Pub Rants

Category: Conferences & Book Fairs

Workshop Epiphany

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m blogging before 7 pm! It’s a good day then. And great suggestion to make my own evals. I’m hoping I can squeeze that in before I leave on Thursday.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SHADOW OF THE DAY by Linkin Park

If you are a long time blog reader, y’all know what my workshop epiphany was because I blogged about it for weeks on end (or that’s how it felt like). Probably felt that way to you readers as well! Scroll down the right hand column of my blog until you see Agent Kristin’s blog pitch workshop links. That’s it.

Here’s what happened. I had just given the workshop at RWA (I think it was there) when I realized that I kept repeating to writers that they should make their pitch paragraphs read like the back cover copy of book you’d see in the bookstore or library.

And that got me thinking about how I write my pitches to editors. That got me to my realization that I almost ALWAYS use the catalyst that starts the story, which can be found within the first 30 pages of the novel.

I started analyzing various back cover copies of already published books in a variety of genres and yep, that proved to be true for the cover copy that publishing houses tend to use (with a few exceptions where details from later in the book were also added to the cover copy). The focus, however, was always on that main catalyst that starts the story forward.

By the way, the catalyst is always a plot element—not a character aspect—although back cover copy usually includes character elements as well.

So now I’m revamping my eQuery workshop PowerPoint slides to encompass this. I’ve also moved forward (in the presentation) the hands-on exercise on how to identify the plot catalyst from the opening 30 pages. Then how to craft the paragraph around that element with lots of good supporting details that will give the pitch the most bang for your buck.

Okay, is it geeky of me to be rather excited about trying out this new format for the workshop? Chicago Spring Fling participants, get ready because you are my next guinea pigs.

Perfecting A Workshop

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s another late one.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? AIN’T NO SUNSHINE by Bill Withers

I spent this evening working on my PowerPoint presentation for a workshop I’m giving this weekend. I’ve been doing this particular class for more than 2 years but about 4 months ago, I had a real epiphany on how to teach writers the art of perfecting that pitch paragraph in query letters.

I hadn’t had a chance to revamp the presentation until now. My only wish is that I had this realization sooner. This might sound odd but the best feedback I’ve ever received is when my husband sat in on one of my classes and really critiqued the heck out of it (and he’s not even remotely in the field of publishing so he had a fresh perspective). I made a ton of changes after his input.

Guess he’s not afraid to tell me where it missed. Big smile here.

I know that conferences often have participants fill out evaluation sheets at the end of each workshop but as a conference presenter, I’ve never once seen them. I think the evals are mainly used to see if the workshop was beneficial to the attendees and whether it’s worth having again at that conference.

But I wish that conference organizers would also distribute an eval that could be shared with the presenter. I’d love to know from those attending what worked, what missed, what was confusing, or even what really rocked and more time should be spent on XYZ. Then I would have a real shot at perfecting this workshop (and it might not have taken me 2 years to hit my realization…)

I’m a former corporate trainer so that’s part of why I’d probably like this. And I know from my corp. train days that I often received a lot of evals with comments such as “great workshop.” Although that made me feel great, it’s not that helpful in pinpointing weak spots in the presentation. Maybe list one thing you loved about the workshop (‘cause, hey, everyone likes to hear praise), one thing you didn’t, and then a specific suggestion on what would have made that better.

Can’t hurt and it can certainly help me to tweak for the next workshop I give.

Calling All Conference Organizers

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It’s suppose to snow later today so I’m working a bit from home, then walking Chutney early while on my way to the office.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HEY THERE DELILAH by Plain White T’s

Considering I just finished attending the Northern Colorado Writers Conference (and a big shout out to Kerrie who single-handedly pulled off a terrific, well-organized conference up there), I found Jessica’s comments on Conferences over there at Bookends to be pretty spot-on.

I strongly recommend any conference organizer to hop over there and take some notes.

But Kerrie of NCW and I got into another great conversation over the weekend when I was in Fort Collins and I’d love it if conference organizers can add this to their list as well.

When agents attend conferences and participate in pitch session, our basic hope is to potentially find a new client in the mix. It doesn’t happen too often but I have found two of my clients from conferences so I’m always optimistic. After all, what are pitch sessions for if not to hook up a writer with an agent?

Now for a pitch session to work, the writer needs to have a completed full manuscript. Why? Because if an agent likes the sound of the project, she’ll ask for sample pages (probably the first 30 or 50 pages). If the agent likes what she reads, she’ll want to request the full novel (and that can happen just a couple of weeks after sample pages are requested so a writer needs to be ready).

