The interwebs have been abuzz this morning with talk of the attack on agent Pam van Hylckama, allegedly by a writer whose work she'd rejected. (Pam is an agent-pal and I have no reason to doubt her story, btw, but I say "allegedly" because obviously we don't know all the facts in the case and presumably the investigation etc is ongoing and nobody has been found guilty, so. ANYWAY....)
Scary stuff, for sure. My initial reaction is, thank god Pam is ok, and seems to have no more severe injuries than a bruise (and some shattered nerves!) -- and her little dog deserves a huge reward. Hugs to Pam and family.
My second reaction is more selfish. How could this have been avoided? How, indeed, can I personally avoid a situation like this?
It's true that agents do get a lot of crap. I've had authors show up outside my house, authors drop off notes in my home mailbox or at the bookstore (with no postmark - in other words, delivered by hand) authors come talk to me while I am at an event or show up while I am working at the bookstore to ask for advice, authors follow me way too closely in conference hotels, and authors call me on my cell phone. All of which very much freaked me out, but always ended up just being genuinely nice but clueless people who I could explain "look, this is inappropriate" and they get it, or if they don't get it, they at least go away.
I've also certainly gotten my share of thoroughly weird queries and responses to rejections. The query for a thriller about a dude who kills literary agents comes to mind. (eep!) I do not respond to such queries, and I save them in a "In Case I'm Murdered" file. Yanno, to be on the safe side. I've had people snap back and accuse me of being racist or hating men, etc, when I reject them. But I myself have never gotten actual threats, thank god. And 99% of the many, many authors I interact with on a daily basis are delightful and non-freaky.
Let's be clear: The dude who attacked Pam is not a "disgruntled author." He's a CRIMINAL. I'm trying to avoid the obvious word, because I hate when people just say "he's crazy" - (is that a diagnoses, Doctor Internet?)... but the behavior is certainly crazy, whether or not the person is. If the allegations are true, he didn't attack Pam "because she rejected him" -- he attacked her BECAUSE HE HAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIM. And, though I don't know him personally and I am not trying to diagnose what that "something wrong" is, it's safe to assume he has emotional and/or psychological disturbances of some kind. This isn't really a case of "authors behaving badly" as it is "unbalanced individuals behaving erratically."
So what to do? Like most people, I try to keep my personal address and phone number off the internet (though strangers still find them with disconcerting regularity). I don't have phone or address on my business cards or website. I don't use 4Square or Facebook "check-in" apps. But still, like many people, I live my life online. I tweet or facebook about places I visit and things I do. And as a semi-public figure, where I work is common knowledge. Because I work all the time, it is easy to figure out where I am, pretty much all the time. Even if I unplugged completely, I still live in a small village, and if you know the name of the village (which is no big secret), you can find me - because I am usually visibly standing somewhere near the center of it! (Of course it is also no big secret that I have a dog who craves the taste of human flesh and would love to bite a stranger on my behalf, and honestly I pity anyone who breaks into my house, so I have little fear on that front.)
I guess the point is -- writers, agents, anyone who lives part of their life in public (which is an ever increasing number of people) -- ALL OF US need to be vigilant. ALL OF US need to watch how much info goes online, and use a certain amount of discretion.
Also, ALL OF US need to be considerate about personal space bubbles -- just as you wouldn't ask a stranger to examine you in line at the supermarket if you found out he was a gynecologist, don't creep around a literary agents house and wait for her to go outside to water the plants so you can ask her questions about your work. There's a time and a place. Don't be a creep.
But you can't really predict or protect against a stranger snapping on you. And you can't live your life in fear. I guess the most we can do is just be as nice as we can to each other?
What do you think?
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sunday, September 09, 2012
On Categorization
A couple of years ago I wrote The Big Ol' Genre Glossary. This blog post was intended to be "the last word" on the subject of genre identification, etc. Ha ha, is all I have to say to that.
