Pub Rants

Author Archive

Q&A—Round 4

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Boy this flu is just hanging on. I’m counting 15 or 16 days and it’s still not completely gone.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON by Joe Cocker

Pre-Bologna, I had not finished up our last round of questions and answers. I didn’t forget! I just haven’t had enough time to tackle them in a while. But I did save the questions and so I plan to dive right back in.

Anonymous Asked:
1) Who do you decide “gets” a project if you and Sara both want it? If someone queried “Kristin” or “Sara” and got back a partial request “from Kristin and Sara” does that mean you’ll both consider it and whoever likes it best might take it on? Or does that mean only the one it’s addressed to will consider it?
This is a good question. If the original query is addressed to Sara, then she has first dibs on it. If the query is addressed to me, then I do. We both, however, tend to read the submissions where a full is requested. Just so we can talk about the project and why one or the other might like it or want to offer representation. Sometimes, I like a project and it’s not Sara’s cup of tea and vice versa. That way if we both read the fulls requested (regardless of who asked for it), we know we won’t miss out on something that might come down to a difference in taste.

2) You are known for sending out a book until it sells, whereas some agents only send to ten or twelve and they are done. But do you have a list of favorite editors who you contact first no matter what?
Agents certainly have a list of their favorite editors. These are the people we connect with the most. We know our tastes line up etc. However, each submission is different. As an agent, we want the right editor to have it—not just a favorite editor so the answer is no, there isn’t a list of editors who get a submission no matter what.

Anonymous asked:
You seem to have a lot going on in the YA market. But as a romance writer, I wondered how many romance writers did you sign last year? And are you looking for more?
Hum…I’d say with 6 RITA nominations the week before last, we’ve got a lot going on in the romance world as well. Grin. Are we looking for more? Of course! There is always room for a good author. However, in general, I don’t sign a lot of clients in any given year. I’m very selective on who and what I take on. Last year I signed only one romance author. To put that in context, I only signed 2 authors total last year.

Katrina asked:
What are your biggest pet peeves for queries, and do you have a list of things you saw in past queries that rocked your socks off?
For queries, my only criteria be that it is well written and fit in the types of projects we currently represent. Otherwise, I don’t have any specific pet peeves. Peeves come from poorly written queries. For those, we just send the auto-rejection and move on. For queries that knocked our socks off? The writer had nailed the pitch paragraph. If you don’t know what I mean by that, check out my blog pitch workshop right here on the right sidebar of my blog.

Mechelle Fogelsong asked:
Nathan Bransford recently asked us which author’s career we’d like to mimic. I chose Jane Yolen, because her career has longevity. So my question is simple: what’s the key to becoming an author with longevity? To stay afloat for the long-haul?
The key to longevity is creating an excellent sales track record and continuing to write books that feel timely, fresh, and appeal to your established audience as well as to new fans.

Right. So much easier said than done. That’s why there is no answer to this question about what creates author longevity. It’s so many factors that come together and work. And those specific factors may differ depending on the author. In other words, what works for one career might not work for another.

Eika asked:
Going for the long shot here, but I haven’t started querying yet and I’m still feeling optimistic. What is the exact etiquette if you’re offered representation and someone else has the full? To the agent on the phone with, what do you say? And to the person with the full, do you phone them? E-mail?
The etiquette: If an agent calls and offers representation, you go through all the normal questions you should be asking an agent who has offered rep. Then you express your enthusiasm for the offer but since it’s a big decision, you want to give all agents with fulls time to respond. Set a timeline for one you will get back to the offering agent. That time frame can be one week, five full business days, over the weekend (whatever feels appropriate). Then inform all other agents with the full. I’d send an email first. If you don’t get a confirm after one day regarding your update, then I’d call to make sure the message was received. After that, I think you’ve done all the due diligence you need to.

Then stick to the timeline you had requested. And of course, if the first agent who has offered is your top candidate, there might not be any reason to go through the above. Of course if you do accept representation, then immediately inform all others with the full so they don’t waste time reading a manuscript that is no longer available. Hope this helps!

How I Know The Tipping Point For eBooks Is Here Or Very Near

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Two contracts to wrap up and 270 emails to go in the inbox. Feeling significantly better after a lot of rest this weekend. Kristin–7 Flu–3

What’s playing on the iPod right now? NEED YOU TONIGHT by INXS

As you folks know, I’ve been on planes quite a bit in the past month. And here is how I know that the tipping point is potentially here (or near) where eBooks are concerned.

On one leg of my trip, I sat next to a 60+ grandmother (by her own admission) who saw me reading on my Kindle.

Grandmother: “That’s a new eReader, isn’t it? Where did you get that?”

Me: “This particularly eReader is called a Kindle and I bought it through Amazon but Sony and BN and a couple of other companies sell eReaders as well. You can buy them online at Amazon or go into Best Buy etc.” [For the record, I do try and promote equal opportunity purchases for electronic readers! I even mentioned the iPad.]

