Pub Rants

Category: passing on sample pages

What Surprises An Editor

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I love going to conferences abut I have 246 emails in my inbox. And I was checking and responding to emails when I was away!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HOME by Face

When I was at RWA in D.C. last week, I was having drinks with an editor from The Penguin Group (I think that was the house—it’s all a blur really). We were talking about passing on sample pages and I had mentioned that I had just passed on an author who already had an offer on the table.

She was really surprised and said, “I didn’t know that agents did that. I thought you’d always take the sale.”

And then I looked at her surprised (there was a lot of surprise going on in this conversation) because I just had assumed that editors knew that agents pass on projects—even with offers in hand. Even if the agent can see that the project might excite other agents and probably sell. Guess I shouldn’t assume what an editor would know or not know about the agent side of the biz.

Maybe I’m unusual. Maybe other agents wouldn’t have passed but right now, when I think about taking on authors and really pushing them in what is a tough fiction market, I’ve gotta feel the love. It could be a tough slog—even with a prior publishing record!

This offer was from a previously published author with a debut track record (so neither good or bad in that aspect). It’s not like I didn’t like the project or didn’t see the merit it. I did. It just didn’t speak to me so I could champion the author’s career.

And in this case, I don’t think the author had prior representation but had worked directly with the publisher. I don’t remember. She may have left the previous agent (which is a requirement for me as it makes me uncomfortable if an author is shopping new agents without leaving the old. I know it’s done and I know we’ve debated the pros and cons on this blog about that. I’m just saying what I’m comfortable or not comfortable with.)

Of course, I’m always wondering why my favorite authors aren’t ever dissatisfied with their current agents. Grin.

10 Sample Page NOs and Why

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: First day back in the office is always crazy, crazy. I did three phone conferences, accounting, and solved a few key issues that cropped up today.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THE MAIN THING by Roxy Music

On the plane back from DC, I read 10 different sample pages on my Kindle.

(Sidenote: I hate the new plane seating in economy. If you are not in the premium seats, editing on a laptop is impossible if the person in front of you sets the seat back. Literally, the laptop is in your lap and I can’t prop the screen upright. I had wanted to edit a client full but just couldn’t battle the positioning so read sample pages on my Kindle instead. So much easier given the space issue.)

I passed on all 10 sample pages. Here are the reasons why.

For about six of them, the writing wasn’t there yet (2 fantasy, 1 women’s fiction, and 3 young adult). And this is only in my opinion and other agents might feel differently. For me, the writers still needed to work with a critique group to bump the writing level and complexity of the story a least a couple of notches.

For one entry, a middle grade work, I thought the writing was really quite solid but I didn’t like the main narrator much at all. The writer can’t do much about that. It either speaks to the agent or not. I mentioned that in my response because the writing was strong.

Another sample page young adult submission had a vampire element. I thought the writing was solid and this entry nicely done but not different enough to make it stand out in what I think is a pretty crowded YA vampire market. I can see another agent responding differently and I included that in my response.

Another YA submit had a paranormal element but I found I was much more interested in what was unfolding in the regular contemporary part of the story than I was in the paranormal element the writer was introducing. Once again, another agent might think differently.

The last read was a project I had looked at before and then requested revisions on the first 50 pages. The writer was resubmitting. I could tell that the writer had done significant work on the revised manuscript but I thought the revision introduced a new problem that made the manuscript still not work for me. Despite a great concept, it was time for me to pass pass.

Editor Rejection Remorse (Definition)

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Technology can make working effortless. When it’s not working, let me tell you what a headache it can be. What a miserable Wednesday.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HUNTING HIGH AND LOW by a-ha

I have to say that I got a kick out of reading all your definitions for editor rejection remorse. In fact, just about every entry had a terrific definition. No one quite nailed what I had in mind when I was coining the term but more on that in a minute.

In the comments, the most popular definition for editor rejection remorse was an editor who had turned down a manuscript only to later see it be really successful or hit the NYT list.

I think that would also be agent rejection remorse. Grin. Funny enough, I’ve had two books I passed on hit the NYT list and sure, I took a moment to second guess myself but the truth of the matter? I still don’t like either of those books. It so wasn’t right for me. But there is an upcoming release that I went back and forth, back and forth on and then passed—mainly because I was crunched for time and had to make a decision so I let it go. It’s building in buzz as of late so I’ll probably have good regret on that one. Oh well, I only have so many hours in the day.

And editors I’m sure have a moment’s pause as well but every editor I’ve asked said that they can’t spend too much time on things they passed on because maybe it took that certain house with that certain editor to have the vision to put that title on the bestseller list or to give it the good success it had.

Do we believe it? That’s the question….

Now I think it’s normal to have genuine regret if you are the editor who was the underbidder in the auction (as in the editor lost out but really wanted the project). That just plain sucks—especially if the editor did everything in his or her power to get the higher ups to go the distance and they didn’t. Nothing the editor can do there and then to see the project they really wanted be successful can be painful.

Now for me, here is the definition of editor rejection remorse I had in mind when I was typing up last night’s entry. This actually happened. I had an editor pass on a submission with a really glowing rejection letter. The editor used words such as “savored” this novel and “was mesmerized by the beautiful language.”