As you might know if you ever go on internet writing fora, there are some genres and sub-genres that are just fuzzy, and there is a lot of overlap. Five different people might have five very different ideas about what constitutes "paranormal" versus "supernatural" versus "urban fantasy" versus WHATEVER. People can get very anxious about how to categorize their own work. I've had writers say to me, in tones of deadly earnestness, that they know agents will look for any reason to reject, and if they get the sub-genre of their own work "wrong," they will never be taken seriously and agents will hate them. That getting this bit of information "wrong" will be cause for an auto-reject.
Yes! Those terrible, dragon-like AGENTS. Always keen for any small reason to run writers through with a pike and roast them alive, the better for the feasting! Oh you didn't know we get younger every time a writer screams? Yes! Your agony is our elixir! Our blood is thrumming with your pain!
Oh, the guild tells me I was not supposed to say that last part aloud. Please strike it from the record. Also disregard the cackling. Now. In all seriousness.
For the most part... Agents are just people. People who love books, and who want to help facilitate the making of books. People whose job it is to advocate for authors. (That FOR is quite important!). We work with a lot of authors. We LOVE authors. We recognize that authors can sometimes be neurotic. We are not trying to drive authors crazy (or crazier, anyway).
This drama that the internet has cooked up about agents declining you because there was a typo in your query, or because you formatted an email query letter as a business letter complete with home address (or failed to do so), or double-spaced when you meant to single-space... or because you said "dark fantasy" when you meant "urban fantasy" or "paranormal" when you meant "supernatural"? Is just not true.
* First of all, as I mentioned, there is a lot of overlap, and different people have different definitions. If an agent was to decline your work based on that alone? They are not somebody you'd want to work with.
* Tying yourself in knots because of this kind of minutia may be keeping you from looking at the bigger picture, and at things that actually WILL cause agents to accept or decline your work. Things like having a killer pitch and tight, great, polished writing in the actual ms. This is truly what the agent cares about most.
* Some of the most interesting books defy easy categorization. If you have a book that is gorgeously written but also highly commercial, that is a GOOD THING. If as a genre it is something that lies on the crossroads between mystery, romance and fantasy (or whatever) -- that too is probably a GOOD thing, not a bad thing.
* If you have a magical story and you just call it "fantasy" I won't even blink an eye. The default "big category" of Fiction, SF/F, Mystery or YA is actually sufficient information. If you want to get more specific, that's fine. But if you go nuts with it and decide to make up a genre like "high-urban-splatter-steam-rotica"...well if it seems like you're joking, I'll chuckle. If it seems like you are being serious, I'll roll my eyes. But if the book sounds interesting, even that bit of silliness wouldn't stop me from continuing.
* IN fact I'll go further and contend that "overcategorizing" is self-limiting. If you've written what you consider to be "high-urban-splatter-steam-rotica"... you'll never find an agent who reps that, no matter how much research you do. If you consider your work a "Steampunk inspired paranormal-mystery" you might find a couple of agents who rep all of those categories. But if you just call it FANTASY, wow, suddenly you have a ton of potential people to query, and you can pick and choose who seems like might be the best fit from this larger pool.
* So sure, absolutely, give categorizing your best shot. But if you find yourself freaking out over which sub- or sub-sub-genre your work falls into, understand that this is of little concern to agents at the query stage. They care that the story sounds cool and the writing is excellent. And that is where you should be putting your energy.
As you might know if you ever go on internet writing fora, there are some genres and sub-genres that are just fuzzy, and there is a lot of overlap. Five different people might have five very different ideas about what constitutes "paranormal" versus "supernatural" versus "urban fantasy" versus WHATEVER. People can get very anxious about how to categorize their own work. I've had writers say to me, in tones of deadly earnestness, that they know agents will look for any reason to reject, and if they get the sub-genre of their own work "wrong," they will never be taken seriously and agents will hate them. That getting this bit of information "wrong" will be cause for an auto-reject.
Yes! Those terrible, dragon-like AGENTS. Always keen for any small reason to run writers through with a pike and roast them alive, the better for the feasting! Oh you didn't know we get younger every time a writer screams? Yes! Your agony is our elixir! Our blood is thrumming with your pain!