Her: “I read at least 3 novels a week! I’d love not to have to carry all these books around. I’m going on a cruise this week. [Leaning over to look at the text on my Kindle] Looks like you can up the font on that.” I gotta get me one of those.”

Me: “Yes, you can change the font size.”

Her: “That does it. I’m asking for it for my birthday and Mother’s day combined. If my children can buy a $200 game program for my grandkids, they can buy me one of those.”

In chatting with her a bit more, this grandmother was from Pueblo, Colorado—a smaller but good-sized town in South Colorado. Probably not too far off the core of “middle America.”

When I’ve got an older grandmother expressing unabashed enthusiasm in owning an eReader, I can’t help but think the tipping point is near—even if current electronic sales only equal about 2% of the market right now (statistic via a recent PW article).

I think a lot of us assumed the older generation would be the luddites where this new technology is concerned but through my anecdotal experiences, I’m not finding that to be true…

Burning Question about Agency Commission Model

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BEEN CAUGHT STEALING by Jane’s Addiction

As you can imagine, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with various Contract Directors at all the major publishing houses as of late as we navigate contract negotiation.

I was in discussion with one person from a Big 6 house and we got to talking about returns with electronic books. Were they going to be allowed on the agency commission model that publishers have with entities like Apple?

According to this contracts person, the answer was yes.

So I asked what I thought was a rather pertinent question. I said, “if Apple allows returns and they’ve already deducted the 30% agency commission from the sale, how will the publisher know that the commission should have been refunded to them for the returned-sale of that title?”

Contracts person: “Good question.”

Glad I could be of some help…

Bologna Children’s Book Fair Pics (Take 3)

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: All I can think about is getting another 9 hours of sleep. . .

What’s playing on the iPod right now? Nothing at the moment

Last of the Bologna Pics! Enjoy. I’ll get back to topics soon—once I’ve fully recovered.


Gelato! The only way to take a break during the Bologna Book Fair! Here Ally Carter and I indulge with Tim for Brilliance Audio and Marisa from Bolinda Audio Down Under.

Ally and Sarah Rees take a moment to pose during the NLA dinner. It was definitely the best restaurant I went to while in the city. The name cannot be revealed or Agent Barry will hunt me down…
Probably the coolest part of the trip was going to a signing outside of the Fair set up by Ally’s Italian publisher De Agostini.. Here we are standing in front of Kinder College outside the city. The school was gorgeous–an old monastery that overlooked the Bologna Valley and city centre.

Ally Carter takes some questions from a very enthusiastic audience. And language was not a barrier. These Italian kids knew their English! They had also read I’d Tell You I Love You before our arrival and had lots of questions.

Ally with the whole crew!

Ally’s Italian publisher also had her pop by BoLibri–the book festival that was going on in downtown Bologna at the same time as the fair. It’s a way to allow the public to interact more with all the events going on at the fair. Here she sits on an Alice in Wonderland type chair to sign book copies.

A couple of kids participating in a reading nearby recognized Ally and raced over to get their books signed. Almost famous!

Ally wasn’t the only author at the BoLibri festival. Here she is with author Kristin Cashore (Graceling). As for me, I’m predisposed to like Kristin as she spells her name correctly. Grin. Not 15 minutes later we got to watch Ms. Cashore’s prowess with a sword. Good thing BoLibri didn’t make Ally do something similar like rappel over a wall to demonstrate a Gallagher Girl move. Watching Kristin, it looked like hard work!

Huge Congrats To Gail Carriger—NYT Bestseller!

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: First day in the office but will have to head home soon. My head is starting to ache. I still need time to recover.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? COME ON AND GET HIGHER by Matt Nathanson

Squee!!! Gail Carriger’s CHANGELESS (the second book in the Parasol Protectorate Series) just hit the New York Times bestseller list coming in at #20.

That’s the real list, baby, not even doing the extended list to start. I’m so thrilled for you Gail.

And this is NLA’s third NYT bestseller this year. Much celebrating ensues. Ps. And HOTEL is still on the extended list so that means I have two authors on the NYT list at the same time again. Second time this year. Gotta quit upping the stakes like this…Grin.

2010 RITA Nominations

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Feeling much better although that’s not hard to do after how awful I felt during the last two days. To be a little gross, I can’t believe my body can produce this much mucus. Blah. Kristin—1 Flu–9

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HARVEST MOON by Neil Young

This post is long overdue as the news came in last week—and big news it was. Nelson Literary Agency has 6 RITA nominations for 2010! Woot.

Biggest congrats to Carolyn Jewel who is a double finalist! Much deserved Carolyn as I think you are an amazing writer who is flying under the radar and shouldn’t be.

2010 RITA for Historical Romance Finalist

2010 RITA for Paranormal Romance Finalist

2010 RITA for Regency Historical Romance Finalist

2010 RITA for Romance Novella Finalists
“This Wicked Gift” by Courtney Milan in The Heart of Christmas

2010 RITA for Young Adult Romance


Bologna Children’s Book Fair Pics (Take 2)

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Fighting the flu. Kristin—0 Flu—10 I’m getting my you-know-what kicked.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? NOTION by Kings of Leon

As you can imagine, the first week back in the office after being gone for 2 weeks is a bit chaotic. In fact, today I didn’t even make it there thanks to being sick. I really had no desire to pass this lovely illness on to Anita or Sara. If I don’t have a fever tomorrow, maybe I’ll go in but I’m thinking it will be more like Wednesday.

