Pub Rants

Category: agents

Silence A NO Answer?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Good. I still have a lot of reading that needs to be done but I’m starting to catch up.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SUDDENLY I SEE by Kt Tunstall

When I was in New York, I did spend some time talking to a variety of writers at BEA and at the Backspace Conference.

One writer asked me if silence on a full request meant a NO.

Not knowing the agent or agency, I didn’t really have an answer to that but I might be able to shed a tiny bit of insight on to the question.

I would not consider silence a NO response, but I also wouldn’t wait around for this agent or agency to get back to you. Get those queries out there. Get more sample pages in agents’ hands. Don’t pin your hopes on this tiny glimmer of interest.

Because some agents are like a few editors that I know and avoid, they won’t start reading until they get a heads up that there is other interest. I know, it’s awful to say but often times the truth.

At my agency, I really do try and stick by the maxim we highlight on our website that says we will respond to full manuscripts within 2 months. The key word there is “try.” I can count numerous times where I’ve been woefully behind and the fulls we requested were the last thing on my to do list. I hate that; it happens.

Now we never ask for an exclusive so it doesn’t really matter if I’m late to the read or if I don’t get a chance to read at all because the writer has been offered representation by an agent who read in a more timely fashion. It’s simply too bad for me.

If I were that writer though, I’d still continue my inquiry as to the status of my submission—politely, professionally, but persistently (as in maybe once every 3 weeks). Because you are owed a response. I’m not saying that you’ll get one but you really are owed one.

Sign Of The Times?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Ah, only two meetings today. It’s such a nice break. I feel like I can actually tackle the 170 emails sitting in my inbox from yesterday.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? I GUESS THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES by Elton John
(Ok, I ‘fess up. I put that song on so I could write this blog entry.)

I saw this deal post on Deal Lunch and burst out laughing. I just love it. I think Caitlin and I might be kindred spirits—even though I’ve never met her.

CHILDREN’S: MIDDLE GRADE
Sarah Prineas’s THE CROW KING’S DAUGHTER, featuring faerie lore without the urban setting and without drugs, sex, and angst, to Toni Markiet at Harper Children’s, in a good deal, in a three-book deal, by Caitlin Blasdell at Liza Dawson Associates (NA).

A faerie story. A real one! Not meant to be urban paranormal. Not meant to be a Twilight knock-off. It’s truly a sign of the times when an agent posts a deal for what a story is not. I’m so tickled, and I can well believe it went for 6-figures. I’d buy this book!

In other news, I had a great lunch with a children’s editor yesterday. She mentioned that she was seeing a lot of what she called Karaoke young adult novels. Mystified by the term, I asked her to explain. She said she was seeing a lot of submissions where teens passionately talk about their issues in dialogue but there doesn’t seem to be much of a plot per so. Lots of angst. Not much story.

Needless to say, this editor was not buying them. As for me, I couldn’t say I’d be snatching one up to represent.

Karaoke novels. Get it? Teen characters that sing their own angsty song—and I certainly wouldn’t call it singing the blues.

Now that term cracks me up too!

Submit Now Or Later?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Work all morning. Meetings all afternoon. That’s New York!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HEY JACK KEROUAC by 10,000 Maniacs

Yesterday I had an agent friend who doesn’t handle a lot of adult trade fiction shoot me an email with an interesting question. She asked this: with fiction, she had heard that some agents were not even submitting right now and were planning to wait 6 months to let things settle down. In other words, things were a little volatile right now with lay-oofs and projects that might have been bought 6 months ago were now being passed on in this current cautious climate. (Hard to sell a project if you are unsure the editor is going to be there 2 months from now.) Since I did a lot more adult fiction than she did, what did I think?

Darn good question. To be honest, I didn’t have an answer. I’ve been doing quite a few deals as of late but all for current clients who are already established at their houses. None for debut authors in the adult field. Now I do have some YA submissions out but that’s not the same thing.