Oh, the guild tells me I was not supposed to say that last part aloud. Please strike it from the record. Also disregard the cackling. Now. In all seriousness.
For the most part... Agents are just people. People who love books, and who want to help facilitate the making of books. People whose job it is to advocate for authors. (That FOR is quite important!). We work with a lot of authors. We LOVE authors. We recognize that authors can sometimes be neurotic. We are not trying to drive authors crazy (or crazier, anyway).
This drama that the internet has cooked up about agents declining you because there was a typo in your query, or because you formatted an email query letter as a business letter complete with home address (or failed to do so), or double-spaced when you meant to single-space... or because you said "dark fantasy" when you meant "urban fantasy" or "paranormal" when you meant "supernatural"? Is just not true.
* First of all, as I mentioned, there is a lot of overlap, and different people have different definitions. If an agent was to decline your work based on that alone? They are not somebody you'd want to work with.
* Tying yourself in knots because of this kind of minutia may be keeping you from looking at the bigger picture, and at things that actually WILL cause agents to accept or decline your work. Things like having a killer pitch and tight, great, polished writing in the actual ms. This is truly what the agent cares about most.
* Some of the most interesting books defy easy categorization. If you have a book that is gorgeously written but also highly commercial, that is a GOOD THING. If as a genre it is something that lies on the crossroads between mystery, romance and fantasy (or whatever) -- that too is probably a GOOD thing, not a bad thing.
* If you have a magical story and you just call it "fantasy" I won't even blink an eye. The default "big category" of Fiction, SF/F, Mystery or YA is actually sufficient information. If you want to get more specific, that's fine. But if you go nuts with it and decide to make up a genre like "high-urban-splatter-steam-rotica"...well if it seems like you're joking, I'll chuckle. If it seems like you are being serious, I'll roll my eyes. But if the book sounds interesting, even that bit of silliness wouldn't stop me from continuing.
* IN fact I'll go further and contend that "overcategorizing" is self-limiting. If you've written what you consider to be "high-urban-splatter-steam-rotica"... you'll never find an agent who reps that, no matter how much research you do. If you consider your work a "Steampunk inspired paranormal-mystery" you might find a couple of agents who rep all of those categories. But if you just call it FANTASY, wow, suddenly you have a ton of potential people to query, and you can pick and choose who seems like might be the best fit from this larger pool.
* So sure, absolutely, give categorizing your best shot. But if you find yourself freaking out over which sub- or sub-sub-genre your work falls into, understand that this is of little concern to agents at the query stage. They care that the story sounds cool and the writing is excellent. And that is where you should be putting your energy.
Friday, August 03, 2012
A Question of Love
Question from the comments: "Many literary agents say that they have to "fall in love" with the book in order to represent it. I don't get it. I view literary agents as professionals, with the main goal to find books that they feel editors/publishers will buy ... whether they like the book or not. Lawyers defend clients that they believe to be guilty, but also feel that they can set them free. Maybe it's my business education/background/attitude ... if a literary agent finds a book that she is "not in love with" but knows that editors/publishers will buy it ... why not take the book"Let me start by saying: Both my parents were lawyers, and I love lawyers. But a literary agent is not the same as a lawyer.
A defense attorney might know their client to be guilty, but they defend them because everyone in this country -- EVERYONE -- has the right to a fair trial. Even straight-up, no-doubt-about-it, self-admitting guilty people get to have an attorney defend their rights in court. A public defender doesn't get to pick and choose their clients, they are assigned... so obviously, unlike an agent.
A somewhat more accurate comparison might be a privately-hired defense attorney, who, if they were in the position to pick-and-choose, would (I imagine) pick the richest clients with the most interesting cases. Except for the fact that agents DO NOT GET PAID by their clients until/unless they sell a book.