Yeah, I know. I still can’t believe that was a rejection letter.

A week later, the editor couldn’t stop thinking about the novel and so out of the blue, wrote me an email with an editorial revision letter for the author. The editor mentioned how she would very much like to see this novel again.

She was obviously having rejection remorse. Editors have a lot on their plates in any given day or week so the fact that it was still in the forefront of her mind a week later says a lot. Now whether that will than equal a sale is the crucial question.

The Number One Thing

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: BEA tomorrow. It’s going to be a long one and I’m not sure I’ll be able to blog so have a good weekend.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LET’S DANCE by David Bowie

As y’all know, today I was at the Backspace conference. Jeff Kleinman, Scott Hoffman, and I did a workshop called 2 minutes, 2 pages in the afternoon. The purpose is to pretend we are sitting at home with our feet up reading the slush pile. As the author reads the work, we say “stop” if we wouldn’t have read on and then try to explain why.

It’s a tough workshop. We try and be honest but constructive but as a writer, you can’t be faint of heart in participating.

After the 3 hour session, I can say without a doubt that this was the biggest issue we found in the pages that were read. The openings lacked a sense of urgency that would have propelled the story forward or would have engaged the reader immediately in the story or the characters presented.

In other words, most opening scenes had nothing at stake.

Now don’t mistake me and assume that you have to have an action-packed scene or bombs going off or some hideous moment occurring. Having something at stake can be a small thing, such as a missing photo, but it’s not small for the character in the story. For example, you could have a woman searching for a missing photograph and perhaps this photo is the one surviving shot she has of her father and so there is real panic that it could be missing—maybe even forever. That she can’t find it, that she can’t remember when last she saw it, that maybe there is something coupled with it that makes this missing photo even that much more crucial to have at this moment in time. There is something at stake for the character

See the distinction?

A lot of the opening pages we saw were really back story disguised as an opening chapter—which makes Carolyn Jewel’s guest blog earlier this week that much more pertinent.

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.

When You Really Mean That The Work Is Not Right For You

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Still basking in the glow of yesterday’s news. Of course I’m now all anxious. We’ll we stay on the list? We’ll we move up? What’s going to happen? Luckily Jamie is very mellow guy. Takes it all in stride and lets me do all the worrying for him.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HONKY CAT by Elton John

I had a funny thing happen to me not so very long ago. An editor, whom I know well, sent me a finished copy of a soon-to-be-released novel that was on her list that she was obviously very excited about.

When editors do that, they are hoping that the agent or person who the novel is being sent to will talk about it. We call that a big mouth list.

So I cracked open the spine to give it a look as I did not recognize the title. Then I started reading and I recognized it immediately. I had seen the novel in manuscript form and had passed on it. I remembered it well too because the concept was great and I recalled reading the sample pages more than once, having Sara reread them again, and having both of us come to the conclusion that we just didn’t like it.

So we passed with regret.

So now I’m reading the finished novel in all its glory and I can’t help wondering if the editor worked a lot with the author—whether I would like it now. So I read a good 60 pages of it.

I still didn’t like it; I’d still pass on it.

I was so not the right agent for that book even though the book is doing well. (I think it even hit the NYT list briefly). No regrets.

So sometimes when we agents say that a project isn’t right for us, we really mean it. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t be right for somebody else. In this case, I’m sure the agent who took it on is delighted to have done so and ecstatic at the book’s performance.

Me—I wouldn’t have read past page 60.

Am I Hooked Or Not Hooked?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Today was pretty quiet because of the President’s Day holiday. I like that. I accomplish a lot and it isn’t even Saturday.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? FAT BOTTOMED GIRLS by Queen

For 2009, I’m pretty much on conference and contest hiatus. There’s just too much of a time crunch to take on extra tasks or travel but last year, I had promised to participate in a very interesting contest. When January rolled around and it was time to say ‘yes’ to the commitment, I was true to my word.

So over the weekend, I did the Secret Agent contest on the blog misssnarksfirstvictim. Obviously the secret it out but over the weekend, I was reading and commenting on 60 submitted first pages.

The question I had to answer was: “Am I Hooked? Why or why not.”

In other words, it was exactly like reading our slush pile but in this case, the submitters got feedback.

Yeah, I thought that might perk up your ears a bit. And it’s definitely worth popping over there to read the entries and my response to them. I signed each of my comments with the moniker secret agent.

Since I have the wonderful Sara, it’s been a while since I’ve read the slush slush (so to speak) and I’ll tell you right now that two problems rose to the surface on why I said “not hooked, wouldn’t read further” on some of the entries and I’m going to share those two things with my blog readers right now.

The two top problems were:

1. To much telling instead of showing the character in the scene (or too heavy a reliance on back story to jumpstart the story).

And

2. Not enough mastery of the craft—in other words, the writing needed to be tightened. Too much wordiness, overuse of adverbs, immediately explaining what was just revealed in dialogue, etc.

So if you are wondering how an agent reads and responds to an opening page, you might want to give that blog a look and read through the entries and the comments.

