Pub Rants

Category: Pub Rants – The Blog

Talking Websites

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m working on contracts. Need I say more?

What’s playing on the iPod right now? STICKSHIFTS AND SAFETYBELTS by Cake

I had many interesting chats with editors while I was in New York City this past month but I just remembered one that I had meant to blog about. And then I received an email survey about this very question and that reminded me that I hadn’t yet blogged about it.

The editor and I were talking about not-yet-published writer websites and whether we look at them when we’ve requested sample pages and might be contemplating asking for a full. (The URL is often included in the cover letter.)

For both of us, the answer was “yes.” When reviewing sample pages where we like the writing, we’ll often give the writer website a glance and see what’s there. I don’t bother if the sample pages haven’t caught my interest.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a good website, with solid content, if you are going to have one at all. More on this in a minute.

If you don’t have a website, that’s fine too. I’ll still ask for a full manuscript if I like the sample pages enough. There are pros and cons to footing the bill of a website before you are even published so don’t stress about it or run out and get one right now because I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary.

But if you do have a website or blog and you are currently looking for an agent, or to make your first sale, or what have you, I can offer a couple of words of advice.

Don’t have a website/blog unless it can be a professional one. The homemade sites look it and just make me cringe. It won’t keep me from asking for your full (or if I like the novel, offering representation) but it’s not putting your best foot forward and that’s never a benefit.

What content should it have? Well the standard. About you, what you are working on, any cool interests you have that might inspire your writing, workshops you are doing, critique partners or anything about the writing process.

What you might not want to include is a whole play-by-play of your current editor, agent, or publisher search. This could backfire. I have seen sites where an author has clearly outlined all the rejections (sometimes the letters are posted there verbatim!). It would make me think twice about asking for the full (although the one time I encountered it, I did end up requesting the full as opinions can vary widely) but think of the psychology impact of that. If lots of people are saying NO, maybe I’ll think twice about saying YES.

Now once you have that book deal or agent or editor, I think it’s okay to write about it after the fact.

For blogs, remember that the writing you have there needs to be representative of you and your good work. It doesn’t have to be perfect but you shouldn’t blog if the writing doesn’t represent your “usual” quality—if you know what I mean.

In short, if it shows you off to an advantage, then have a website. If it can’t at this point in time, I wouldn’t worry about it.

The Last Word

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Busy Monday and I think it’s going to snow this evening.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? I WILL SURVIVE by Cake
(I apologize for the unintended irony but this was the song playing as I typed this.)

I read a story today in the New York Times that made a shiver slide down my spine. The story was of an American soldier blogging about his experience in Iraq for the last five years. Here’s the link to the NYT article and his site. His blog was featured on the website of the Rocky Mountain News.

Nothing new about that; there are a lot of blogging soldiers—except Andrew Olmsted decided to write a final blog, the last word, to be posted in the event of his death.

And he died in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2008; his final entry is posted.

A tribute to the power of blogging, free speech, and to the courage of choosing to have the final word when so often we don’t get the chance.

A moment of silence.

Editors Do Read Blogs

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: TGIF! I’m off to my assistant Sara’s 10th wedding anniversary party.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SOMEBODY HAVE MERCY by Sam Cooke

But here’s the sticking point, they only read a writer’s blog or review a website when they are interested in potentially buying a project an agent has sent their way.

They want to see how savvy the writer is. How well he/she writes outside of the novel or the proposal. They might even take a look and see how the author photographs.

They definitely take a look.

Now, they don’t spend time perusing websites or blogs of random unpublished authors. That would eat up too much time…

Out.

Kristin’s Fav Blogs

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m checking the mirror to see if I’ve gone cross-eyed yet. Lots of reading today.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? I FEEL POSSESSED by Crowded House

I have to admit that it’s the end of a long reading day (I’ve been trying to complete feedback for several client projects in a timely fashion—as in a turnaround time of less than two weeks). Which means it’s 5:30 p.m. here in Denver and I have to blog.

But all I want to do is read some of my favorite blogs.

And then it hit me. Maybe readers of my blog would be interested in the blogs I tend to read daily (or maybe not but I’m going to post it anyway).