So it is more like having a privately-hired defense attorney who is willing to work pro bono. Why would they work pro bono? Well, it would probably have to be for a cause or a client they REALLY BELIEVED IN and wanted to support. Because it is a hell of a lot of work and time, with no guarantee of a reward.
Some agents might very well take on work that they don't care for, or work with clients they personally despise, if they knew for a fact the book would sell. That wouldn't work for me, but hey. To each his own. Even if a client comes to me with an offer already in hand, I still have to like the book and believe the author can do more, because I am hoping to work with them for their whole career, not just one deal.
Personally, for me, I have to spend a lot of time reading these books, and a lot of time talking about, and to, and for, my clients... for free. A LOT. OF TIME. FOR FREE. I have limited time available, so I have to devote the time I have to things I believe in. I have to love the work, or I can't be passionate about reading it over, and over, and over, and over again. I simply have to like talking to the author, or it will be a misery for us both. (After all, I have worked with some of my clients for YEARS at this point, and talk to them more often than I talk to my own family!) My enthusiasm for my client's work is not fake, it's genuine - and the editors I work with know my taste. If I tried to fake it, I pretty much guarantee it wouldn't work.
That said - I have to not only love the book, but also THINK IT CAN SELL. Just thinking it's good isn't enough. If I loved the work or adored the author but had a strong feeling that I could NOT sell it for whatever reason... I'd also have to pass.
But that's just my .02 - any other agents feel differently?
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Your Path is Unique; You are Incomparable
I read a nice blog post the other day that inspired this -- but it is something I say when I give talks all the time:
There's a lot of advice out there for writers. I've read lots of it, I've given some of it... and you might have, too. No advice is "one size fits all." (Not even the advice in this very blog.) But one thing I feel very strongly about is, it is damaging to compare yourself to other writers. (<--- don't do it! this is advice. sorry.)
Recently a writer I think is terrific said that when she writes faster, she writes better. She's quite successful, so it is tempting to take that to heart and say, "Hm, clearly, if I want to be successful, I HAVE TO WRITE FASTER! FASTER!!!" ...until the next successful writer declares that slow and steady wins the race. One writer says that she has to write things out of order, skip from action scene to action scene and fill in the rest later. Then somebody else says they have to write things IN order. One person is a plotter and does a detailed outline before she starts. The next is a "pantser" and the story comes to her in the moment.
If you were to hear all this advice from these expert-fantastic-genius writers, and you were new enough to think advice was all gospel and had to be followed to the letter, you'd likely feel real crappy about yourself pretty darn quick. Because it'd be IMPOSSIBLE to do all those things at once. They contradict each other. It is a recipe for failure and sadness. The only thing that works is to figure out what works for YOU.
It's like dieting. There is NO crazy fad diet that is awesomely good for you, works for 100% of people 100% of the time, and keeps working. If there was, we'd all be "bikini ready" right now. You generally get healthier by eating more good stuff and being as active as you are able to be. "But that is BORING and SLOW" you say! I say, if you try to circumvent it ("Hey! This magazine says I should ONLY EAT BACON from now on and I'll lose weight fast!") -- well it might work in the short term, but in the long run, you will probably be damaging your body.
And let's say you do get healthier: There is no "right" way to look at the end of it. Some people's "healthy" is the body of an Olympian. Personally, my "healthy" is the body of a Yugoslavian peasant woman. Genetics, babe. Neither is wrong. And if I bemoan the fact that even at my healthiest, I'm naturally more "Hammer Throw" than "Uneven Parallel Bars", that is not helping me be as healthy and happy and successful a Hammer-Thrower as I can be. In fact, if I sit at home crying about it instead of practicing, I'll be a TERRIBLE Hammer-Thrower.
Wow that was a long tangent, sorry.
The point I'm making: Just as there is no one way to look, there is NO ONE WAY to write a book. There is NO ONE WAY to get an agent. There is NO ONE WAY to be published. I have personally seen as many paths to publication as I have seen books. All of them different. None of them "right." There are no guarantees in life, and there sure aren't any in this crazy business, except that everything is subjective, and your path will be your own.
