Pub Rants

Author Archive

Bad Sign Of The Times

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Hooray. Only 199 emails in the inbox.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? EXILE by Enya

Several years ago, I had a project out on submission for one my clients. An editor had called me on Wednesday to discuss the format, the title, how to publish the book and to let me know that in Friday, she would call with the offer.

On Friday, she did call—but she didn’t make an offer. Her publisher had changed her mind in the two days in between and the editor could offer for the novel.

I was stunned. When an editor had called to warn me that an offer was pending, the offer had always come. But at least there really hadn’t been an offer. Just a notice that one was forthcoming. Sucks to be us (and unfortunately, I was never able to sell that particular novel).

A couple of weeks ago I heard a more horrific story. A fellow agent had received an offer that was in the beginnings of being negotiated and then the editor’s publisher called to say that were rescinding the offer.

Now I’m not just stunned but speechless.

It’s not like an editor can just pop on the phone and make an offer. These things go to committees. It’s discussed. The editor has to do a full P&L (Profit & Loss) statement. This has to be reviewed by the higher powers and approved before an offer made.

If the house had hesitations, come on, that should have been discussed before the agent was called.

Uh, guess not.

Now response times for submissions are slow. I’ve also heard of current contracts being cancelled (abominable but I know it has happened). I’ve also heard that editors are being extremely cautious about what they buy. I don’t have hard data on this but I also know that advances are skewing down rather than up when offers are made.

But this. This is a first and not a good sign of the times.

What Surprises An Editor

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I love going to conferences abut I have 246 emails in my inbox. And I was checking and responding to emails when I was away!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HOME by Face

When I was at RWA in D.C. last week, I was having drinks with an editor from The Penguin Group (I think that was the house—it’s all a blur really). We were talking about passing on sample pages and I had mentioned that I had just passed on an author who already had an offer on the table.

She was really surprised and said, “I didn’t know that agents did that. I thought you’d always take the sale.”

And then I looked at her surprised (there was a lot of surprise going on in this conversation) because I just had assumed that editors knew that agents pass on projects—even with offers in hand. Even if the agent can see that the project might excite other agents and probably sell. Guess I shouldn’t assume what an editor would know or not know about the agent side of the biz.

Maybe I’m unusual. Maybe other agents wouldn’t have passed but right now, when I think about taking on authors and really pushing them in what is a tough fiction market, I’ve gotta feel the love. It could be a tough slog—even with a prior publishing record!

This offer was from a previously published author with a debut track record (so neither good or bad in that aspect). It’s not like I didn’t like the project or didn’t see the merit it. I did. It just didn’t speak to me so I could champion the author’s career.

And in this case, I don’t think the author had prior representation but had worked directly with the publisher. I don’t remember. She may have left the previous agent (which is a requirement for me as it makes me uncomfortable if an author is shopping new agents without leaving the old. I know it’s done and I know we’ve debated the pros and cons on this blog about that. I’m just saying what I’m comfortable or not comfortable with.)

Of course, I’m always wondering why my favorite authors aren’t ever dissatisfied with their current agents. Grin.

10 Sample Page NOs and Why

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: First day back in the office is always crazy, crazy. I did three phone conferences, accounting, and solved a few key issues that cropped up today.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THE MAIN THING by Roxy Music

On the plane back from DC, I read 10 different sample pages on my Kindle.

(Sidenote: I hate the new plane seating in economy. If you are not in the premium seats, editing on a laptop is impossible if the person in front of you sets the seat back. Literally, the laptop is in your lap and I can’t prop the screen upright. I had wanted to edit a client full but just couldn’t battle the positioning so read sample pages on my Kindle instead. So much easier given the space issue.)

I passed on all 10 sample pages. Here are the reasons why.

For about six of them, the writing wasn’t there yet (2 fantasy, 1 women’s fiction, and 3 young adult). And this is only in my opinion and other agents might feel differently. For me, the writers still needed to work with a critique group to bump the writing level and complexity of the story a least a couple of notches.