Since I’m here in New York, what better way to find out than to ask? Well, the lucky editors at St. Martin’s Press were first up to bat so I asked them, what is SMP’s stance on buying adult fiction?

Here’s what was said:

1. They had wondered why it had been so slow. They weren’t seeing the usual amount of submissions that normally happens for this time of year. (Interesting.)

2. That SMP (and this was emphatically said) was aggressively buying so bring it on. (Nice!)

3. Major accounts were tightening their buy lists. Not ordering as much and not as far in advance. (I’ve heard this from several places—not just SMP.) So if a project is borderline in terms of an editor loving it, they might pass. (Agents might not be submitting right now in order to not risk this.)

So what had they bought recently? SMP just paid big money to lure two mystery authors to the house. One editor had bought two novels—a mystery caper and then a literary commercial novel about a Viet Nam soldier and his specially trained German Sheppard who worked as a team in a special army unit.

You know how much I love dogs. I would have LOVED to have seen that second novel. History. Dogs. A War. Gosh, no one ever sends me that kind of stuff. Oh wait. Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet (although there are no dogs in that one.)

So novels with that intense emotional hook or connection. Check. Historical novels. Check. American based narrative mystery or crime nonfiction (a la Devil In The White City). I don’t do but check. Memoir. Check. And I learned a new term. Editors are looking for midstream mainstream. (i.e. Stuff in the Jodi Picoult realm where it’s ordinary people faced with extraordinary decisions about real problems).

Midstream mainstream. Try saying that 5 times fast! (I think I just call it upmarket commercial fiction.)

Okay, check.

Get Specific Names

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I totally forgot to blog last night.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LONG HOT SUMMER by Style Council

It sometimes happens that a writer lands an agent, goes on submit, but then the agent gives up after just a short time or a few submissions.

Personally, I can’t figure out what the agent was thinking. Why bother taking on someone if you don’t think you can commit for the long haul? Besides, every agent I know has a story of getting 30+ rejections and finally selling the book. It only takes one! Such a cliché but often true. I’ve even heard of agents taking up to 2 years and 5 years to sell a project.

But that’s an aside. Let’s say this has happened to you (as awful as that would be). Here’s the info you need to be an animal about getting from that former agent. Bug that person with emails and phone calls (politely of course—I always advocate being professional and polite) but do annoy them until you get the exact names of the editors who saw the work and the imprints/houses. And if you can get the responses, that’s even better!

Why?

Because if a new agent is going to take you on, it’s imperative to have that info. (And just about every agent I know has taken on at least one client who has been previously submitted so it happens.)

Here are a couple of reasons why we need the info:

1. If I have the submit list in hand while contemplating offering representation, I can clearly see if I think the former agent sent the work to the right editors or not. If they haven’t, heck, I’ve got a clear field and can probably sell the work by getting the project into the right hands.

2. Having the info allows me to weigh my decision on whether I think there are enough viable other places to take it to.

3. The editor list lets me see if an editor has left publishing or has moved to another house and suddenly, I’ve got a clear shot at that imprint again. It’s musical chairs in publishing.

4. The editor list allows me to pinpoint an editor who has already seen it (maybe a year or more ago) and I can sway him or her to look at it again if we’ve done a big enough revision on it that I can pitch it like new.

5. Some editors are notoriously bad at never responding and if that’s the case and I see that on the list (and the responses you have—or lack thereof), I can target a different editor at that imprint and it’s like submitting fresh.

6. There’s nothing worse than not knowing that a project you took on was previously shopped and you, the agent, now have egg on your face when an editor writes and tells you that they’ve seen it before and it was NO then and it’s still NO now. Ouch. That pisses me off and so if you have the editor list, then you can give it to me before this can happen.

Not to mention, it’s your right to know who has seen your manuscript, who turned it down, and what they said about it so even if you are parting ways, get that info. Most agents (I hope) are good people and happy to give you that info as a matter of course but if the agent isn’t doing it, be wonderfully annoying and politely make it clear that you will continue your inquiry until they do. They may just send it your way to make you go away!

