Pub Rants

Category: agents

Do Agents Buy Books For The Holidays?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: The agency is only open for another week and two days. I’m a little intimidated on what needs to be done between now and then!

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? HOUSE FULL OF LOVE by Michael McDonal

If an agent buys books as gifts for the holidays, do they only buy their client authors?

Good heavens no–although I’ve certainly bought my share of NLA books to give as gifts. But it would look a bit self-serving if that’s all I did!

Not to mention, I often share extra ARCs with family and close friends so a good majority of them have read the NLA book long before it’s available to the public. It’s one of the things my nieces have LOVED about my being their aunt. *grin* LEGEND by Marie Lu was quite popular with them last March. They laughed when I told them it was releasing this week. For them, it’s been out forever.

So this Saturday I popped down to The Tattered Cover to browse and buy a few more items to wrap and put under the tree. I’m also a TC member and I had to buy my books asap to get the “share the love with members” 20% discount.

What caught my attention?

The Sisters by Nancy Jensen

I have not read this one yet but I’m hearing enough great things to take a risk. I’m rather enamored of the cover as well. I wish one of my client books had that cover!



Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend by Susan Orlean

I received a complimentary copy from the editor. At first, I was skeptical. I didn’t know much about Rin Tin Tin and didn’t feel overly like I needed to but I am a dog person. I cracked it open and I got sucked in. It’s a really cool book about more than just the dog actor but about Hollywood history etc. My husband got sucked in to.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

I just read an article about the making of the cover, which is visually interesting and unique. Publishers are floating around ideas about making book covers a work of art in and of themselves as added value for the physical book.



Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from The Animal Kingdom by Jennifer Holland

A girlfriend was with me in the store and pointed this book out to me. I took one look and had to buy it immediately.

And I imagine my TC shopping isn’t quite finished. Very likely I’ll be there again this weekend.

Not Quite The American Export I’d Hope For

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF! I haven’t seen a good funny (that I could share on the blog anyway) in ages. I need to rally the troops to send some my way again.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME by Jewel

I was reading Publishing Perspectives this morning and came across an article that just made me groan. Of course there are scam artists all around the world but in general, the whole shady practice of pretending to be a literary agent and charging reading fees has been a pretty American concept.

Alas, not anymore.

Great. One of the things I’d prefer not to be an American export…. Not to mention, there are SO many more resources available online here in The States to help writers avoid the publishing-money-scam pitfall. I can’t imagine the same holds true in India. Perhaps I have some intrepid blog readers there who might help spread the word by posting links to the article or starting chats on the subject.

Nelson Literary Agency Has No Prob With LGBTQ

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m feeling a tad riled up.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? MY HEART BELONGS TO ME by Barbara Streisand

Holy cow! Can’t believe I missed this article yesterday. I’m so glad an agent friend forwarded to me. Take a moment to read it and tweet it on but in short, it’s an appeal to support literature with gay and lesbian characters and the fact that there are some appalling agents and editors out there who are making requests that the writers make a gay character straight.

Seriously? What year are we in?

I cannot tell you how delighted I was to see a link to a list of YA literature that features gay/lesbian characters and my author Sarah Rees Brennan’s THE DEMON’S LEXICON series was on it.

This author of mine is brilliant. It’s a wonderful series and her new trilogy that I just sold to Random House also has an absolute kick-a** gay/lesbian main character. The first book UNSPOKEN publishes in fall 2012.

Not to mention, I have a Monica Trasandes’ debut adult literary novel coming out in spring 2012 from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. It’s called BROKEN LIKE THIS and features three main protagonists: a bisexual character, a gay/lesbian character and a straight male character (had to throw that last one in there-LOL).

A multicultural author to boot. I’ll tell you right now it was a tough sell but I loved the novel and I sold it.

So add these to your wish lists if you want to show support via your buying dollars. If I had cover art or anything yet for these two titles, I’d post it here but we are in the middle of the cover design and the buy links aren’t available online yet.

And let’s not forget the incredibly brilliant, witty, impeccably dressed and extremely powerful Lord Akeldama from Gail Carriger’s The Parasol Protectorate series.

