Pub Rants

Author Archive

No Freewheelin’ With The Blurb Endorsements

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It was quiet for one day. I can’t even believe I said it was quiet yesterday. Plenty to do between now and Thursday. Won’t be in the office on Friday and of course, no blogging.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? DEMOLITION MAN by The police

I’m not really going to tally the results this time. Yesterday’s “poll” was more about creating a discussion around blurbs. For an author who is receiving the blurb endorsement, it’s an incredible feeling. That someone way more established than you (or famous) thought your novel worthy of praise. It’s big validation for a debut author in a world where there aren’t many validating moments outside of sales performance. And I always think of it as incredibly generous for an established author to do. When done right, it takes a lot of time to read a novel and it takes even more time to think of a short, pithy blurb that really captures the author’s emotion about it.

Try writing one for a favorite book of yours just as practice. It’s not easy.

For readers, it seems a mixed bag. I do know that booksellers and publishers absolutely do believe that blurb endorsements help to sell books.

Here’s what I’ve gleaned:

1. The author name has to be pretty big—as in immediately recognizable—for it to make an impact.

2. Readers do feel it’s part of the advertising.

3. Authors should not be too carefree about what they blurb as that can shape reader perception—of the blurbed books and for the books that author writes. Blurb only books where the endorsement is really meant.

4. Many readers find it helpful. That maybe they’ll try a new author they might not otherwise if a favorite author has blurbed the book.

5. The text of the blurb is just as important as the blurb itself. Faked enthusiasm is recognizable.

A Second Totally Unscientific PubRants Blog Reader Poll

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s a bit quiet leading up to the long weekend so I’m actually getting some things done. And yes, I’m still working on my query inbox…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? UNKNOWN LEGEND by Neil Young

When we did our completely unscientific first ever Pubrants Blog Reader poll, I realized that I left out one important question (or maybe series of questions).

We talked about covers and back cover copy influencing book buying decisions but we didn’t talk about author blurbs.

Often times before a book is to be published, the agent, editor, and author will put our heads together and discuss who would be a great blurb candidate for the project. Obviously blurbs are going to come for established authors with solid reputations and a large following, otherwise the blurb probably wouldn’t have much weight. The name has to be recognizable and appropriate for the genre, type of book, etc.

For example, this week has been very exciting at the agency as we just received word that Lisa See (author of Snow Flower And The Secret Fan), who we asked to read an ARC of HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford, loved the book and is thrilled to give us a blurb to use.

Needless to say, Jamie and I were giddy. Now I realize that the book isn’t out yet and therefore anyone who reads this blog can’t buy it yet, but would that influence you?

So that’s my poll for today:

Do you notice and read author blurbs on books you are potentially interested in buying?

If so, have you ever bought a book because an author you loved and trusted endorsed the book?

If you can remember, what established authors created the swing vote for you and you did indeed buy the book with their author blurb on it?

Have you ever bought a book based on an author endorsement and then were dissatisfied with the book bought? If so, did that impact a future buy for a book for which that same author has endorsed?

I imagine this random poll will spark some interesting discussions this week!

Update On The Handwritten Manuscript

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF! I actually had hoped to work on some queries today and it didn’t quite happen. I imagine I’ll tackle some this weekend. I have to work on two client edits as well so I’ll let you know on Monday how much I actually accomplish. It’s like my eyes being bigger than my stomach. I always put more food on the plate than I can eat and I always think I will accomplish more than I actually do.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? JUST LIKE HEAVEN by The Cure

You will all be relieved to know that that the writer of the handwritten manuscript has indeed gotten in touch with us. This person’s email to us was a little incomprehensible as he described many things in his letter but didn’t actually answer our question about whether we could recycle it or whether he wanted to send postage for its return.

Sara will persevere!

But rest assured, we did not recycle a writer’s only copy. And although I don’t believe that there are too many heartless agents out there, maybe we rebalanced the karma in the world of cold-hearted agenting by going the extra distance.

And in a totally unrelated segue, if you want to check out a recent interview with moi, here’s a link.

Agent Matchmaker

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’ve been working on queries tonight. Honestly, that’s what I’ve been reading for the past hour. I’m going to need another 2 hours at least to complete what’s in my inbox but haven’t you ever notice that sometimes it’s the thought of starting the task that keeps you from diving in? Once started, it never seems as bad…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? IT HAD TO BE YOU by Harry Connick, Jr.

Writers often want to know if agents ever recommend other agents for a project they might be passing on.

The answer is an unequivocal yes. Just this week I played matchmaker for a well-established author who had amicably parted with her agent of many years (like 18—it was a long time). She was going in a new direction and hadn’t felt supported so it was time to move on.