For one entry, a middle grade work, I thought the writing was really quite solid but I didn’t like the main narrator much at all. The writer can’t do much about that. It either speaks to the agent or not. I mentioned that in my response because the writing was strong.

Another sample page young adult submission had a vampire element. I thought the writing was solid and this entry nicely done but not different enough to make it stand out in what I think is a pretty crowded YA vampire market. I can see another agent responding differently and I included that in my response.

Another YA submit had a paranormal element but I found I was much more interested in what was unfolding in the regular contemporary part of the story than I was in the paranormal element the writer was introducing. Once again, another agent might think differently.

The last read was a project I had looked at before and then requested revisions on the first 50 pages. The writer was resubmitting. I could tell that the writer had done significant work on the revised manuscript but I thought the revision introduced a new problem that made the manuscript still not work for me. Despite a great concept, it was time for me to pass pass.

Wrapping Up RWA

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Travel day as I head back to Denver from D.C.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BABYLON by David Gray

1. All the romance editors I talked to mentioned that they were still buying projects (and I spoke to several from each house). So nice to hear when other fiction sales have slowed down as of late.

2. Many editors expressed interest in seeing something fun and meaty in contemporary romance. It’s been a little while since contemporary was actively sought from authors beyond the established lions in the industry such as Rachel Gibson and Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

3. We all have our fingers crossed that historical romance will trend up again.

4. Paranormal is still selling well. (Here’s an interesting tidbit though. What’s hot in the U.S. doesn’t necessarily match what’s hot abroad. For example, Sherrilyn Kenyon couldn’t be hotter here in the US but not as hot in Germany. An Australian bookseller weighed in and said the Aussies like her bunches Down Under as well.) I find that fascinating.

5. On Saturday night, a non-dark romance without a vampire or werewolf in sight, Seducing Mr. Darcy, won the RITA on for best Paranormal. Does that mean anything? Heck if I know but I thought that was rather cool. Also, a Young Adult title nabbed Best First Book (the fun title Oh. My. Gods.) YA is taking over the world!

6. Three editors asked me what I thought would be hot next. Uh…if I knew that, I’d buy a lotto ticket too!

7. And last but not least, I did survive teaching three one-hour workshops back-to-back-to-back. But I didn’t have much voice or energy by the end of it. I dragged a fellow agent off to the Bantam party only to discover that it had ended 20 minutes prior to our arrival.

Oops. But that gave us ample opportunity to visit the White House where we were promptly not invited in for tea.

Me and the wonderful Sally Harding of The Cooke Agency:

News From The Floor

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Considering I hit the floor by 9 a.m. and don’t hit my hotel room until midnight, I’m doing okay.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE by UB40

I’ve got a quick 15 minutes that I can pop online to give you an RWA rundown. For a more updated behind the scenes look, you might want to check out the Smart Bitches site. Those gals know the scoop because I obviously don’t. I sat next to Heather Osborn from Tor at the Wed. night SB party and since we hadn’t ever met in person, we didn’t know until the next day when I sat next to her at the FF&P award ceremony and we finally introduced ourselves. Note to self: it’s easier to network if you actually introduce yourself (neither one of us were wearing badges).

Big news on this end. Linnea Sinclair’s SHADES OF DARK won the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal P.R.I.S.M award for best futuristic.


Hooray!

I acquitted myself well with the acceptance speech on her behalf—didn’t trip on the stairs or anything.

Hooray!

I had the thrill of handing over my iPhone to Catherine Asaro (who was sitting next to me) so she could text her congratulations to Linnea directly. In fact, a ton of Linnea’s friends were at the table so much iPhone passing ensued. Linnea was so tickled. It was almost like being there.

This morning standing in the lobby, a sudden posse of agents, editors, and the wonderful reviewers from All About Romance gathered to dish the dirt. (or lament depending on your perspective).

It was declared that paranormal historical romance might be dead (or never really got off the ground).

Contemporary paranormal was going strong and all of us had fingers crossed that historical romance was on the rise.