Great writing. Great hook. Kick-ass Query. All of these might help you, and definitely couldn't hurt. But what is "great"? Every single one of the manuscripts I've sold, also had rejections. I know for a fact I'd have turned down a book like DA VINCI CODE, TWILIGHT or 50 SHADES... does that make those books "bad"? No. Just bad for ME. While many would agree with me and pass on these books, many more millions of people do not share my taste at all... and that's a good thing. People liking different things - it's what makes this crazy world go round. If everyone liked the exact things I liked... well I'd be richer, sure... but I'd also be pretty bored.
Perseverance. Being in the right place at the right time. Sheer luck. These factors will likely play a part in your success, too. Author A was writing and actively looking for an agent for ten years. She wrote and queried several manuscripts over that decade. We became friends when I wasn't even an agent yet, just a bookseller. I thought she was terrific. I said, "If I were an agent, I'd rep you!" -- and then, later on, I became an agent, asked her to query me. Everything clicked into place beautifully and I sold two books for her in two weeks. I know for a fact that this has happened to me with editors as well - - for Author B, I sent a manuscript out for almost a year with nary a bite. I sold a picture book and a chapter book for B, but the novel didn't sell and didn't sell. On the third round, it got snapped up immediately... by somebody who hadn't been an acquiring editor yet when I sent it out the first time. Kismet! It was a perfect match, and the book went on to become an award winner.
And see? Two successes right there in that last paragraph - two VERY different paths! If Author B compared herself to the quick-selling Author A, she might have been miserable for a year... but she didn't. Instead, she kept writing, and I sold different projects for her, and she has had terrific success, in her own timeline, on her own terms. If Author A compared herself to Author B, she might have grimaced about the 10 years and many manuscripts before she even landed an agent... but she didn't. Because she couldn't have had that path. It TOOK the 10 years, and it came together when the manuscript and the timing were both right.
There's a quote that's attributed to Samuel Goldwyn that I like. "The harder I work, the luckier I get." I feel like this applies to writers. LOTS and LOTS of people want to be successful writers... but then they never finish a book. Or they finish, but they never learn to revise. Or they finish it, and revise, but are too scared of rejection to put it out there.
If you've finished a book? CONGRATULATIONS. You are ahead of MOST of the world. Sure, that doesn't mean it will automatically get published. Still, the harder you work, the luckier you are likely to get.
Pretty much everyone who shares advice is doing so from a good place in their heart. If the advice works for you... awesome. If it makes you feel upset or weirded-out or doesn't work for you -- you're allowed to ignore it! Take the best, discard the rest.
Ultimately, no matter how much research we do, no matter how many "buddies" we have to ask questions of, we each have our own machete, and we each have to hack out our own path through this jungle. Bring a headlamp!
There's a lot of advice out there for writers. I've read lots of it, I've given some of it... and you might have, too. No advice is "one size fits all." (Not even the advice in this very blog.) But one thing I feel very strongly about is, it is damaging to compare yourself to other writers. (<--- don't do it! this is advice. sorry.)
Recently a writer I think is terrific said that when she writes faster, she writes better. She's quite successful, so it is tempting to take that to heart and say, "Hm, clearly, if I want to be successful, I HAVE TO WRITE FASTER! FASTER!!!" ...until the next successful writer declares that slow and steady wins the race. One writer says that she has to write things out of order, skip from action scene to action scene and fill in the rest later. Then somebody else says they have to write things IN order. One person is a plotter and does a detailed outline before she starts. The next is a "pantser" and the story comes to her in the moment.
If you were to hear all this advice from these expert-fantastic-genius writers, and you were new enough to think advice was all gospel and had to be followed to the letter, you'd likely feel real crappy about yourself pretty darn quick. Because it'd be IMPOSSIBLE to do all those things at once. They contradict each other. It is a recipe for failure and sadness. The only thing that works is to figure out what works for YOU.