Get Vamped! Get A Street Team!

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF! It’s supposed to be a lousy weekend in Denver. Rain both days. Guess who will probably get a lot of reading done?

What’s playing on the iPod right now? TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART by Bonnie Tyler

Happy Release Day Lucienne!

I imagine that most writers believe that because Lucienne is also an agent, she probably got special treatment when she went out on submission. But actually, that’s not true. If the editors knew who she was, then I’m sure they kept that in mind while reading but most of the editors were in the children’s realm—a market Lucienne doesn’t do a whole lot of repping in. So her being an agent didn’t necessarily carry extra weight.

And even with that, the work had to live up to its promise, and the editors had to love it as a novel to take it on.

In looking back on my submission notes, we had quite a few editors who wanted the angsty vampire romance—not something fun, campy, and totally different than anything out there already.

All the editors loved Lucienne’s voice. One editor felt it was similar to something she already had on her list but she went back and forth on it as she really loved that voice. Another editor thought they had too many vampire books on their list (can’t argue with that!).

Now it’s the lead title for Flux’s spring list. It’s debuting today. It’s gotten a good Kirkus review. Excellent sell in. It’s being featured as part of Barnes & Noble’s book club.

And Lucienne has a great promo tip for you. I’d like to welcome guest blogger and fellow agent, Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.

I can haz minions?


I don’t know, something about starting my own street team has me talking in LOLcat and wanting to laugh maniacally, like a cartoon villain. I’ve been feverishly working on my evil villain laugh, actually. Taking a page from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog.

But I’m not here today to talk to you about my minions. Or, not exactly. I’m here to talk about promotion. You know how they always say that two heads are better than one? Well, twenty is ten times better than two. And one hundred…well, you get the point. It’s a truism in the publishing field that word of mouth is the biggest seller of books. Ads and reviews are all well and good, but nothing works as well as recommendations from friends. Hence the idea of the street team… providing advance copies of your book (and maybe other freebies like t-shirts, bookmarks, mugs, whathaveyou) to a group representing your target audience with the understanding that if they like your work they’ll spread the word, go forth and kvell—blog, put up reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders.com, Twitter, go tell it on the mountain. I don’t know if Mari Mancusi was the first author to come up with the idea, but I do know that I first heard of it through an article she’d written. Brilliant! I thought. I let my young adult authors know about it, because it seemed especially suited to the young adult field. I filed it away in my own mind.

You see, at the time, Gina, my heroine from Vamped, was not even a twinkle in my eye. In fact, when she first started talking in my head (yes, that’s how it happens), she was a snarky fashionista who, after clawing her own way out of the grave, discovers that true horror is a lack of reflection. No way to do her hair and make-up; eternity without tanning options. She decides that her first order of business is to turn her own stylist. The story didn’t have an actual plot. It was more of a vignette, really, a slice of unlife. I thought I’d have done with her and be able to walk away. But as it turned out, Gina was more resourceful and stronger than I knew. A short story wasn’t enough for her (or my readers, who wanted more). Oh, no, she had to have a novel. Then a series. Next thing you know, she’ll be taking over the silver screen (oh please, please, please).

Anyway, that part of me that is Gina – because, let’s face it, there’s a little of us in all of our characters – is crowing “I can haz minions!” My street team is fabulous. I put out a call on my blog for teens and twenty-somethings, directed them toward the section on my website where there’s an excerpt posted to see if they thought they’d like it, and recruited. The first ten to respond would got T-shirts and a signed copy of Vamped, the next twenty-five were offered signed bookplates. I got a great response. I’m actually pretty humbled by the amazing energy, enthusiasm and creativity of my team. They’re heads and shoulders above Victor Frankenstein’s iconic Igor. They’re people that make me go “wow” and “I’m not worthy” on a regular basis. I actually want to succeed as much for them—so they can brag about how they were part of it all, that they were there before I was someone—as for myself.