If there is no full manuscript, therein lies the problem.

As a writer, you always want to put your absolutely best writing foot forward—so you shouldn’t need to rush or send in a novel prematurely just because an agent requested it and the full wasn’t ready.

It’s a good way of getting a rather prompt rejection and then that avenue is closed (as you only get one shot at an agent) until you either do a significant revision and resubmit (but an agent is always going to be slightly hesitant about a resubmit—see my previous blog post on Love The Second Time Around) or you have a new novel to shop. Which can take a year or more to prepare.

But most new writers don’t realize this. They see “pitch session with Agent” and sign right up because who wouldn’t want to talk with an agent, right?

But ultimately, a writer can’t pitch a project that doesn’t exist or is unfinished because there is nothing for me to see at this point in time. Out of my 12 appointments at NCW, I only requested sample pages from 4 participants as all the others either had just started a project, were in the middle, or had only an idea for a novel.

I hate to say it but that made these pitch sessions a waste of my time because I ONLY want to talk to authors who have project ready to be read. Sorry if that sounds heartless but it is the truth. Writers with “ideas” for a great novel are a dime a dozen. It’s that one in a hundred writer who actually has the perseverance and stamina to sit down and write the entire thing (which is a huge achievement all in itself since the majority of aspiring writers never even make it that far).

Not to mention, how many great writers did I miss who did have a completed novel because my pitch slots were full? Ack.

So here’s what I’d like to add to Jessica’s list. I know it makes more work for the conference organizers but it would make a HUGE difference in the power of the pitch sessions.

Please don’t allow just anyone to sign up for a pitch with an agent. All interested writers should submit a mini application to pitch that includes the following:

1. Title of project
2. Genre
3. Word count
4. Is the manuscript complete? Yes or No.
5. previous publications if any
6. Why is this agent the right fit for your project?

If the writer checkmarked NO for number 4, then the pitch session is denied. If the manuscript is finished, then the conference organizer can check the project next to the agent’s bio (which should include a list of what they are currently looking for) and make sure it is a match. Then sign the writer up for the pitch.

Most conferences right now assume that writers will do their homework (because heck, that would only be to their advantage) and sign up with the appropriate agent.

I find that this is rarely true. In fact, I’ve even had authors pitch me projects my agency clearly doesn’t represent and when I ask why, they will often say that the other agent slots were full and they just wanted to practice the agent pitch.

Argh! I’m always polite but I don’t want to be somebody’s practice session! I only want to hear about projects that might get me a new client whose project I can sell!

Calling all conference organizers! I beseech you to take this extra step. All agents will thank you.

What’s In A Typo?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I crossed the finish line on two contracts. Hooray. Only three more in process and a fourth one just beginning.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SPINNING WHEEL by Blood, Sweat & Tears

Quite a lot actually—especially when you are at a writers’ conference! Huge smile here. I certainly got asked about the new HarperCollins imprint this weekend and so when I have time tomorrow to organize my thoughts, I’ll be happy to share them with you.

Meanwhile, this story was too good not to share. I spent the weekend with Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest (he edits The Guide to Literary Agents) and Jessica Regel of Jean V. Naggar Agency (big shout out as they were both great company and Jessica is actively looking to build her list so if you write young adult, you might want to look her up).

Because Chuck is the editor for WD’s Literary Agents book, he’s got a lot of good inside info on how to land an agent—which he was happy to share with the writers at the conference by giving a workshop.

A workshop that had one little typo in the heading. He was scheduled to give a workshop entitled “How to Shag an Agent.”

Not quite the same thing as “How To Snag An Agent.”

To say the very least…

Unexpected Twist To Economic Downturn

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Off to Fort Collins for the Northern Colorado Writers Conference. Lots of new publishing news hitting the internet. If you haven’t seen this article about HarperCollins advance-less imprint in WSJ, you might want to give it a look.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THE WAY I AM by Ingrid Michaelson

It is of no surprise to me that the publishing world may need to rethink its business model in the not so distant future. Returns haven’t made sense for a long time and I’m still flabbergasted at how long it can take to publish a book (up to a year and sometimes more).

Heck, I’m still surprised when editors hand-mark a paper manuscript. It just seems so old-fashioned (and a lot of copy editors do the same). So changes are imminent and probably necessary—especially with the economic downturn driving tight bottom lines.

