And It’s not Comic Con without great costumes and terrific booth displays. Here are a couple more shots to give you a sense of the convention as a whole.
Some examples of the Booth displays!
Steampunk hat shop.
DC Comics booth
STATUS: 589 emails in the inbox. Yep, that sums up my day. Thank goodness it’s a holiday in New York.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? GET TOGETHER by YoungBloods
As promised, pictures from comic con. Friday wasn’t even the “busy” day and it was packed.
Marianne Mancusi at entrance of the convention
Mari holds her Night School poster in the Penguin Booth. Four and half years after initial publication of the first book–Boys That Bite–the series is taking off. Last year, Penguin rebranded the covers and rereleased the first three books and then published book 4 in the series. Night School is book 5 in the series. It will release in January 2011.
Got to have the gratuitous agent/author shot in booth!
Orbit Publicist Jack Womack holding up SOULLESS paraphernalia at Orbit booth.
Close-up on the Poster.
STATUS: Actually, I’m feeling half dead after almost a full week of all-day meetings from 8 in the morning to sometimes 11 o’clock at night.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? SUFFRAGETTE CITY by David Bowie
I’m back at the hotel early enough to blog. Every other night I’ve returned so late, I didn’t have the energy to fire up the old netbook and sneak in an entry. I do have LOTS to blog about so get ready for NYC recap next week when I’m back in the office.
Tomorrow I’m at Random House all morning and then I head to the Javits center for New York Comic con all afternoon. Orbit has galvanized the steampunk contingent here in the city (and I can’t believe I just wrote a sentence that has “steampunk contingent” in it…) to attend the con dressed up in their steampunk finery. They’ll be giving away Parasol Protectorate buttons and any fan that is dressed up and wearing the button will have their pic taken by Orbit to use in the Soulless cover art collage with the fan’s pic included.
Now that’s pretty cool.
The Orbit party was held at The Cellar Bar at the Bryant Hotel on 40th street across from the park. I don’t know every attendee but there were a smattering of agents and editors clinking glasses.
I ran into my old buddy and agent extraordinaire—Janet Reid (Fineprint). She was there with the amazing Jeff Somers. Got to reconnect with a young but totally up and coming agent Suzy Townsend (also of Fineprint and hadn’t seen her since St. Louis!) Eddie Schneider (JABberwocky) was there as was Cameron McClure (Donald Maass Agency) (who I tried to talk into saying something really profound for my blog but alas, we were profoundless… I’m thinking the wine floweth. Saw Matt Bialer briefly (Sanford J. Greenberger)
My fab Orbit editor, Devi Pillai, was there looking totally wonderful in a sleek black dress. Tim Holman, so British, always startles me slightly with the European double cheek kiss greeting but by end of evening we were all into the swing of things. I did refrain from saying “Darling” at odd moments and felt rather proud of that.
Sharing in the fun were Anne Sowards from Ace and Liz Gorinsky from TOR. Bumped into Ron Hogan (formerly of Galley Cat and Houghton Mifflin).
The Orbit Anniversary party was like a mini reunion.
I have to say that earlier in the week on Monday, Tim, Devi, and I got together down at Pravda in Soho for a drink and I was really pleased to hear that they are actually quite open to adult science fiction right now. There wasn’t even a hint of pessimism to that statement. Considering I had just submitted an SF there, I was pleased. Other editors I talked to in adult publishing really only highlighted military SF or alternate history SF as what was working them. It was so nice to hear some optimism!
STATUS: Even though it’s Friday, I’ll be working late. I’m headed to New York on Sunday. Heads up that blogging might be spotty.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? STUTTER by Maroon 5
As you blog readers know, I did my very first webinar on Wednesday for Writers Digest. I thought it might be interesting to debrief it. If you participated in the seminar, I would love feedback so feel free to leave some in the comments section (and also feel free to leave the comments anonymously).
So here’s my debrief of it:
Thumbs up:
1. It’s a great way to reach a variety of writers without having to travel (and vice versa for them).
2. It was fun. I thought the webinar format was professional. There was a tech person to help me for the entire 90 minutes and even before the session began. We even did a trial run on the Tuesday before to make sure I understood how the control panel worked and how to do the Powerpoint presentation so attendees could see it.
3. From having given this seminar live, I had a good idea of what questions get asked and when so I tried to interject them during the presentation so Qs were answered as I went.
4. The question chat box was very cool. I left about 20 minutes at the end of the session to start going through them and answering them. Any I didn’t get to were given to me after the fact. I’ll answer, shoot back to the webinar tech person and she’ll distribute them out to the asking party. Very professionally done.