One of my authors actually sent her my way so of course I read her sample pages with alacrity.

And it was obvious by page four that she was a fabulous author but I was so not the right agent for her. The genre she was working in was a bit of a stretch for me but sometimes that can be invigorating. I like to take on projects that stretch the boundaries but this was just a mis-fit.

So, I asked her permission to share her query with several agent friends who I thought would be a good fit. Of those agents who responded with a “yes, would love for her to contact me,” I compiled a list and sent to her.

And today I found out she signed with a very dear friend of mine. So fun! I’m thrilled that she kept me in the loop and as she was so lovely to work with, I had begun to wonder if I was a bit daft to not be snatching up this talent. Still, I find that it rarely works out when agents take on projects that aren’t a good fit but they try anyway.

So yes, agents do recommend other agents. I must admit that this doesn’t happen as often for projects I pass on from unpublished authors but it does occasionally happen there as well.

Query Inbox

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s almost 10 p.m. at night. That pretty much sums it up.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THANK YOU by Dido

I’m ashamed to say that I am now officially a month behind in reading queries. All those writers probably have agents by now. So if you’ve been waiting, I do apologize and I plan to tackle and vanquish in the next 3 days. I only have 156 of them waiting for me (gulp)!

Also, I just found out that our server went down last Friday, June 20th between 4 and 5 p.m. Mountain time. If you tried to send us a query during that time frame, it bounced and you probably received a message that there was no such emailbox.

Sorry about that. According to our tech person (who knows way more about this than I do), it was a corrupted configuration file and that file manages the valid email addresses on the server.

So you’ll have to resend it as during that time period (and that time period only!), we weren’t receiving any incoming emails.

Stats And A Few More Thoughts

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’ve got an auction happening tomorrow. That just makes the day crazy busy.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? A CHANGE WOULD DO YOU GOOD by Sheryl Crow

Basically last night was nothing but whining—at least I thought so until I started to really think about it. It’s actually extremely important for an agent to read for pleasure (and yes, sometimes reading sample pages is fun but ultimately it’s still working so it’s not quite the same thing as reading a book solely for pleasure). Do you know why? Because that’s when an agent feels the joy of the printed page and the written word. That’s when we remember how much we enjoy just reading like normal people do.

It also keeps us in touch with what’s out there, what’s selling or catching people’s attention. I love to read and when you work too hard, sometimes you forget that passion because all you want is to tick off one more item from your long list of TO DOs. So not only is it imperative (work-wise) to read for pleasure but it’s also wise for our sanity in general.

And finally, I have the stats for you from our poll on Tuesday, June 16, 2008. Some comments came in after the cut off and we’re sorry to not include you if your answer came late but we had to create a cut-off somewhere to compile.

Responses: 195
(not everyone answered every question which is why a few of the totals do not add up to 195)

Do you prefer hard copy or electronic?
Hard Copy: 185Electronic: 10
95% hard copy

When going into a store to buy a book, have you then bought a second title?
Yes: 187
No: 8
96% Yes

Have you bought a book based on the cover alone?
Yes: 63No: 131
68% No

Have you ever bought a book based on the back cover copy?
Yes: 155
No: 39
80% Yes

Kristin comment: If you ever needed proof that it was worthwhile to make your query pitch paragraph mirror back cover copy, here it is I think. Agents are just like readers. We can be swayed by good back cover copy.

How often have you bought a book based on a friend or family member’s recommendation?
Always: 5 = 2%
Almost all the time: 19 = 10%
Frequently (much of the time/ around 50% of the time): 75 = 39%
Rarely: 72 = 37%
Never: 23 = 12%

Have you ever bought a book because I mentioned it on this blog? If so, which book(s).
Yes: 63
No: 128
67% No

Which ones:
Ally Carter (23)
Sherry Thomas (13)
Linnea Sinclair (7)
Lisa Shearin (5)
Shanna Swendson (5)
Hank Phillippi Ryan (3)
Jana DeLeon (2)
Kelly Parra (2)
Marianne Mancusi (2)
Cheryl Hingley (1)
Leslie Langtry (1)
Kim Reid (1)
Jennifer O’Connell (1)

Kristin comment: Most interesting point about this question is that I actually mention quite a few non-client books on my blog and nobody mentioned whether that has swayed him/her to buy some other non-Nelson Agency Client book.

How many books do you buy in a year?
0: 01-10: 29 = 15%
11-50: 82 = 44%
51-100: 42 = 22%
100+: 35 = 19%
With several responses of 300+ and even 500+

Kristin comment: Holy cow you blog readers buy books. I love you!

