Pub Rants

Category: Publishing Industry General

A Year In Statistics

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Vacation time!

What’s playing on the iPod right now? CHRISTMAS WRAPPING by The Waitresses

Happy Holidays to all you blog readers. The agency officially closes today and won’t reopen until Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

I won’t be blogging again until the new year, but then I’ll be back and in rare ranting form!

Here are the stats for 2007:

22
books sold

29
foreign rights deals done (and that includes one pre-empt and one auction)

8
number of new clients

30,000
estimated number of queries read and responded to (and yes, that is up from last year)

74
full manuscripts requested (I miscounted the other day)

4
number of projects currently on submission

1
major motion picture deal

3
auctions

6
new deals for previously published clients

5
deals for new clients (4 of which were debut authors—as in not previously published)

200,000 +
number of copies in print for my bestselling title this year

7
conferences attended

1
number of New York Times Bestsellers

265
number of holiday cards sent

5
number of Starbucks eggnog chai consumed in the last week

Lots
number of late nights reading on the couch with Chutney

All
number of great days loving my job

Have a safe and happy New Year. I’m out!

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.

It’s Not Over Until…

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Okay, I can’t count. I took on 7 clients this year. Sorry about that because, yes, I can keep track of my clients…

What’s playing on the iPod right now? ZAT YOU SANTA CLAUS by Louie Armstrong

Dec. 19th. You thought I was going to say “until the fat lady sings.” Nope. We are definitely winding down but last night I read through all the queries that were set aside for me. That means we’ll be asking for more sample pages. The goal is to read them before next Wednesday. I’ll have to wait and see if that happens.

I also read a bunch of sample pages last night and, gasp, we asked for a full manuscript. Right before the holidays no less.

Yes, I plan to tackle that before Wed. as well.

First and foremost are client payments. I’m waiting on three checks that should arrive before next week. Here’s the rub about December. On one hand, my clients would certainly like their money. On the other hand, if the checks didn’t come until January, they would get a whole other year to worry about estimated taxes.

Much better for all checks to arrive by the first week in December or not to bother until Jan. 1!

The Joy Of The IRS

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m being sarcastic in that subject heading.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? LONG HOT SUMMER by The Style Council

One of the drawbacks of having foreign clients is the accounting. (Don’t worry Sarah Rees Brennan—I still love you!). Today was all about figuring out the tax issue for Sarah because she is Irish and currently lives in Ireland but we sold her book to a U.S. publisher.

Here’s what we had to do (we being all involved, me, my tax person, and Sarah’s Irish tax person). First, we looked up the tax treaty between the U.S. and Ireland (and it differs depending on the country). Luckily for me, per the tax treaty, my agency does not have to withhold any income tax and Sarah will be taxed in Ireland on the income received.

So great. I don’t have to withhold or send monies to the IRS but no, my job is not done yet. I still have to have Sarah fill out the W8-BEN form for my files. Then I have to file form 1042, 1042-S, and 1042T (transmittal form) just to show that she is exempt and I didn’t withhold monies per the tax treaty.

Which means I’m filling out numerous forms so I can simply put the number zero on all the appropriate lines.

To verify, I called the IRS just to make sure that we had all the necessary forms in hand and nothing was missing. This took 2 hours and a transfer to no less than four departments at the IRS.

Needless to say, I’m not completely confident that even the IRS knows exactly what has to be done but I’m sure they’ll tell me if I neglected a form!

Holiday Slow Down?

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: It was kind of chilly here in Denver today. I know it’s November but I want to hold on to our lovely and mild fall for as long as possible.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? O HOLY NIGHT by Paul Potts (I know, it’s a bit early for holiday songs but it’s on the CD.)

I imagine writers wonder if agents have a drop-dead date for submissions around the holiday season—as in we won’t submit after a certain day in December.

The answer is that it depends on the agent. Some won’t submit after the first week of the month. Some won’t after the second week. Some agents continue to submit. If the editor doesn’t read before the holiday, chances are good he or she will read soon thereafter. One agent told me that she once got a pre-empt for a project on Dec. 23rd. That means anything can happen!

As for me, all I know is that my agency always closes for 2 weeks in the month of December. We need a break with no queries, no sample pages, no nothing. It really helps to rejuvenate us for the next year.

So in that sense, my drop-dead date is December 19th.

Dreams Can Come True

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’ve got another submission going out this week. Pretty soon I’ll be done for the holiday season.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? I PUT A SPELL ON YOU by Bryan Ferry

Sometimes a video comes along and you just realize that anything is possible—especially in publishing when all you ever seem to hear is NO.

And this video I’m going to share doesn’t actually have anything to do with publishing but it does have to do with dreams so I wanted to share. I actually cried when I watched it so Kleenex alert.

And if you want to know more about the career this moment launched, here’s a link:
http://www.paulpottsopera.org/index.html

Spam Me Baby One More Time

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Still working on a contract and reading some new client proposals. Fun.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BEATS SO LONELY by Charlie Sexton

Must be the day for the spam kings. I read about this Blogger issue at Media Bistro.