I must admit it never occurred to me to add to my agency’s submission page that we are open to accepting material with LGBTQ characters because I kind of thought it went without saying but I’m rethinking it now.

Feel free to link to this blog post that it’s a-okay with us and I have NEVER asked an author to change a character’s ethnic background or orientation.

And because we are talking about multicultural too, check out my author Kimberly Reid’s debut YA novel MY OWN WORST FRENEMY. It’s an African-American urban Nancy Drew series. I mean, just how cool is that?


Note: LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning.

Additional Note: As there seems to be some question about the legitimacy of the original article cited and the agent/agency named, in fairness I’m also including a link to the agent/agency rebuttal to the accusation.

An Actual No Means No–For Us Anyway

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Chutney is asleep. I need to follow that example.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? COULD YOU BE LOVED? by Bob Marley and the Wailers

Today I took fellow literary agent, Kate Testerman, out to lunch. We even had a pint of beer (Kate) and a glass of wine (Kristin) to celebrate.

Why? Because her author Ransom Riggs has a novel that’s been slowly climbing up to the #2 spot on the NYT list for the past 12 weeks. #1 spot is within spitting distance.

I would be talking about Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children.


Darn right we need to celebrate that. After all, we agents are notoriously bad at actually doing celebratory moments to acknowledge our achievements but can cite every book we passed on that then became successful. LOL.

So it was an enforced celebration because hitting the NYT list is an achievement. Staying on for 12 straight weeks is an achievement. Have sales increase rather than decrease over that 12 weeks is huge and last but not least, hello! The #1 spot is not out of reach.

If you haven’t, you might want to buy this book this week is all I’m saying.

So Sara and I are out with Kate celebrating this amazing debut when Kate mentions there is a brouhaha going on about an agent’s policy to respond to every query or simply say “no response is a No” and authors should move on.

I gotta get myself on twitter. I’m always missing the hoopla.

Actually it was more of a discussion than a brouhaha but it was causing comments aplenty.

Our stance? We respond but that’s mainly because I have the amazing Anita who screens all queries and pulls out the ones I actually need to look at. Without that, trust me, I’d probably seriously consider the “no response means a No.”

We can get upwards to 200 queries a day.

That’s crazy people!

This day alone we received 4 calls from nonfiction writers with deals on the table looking for an agent.

We don’t even rep nonfiction and none of them were memoir. How on earth do people find us is what I want to know.

Now if Sara and I read a partial or a full manuscript, we do offer a line or two on why we are passing but trust me, when I’ve read 12 submissions and I know it’s going to take me at least 40 minutes to type in my one or two lines of feedback, I seriously consider whether it’s worth the time.

I could just hit the NO button and be done. Trust me, it’s tempting. Very very tempting.

But for now, we still add the line. If I were a writer, which I’m not, I’d so appreciate that personal note. So we keep that in mind but we aren’t inured to the day when that might not be a possibility.

In The Author’s Shoes

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Working all morning. Talking all afternoon.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? CRAZY by Icehouse

The Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference kicks off today. I’ll be there all afternoon chatting about digital changes in publishing (starts at 2 p.m.). And I’ll probably need all afternoon given there is a lot to talk about.

Last night RMFW had their opening cocktail party and I was chatting with an author there. She mentioned that she had to switch agents recently and it was one of the more agonizing things that she has done in her career. Not having been on that side of the fence, I asked her what she thought was the most important factors to keep in mind when going through the process. I thought it would make a good blog topic!

Here’s her list:

1. Make sure the agent loves your work.

Kristin commentary: I agree–especially if you are looking for someone to rep your whole career. An agent should love your writing–not just one book.

Or, as we continued our chat, have an agent take you on simply because you already have a deal on the table. This author said that for the fellow authors she knew, if that was the reason the agent took the author on, the business partnership didn’t last.

2. Ask the agent what their career vision is for you.

K commentary: This would seem like a straightforward thing but different agents might have very different visions for you. For example, you might be a genre mystery writer and the agent sees you evolving more into literary mystery. Now if the author is aligned on that vision, great. But if the author is happy with straight mystery, this particular person might be a good agent but not right for you.