It's like dieting. There is NO crazy fad diet that is awesomely good for you, works for 100% of people 100% of the time, and keeps working. If there was, we'd all be "bikini ready" right now. You generally get healthier by eating more good stuff and being as active as you are able to be. "But that is BORING and SLOW" you say! I say, if you try to circumvent it ("Hey! This magazine says I should ONLY EAT BACON from now on and I'll lose weight fast!") -- well it might work in the short term, but in the long run, you will probably be damaging your body.
And let's say you do get healthier: There is no "right" way to look at the end of it. Some people's "healthy" is the body of an Olympian. Personally, my "healthy" is the body of a Yugoslavian peasant woman. Genetics, babe. Neither is wrong. And if I bemoan the fact that even at my healthiest, I'm naturally more "Hammer Throw" than "Uneven Parallel Bars", that is not helping me be as healthy and happy and successful a Hammer-Thrower as I can be. In fact, if I sit at home crying about it instead of practicing, I'll be a TERRIBLE Hammer-Thrower.
Wow that was a long tangent, sorry.
The point I'm making: Just as there is no one way to look, there is NO ONE WAY to write a book. There is NO ONE WAY to get an agent. There is NO ONE WAY to be published. I have personally seen as many paths to publication as I have seen books. All of them different. None of them "right." There are no guarantees in life, and there sure aren't any in this crazy business, except that everything is subjective, and your path will be your own.
Great writing. Great hook. Kick-ass Query. All of these might help you, and definitely couldn't hurt. But what is "great"? Every single one of the manuscripts I've sold, also had rejections. I know for a fact I'd have turned down a book like DA VINCI CODE, TWILIGHT or 50 SHADES... does that make those books "bad"? No. Just bad for ME. While many would agree with me and pass on these books, many more millions of people do not share my taste at all... and that's a good thing. People liking different things - it's what makes this crazy world go round. If everyone liked the exact things I liked... well I'd be richer, sure... but I'd also be pretty bored.
Perseverance. Being in the right place at the right time. Sheer luck. These factors will likely play a part in your success, too. Author A was writing and actively looking for an agent for ten years. She wrote and queried several manuscripts over that decade. We became friends when I wasn't even an agent yet, just a bookseller. I thought she was terrific. I said, "If I were an agent, I'd rep you!" -- and then, later on, I became an agent, asked her to query me. Everything clicked into place beautifully and I sold two books for her in two weeks. I know for a fact that this has happened to me with editors as well - - for Author B, I sent a manuscript out for almost a year with nary a bite. I sold a picture book and a chapter book for B, but the novel didn't sell and didn't sell. On the third round, it got snapped up immediately... by somebody who hadn't been an acquiring editor yet when I sent it out the first time. Kismet! It was a perfect match, and the book went on to become an award winner.
And see? Two successes right there in that last paragraph - two VERY different paths! If Author B compared herself to the quick-selling Author A, she might have been miserable for a year... but she didn't. Instead, she kept writing, and I sold different projects for her, and she has had terrific success, in her own timeline, on her own terms. If Author A compared herself to Author B, she might have grimaced about the 10 years and many manuscripts before she even landed an agent... but she didn't. Because she couldn't have had that path. It TOOK the 10 years, and it came together when the manuscript and the timing were both right.
There's a quote that's attributed to Samuel Goldwyn that I like. "The harder I work, the luckier I get." I feel like this applies to writers. LOTS and LOTS of people want to be successful writers... but then they never finish a book. Or they finish, but they never learn to revise. Or they finish it, and revise, but are too scared of rejection to put it out there.
If you've finished a book? CONGRATULATIONS. You are ahead of MOST of the world. Sure, that doesn't mean it will automatically get published. Still, the harder you work, the luckier you are likely to get.
Pretty much everyone who shares advice is doing so from a good place in their heart. If the advice works for you... awesome. If it makes you feel upset or weirded-out or doesn't work for you -- you're allowed to ignore it! Take the best, discard the rest.