Just like y’all, I have my favorite blog watering holes. I might not read them every day but when I do, I try and catch up on all the news. Now my blog favorites are two-fold. There are the blogs I read for “work” and then the ones I read for work (sort of) and because I just enjoy them.

Now it goes without saying that I tune in to my clients’ blogs often so I won’t list them here (because they are tagged on the side bar after all).

So without further ado, here are a few:

Galley Cat
Confessions of An Idiosyncratic Mind
Thompson on Hollywood

Smart Bitches (although they are totally in my dog house for recently trashing one of my authors although it’s yet another great lesson for showing subjectivity in what people like and dislike)

Papercuts
Gawker
Shelftalker
Diana’s Diversions

Evil Editor (who made me snort water out my nose when he parodied me after Miss Snark’s retirement)
Romancing the Blog
Writer Beware
Man In Black
Making Light (off and on for me though)

Okay, now I have to add to the links to each so I’ll stop here…

Mum’s The Word!

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I love when editors email and say they are ready to buy!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HEARTBREAKER by Led Zeppelin

This is my public service message to help out all my fellow agents. A lot of writers (published and unpublished) blog these days so I want to send out a helpful hint to all you unpublished writers who blog and who now have representation and are just about to go out on submission.

As soon as your manuscript is submitted, mum is the word. You can’t blog about the manuscript, the submission, the editors who will see it, or any rejection letters because guess what, interested editors will often read the writer’s blog.

And how do I put this delicately? There is just information that we, as agents, want to control about the status of the submission (for example, who is interested or who has rejected it and if the writer is blogging about it… well, you can see where issues might arise).

Repeat after me. Mum is the word. Do not blog about it.

There For The Taking

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: The word “frenetic” keeps popping to mind this week. I try not to get caught up into that feeling of “too much to do and not enough time.” I’ve had to work a little harder at it this week.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? WHAT YOU NEED by INXS

About once or twice a month I check the email account that is associated with the blog. Usually it’s just filled with spam (isn’t that the truth) but every once in a while I’ll get a written request from a person who would like to use information from my blog in a newsletter or on their blog or whatever.

Isn’t that nice? The person actually thought to ask but to be honest folks, you don’t need to. What’s on the blog is free information. It’s there so that you will use it and share it—otherwise why would I blog? Besides, it’s not like I can stop you. All I ask is that you either attribute the information to me or provide a link so that your readers can see the original post for the source.

I remember being really surprised a couple of months ago when one of my clients sent me a San Francisco Chronicle article and there I was–quoted as a source in the article. It was taken from my blog. I was kind of flattered but I was also a bit disconcerted that what the writer had chosen to quote was a blog comment made 8 months previously (like nothing had changed over the year, really!) Maybe email me for an update if it is a time sensitive comment like an insight into a current trend or something like that. Lots can change in a very short time.

But other than that, feel free to use, disseminate, link to, or whatever.

Goodbye Miss Snark! I’ll Miss You

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: A little sad. See below. Just a heads up to let you know that Chutney is doing well. Her stomach is giving her occasional problems but you don’t really need details about that.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? SAVE A PRAYER by Duran Duran

I heard the very sad news this morning when a friend emailed me the link. Yes, it’s true. Miss Snark is retiring.

Why am I sad? Because she would often say (and rather bluntly) what I could not as a non-anonymous, very nice literary agent.

She could be our mouthpiece for the truth that needed to be said without any sugar-coating. And I know I’m not the only agent who felt that way.

But don’t worry, I don’t have any plans to end my blogging but I can sometimes sympathize with Miss Snark and Jennifer Jackson. Some days it’s a real stretch to come up with a topic worth blogging about. As long as you don’t mind a few blog lights here and there, we’ll probably be fine.

Now on to the topic that still has me steamed. I’m particularly enjoying the S&S’s most recent press release where they manage to dance around everything but the real issue—that without sales thresholds for POD copies, there’s no way for rights to revert (which is not in an author’s favor) despite all those good proclamations about how this is really a benefit to authors. Read the press release for yourself right here.

Snort.

Oops. Did I just do that aloud?

So some key phrases: “we are willing to have an open and forthright dialogue on this or any other topic.

I guess I’ll soon find out.

Another key phrase: “to keep the author’s book available for sale over the term of the license.”