We shook the magic eight ball for that. Big smile here. Off to do my three workshops that RWA, in all its wisdom, decided to schedule all on the same day back-to-back-to-back. Sigh.

I may not have a voice by 5:30 pm.

TGIF!

If You Think You Are Going To Meet Up With An Agent At A Conference

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Safely arrived in D.C. for the annual RWA conference. I started with a bang with a breakfast meeting at 9 a.m. Off and running.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY by Fergie

Because I was going to RWA, last week several previously published romance authors looking to get an agent on board for their career got in contact with me. They were hoping to meet me in person at the National conference.

Great idea! There’s only one problem. The timing. My schedule has already been booked up for over 4 weeks. I haven’t got an open slot to meet with a potentially new client—even if I’d like to!

Let’s say you’d really like to do this in the future. Here’s my suggestion for those of you who are previously published.

Start this process about 6 to 8 weeks before the conference. That’s when you want to get in touch. Offer to send samples of your work because any agent who might be contemplating a physical meet up will want to read your work first. We may or may not be a good fit for each other. (Also, I read widely so there is a chance that I might have read your work on my own but it’s probably more likely that I haven’t.) Seeing material is usually the best first step.

Once material is reviewed and I like what I see, then I’ll still have plenty of time to fit you into my schedule before the conference actually happens. This way we can then find out if we are a good match for each other both personally and professionally.

Big smile here.

Young Guns

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m off to Washington D.C. tomorrow for RWA. I’ll be blogging but it might be sporadic—just like Friday’s lost entry. Sorry about that. Some days there really are not enough hours to finish everything.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? ME AND MRS. JONES Michael Buble version

Just recently, an aspiring writer sent me this note:

“One thing that worries me is how young many of you agents are. [Young in my forties, I love this person!] I feel so old when I meet these youngsters who will have so much power over my future.”

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this concern from an aspiring writer. First off, “young” is a relative term. Are we simply referring to agents in their twenties? Yes, that’s certainly young but that doesn’t mean inexperienced. Agents in their thirties? Well, A thirty-something being in a position of power at any type of company (not just publishing) is not an unusual thing.

Being in my forties, well I guess if the writer is in his or her eightes, I’m certainly a whippersnapper in that context but I don’t think that’s what this writer means.

So I’m going to assume that we are talking about agents in their twenties. And here is what I can tell you. Publishing is a young profession (You have to be young to be willing to take on such low-pay for considerable length of time and do it all potentially in New York City but that’s an aside.)

The young agents I’ve met (which is quite a few) are scary bright. I look back at myself in my twenties and think, “did I have it together like that?”Maybe, I was a college teacher in my twenties so I must have had some act together but boy, I’m not sure I had the focused that a lot of these young agents do.

They are dedicated, passionate, and hard-working. As a writer, I would worry less about age and more about these young guns’ reputation, commitment to your work, etc. These young agents know the young editors who will be running the publishing houses in about 10 to 15 years (and I’m not kidding here).

So keep that in mind. And of course, what I’ve said above can’t possibly apply to every young agent but I’m willing to bet that if the above doesn’t apply, those youngsters will be weeded out before they have an opportunity to build their own client lists.

“Old timer” Janet Reid raves about “youngster” agent Barbara Poelle on her blog. On mine, let me rave about two young agents who have also got it going on—Holly Root and Emmanuelle Alspaugh.

If you haven’t checked them out yet, maybe you should.

Pirating Made Easy

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Very chaotic and busy today. Logged a lot of phone hours for a negotiation, a revision phone conference, and a possible Hollywood deal.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? EVERYBODY HURTS by R.E.M

Today, one of my authors sent me a very interesting link. Basically you can Google to find a tutorial on Scribd that gives you instructions on how to easily download a Google Books “Limited Preview” book in its entirety into PDF.

You know the “partial” preview that is sometimes enabled on Google Books? Well, these instructions tell you how to get around the partial views to download the file. All of it.

Yep, pirating made easy.