3. Meet the agent in person.

K commentary: During our chat, the author stressed how important this is. It does make sense because you get a general feel for an agent and his/her style when meeting in person more so then just a phone convo. It happens for me when I meet editors in person. Why not agents? But this author was really adamant on how helpful it was to her when making her decision.

So there you have it.

I mentioned to her that in the last year, I’ve taken to skyping with my clients and any new people I’m interested in representing.

I totally feel the difference. It’s like having a face-to-face meeting–even if the client is half way around the world.

Hard Wired For Conflict Equanimity?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m feeling this strange desire to belt out Men At Work songs. Wait, that’s because I’m jet lagged and actually in Australia!

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK by Sting

Last Thursday, Angie and I got a chance to do informational interviews at the Denver Publishing Institute. As 2002 grads (and I can’t believe it’s been that long!), we were happy to give back by chatting with the graduating students looking for careers in publishing and specifically those who were interested in agenting.

I did about 15 interviews and during the day, I have to say that something completely crystalized for me.

Q: What does it take to be a good literary agent?

A: The ability to handle conflict.

Q: What does it take be a happy literary agent?

A: The ability to be sanguine about all the conflict you deal with on a daily basis.

I know. This should have been obvious but I had never boiled it down to the above. Ninety percent of agenting is troubleshooting and doing conflict resolution.

And I’m not exaggerating.

An agent’s job is to be the author’s advocate. Plain and simple. And that means it’s the agent’s job to sometimes be the “bad guy” so the author can have a warm and fuzzy relationship with his/her editor and publisher.

The agent is the person who says the tough things when they need to be said.

So if you are by nature, a conflict avoider, then being a literary agent is not going to be a happy job for you. It’s not like anyone loves conflict (or maybe some folks do!) but some folks are more hard wired to deal with it with equanimity.

Definitely something to keep in mind if you want to pursue this particular career.

Do Cheap Backlist eBooks Poach Frontlist Sales?

by Kristin Nelson

Status: Best moment in NYC today? Walking over to Central Park and seeing a dude that looked remarkably like Will Smith asking folks if they wanted to do park bike rentals. And in this town, it really could have been him and people didn’t notice. It was a remarkable double…


What’s Playing on the XM or iPod right now? REAL LOVE by The Doobie Brothers


Today a fellow agent and I were having a discussion about eBook pricing. What should backlist romance titles be priced at and does that poach sales for the current release?


Obviously there are a variety of opinions on this subject but here is mine.


I don’t personally believe that a lower eBook price for a backlist title poaches from a current title. I think the romance reader is more likely to then buy both if the backlist title is reasonably priced.

In terms of pricing, most authors are seeing good movement when a backlist title is priced between the $2.99 and $3.99 price range. Higher than that and the sales are flat.


And speaking of reduced pricing for backlist titles, this is a perfect segue albeit for women’s fiction. Need a cheap summer read? HarperCollins is letting you get a taste of NLA client Kristina Riggle for $0.99


Yep, less than a buck. And it’s across all platforms. Here are links for just a few:

Amazon

BN

Kobo

Sadly Google eBookstore (that does sales for independent bookstores) didn’t have their version up although they were included in the promotion.


21st Century Evolution Of The Agent’s Role

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: As it’s almost 8 pm here and I’m still at the office, you can guess my status. I’m getting ready for Book Expo so there hasn’t been a lot of extra time for blogging.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? I’M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE by Barbara Streisand

I can’t say I have all the answers to this one but I can very clearly tell you what it WON’T be. I’m not on twitter but I’m still in the loop on a lot of things and there has been a lot of discussion around this blog posting.

So I’m just going to state my stance in very clear terms.

1. Agents roles will indeed transform but I’m willing to go on the record and say that we will never need to charge a reading fee or for editorial services in order to be an agent in this new publishing world.