Well two things here folks:

1. We have OOP clauses so we don’t have to specify an exact term of the license in the publishing contract because once it’s out of print, rights revert (when sales thresholds are included that is).

2. As discussed with my contracts manager, we would be open to specifying an exact term for the license but at the moment, we didn’t have to because we had very specific Out of Print clauses that made the term of the license clear. And the vote is not in yet on whether S&S will be “open and forthright” about a dialogue concerning license term limits specified when negotiating the initial Grant of Rights.

I guess I’ll soon find out about that as well.

Website Calling Card

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I watched the best movie this weekend. It’s been out for years. I had heard good things and it finally queued up in my Netflix list. It’s rare that I get excited about a film (which is why I rarely see them in movie theaters since I never think the money I spent to see it was worth it). But for this movie, I would have paid $20.00 to see. It’s so easy for filmmakers to make a heart-warming film over-the-top and cheesy. Not so with THE STATION AGENT. If you haven’t seen it, I’d add it to you queue.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THE ONE THING by INXS

I’d like to spotlight here that the only thing I really want writers to take away from my last blog entry and that is this: the agent/agency’s track record of sales is most important. (And yes, new agents at really effective agencies are just fine. They have a built-in mentor to guide them and as long as the agency’s reputation is solid, it’s fine.)

All you need to know about whether an agent is effective or ineffective can be answered by research that will give you the sales information. And if it’s hard to find, well, that’s an answer all in itself as well.

But an agent/agency’s website is simply one tool in the research process.

For me, I wanted to embrace the 21st Century in a big way. I figured lots of aspiring writers might also be great readers and if they are visiting my website to find out about me and what I’m looking for, they might just get interested in one of my clients’ books and buy it. (Anything that sells books let me tell you!)

Besides, I figure it’s just easier to keep a website up-to-date about what I do than any paper publication that pretty much goes out of date the minute it’s published. So for me personally, my website is a pretty important tool—my calling card so to speak.

For other agents that’s not always the case.

So remember a few things about agent/agency websites.

1. Some scammers and ineffective agents have very pretty websites.

2. Some excellent and very effective agents have websites that make me cringe
(Somebody get them a copy of Dreamweaver or a web designer pronto!)

3. Some agents/agencies literally refuse to have one. I have an agent friend at a very established and well-known agency who is always bemoaning the fact that her agency doesn’t have one and it hinders her ability to build her list. Perhaps their client list is full. Maybe they want to fly under the radar. Maybe they just don’t think it’s worth the bother. Maybe they have a policy about it. Who knows.

Doesn’t matter. Only the track record of sales matters.

Joe Schmoo Agent

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I feel great by getting a jump on the day by blogging early. Later it could be crazy. Hard to say. I’ve got lots on the To-do list but that’s always true.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES by Sinead O’Connor

I think Rachel Vater is one smart agent so I want to point people to her recent blog about ineffective agents. In fact, I’m even going to point to an article I read recently by writer Victoria Strauss as well. Excellent information and should be required reading for any new writer wanting to enter the industry.

There are such things as well-intentioned but ineffective agents (because any Joe Schmoo can hang out a shingle without ever having worked in the industry). These aren’t scammers, mind you, just folks who actually want to agent and have good intentions but not the background or the contacts to really make it work.

And can you imagine having an agent who has never negotiated the deal points or a publishing contract, has few or no editor contacts, has no idea how to run an auction, has no connections for foreign rights or Hollywood?

I mean, why bother with paying a 15% commission? You might as well do your own submission and contract for all the good this “agent” is going to do you.

And unfortunately, a lot of these “agents” do the conference circuit but not much else (like selling books). Although lately, I haven’t been seeing some of the ‘old regulars’ so maybe a lot of conference organizers have wised up.

So how do you know who these people are because I’m not going to list them here?

Easy. A look at their websites can pretty much tell you. And don’t fool yourselves, the websites are professionally done but where is the track record of sales? Most of these “agents” have been in business for years (by their own admission) but have only a few sales that can be found on their website or even by Googling. If an agent has been in business for 3 or 4 years or more, you should be able to find lots of book sales if they are an effective agent/agency.