Thumbs neutral:
1. Nothing compares to audience interaction and there wasn’t really a good way to allow that. Usually I can gauge if the audience is “with me” for what I’m trying to explain but there is no clear way to do that in the webinar.
2. Since we were working on the pitch paragraphs for SF&F novels, it would have been fun to get one or two volunteers to submit their revised pitch so I could talk about them right then and there. If I do something like this again, I think I’ll ask how we might be able to do that.
3. And I can’t believe I’m saying this but 90 minutes felt too short. I wish I had given myself more time to answer questions. But there was a lot of info to cram into 1 hour.
Thumbs down:
I’m not sure I have any but maybe some of the attendees do. If so, feel free to share.
For my part, I do want to ask this question. This is the first time I’ve given a workshop where participants paid to attend. Now of course I’ve given workshops at conferences where attendees paid to attend the conference but they didn’t pay a separate amount to attend my particular workshop.
What do you folks think about that? Should agents give workshops like that?
TGIF!
STATUS: It’s noon so I don’t have one yet.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? Nothing at the moment
In honor of literary agent Ralph Vicinanza.
I did not know Ralph personally but he’s been a force in SF&F for so long, I just wanted to take a moment to recognize that. I was very sorry to hear the news that he passed away over the weekend.
There aren’t a lot of agents doing SF&F, and this is a big loss for the genre.
STATUS: Why does the phone ring only after I’ve stepped out of the office?
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? YOU SANG TO ME by Marc Anthony
Clarification: Adult SF is currently not hot. YA SF is doing just fine. Sorry about the confusion!
This week I went on submission with an adult SF novel. Ask any editor and they will tell you, adult SF is not hot. Fantasy is hot—particularly urban fantasy. I’m sure this comes as no surprise to blog readers if you track PW or NYT bestseller lists.
It’s not like I’m revealing some deep and hidden secret here.
And here’s where my passion for the project means everything. If I were smart, I wouldn’t take on an SF novel from a debut writer. Even if I do sell it, the money I’ll earn from it will barely pay the agency’s electric bill for three months.
Plain and simple. That’s the reality.
But I love SF. Grew up reading it. In my mind, some of the most important novels published in the last 20 years have been in this field so I did it anyway. Because I felt a passion for the story that I didn’t feel for the YA project I decided to pass on earlier this week (and will probably sell for more money than this SF novel will).
That’s the only way I can be in the game. I know writers hate hearing that agents or editors need to feel “the love” but folks, selling novels is not an easy biz. (Which, by the way, is why most agents don’t specialize in fiction but instead focus on nonfiction to build lucrative client lists).
We also want to take on authors for their whole careers. If we agents can connect with their writing at the passionate, visceral level, then chances are good we are a good fit for future work to come.
Last year I took on a YA author for a historical novel that I could not sell (and I still think editors were crazy not to buy it). But the writing… I still can read that unsold novel and fall in love with the author’s talent all over again. So we pushed on and got going on the next work. And it was that next project that sold. At auction.
Passion was the key—for me and for that author. And if I can’t sell this SF debut, then I already believe in the next work.
STATUS: It wasn’t a manic Monday. Huh, how strange.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? BLACKNAIL by Tim Davies Big Band
About a week or so ago, we asked for sample pages from a query we had received. Then on Friday, the writer sent us an email letting us know that an editor had offered for this YA project and that the writer also had several offers of representation. The author would like to decide on Monday but we could have the weekend to give the novel a read.
Professionally handled. Courteously done for all parties involved. I just want to take a moment to thank the writer for that! Always appreciate given time to read. (side note: interestingly, we weren’t even behind on reading. I had read the partial the night before and was planning to request the full so good timing all around.)
Both Sara and I gave it a look. And we passed on offering representation despite all the obvious excitement around the project.
Should be a slam dunk for ALL agents to throw their hats in the ring, yes?
So why not? Do I think the manuscript will sell? Probably.
I didn’t go for it for one simple reason: I didn’t feel passionate about the manuscript. I could see what was generating the excitement but it wasn’t right for me.
I know I’ve mentioned this before on my blog–that agents don’t just take on projects that they think will sell or be saleable—but I think it’s always worth repeating.
It really does come down to the right person and the right fit.
STATUS: Off to the Rockies game tonight.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? LIVIN’ THING by Electric Light Orchestra
Hey, nothing like ending a week on a controversial note. Really, I shouldn’t open this can of worms but heck, it’s a beautiful fall day. Why not throw a monkey wrench into it.