As promised (since blogger is no longer acting up) I can finally share pics from the Bologna Children’s Book Fair so you can get a visual—a little snippet of what it was like to be there. Besides, this is all my brain is capable of doing at the moment.


Here I am sitting at my table in the Agents Center. Behind me is Riley Ellis from 20th Century Fox Studios.


Out to dinner. Author and Agent comraderie! Starting from left: me, clients Sarah Rees Brennan and Ally Carter. Next to Ally is Cassandra Clare’s husband Josh, Cassie Clare, Maureen Johnson and her agent Kate Testerman. Cassie’s agent Barry Goldblatt is taking the picture.


Jamie Ford’s HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, an Italian bestseller, in the front window of the main bookstore in Bologna. That was so cool to see in person.

In the Agents Centre. From left: me, Irene Calpe of Versatil Spain. Next to her is Sarah Rees Brennan. Irene is Sarah’s Spanish editor for THE DEMON’S LEXICON. Standing next to her is Consuela, Editorial Director of Versatil.

More pics tomorrow!

Bologna Chilren’s Book Fair Pics

by Kristin Nelson

I have a lot of pics I’d love to upload to blogger but I’m thinking they might be having trouble with the site as pics are taking forever to upload and then not showing up on the page.

This will have to wait for another day…

Bologna Children’s Book Fair—Days 2 Thru 4

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Currently sitting on a terrace in Florence and drinking wine.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? Nothing at the moment.

I’m back!

A bad internet connection at my hotel made any daily blogging difficult. I actually tried popping up to press room one afternoon as it had been rumored there was free internet there. Alas, that was not so. I’m also on vacation this coming week so I’m going to post a bunch of entries today to get you through the week.

Bologna in a Wrap Up.

1. The “big” book of the fair was a middle grade fantasy called EMERALD ATLAS. From the buzz I heard, there was a large auction in the US for the title at the same time a lot of foreign publishers decided to kick in some good money as well.

On the whole, this was seen as a positive sign that middle grade could make a little resurgence soon as sales have been slow in this arena—despite a lot of editors looking for good MG material.

2. Almost all foreign editors expressed some fatigue in vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, and all things paranormal. Despite that, these titles were still selling like crazy in their territories so I’m not sure what to tell you. I actually got a lot of interest in my fun vampire books as they are a bit different but on the whole, foreign editors weren’t jumping on things paranormal unless it was a ‘big” book.

3. YA is still hot.

4. Foreign editors love Ally Carter. She seems to be the one non-paranormal author who works well abroad. We just found out she is a bestseller in Brazil. How fun is that?

There it is in a nutshell really.

Bologna Children’s Book Fair—Day One

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: A rainy start to the day.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? KIM THE WAITRESS by Material Issue

Well, I do foresee a few problems with blogging this week but I will try my best. I will be spending the majority of my time in the Agents Centre and it does not have wifi. Yes, you read that correctly. Nor can I plug my computer in for the internet. It just doesn’t have it.

And the hotel’s definition of “high speed” internet greatly differs from mine. Working on my network is physically painful it’s so slow. I’ve also looked around for an internet café and geographically they are not handy. So we’ll muddle long as best as possible. In good news, the vino rosso is lovely and the formaggio even more so.

So this morning I’ll be heading over to the Fairgrounds around 11 a.m. to visit the Agents Centre and have my table assigned. I spent 2 weeks trying to figure out when they would send me my table number. At London, you get your assignment when you registered. Finally an agent friend took pity on me and mentioned that the table doesn’t get assigned until the fair begins. Aha. Seems a little inconvenient for the people trying to meet with me but when in Bologna….

Today is the SCBWI Bologna Symposium. I’m participating in a first pages agent panel. This is the workshop where the conference volunteer reads the first page of a variety of submissions and the agents then comment on it.

Hey, writers wanting to be gluttons for punishment is international! Grin. Seriously though, just remember that no matter how an agent responds to your pages today, this is not the make or break moment of your career. The greatest thing about writing is that you can grow and mature in your ability.

Since the fair hasn’t actually begun, I have very little to report but I do have two fun pics to share:

From a bookstore on Via dell’Indipendenza, the Italian bestseller, which is currently sitting at #7 on the list, IL GUSTO PROIBITO DELLO ZENZERO:

The Forbidden Taste of Ginger. Look familiar? Yes, it’s the Italian version of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet.

And four ladies take a Venetian Gondola by storm. I must say Antonio looks distinctly unimpressed.


From left, author Sarah Rees Brennan, her friend Natasha, and me. Ally Carter snapped the pic. I have other great shots but guess who forgot to bring the cord for her camera so I could download the pictures off of it….