And here’s another interesting thing to note. When I did the contest, most of the the participants had already responded to each entry. I deliberately did not read any of the response comments until I had left my own comment first.

I was amazed at how often the things that tripped me up where spotted and noted by the author writers participating and reading the blog contest.

You want those folks for your critique group. I’m just saying….

Two Clients For The Year 2008

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Gotta love the Denver weather forecasts. Yesterday a weather person mentioned that there might be a slight chance of flurries during the morning commute. Yeah, it started snowing at 5 a.m. and by the time rush hour hit, there was close to a half of foot of snow on the ground. Snowstorm didn’t end until 10 this morning. Slight flurries turned into about 7 inches worth of snow in downtown Denver—probably more near the foothills. Still, I’m cheery. I like a good snow—otherwise I wouldn’t live here!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BRIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD by Van Morrison

When I posted my end of year stats, there were a lot of comments on that fact that I had only taken on 2 clients for all of last year. Why only 2? It’s a good question so I did a little ruminating on the subject. I’ve come up with a few thoughts to share.

1. Yes, I took on only 2 clients for the year of 2008. But take a moment to look at the end of year stats for 2007. I took on 8 clients. That was a huge spit of growth in a short period of time. I’m only one person and there’s only so much I can do in my day to service my client list. Yes, I delegate to Sara, to my contracts manager, to my subrights people, to my foreign rights representative, to my film co-agents but all of that still needs oversight. I’ve gotten a real sense of what I can manage and still be a good agent to my clients. Two makes complete sense in that context.

2. No, my client list is not “full.” I’m still reading fulls and looking at projects but I have to say that how I look at them has shifted. I’ve got a great list. I really have to love the project to take it on.

Please note here that my loving the project is not the same as the project being salable.
I can pass on a project that another agent takes on and then sells. I know for a fact that this happened several times in 2008 so obviously I passed on some worthy projects. And yet, I didn’t sigh in regret when I saw the deals posted [except for one project and I blogged about that].

I’m not the final arbitrator on a novel’s sell ability. My NO really means very little if you think about it in this context.

3. Sara and I looked at 88 manuscripts. Several were close calls for us but ultimately, when all the factors came down to it, we were only passionate about two of them to make the full commitment.

Now I know that writers often perceive agents as gatekeepers but in my situation, it’s really wasn’t a question of gate-keeping so much as time commitment. Think of it this way; it takes just as much time for me to take on, work on, and then submit a novel that sells for 5k as it does for 500k. In this light, I should only take on the novels that will sell for big money, right? Seems cost effective … and yet I, and other agents take on “small” projects all the time—projects we know aren’t necessarily going to go to auction or sell for big money but yet we love the story; we see the author’s potential. They might not get the big money out of the gate but we believe in the growth. But you gotta have the passion for the project and the author to wait for the big pay off which, by the way, may never come. Not all authors break out.

So yes, I took on only 2 authors last year but I gave those two my absolute all without (hopefully!) neglecting other clients.

And no, don’t ask me when my client list will be “full” as I don’t have an answer to that. It balances and changes on so many factors.

Perfect Timing

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Starbuck’s eggnog Chai is back! This is a dangerous thing.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU by Mariah Carey

Today I was reading Deal Lunch (a daily email from Publishers Marketplace that lists announced deals) and I noticed a sale for a manuscript that I had passed on earlier in the year and I bet that blog readers wonder how that makes an agent feel. Do we instantly regret the lost sale that we passed on?

To be honest, I have to say it really just depends on how we felt when we read those sample pages.

For example, for the deal I saw today, I simply looked up my notes on the manuscript and I had written a specific message to the author outlining how I saw the talent in the manuscript but felt like it was just over the top for my taste but that I could really see another agent digging it.

Guess what? I was right. Another agent did dig it and found the right home for the author. In this instance, I only felt pleasure for the writer as the deal posting wasn’t a surprise to me.

But that’s not always the case. In fact, just this summer I was swamped and we received sample pages from an author who was looking for an agent after selling the first book on her own.

I read the sample pages and thought the writing was really good but I had reservations on the story line. I kept vacillating on whether I had time to read a full when I had a niggling doubt. I finally decided that I was just too swamped at that moment to ask for a full. A month or so later, I kept thinking about the samples pages and I knew that I was probably going to regret passing. Sure enough…

Several months later, I heard that an agent friend had signed the writer and had just closed a six figure deal. Yep, there was some regret there (although I was also really delighted for my agent friend because she really is the crème de la crème and I love seeing her succeed). We went to dinner and toasted her obvious good taste.

Being snowed under is never a good reason to pass on manuscript but sometimes, that’s the literal truth which brings me to the point of this blog entry. In publishing, landing an agent or selling a project is sometimes about timing. I know. It sucks to hear that.

My dad used to say that to me when talking about love and finding that perfect partner. I just rolled my eyes but darn, he was right. When the timing in my life was right, I did indeed meet my husband. I’m not sure I would have “seen” the great person he is at an earlier point in my life. The timing had to be right.

Sometimes the same is true about publishing. The right project with the right agent/editor at the right time.