Needless to say, I’m not including the link to the instructions on this blog (although if you’re curious, I imagine it’s not hard to find the link.)

One of the issues in this digital age is how authors will get paid for their intellectual property. And no, I’m not going into the whole DRM debate in this entry.

What I want to say is this. If you are a published author with the preview enabled on Google Books, tell your publisher about this quaint little feature on Scribd and the issue with Google Books preview.

Is Publishing Just About To Be Disrupted?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: How the industry is shifting does make me lie awake at night.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY by Donna Summer

And to piggy-back on to what I was writing about yesterday on the blog, I want to share this very interesting article by science writer Michael Nielsen.

I read his blog entry earlier this week and my mind has been in a whirl since. He tackles the question of whether scientific publishing is about to be disrupted but I think the parallels to traditional publishing are very clear.

In the article, Nielsen highlights the signs of impending disruption in the newspaper industry: “Five years ago, most newspaper editors would have laughed at the idea that blogs might one day offer serious competition. The minicomputer companies laughed at the early personal computers. New technologies often don’t look very good in their early stages, and that means a straight up comparison of new to old is little help in recognizing impending disruption. That’s a problem, though, because the best time to recognize disruption is in its early stages. The journalists and newspaper editors who’ve only recognized their problems in the last three to four years are sunk. They needed to recognize the impending disruption back before blogs looked like serious competitors, when evaluated in conventional terms.”

The signs of disruption in the publishing industry are already there. The big question is whether we’ve recognized them in time. The big publishers today are like the Titanic. Huge. Cumbersome. Potentially perceived as unsinkable. And yet, huge tech companies such as Google, Amazon, and the upstart Scribd are changing the face of publishing. What will the big publishers be like in five years? 10 years? They see the ice berg but can they turn in time?

I hope so. I don’t have any answers to share but I certainly see possibilities. Will they merge with big tech companies such as Google? That would not be surprising. What will the role of agent be as publishing transforms?

And digital is the key that has changed all of this.

And how interesting that I’m reading one of the more extraordinary articles to tackle this question on a blog. By a science writer. Not in a publishing industry magazine. Not in a newspaper.

That says a lot in and of itself.

Reshaping Reading

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Contemplative.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? UNDER THE MILKY WAY by The Church

Today as I have spotty internet from my home connection (curses Qwest DSL and the fact that I can’t have cable broadband at my home), I can’t help but do a rant on digital technology and how that is reshaping the reading experience.

Today, in Deal Lunch, I read about two new eReaders—the Ditto Book E Ink Reader and a new reader by Vodafone Germany. (For those of you who might not have been to Europe lately, Vodafone is a big mobile phone provider across the pond.)

Lower price points and mobile phone eReader technology.

Then I read about Cory Doctorow’s serialization of MAKERS that’s going to be posted on Tor.com. Then I read about the Hachette Book Group’s initiative to offer free Open Access to a variety of books in their entirety via their website. And to top it off, Chris Anderson’s book FREE viewed by 17,000 people, well, for free via Scribd.

And here’s what I want to say about this. It’s not okay to cling to your Luddite ways. Even if you love the feel of a physical book in your hands and hate the idea of reading digitally, you need to branch out and give it a try.

From the start of my agency, I’ve always read electronically on my computer (tablet PC). Then I got the Kindle the year before last and now I’m reading both on my kindle and my iPhone. In fact, lately, it’s been rare that I’ve read an actual physical book.

And for me, the medium doesn’t matter. Only the story does. Now I know that’s not true necessarily for other people but this is where we are moving and you if you are a writer, you need to experience reading in these other mediums. Why? Because the next generation, I guarantee it, will not be as attached to the physical medium of a book. They are already more used to reading digitally in all kinds of ways—blogs, twitter, texts, books, instant chat, etc.

Books are transforming. They might be multimedia in the future—interactive in the digital form—which would shift how writers think about writing a novel or a memoir or a work of nonfiction. You can’t afford to ignore this.

You can already see the shifts happening.