2. I believe, and I’ll be talking about this in more detail in later blogs, that agents and agencies opening publishing divisions as part of their agency is a conflict of interest. Plain and simple. One can’t be an agent and a publisher at the same time.

3. I do believe that agents have a role in the ePublishing realm and I have definite opinions on what that role should be and I promise I will share it but not right at this moment.

Soon though.

Because It’s May

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s going to be in the 80s for the weekend! I’m so ready for that kind of weather.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? ROCKET MAN by Elton John

And Springtime can bring out the best in all of us.

Every year I participate in Brenda Novak’s On-line Auction for Diabetes Research. This is a cause close to my heart. My best friend, brother-in-law, and my six-year old nephew all have juvenile diabetes. This is personal for me.

So, I’m always delighted to support Brenda in this charity event, which happens every May. And although I can’t really compete with Celine (did you see that auction item!!!!), I am offering something new this year for a very lucky highest bidder.

Not only am I auctioning a 30-page read with a 5-day turnaround, the auction winner also gets a 30-minute follow-up phone convo with moi.

No really, this is exciting….

And if the winner skypes, we can even do the follow up call via video.

I’ll even put on lipstick and sit Chutney on my lap to say hello as well.

Really, does it get any better than that? Don’t answer that.

But I’m not the only one offering cool items. Sara is also doing a read and a follow-up call.

Jamie Ford is going to buy you lunch and personally show you around Seattle’s China Town where his novel Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet is set.

NLA author and former ICM agent Maggie Marr (who writes for TV by the way) is offering a screen play evaluation. She knows her stuff and here’s your chance if you are a screenwriter.

Anita, my assistant, will critique your query letter. Sherry Thomas is also jumping in on the query game. She helped Courtney Milan and look where that got Courtney.

Miranda Kenneally and Simone Elkeles are critiquing YA manuscripts. Laurence who is currently on submission and runs a terrific writer critique group here in Denver is also jumping in on the critique action as is Janice Hardy of the wonderful Healing Wars Trilogy. These folks are top-notch on giving feedback. You don’t want to miss out.

And there are lots of autographed author copies to boot.

And if you aren’t interested in me, lots of agents have donated good stuff. Jessica Faust will be your Agent for a Day (go Jessica!) and Jim McCarthy will evaluate a proposal (and I can vouch that he’s a smart dude). Fellow Denverite Kate Testerman is in the game as well as my nemesis (which I say laughingly as we have similar tastes and are always vying for the same projects) Ginger Clark. And you don’t want to pass on getting a read from Barbara Poelle!

In Romance, I adore Kevan Lyon, Natasha Kern, Deidre Knight, Elaine Spencer, and Elaine English so a couple of other good agents to keep in mind.

What are you waiting for?

Ack! I did not mean to leave out Tiffany Riesz who is offering a personalized love scene. Rock on!

Where “In Perpetuity” Might Come Back…

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s Friday! This would be more exciting if I didn’t have plans to work all weekend. Need to catch up from being away the week prior.

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? JEALOUS OF THE MOON by Nickel Creek

And bite you in the a**.

Not to be a downer on the Friday but a lot of authors are super excited about getting their rights reverted and then being able to digitally publish those titles themselves.

By all means, I’m certainly not opposed but you might want to check that agency agreement you signed before you run out and do that.

For the record, Nelson Literary Agency does not hold author rights into perpetuity but I know of a lot of agencies that do.

At NLA, our client agreement clearly states that if we sell the author’s book, it’s for the full term of the publishing agreement. When the book is out of print, publishing contract ends, all rights revert to the author with no further obligation to us.

But we are the minority. I know a lot of agencies that have “in perpetuity” language that they will be the agency of record for life of the property—regardless of whether that title is currently under a publication contract or not.

In short, what this means is that even if all rights to a title has reverted to you from the publisher, and even if you are no longer with that agent or agency, if you signed an agency agreement separate from the publication contract that has an “in perpetuity” clause and that agreement is still in force, you owe the agency of record monies for your self-pubbed digital sales.

Yep, that would suck. So, review any and all agency agreements you signed and if necessary, consult an attorney if it is in question before posting to digital distribution sites.