Here’s another factor. Now that you’ve looked at the number of sales, who are the sales to? Are they just to small publishers (and let me highlight that there is nothing inherently wrong with selling to small publishers so don’t leap to any conclusions) but the number should not be disproportionately high in comparison to sales to major publishers. It should be balanced.

Why do I point this out? As agents, we make money off commission and the truth is that the main money comes from the larger publishers who can afford to pay decent advances. And yes, there can be some good money at smaller publishers. I’m not knocking them.

And you can tell who is a good agent by analyzing the website and how they highlight their books. Good agents want to sell more books so they spotlight them on their web page. Pretty simple.

Ineffective agents seem to bury the information. They might have only 4 or 5 covers on the website (all small publisher sales but not always) and other sales seem hard to find. They might list their “authors” and the author titles but there is no publisher info included so are these clients published or unpublished?

The website shouldn’t keep writers guessing.

Let me highlight some of the agent websites I just love so you can see what I’m talking about.

I actually don’t personally know Laura Dail but I love her agency website and always have. You can even click on a button that says “in stores now.” These are books that Laura or other agents at her agency have sold to publishers. She even has a nice news page with recent sales.

There’s no disguising what she and her agency has been up to. Speaking of, I need to snag that new Sarah Mlynowski novel…

My friend Laura Rennert works at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and big thumbs up to their newly redesigned site. I like it! Once again, look at the home page. They even have a button that reads ‘Clients and Sales.’ You click on it and voila, lots of great sales going down (and why didn’t I see the manuscript for THIRTEEN REASONS WHY? Sounds awesome!)

And here’s even a website for a fairly new agent, Kate Epstein (whom I know). She was a nonfiction editor at Adams Media before going out on her own in 2005.

Click on her “news” button. Look at all these great sales in such a short time to such houses a Berkley, Wiley & Sons, her own stomping grounds Adams Media, and Kensington.

So in two years, she has more sales than some, ahem, “agents” who have been in business for years.

So that’s how you know if an agent is a “good agent” versus an “ineffective agent.”

The sales track record doesn’t lie.

Correction: Commenter is indeed correct. Victoria Strauss is a writer (and one of the lovely watch dogs of Writer Beware) and not an agent. My apologies for the mix-up.

Foiled By United Airlines

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m in New Brunswick, New Jersey and it’s raining. That pretty much sums it up (and no offense to any Rutgers alumni). It does look like it would be a pretty town otherwise. I’m actually getting a kick out of the free bus system, the fun New England style downtown, and the local Starbucks because my laptop refuses to connect to any of the free public wifi (a mystery!). Who knew that my new tablet pc was a wifi snob?

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THIS IS IT by Kenny Loggins
(Hubby got me a lime green iPod shuffle to take on the road with me. I LOVE it. It holds 260 songs.)

I’ve been blogging for a year and three months and yesterday was the first time I didn’t get a chance to post an entry. Blame it on United Airlines and the weather.

My flight East was 3 ½ hours late so instead of landing in La Guardia by 6:30 p.m. (with plenty of time for evening blogging), my plane landed at 10 p.m. at night.

With no luggage.

Oh yes, you heard that right. My suitcase was not on my plane. Ah, the joy of 24-hour Walmart was sure to be in my future. But I got lucky. A quick check with the baggage claim person assured me that no, I simply had to wait another half hour for flight 406 to arrive from Denver. My luggage was on that plane.

Eyebrow raise. Silly me. I assumed that because of security measures, a person’s bag had to be on the same plane as the person.

But what the heck. 406 was going to La Guardia too. What difference did it make? Well, an hour actually—and late at night to boot.

So, my ride and I waited for the bag. Thank goodness it did come on flight 406. I think I would have been a little miffed had I waited for this next flight and the bag wasn’t on the plane.

But I was saved the late night Walmart stop but didn’t reach my hotel until after 1 a.m. By that time, blogging was the last thing on my mind.

So, happy Friday. I should be back on Monday in good form to regale you with tales of my editor meetings and any hot tips and good gossip about the publishing industry that I can glean.

In the meantime, one of my authors, Hank Phillippi Ryan, is part of a new blog called the Jungle Red Writers with three other mystery writers (Rosemary Harris, Jan Brogan, and Hallie Eprhon). If this is your genre, you might want to check it out.