In short, having a street team can be incredibly rewarding, hopefully for all parties. It’s certainly the most fun I’ve had promoting my book. It makes me feel like I’m not in this alone and gives me the comfort that there are folks other than me enthusiastic about my new release. Writing is too often a lonely endeavor.

Complaining About Agents

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Getting ready for the London Book Fair so both Sara and I are working rather long hours.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THE FEAR by Lily Allen

I realize that I’m probably just about to express an unpopular opinion. Basically I simply raised an eyebrow at the whole agentfail extravaganza at the Bookends Blog.

I’m sure it’s cathartic to get out all your annoyances and grievances against agents but for the most part, it’s a waste of energy and time.

For the agents like Jessica, Janet, Nathan, Jennifer, Lucienne, Nephele, and Deidre who blog (and sorry I can’t name everyone), you are preaching to the choir. We ALREADY do everything we possibly can to reply quickly to queries and sample pages (even fulls!), to help writers, and to really be resources for those who are looking to get published.

Despite all that, I’m sure we all still have disgruntled writers out there who have a complaint against us because we never received their query or our response got caught in their spam filter and it was never received, etc. The list could go on.

We simply don’t have enough hours in the day to make sure all communications get through where queries are concerned because that, quite simply, is so low on our TO DO list, it barely registers.

Although I know that it feels like the world to you writers as you navigate the seemingly unfriendly waters of getting an agent, finding a publisher, etc.

I get that. But we are only X number of people with X number of hours in the day and even now, we are working easily 10, 12, sometime 14 hour days or more. (And yet, I still manage to squeeze out 15 or 20 minutes to write a blog entry—time away from my hubby and Chutney who are right now doing something fun together like snuggling on the couch while I type this. I do it because I’m committed to educating writers.)

And those agents who you are really complaining about—those who don’t ever respond to queries, who take 6 months to get back on sample pages, who ask for an exclusive and then hold your full manuscript ransom for X number of months, they are not reading agentfail. In fact they are not blogging or even reading blogs most likely.

So despite the big outpouring, I seriously think that very little will change. So I’m glad you had the moment of catharsis but could you have taken that same time and energy and sent out 20 queries instead? Revised your opening chapters? Get critiqued on your query letter?

Be proactive folks. Not reactive. That’s how you play to win.

When Is The Point Of No Return?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: HOTEL still on the NYT Hardcover Bestseller list! Woot. This week tied for #15. I didn’t know that could happen.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? ROSANNA by Toto

One of blog readers left a comment about whether an agent has ever gotten to page 100 in a novel and then had the manuscript click into place.

I started chuckling; I couldn’t help it! I’m not trying to belittle the question.

I just wish that I could invite y’all to come to the office and read our slush pile for let’s say a month. Trust me, at the end of 30 days, you’ll get exactly what I’m about to say.

No agent is going to slog through a 100 pages in the hopes of a full manuscript coming together on page 100 or thereafter.

That’s the blunt truth.

We figure if something’s not working by page 20, it’s probably not going to happen. So much of the first 100 pages is so essential to a novel working to its completion. I can’t even fathom how the possibility might happen of a novel coming together so late in the writing. I guess theoretically it could happen…

Now, if I like an opening premise or some aspects of the writing and I’m leaning NO, I will sometimes skip ahead twenty pages and randomly read 5 pages together to see if something grabs me enough to continue reading.

But I can truthfully say that even though I’ve done that numerous times, it never resulted in my asking for a full.

Why Agents Need Full Manuscripts

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I can’t believe it’s 6 pm and I’m now starting what was on my actual TO DO list for the day. It’s just been one of those.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? GRAPE FRUIT- JUICY FRUIT by Jimmy Buffett

If you are a debut author, agents sell your first novel based on a complete manuscript. There are certainly some rare exceptions where a novel might sell on a partial but usually because the author has some kind of strong background in the arena (say as an established screenwriter or prestigious short story credits) that gives the publisher assurance that the writer can pull it off.