Blogger Attacked by Hackers Posting Fake Entries (BBC)Google’s Blogger site is being used by malicious hackers who are posting fake entries to some blogs. The fake entries contain weblinks that lead to booby-trapped downloads that could infect a Windows PC. Infected computers are being hijacked by the gang behind the attacks and either mined for saleable data or used for other attacks.

I’m almost afraid to provide the link to the full article but if you want to take that chance, here it is.

Also, I had gotten an email from a client asking me to link to her at a site called QUECHUP. Good thing I didn’t have time to do anything about it this morning because it too is a spam scam.

I was chatting via email with an industry friend who had asked me to be linked with him via LinkedIn (which is a legitimate site). He warned me about QUECHUP. It turns out that what that outfit does is simply email everyone in a registrant’s address book automatically, without asking if they’d like to do that.

A quick email to the client verified that that was indeed true. And let me tell you, the email you get looks pretty real so watch out for it.

And last but not least, I have a public announcement for any LA authors who are interested in learning more about publicity etc. Several of my clients have worked with Bella Stander so I can recommend her. The line up looks pretty good as well.

BOOK PROMOTION 101
Los Angeles — September 29 The Orlando Hotel,
West 3rd St.9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Class limited to 8
Price: $495; includes lunch at La Terza restaurant plus 1-hour follow-up phone consultation.
Registration deadline: Sept. 10

Guest Speakers:
Sally Nemeth, author of The Heights, the Depths, and Everything In Between
Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
Jane Marla Robbins, reading coach, actress & author of Acting Techniques for Everyday Life
Kevin Smokler, editor of BOOKMARK NOW: Writing in Unreaderly Times; cofounder, BookTour.com

Guest Publicists:
Megan Underwood Beatie, West Coast publicity director, Goldberg McDuffie Communications
Kim Dower, Kim-from-L.A. Literary & Media Services

Bonus: Wine & cheese poolside chat with guest authors after the workshop.

TO REGISTERSend email to with subject LA Workshop. Please include the following information:
1) Your name.
2) How you heard about Book Promotion 101.
3) Your literary agent’s name.
4) Book title(s), publisher, publication date (include month if published 2006-07). 5) A one-sentence description of your most recent book.

Example: OLIVER TWIST (Penguin Classics, 1998). In 19th century London, a runaway orphan boy is taken in by a gang of young pickpockets directed by a scheming miser.

I will respond with payment directions & homework assignment.

What Made Me Burn The Midnight Oil

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: I’m fully recovered from jet lag! Today I offered representation to a new client (very exciting). I worked on a contract, and I handled some outstanding issues. All in a good day’s work.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? BEGIN THE BEGIN by R. E. M.

Do you remember when I was posting all those late night blogs about a week or so before I went on vacation? I mentioned that a lot of exciting things were happening at the agency but I couldn’t really talk about them.

Well, I can finally talk about the two auctions that happened back to back in the first weeks of August. Both were several day auctions as well and so during the work day, I did nothing but handle the bidding etc. Then I would work on everything else that should have been done (especially since vacation was approaching) until about 11 o’clock at night. Then I blogged—hence some late night entries and that midnight oil.

So here are my two exciting deals in Publishers Marketplace Deal Lunch terms.

FICTION: DEBUT
Jamie Ford’s HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, a story set in Seattle and told in alternating time periods, when a Chinese boy falls in love with a Japanese girl during the Japanese internment in 1942, and later in 1986 when the belongings of Japanese families are discovered in the basement of a condemned hotel and he must confront the memories and choices he made years ago, to Jane von Mehren at Ballantine, in a good deal, at auction.

CHILDREN’S: YOUNG ADULT
Sarah Rees Brennan’s debut urban fantasy trilogy starting with THE DEMON’S LEXICON, about two brothers hunted throughout England by a powerful magician’s circle after their mother steals a charm and when the eldest is marked by a demon, the younger uses swords and dark arts in an effort to save him but unwittingly uncovers the darkest of secrets, to Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry, in a major deal, at auction.

More like Rivendell than the Land of Sauron

by Kristin Nelson

STATUS: Still off having a lovely time on the South Island of New Zealand. Every vista is jaw-dropping and breathtaking beautiful. I can say this for Colorado as well but here it’s just different. More rugged, jagged and fierce—along the lines of what I remember when I visited Alaska. Back in the office and back to regular blogging starting on Aug. 30th.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? Not listening at the moment.

Thought my blog readers would get a kick out of this photo. Here is Brian and I right outside our hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand. [Wow. Even I think that’s a terrible sentence. My Bridget Jones moment! Have English degrees. Must remember to use them.]

This mountain range behind us is aptly named The Remarkables.

However, if you are a LOTR movie fan, you might recognize them as the mountains of Mordor.

Enjoy!