Pub Rants

Category: Agent Kristin

A Year In Statistics–2010

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Uh, ask me tomorrow morning. Still working to try and wrap stuff up.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? SLEIGH RIDE by Babyface

This week has just been crazy with no time to blog. Nobody wants to go into the holiday season with a bunch of stuff still outstanding and cluttering the desks. I know authors who have submissions with us wouldn’t mind an answer either. So, our goal is to finish everything up by today.

With that in mind, I’ve been hitting the office at 8 in the morning and pretty much every night this week, I didn’t leave until after 8 p.m. (and some evenings not until after 9).

Well, I’m going to have to come in tomorrow as not everything is done but hey, I came close. Blogging just wasn’t an option with everything that needed to wrap up—including 3 deals that I literally was negotiating this week.

Still, I can’t end the season without one more post. The year 2010 would not be complete without my annual Year In Statistics entry so voila! Here it is. Enjoy!

28
books sold (up from 15 last year and mostly thanks to Sara! Also interesting to note, of the sales I did, all but 3 were deals well into the six-figure range and two were 7+. Sweet!)

64
foreign rights deals done (up from 53 last year. That’s a big increase. Foreign rights went gangbuster.)

9
number of new clients (Kristin & Sara combined)

36,000
estimated number of queries read and responded to (this is actually down a bit from last year. Last year we averaged around 150/day. This year it was more around 120/day)

98
full manuscripts requested and read (way up from 55 last year.)

839
number of sample pages requested and read (down from 1053 of last year)

6
number of projects currently on submission

5
tv and major motion picture deals

1.5 million
number of copies in print for my bestselling series this year

668,000
number of copies in print for my bestselling title this year

144,000
number of copies in print for my bestselling debut this year

9
conferences attended (also includes BEA and Bologna Children’s Book Fair)

5
number of New York Times Bestsellers this year

10
number of career New York Times Bestselling titles

1
Number of books named to Publisher’s Weekly list of top books of the year

82
number of physical holiday cards sent

398
Number of electronic holiday cards sent

10+
number of Starbucks eggnog chai consumed in the last week (sort of embarrassed to admit it!)

Lots
number of late nights reading on the couch with Chutney

All
number of great days loving my job

Have a safe and happy New Year. I’m out! See you back here on Jan. 3, 2011.

2 For 1 Friday Funnies!

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Today’s funnies totally lightened the mood!

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? WINTER WONDERLAND by Dave Brubeck

I think my favorite line might be, “are you ready to have agents hunt you down with pitchforks and stakes?”

Enjoy!

And I definitely should have this paying on the iPod: Snark! The Haggard Agents Sing. Brilliant!

TGIF! I’m out to consume more eggnog chai.

Friday Funnies

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Lots of editors are taking Monday and Tuesday off so I expect that it will be a little quiet in the office.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? THE OPENING OF DOORS by Will Ackerman

This story may be the best one yet.

From the police blotter of Hudson Hub Times, Man reports delivery of suspicious package!

Click on link. You won’t be disappointed!

Friday Funnies

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Sun popped out. Yay. I was worried it was going to rain.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? QUANDO, QUANDO, QUANDO by Michael Buble

This article totally cracked me up. Stop the New York Times Presses. Huge news flash.

New York City agent moves from Manhattan to….

Brooklyn..

And can still do his job as a literary agent!

I’m still chortling.

Where Not In The World Is Kristin?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I know this is petty but this week I’m on the beach and it snowed in Denver. Yes!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? WALKING ON SUNSHINE by Katrina And The Waves

There is something fundamentally wrong with a science fiction author who lives in Florida but has never been the Kennedy Space Center. It’s also a crying shame if her agent, who reps SF and has also never been to the Kennedy Space Center, doesn’t drag her there.

Consider the issue rectified!

In Orbit! Kristin, My Mom Sue, and Linnea Sinclair:

The world is in trouble now…

Friday Funnies

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s 78 degrees here. Must leave right now so Chutney and I can enjoy it.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? THE FAIRY QUEEN by Clannad

Next Tuesday is election day! Just a reminder to get out there and vote. So many Americans don’t take the time, which drives me crazy. Yes, it’s an inalienable right but there are so many other places in the world where this is not true; we should never take it for granted.

But I have a hilarious story to relate. My husband and I always vote by mail-in ballot so we voted last week.

Little did we know what would be the last initiative on the ballot. I busted out laughing as I hadn’t heard a peep about this one. It was completely unexpected. How could the media not be discussing this?

The last initiative on the ballot was the Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission.

“Shall the voters for the City and County of Denver adopt an Initiated Ordinance to require the creation of an extraterrestrial affairs commission to help ensure the health, safety, and cultural awareness of Denver residents and visitors in relation to potential encounters or interactions with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles, and fund such commission from grants, gifts, and donations?”

Irresistible!

And if I hadn’t looked at the ballot and voted, I would never have had the pleasure of contemplating this last initiative…

Happy Friday Everyone!

Taking It Public—An Update

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m working at home again tonight. Ah, the glamorous life….

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE by Michael Franti and Spearhead

Jana’s announcement from yesterday has produced a couple of positive results:

1. Kobo immediately removed Jana’s titles from their site and contacted Jana with the news. They also are willing to set up an agreement with her so she can directly sell her titles through their venue.

2. Dorchester informed me that they have submitted the requests to have the titles removed from the various ebook sites. Currently though, they are still available on some sites such as Amazon and BN.

3. RWA (Romance Writers of America) and SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America both sent out emails to members regarding this issue and asked that members contact them if they are facing similar from Dorchester. Both organizations are looking into it.

4. Many valuable discussions have unfolded on blogs and twitter regarding it.

In general, this avenue is not what would have been preferred, and I do think it could have been avoided altogether but one can’t deny the results.

Taking It Public

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Getting this entry in late as you can see.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? NOT THE GIRL YOU THINK YOU ARE by Crowded House

Well, if you were plugged into the publishing world via the internet, you might have a little sense of how my day unfolded.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m referring to, you might want to take a moment to click on this link. My author Jana DeLeon, fed up with Dorchester and the fact that they were illegally selling copies of her ebooks long after her rights had reverted back to her, decided to take that news public.

I only have one thing to add. Despite no response to my previous calls demanding they cease and desist what they were doing, I still called Dorchester to warn them. I did not receive a return call—that is until today after the news broke.

A Moment of Silence

by Kristin Nelson

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.