Pub Rants

Category: end of the year

A Work Stop Sort Of

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: One more day and counting…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BACK DOOR SANTA by B.B. King

The time is near but I bet you folks wonder if agents really do stop working over the holidays.

The answer is “sort of.” Here at Nelson Agency I won’t be reading queries, sample pages, or even any client material (because I completed all that) but I will be popping in occasionally because of several outstanding tasks.

I have several projects currently on submission so I’ll need to check email and voicemail messages to see if there is any movement on them.

I’m in the middle of negotiating a contract and the contracts person has gone on holiday until the 26th. This means we can’t complete until that last week of December and yes, I will work on that.

I’m awaiting several payments that may arrive this week or next. Those will need to be processed and mailed promptly (or if it’s really close to Jan. 1st, I’ll let the clients make that call if they would prefer to receive it in 2008 instead.)

Then there is the accounting system upgrade. We won’t go there right now!

Tomorrow I’ll share the year in stats and then I’m outta here.

A Year in Statistics

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Sara and I are working like mad to finish everything up today. Tomorrow we close. By the way, I just saw fellow Backspace member Martha O’Connor comment about giving a donation to charity in the agent’s name. LOVE THAT. So add that to your agent gift-giving list.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? WHITE CHRISTMAS by Bing Crosby

20,800
(Estimated number of queries read and responded to in 2006)

54
(Number of full manuscripts requested and read)

8
(Number of new clients taken on this year)

21
(Number of books sold this year—not counting subsidiary rights stuff)

6
(Number of projects currently under submission)

2
(Number of auctions held)

1
(Number of pre-empts accepted)

16
(Number of months for the longest submission that ended in a great sale)

65,000+
(Number of copies in print for my best-selling title this year)

7
(Number of conferences attended)

54
(Number of editor meetings held)

200
(Number of Holiday Cards sent)

4
(Number of Starbucks eggnog chai beverages consumed in the last week)

Lots
(Number of late nights reading partials etc. on the couch with Chutney)

All
(Number of great days loving my job)