to the conference.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? POSSESSION by Sarah McLachlan

My agent friends and I often laugh about how “in-the-know” some of our clients are.

In fact, it happened this morning. So many published authors are on chat loops, the minute even a hint of a rumor (regarding a line, or an editor, or whatever) gets whispered, it’s out in the loops in a flash and all the authors know about it—lots of times even before the agents do.

And I love that my clients immediately call or email me so I can track down or confirm the scoop. Now sometimes the rumors are wrong but a lot of times, where there is smoke there is indeed fire.

This always startles the editors but I’m not sure why. They must know that authors love talking with each other and there are many many venues in which to do so.

So I just have to say that if you are a published author and you aren’t linked in, you might want to get there. All you have to do is ask the other writers in your genre where they get their news and sign up for that loop (although some are invitation only).

You too can then be linked in. It bears an eerie resemblance to Radar Love mentioned in the song by Golden Earring.

Post-Conference Onslaught

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m good actually. Tackled some things on my To Do list. Have two new submissions going out very soon. That’s always exciting.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LONG COOL WOMAN IN A BLACK DRESS by The Hollies

I’m off to another conference this weekend. I’m refraining from smacking myself in the head. Every year I promise myself that I will only commit to doing 3 (and if pushed) maybe 4 a year—if that.

This year I ended up with 6. How the heck did that happen? But when New Zealand Romance Writers came a-calling to invite me down under, I just couldn’t say no. Do you blame me?

So this weekend is another romance conference (but don’t worry, I’m also going to be attending the Surrey International in Vancouver and that encompasses everything—including literary and commercial mainstream—which I’m always looking for more of.)

Not to mention, I was just recently invited to the World Horror 2008 Convention. I had to ring them back up to make sure they had the right person. After all, I don’t really represent “horror” per se. They said that they did indeed mean to contact me and that I was one of their top choices. Tickle me pink. It’s not a done deal yet but it’s a possibility that’s out there.

But this weekend is a local conference (which means I’m usually game to go because I don’t have to travel). It’s the Romancing The Rockies conference, and my author Linnea Sinclair is one of the keynote speakers.

And yes, there is a point to this blog and I’m getting to it.

My agency always gets a large slew of submissions right after a conference because I got a chance to meet and chat with a bunch of wonderful folks and of course I’ll look at sample pages. That’s the point of the conference after all.

But here’s a secret. Most folks send in their sample pages within a day or two so we get buried quickly.

My suggestion? Wait about 7-10 days, then send. That way we’ve mastered the onslaught and might just have a little more time for a more leisurely read.

One of those agency insider helpful hints.