Ultimately, no matter how much research we do, no matter how many "buddies" we have to ask questions of, we each have our own machete, and we each have to hack out our own path through this jungle. Bring a headlamp!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Said the Spider to the Fly...
This weekend, I was at the League of Vermont Writers event and somebody asked me a question which sparked a memory which sparked an anecdote, and what the hell, this is my blog, I can share it with you here. (Strap in, it might go long!) The question was, "Can we query you over again if you say no the first time? Do you really remember stuff you've read?" Well....
When I was growing up, I spent a good amount of time visiting my Great-Grandmother, Miz Rachel (aka Momie). She lived deep in the heart of Southwest Louisiana, in Maurice, a tiny village named after my Great-great-great Grandfather.
She was old. How old? Well, she was born in the 1800s. She graduated college during WWI. She taught first grade for 40 years or so, and retired more than a decade before I was even born. So... yeah. OLD. She passed away in 2005, aged 108.
Now Miz Rachel lived by herself on a farm from the time she became a widow in the 1960's until almost the very end of her life. Even in her 80's, 90's, and early 100's, she tended the huge garden by herself. When a water moccasin came along, she'd happily cut it to ribbons with an axe, then knock back a glass of Creme de Menthe or Cold Duck. If something worse came along, she had a loaded shotgun under her bed. Miz Rachel did NOT screw around. (ETA: My relatives in the comments insist I amend "axe" to "shovel" - whatever, just don't cross the old dame!)
She also talked a lot. If you didn't visit, she'd say in a guilt-inducing manner, "Don't worry, my plants are my family, and my flowers are my friends." If you DID visit, she'd say, "Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly!" She knew the entire history of the region and every family in it, and she would regale you with stories, songs in French, snippets of Shakespeare, and show you the shroud she wanted to be buried in, all in the same breath, if you gave her half a chance.
(She also was fond of waking us up early when she got bored by blasting the Rosary on television, or jabbing her grandchildren with her finger and remarking about their weight, then saying "I eat to live, I don't live to eat!" ... but that's another story.)
Every time any family member would visit, we'd take Momie out for a night on the town at someplace like Don's Seafood Hut. (Delicious stuffed crab at Don's, if you ever get the chance). Every time (and I mean EVERY time) we took her out, wherever we went in the region, elderly people would totter up to her and say something like,
"MIZ RACHEL! You taught me FIRST GRADE, 50 years ago!"
And she would say, "JOHNNY BOUDREAUX (or whatever) -- I'd know you anywhere."
"How'd you recognize me, Miz Rachel? I'm a little older..."
"Oh," she'd say, with a glint in her eye, "I only remember the very good ones... and the very bad ones."
Then she'd leave it up to Johnny to figure out which he was. (But of course, she remembered pretty much everyone ever, in fact.)
So what does all this have to do with me, or you? Well, first of all, I am turning into Momie, since I can't shut up. Only instead of cutting out clippings, I tweet incessantly. Our houses even look alike!
And, when it comes to querying writers, well... while Momie had a shockingly good memory for faces, I have a shockingly good memory for things I've read. But still, I only remember the very good ones... and the very bad ones. (And yep, probably yours as well.)
Oh and I keep an archive. So. If you've done a significant amount of revising, and it's been 6 months or more, it's fine. But don't try and lie about it.
Welcome to my parlor!
 |
| Miz Rachel in 1949 - age 53 |
She was old. How old? Well, she was born in the 1800s. She graduated college during WWI. She taught first grade for 40 years or so, and retired more than a decade before I was even born. So... yeah. OLD. She passed away in 2005, aged 108.
Now Miz Rachel lived by herself on a farm from the time she became a widow in the 1960's until almost the very end of her life. Even in her 80's, 90's, and early 100's, she tended the huge garden by herself. When a water moccasin came along, she'd happily cut it to ribbons with an axe, then knock back a glass of Creme de Menthe or Cold Duck. If something worse came along, she had a loaded shotgun under her bed. Miz Rachel did NOT screw around. (ETA: My relatives in the comments insist I amend "axe" to "shovel" - whatever, just don't cross the old dame!)
 |
| Momie's House, Maurice LA. |
(She also was fond of waking us up early when she got bored by blasting the Rosary on television, or jabbing her grandchildren with her finger and remarking about their weight, then saying "I eat to live, I don't live to eat!" ... but that's another story.)