But here’s another interesting take on how the economy might be impacting authors and the world of publishing. An agent friend visited her local B&N, Borders, and Books-A-Million earlier this week to check out her April releases. [Yes, agents are guilty of shelf elving to turn our clients’ books face out etc. You’d think it would be beneath us but I must admit I do the same thing always if I find myself in a bookstore.]

So my agent friend visited three stores and not one of them had her April releases on the shelves. Of course she talked to the store managers at each location. All of them cited the economy—they’ve had to cut staff and don’t have the people to get the books onto the shelves in a timely fashion. It could be as late as April 10th before the books hit their real estate.

One manager took her to the storeroom where she was greeted with boxes from floor to ceiling—some of which contained March releases.

Now I don’t want to cause a nation-wide panic as this might be a localized event for this specific area of the country (rather than a national trend) but it does highlight how an economic downturn can impact the success of an author’s book in all kinds of un-thought of ways.

Hard to get good initial sales numbers when your book hasn’t even made it to the shelf yet!

A Reflection On Horror

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Stuck in Glenwood Springs because of a 40-car pile-up on I70 that closed Vail pass. Reminder to self. No driving to conferences in the early Spring…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? Denver Nuggets game on the telly.

The biggest question I received this weekend, and rightly so, is why was I attending World Horror when on my website I clearly state that the Nelson Agency doesn’t handle Horror.

Good question. It was my same question I asked when the conference organizers called to invite me.

Why don’t I rep horror? I’ve certainly read enough in my lifetime so what’s the scoop? It basically came down to the philosophy that I have enough things keeping me awake at night, reading a good horror submission would just scare the bejesus out of me and I need a decent night’s sleep.

But I’m very glad I attended. The definition of “horror” can be pretty broad and lots of things that could be categorized as such would not necessarily alienate me. Maybe I need to rethink our policy as I certainly don’t mind SF&F with horror elements. In other words, dark SF &F. We’ll see.

It also was rather refreshing to chat with some male writers. Whenever I attend conferences, and this certainly isn’t a bad thing, the majority of my pitch sessions are from women writers (obviously this would be true at romance venues) but I’m certainly not opposed to adding some testosterone to my list. So World Horror was a nice change as the pitches were so different than anything else I’ve read or listened to lately. Right now it’s too early to know if any will be a match but I think I’ll enjoy the process.

You Know You Have A Tired YA Fantasy Theme When…

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I had a great time listening to pitches that had a horror element to them and so different for anything I’ve looked at lately. It’s so rare to have 18 pitches and only three women in the mix. What a different mix-up so I’m enjoying World Horror.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? TOMMY THE CAT by Primus

Tonight I had dinner with fellow blogger and YA fantasy editor Stacy Whitman from Wizards of the Coast.

When you get an editor and an agent together, talk turns to submissions as we are wont to do. And you have to remember, we like to talk shop and even though we might highlight some tired themes in our conversation, any fresh twist on it can change our mind in a heartbeat.

Dinner conversation kicked off with a moment of understanding that it’s really hard to carry off a YA novel where a monster eats a child in the first chapter.

On one hand, it’s immediate conflict. On the other, not sure where the story can go from there….

But here’s our dinner list. You know you might have a tired YA fantasy theme when:

1. Your main protagonist is the “chosen one” and only he or she can save the world.

2. You have a lost magical amulet and that search alone is driving the story.

3. When your main protagonist is waking up and getting ready for the day in the opening chapter.

4. If you have to go through the portal to actually begin the story.

5. If your Mom & Dad are dead (and on top of that, they are dead wizards or something similar) that the protagonist must live up to.

And I would have added, you know you have a tired YA fantasy theme when your characters are on a quest but Stacy says she’s still game for those stories (albeit a little tired of Vampires because she can’t see how a writer might pull of an original story in that realm at the moment).

TGIF. I’m out!

Come Wind, Rain, Or Snow

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Tired. (and I see all my youtube tries finally showed up. Nothing like overkill. Sorry about that).

What’s playing on the iPod right now? Nothing on at the moment…

Like the mail people, I’ll make it to the conference regardless of weather. Got to Salt Lake City late after spending more than an hour at a dead stop on Wyoming’s Interstate 80 heading west from Rawlings.

Serious white-out conditions (wind blowing the snow something like 40 m.p.h.) and semi-trucks in the ditches on both the left and right side of us. Finally made it down from the pass to hear that the highway was closing behind us (and it stayed closed the rest of the day according to NPR). But once down, we were greeted by clearing blue skies. It was sunny the rest of the way to Salt Lake. And I thought Colorado had strange weather.