So in a spare five minutes I had waiting for something to download, I popped open my latest issue of PW and there was an interesting article on the lack of men in publishing and whether that impacts what gets published.
Jason Pinter did an editorial at the HuffPo saying it does.
Stuart Applebaum at Random House says it’s not keeping him up a night.
For my part, I just want to sniff. Sorry. There are SO many male-dominated industries and yet I never hear much discussion about whether the lack of women in those professions significantly impacts those industries so yeah, I’m inclined to just snort.
(Interesting side note, Alloy Entertainment, the folks behind all the Girl commercial teen products like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Gossip Girls etc. is run by 2 guys and no one seems to think twice about it….)
Then I wondered if I was being automatically dismissive and there is something to an industry being impacted by a gender leaning in one direction.
I imagine some of you might have decided opinions on this topic so air away.
STATUS: It’s really time to go home now…
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM? by Joe Jackson
Should be interesting.
Sometimes I wonder how I get roped into these things! Chuck Sambuchino from Writers Digest has been bugging me for a while to come and teach a webinar for them.
I haven’t really been tempted until now. What changes is that I feel an overwhelming need to help out writers in the SF&F field. I know I’ve mentioned this before on my blog but the SF&F community has wonderful Cons that cater to fans more than to the business side of publishing. In consequence, often the writers in the SF&F realm are a little at loose ends on how to do things like write good query letter pitch blurbs for their SF&F novels. Seriously, the queries we get for this genre tend to be the weakest we see.
This is a problem we NEVER have in the romance field as RWA probably goes the other extreme in terms of educating writers!
Next month is MileCon here in Denver and sure enough, we proposed some business-y stuff and not much came of it.
So then Chuck touched base and I thought, here’s an opportunity…. Taught by yours truly.
And folks, unlike my blog, this webinar is not free—as it’s through Writers Digest but if you are interested, here are the deets. Click here for more info and to sign up.
How to Write and Sell Fantasy and Science Fiction Novels
This is an intensive workshop on the “how-to” business side of getting your science fiction and fantasy (SF&F) writing published, whether for teens or adults.
Description
We here at Nelson Literary Agency are actively looking to expand our roster of science fiction & fantasy (young adult and adult fiction) authors but frankly, the queries we receive in this genre could use some help. Our agency sees a ton of SF&F queries, for both YA and adult novels, and 90% of them sound completely generic. We can teach you how to make your novel stand out.
Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for 1 year.
About the Critique & How it works
After the session, all registrants can submit their revised pitch paragraph (no more than 12 sentences) for a quick critique by Kristin Nelson. Who knows, you might even get a request for sample pages out of it.
What you’ll learn:
• How to compose your query: The top 10 reasons why most SF&F query letters fail
• How NOT to start your story: The top 10 things that shouldn’t open an SF&F novel
• What agents and editors want: What agents and editors look for in terms of pitch, writing, and book premise
• How to pitch: How to nail the story’s hook, and nail the elements of your world-building in the short pitch paragraph
Who should attend?
• SF&F fans who are interested in writing a novel.
• SF&F Writers who want to improve their pitches and hooks
• SF&F Writers who are actively querying agents and publishers with their science fiction or fantasy novel.
STATUS: It’s really time to go home now…
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? HOWLING AT THE MOON by Ramones
JA Konrath updated his blog today giving some new stats on how he’s doing selling outside of traditional publishing and selling ebooks on his own. He’s hit the 100k mark. A great number in any format.
He notes that agents won’t mention it on our blogs but heck, I don’t mind. I’m not remotely threatened by authors pursuing this. He’s also a fellow backspacer and I love that he’s sharing this journey publically so if you have interest, you might want to give it a look. (My original mention of it here.)
In light of his recent entry, I’d like to make one comment. I wish I could disclose figures but that is client confidential so I can only share general info.
For my top sellers in print, their ebook sales currently don’t equal 1% of their print sales (and yes, they are available in all formats across many e-distribution platforms). It’s changing rapidly mind you but right now, the disparity is still pretty large in the ratio of print sales to ebook sales.
I know that will change drastically in the next year or two.
Konrath mentions quite a few new authors are having success following an untraditional model as well. You might want to check out his list and find out what those folks are doing.
Because that’s the real question. As e-publishing allows a greater array of writers to have work out there, how will readers decide what to buy? What is creating notice for new writers outside of traditional publishing?
I imagine if you are interested in this, you might have the same question!