Once published and established, lots of authors simply submit a synopsis and the first three chapters to sell the next project.

But for debut authors, why do agents need fulls?

For one very basic reason, I’ve read several requested full manuscripts that were excellent for about 150 pages and then went totally south. And in such a way that I believed the revision to be so large, I wasn’t willing to commit to it with the author.

This happens. Often.

I have to know that a brand new author can carry the novel to a satisfying conclusion. That all the elements will fall into place in a masterful way. Usually a novel’s climax happens two-thirds of the way in the work (not in the first 150 pages), so a full becomes crucial so as to evaluate it.

Just lately, I’ve read two full manuscripts all the way till their conclusions—only to ultimately pass on offering representation. This is rather rare. I can usually tell 100 to 150 pages in whether something is going to work for me or not.

So what was up with these two? I loved certain aspects of the novels. For one, I loved the writing but the story just wasn’t being compelling for me. I read all the way to the end in the hopes that I could finally put my finger on what was bothering me so I could have something useful to say to the writer. I actually never was able to articulate it. Despite really strong writing, I just didn’t feel passionately about it.

For the other, I read to the end because I wanted to see how the work ended and whether the conclusion would give me insight into whether this author could revise enough to make it worth offering an editorial letter with an eye to revising.

As you can imagine, fully editing a manuscript and writing up an editorial letter is really time consuming so I have to be convinced that it might be worth my time. If the ending really wows me, that can be the clincher. Unfortunately for this title, the ending didn’t sway me and I passed altogether. I did write up some of my concerns in my one-page response but it certainly wasn’t a whole editorial letter. (Just FYI—a good editorial letter on my part can easily take 2 hours to write.) If I’m not won over, I won’t commit to the time needed to create it.

Had I not had the full for either, I would have definitely passed. Now I passed anyway with these two fulls but I was looking for a reason to be swayed the other direction. That wouldn’t have happened without the complete work. And I can name two current clients who I asked to revise a full novel significantly before I offered representation. Similar circumstance to the above but in these two instances, I swayed to the side of accepting rather than rejecting.

Pitch Alternative Recap

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Busy Monday as I connect with my foreign rights person to debrief Bologna.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LONESTAR by Norah Jones

Thank you all for the many varied responses to my blogs about Pitch Alternatives. I’m actually going to share these blog links with various conference organizers so this was not for naught.

So I can do so, I want to recap some of the options that I think will work most effectively.

The problem, for me anyway, in allowing non-ready writers to pitch unfinished projects is the expectation that is often in place before the pitch. I know that these writers actually still expect an agent to request the material—even if the work isn’t complete.

And I’m very serious about this. I’ve gotten shocked responses from pitchers when I’ve started the session with “Is your manuscript complete” and then when given a “no” reply, they were stunned that they couldn’t just send it a year later when it was ready.

Folks, I couldn’t make this stuff up so what I’m saying is that if we allow folks to just pitch at will, it puts too much expectation on the agent and then we feel like the bad guy by saying, no, you can’t send the partial you have; or, no, you can’t send it a year later when it’s finally finished.

This is what I’m trying to avoid. So here are my ideas. This is working off the assumption that the pitch appointments will be screened and only writers with finished projects will be allowed to “formally” pitch.

For all unfinished projects, here are some viable alternatives. These would all include a fee, above and beyond the conference fee, for the participant to attend. That way the conference is not sacrificing revenue for these alternate ideas.

1. A morning practice pitch session that is advertised as such. In other words, any writer with an unfinished project can pitch an agent or editor but they go in with the expectation that the agent/editor will not be asking for sample pages. This is solely for fun and practice. I suggest that the conference organizers ask the attending agents/editors if they are open to being faculty for this kind of session. I wouldn’t mind doing it and then the pressure is off me completely because the expectation is clear upfront to both parties participating.