But I’m here and haven’t got the brain power to blog. It really was white-knuckle driving for a solid 2+ hours.

We Interrupt This Blog Pitch Workshop To Bring You…

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Excited. CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY is still on the NYT top 10 bestseller list for the fourth week. It can’t last forever but I’m going to be happy while Ally is still there!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? I COULD WRITE A BOOK by Harry Connick, Jr.

An awesome cover! Shanna and I got this late in the day yesterday. I have to say I love all the Enchanted Inc. Series covers but this one, this one is just perfect. I couldn’t resist posting.

And sorry to get you all excited because it won’t release until April 2008. Don’t worry. I’ll remind you then.

I also wanted to give a big shout out to a conference that is going to be happening in Denver at the Convention Center the week after next (Nov. 8-9, 2007). It’s an Executive Leadership Development Conference sponsored by the National Hispanic Leadership Institute.

Although most of the topics are about achieving successful corporate careers, there are quite a few workshops regarding publishing. One of them is being given by a good friend whom I met when she was working at Simon & Schuster several years ago. If you live in the area and this applies, you might want to check it out.

From Inspiration to Publication: What Latinas Need to Know About Getting Published
By Marcela Landres

WHAT: Finding the right publisher is difficult for any writer, but Latinas face unique challenges–and opportunities. Topics discussed include: the significance of Latinas to mainstream publishers; writing in Spanish vs. English; dealing with the label of “Latina Writer”; how to find a good agent and editor in a non-Latino industry; overcoming cultural and social barriers; and the most important thing you can do to ensure the future success of Latino publishing.

WHEN: Friday, November 9, 3:30 – 4:30 PM

WHERE: Colorado Convention Center, 650 15th Street, Denver, Colorado 80202

Click here to find out more and if you’d like to register, here’s the link.

Genre Lunch!

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Soon to be off to do the conference lunch and pitch appointments for this afternoon. Wish me luck! So far I haven’t even needed my Advil because all the conference attendees have been great and well prepared. I love the Surrey International Conference.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? MONEY BURNS A HOLE IN MY POCKET by Dean Martin

Talk about a busy last two days! I’ve been getting back to my hotel room too late to blog, and I’m even breaking my weekend blogging embargo because I feel so guilty.

So I have about 20 minutes before the Surrey Genre lunch and I just have to laugh (I’ll share why in a moment).

First off I want to mention how much I enjoy this conference. It’s huge—something like 800 attendees this year. This means there are lots of writers, writing lots of genres, and the likelihood of hearing a good pitch is high.

After all, that’s the reason why I attend conferences. I’m totally looking to expand my list—especially in literary or commercial mainstream (and folks that doesn’t mean thrillers because that’s a genre onto itself and I don’t rep mysteries and thrillers). I also want more SF and Fantasy writers and hey, it doesn’t have to be female-reader oriented. I’m open to ANYTHING. And, since I’m having so much success with Ally Carter and Sarah Rees Brennan, bring on the young adult!

But here’s why I’m laughing about the genre lunch. They have me sitting at a table labeled Chick Lit.

You remember my rant about being considered just a Chick Lit agent? It always cracks me up because out of my 22 clients, only 4 (yep, you read that correctly) clients write in the world of Women’s fiction and only 2 of them might be aptly described as chick lit.

The four clients are:
Jennifer O’Connell (who in my mind doesn’t really write Chick lit but women’s fiction)
Ally Carter (and her adult novels such as Cheating At Solitaire leaned more toward romantic comedy then chick lit per se.)
Becky Motew (she’s so wonderfully quirky (and her heroines older) that she really is more women’s fiction than Chick Lit)
Shanna Swendson (whose Enchanted, Inc. series should probably be labeled fun contemporary urban fantasy than Chick Lit or Women’s fiction)

And yet, I’m sitting at the Chick Lit table and let me just highlight here that when I sit down to lunch, I’ll have to deliver the bad news. Chick Lit is, for all practically purposes, dead at the moment. As agents, we are really careful not to say that word when shopping current women’s fiction manuscripts. And a novel needs to have solid substance (such as LOVE WALKED IN), or it’s just not getting play.

Now I still love women’s fiction but here’s the other funny thing about this lunch, I haven’t taken on a new women’s fiction author lately (in fact it has probably been more than year—maybe close to two since I have).

But what the heck, that’s where I’ll be at the genre lunch and I’m sure we will all have a blast.