How many books do you check out of the library per year?
0: 87 = 47%
1-10: 16 = 8%
11-50: 45 = 24%
51-100: 23 = 12%
100+: 16 = 9%
Again with several responses in the hundreds

Kristin comment: We love libraries and librarians so it’s perfectly okay with us if you check out from the library. Libraries often buy lots of copies of each book and that makes us happy!

Summertime And The Fridays Are Easy

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Ack. It’s late and I was supposed to have stats today. Till Tomorrow!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SEXUAL HEALING by Marvin Gaye

It’s summer time and the publishing is easy. Actually, that’s not true right now. I was trying to get something accomplished on Friday with an editor until I realized that the half days are here again.

It’s such a civilized notion doing half days on Fridays for the summer. After all, we should be out enjoying the late summer nights and reading books for pleasure.

I have to admit that it’s easily been 3 months since I last read a book solely for pleasure—as in not with an eye to take it on or not, to edit it, what have you.

I have to get cracking as my book club is meeting next Sunday and I haven’t had a chance to start the book. Like normal, I’ll probably read it all on Friday night and Sunday morning. And my book club members always wonder why so many of the details are fresh in my mind…

Friday Funnies

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF! And I’ve got a lot to celebrate as I’m almost caught up—if we don’t count the fact that I haven’t looked at queries in 3 weeks and that I’m still behind on reading requested sample pages. If you are waiting to hear from us, please wait just a bit longer…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SH-BOOM by The Chords

Sara & I are still compiling the tallies of our Tuesday’s poll so look for that on Monday. Also in regards to the handwritten manuscript we received this week, we decided to go with the happy compromise outlined by many of you in the comments section. Today we sent a letter requesting that the sender send us the return postage if he/she wants the manuscript materials returned.

We’ll await that response and as to your other question, no, I have not read it and don’t plan to. It could be the best and greatest next American novel and I wouldn’t really care. I have a terrific current client list right now and I’m positive that I don’t want to work with an author who isn’t computer savvy in this day and age when it’s imperative (for my communicating with him/her and for author self marketing and promotion). I did that once early in my career where I had an author who didn’t/couldn’t email and once was enough.

Now for today’s funny. Two reasons why I’m sharing. 1) Thought this youtube vid was hilarious and 2) dang these authors are savvy in terms of promotion. What a great and fun way to get the info out that your book has been nominated for a RITA! It’s all about the promo baby!

eBooks For The Young’un’s

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I had two things I wanted to accomplish before I left the office today. Yeah, didn’t do either. But other great things are going on.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? GOIN’ THROUGH YOUR PURSE by Material Issue

And I need to compile the stats from Tuesday’s poll but that will take a little time. In the meantime, here’s a cool article that fits right in to what we’ve been talking about this week. How interesting.

Survey Confirms Younger Generation Less Interested in Traditional Reading Habits
The Bookseller’s Reading the Future Survey, presented at a conference last week, reports only half of young people aged 18-24 years old think people will still be using bookshops in 20 years’ time. Looking deeper into 18-24 year olds’ reading habits, the survey found that 28% were favourable towards the idea of e-readers, compared to 9% of 65+ year olds, and 40% liked the idea of downloadable chapters of books, compared to 7% of 65+ year olds. Transworld publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said at the conference that the statistics point to where publishers are headed in the future. We all know the book is a great piece of technology – you can’t drop e-books in the bath. But we as an industry are in a lot of trouble; we don’t know where we are going.”

Here’s the full article at the Bookseller.

Summer Heat Must Be The Culprit

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Busy. I’m in the middle of negotiating several new deals.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SWEET SURRENDER by Bread

The summer heat must be going to people’s heads because this is my third rant in a week regarding odd submissions here at the agency.

People! Get down to the pool and take a break I think. Yesterday I received a large box that the writer had spent $32.00 sending express mail. Egad! That’s a lot of money to spend sending a submission to an agency that only accepts electronic submissions. And a colossal waste at that because when I opened this package, inside were pages and pages of a handwritten manuscript.

I’m not kidding blog readers. The submission wasn’t even typed. I’m not even snorting with laughter; I’m too stunned.

There’s no email address included and no SASE. I’m not going to look at it. If that makes me heartless, so be it, but I don’t think I can toss this into the recycle bin either. What if it’s the only copy? Surely a writer wouldn’t be stupid enough to send us the only copy, right? I mean it looks like a photocopied version (another waste of money as we do electronic submissions!) but sometimes that’s hard to tell considering photocopying quality these days.

Okay, do I expend the money to return it? We could send via media mail, which would be pretty inexpensive. I think that’s what we might do but only because I’m feeling generous. Normally I don’t think twice in terms of pitching something like this in the recycle bin.