2. A social event with an agent (or editor but I’m not going to retype that each time), limited to 6 participants and held at an off-site location (to avoid interruptions), that’s a roundtable discussion that allows writers to simply have sit-down Q&A with agent. This isn’t a practice pitch session per se but it might end up there if the agent directs it that way. Event to be held in a bar or restaurant so food and drinks are available. Expectation is that participants pay to attend and then also have to pay for their own food and everyone there pitches in to pay for the agent. (Trust me, we won’t eat or drink so much to make this cost prohibitive. Or we shouldn’t anyway!)

3. Coffee Klatch: Morning session in a classroom where participants pay to attend and the fee also includes coffee, tea, and pastries. Hey, I think events don’t work as well if food isn’t there. The conference can set the price appropriately for how much it would cost for the food/beverage service. Or, cheaper yet, the session moderator brings the bagels or donuts (but the session fee still pays for the bringing in of yummies). A similar idea could be done with a special lunch in smaller rooms with smaller tables that are more private (so you don’t get the overwhelming loudness). Participants can pay to have a special lunch with an agent. Limit the number to 5 or 6. Maybe have the event off-site at various restaurants so the Conference does not have to pay to reserve these rooms. Or, utilize the same rooms already reserved and have food brought in. That way the Conference can control cost and make sure the fee covers the expense.

4. Small roundtable query workshop and or opening pages—limited to 6 people. I’m not opposed to this but I just wanted to point out that it’s a lot of work on the agent’s part to prepare for this. At Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, they do this on the Friday before the conference begins, I spend a good two hours easy on reading and commenting on the submissions so I’m prepared. I know you don’t realize it, but it’s asking a lot from agents. I have so very little free time as I easily work 10 or 13 hour days on average just to keep up so I have to get this preparation done in my spare time and to be honest, when I have spare time, I really want to do something fun like hang with Chutney and my hubby. I often don’t feel like taking 2 hours to read opening pages. Just being honest here. I do it but it’s a commitment.

The Pitch Alternative?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF!

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

What I’m looking for is a pitch alternative.

Hum… the problem is this. Most conferences charge a fee for a participant to do a pitch session with an agent or editor above and beyond the fee to attend the conference. This is often how conferences generate revenue to run the programs.

So right now, most conferences allow anyone who wants to sign up for pitch appointment to do so. There really is no monitoring of whether the writers have a finish project or even if their project fits with the agent they are pitching.

Most conferences assume that those interested in pitch appts. are doing their homework to sign up with the right person. We’d all like to think that writers would be in tune enough do that.

Unfortunately, that’s not the reality. Examining the conferences I’ve done just in the last year, which was actually a lot because I freakishly agreed to something like 9 conferences last year, I can tell you this. On average, more than 60% of the conference attendees who pitched me were not ready to pitch as they didn’t even have a complete manuscript.

At one conference I did last year, I’d say that the percentage rate was higher. More than 80% of the people I had pitch appointments with didn’t have an even close to finished manuscript for me to look at.

And yet, the agent/editor appts. are the biggest money generators for the conference. I get the necessity of that.

I’m just trying to find some other way to accommodate writers without finished projects to have time with an agent/editor.

Jessica suggested more social events planned for the participants and the faculty. I’m certainly not opposed to that but those events usually are not something that will generate the much needed revenue the conference organizers need.

Not only that but at social functions, agents and editors often like to hang together (because we like catching up with each other as well) and very few attendees feel confident enough to break that “inner circle” grouping. Hey, I’ve been guilty of that and I’m willing to ‘fess up to it. It just happens because we have so much to talk about. The participant interaction is probably not as high as it should be at these mixers.
Now the Pikes Peak conference does an interesting thing with their agent/editor hosted table at the lunch hour (which is free) but the tables are too big and the room is often too noisy to really work well except for the few attendees lucky enough to sit closest to the agent or editor.

So I’m trying to find some kind of happy medium that could work, and I’m open to suggestions.

So bring it on. How could we solve this problem?