"Although she credits God and clean living, if nonstop chatting somehow prolongs a person's life, then Villien's key to longevity becomes evident as soon as introductions are made."ANYWAY.
Every time any family member would visit, we'd take Momie out for a night on the town at someplace like Don's Seafood Hut. (Delicious stuffed crab at Don's, if you ever get the chance). Every time (and I mean EVERY time) we took her out, wherever we went in the region, elderly people would totter up to her and say something like,
"MIZ RACHEL! You taught me FIRST GRADE, 50 years ago!"
And she would say, "JOHNNY BOUDREAUX (or whatever) -- I'd know you anywhere."
"How'd you recognize me, Miz Rachel? I'm a little older..."
"Oh," she'd say, with a glint in her eye, "I only remember the very good ones... and the very bad ones."
Then she'd leave it up to Johnny to figure out which he was. (But of course, she remembered pretty much everyone ever, in fact.)
So what does all this have to do with me, or you? Well, first of all, I am turning into Momie, since I can't shut up. Only instead of cutting out clippings, I tweet incessantly. Our houses even look alike!
And, when it comes to querying writers, well... while Momie had a shockingly good memory for faces, I have a shockingly good memory for things I've read. But still, I only remember the very good ones... and the very bad ones. (And yep, probably yours as well.)
Oh and I keep an archive. So. If you've done a significant amount of revising, and it's been 6 months or more, it's fine. But don't try and lie about it.
Welcome to my parlor!
Monday, July 09, 2012
The Bad Query Paradox
Look I'm NOT talking about you here.
YOU are somebody who is seeking out knowledge and absorbing it like a sponge. YOU are somebody that knows about research and takes the time to do a little before sending out query letters. YOU have a basic grasp of how the English language works, and how to be polite and sane in correspondence.
Sadly, YOU guys, the awesome folks reading this right now, represent less than half of those who send me queries. Less. Than. Half. The majority are sent by people who will never see this. And they pretty much all have one or more of the following problems:
* They do not understand who I am or what I do (generally they think I publish books... which I do not) -- or they DO know I'm an agent, but are sending me material not even close to something I represent, which the simplest google search or website glance would have revealed.
* They betray an inability to write in English. I'm not saying "they aren't brilliant" - I'm saying, they are barely coherent. I have several each day that have been seemingly run through Google Translate or Babelfish and are just nonsensical. Is it spam? I have no idea.
* Mega-typos. I really am not going to get judge-y about the occasional typo in a manuscript. Look, it happens, that stuff can get fixed, no biggie. But if you have multiple typos in a three paragraph letter... I'm going to raise an eyebrow. And if you've inconsistently spelled your own TITLE... OR YOUR OWN NAME... That's a problem.
* They are rude, psychotic, scary. ("I'm sure, as a woman, this will be hard for you to understand" -- "Jesus was a Dinosaur!" -- "My book is about MURDERING LITERARY AGENTS", etc) (note: actually I changed these somewhat... nobody sent me these EXACT queries... but the idea is similar. And in fact, I thought I made up Dino Jesus, but apparently it's a thing. And I kinda like it.)
* They don't follow directions. They are addressed to somebody else, or to no-one at all. There is no query letter (the pages start immediately). There are no pages (we ask for 10 pages in the body of the email). There are a query letter and pages, but they are all as an attachment (which I don't open). There is a query letter, but I have to sign on to some site to see it, or it comes in a block of graphics that I can't read, or similar.
I understand, honest mistakes happen, and I'll happily overlook it if you get my name wrong, or the formatting is weird, or you've use the wrong form of it's/its. If I like the query but you haven't put pages, I'll ask for them.
But let's be honest. If you've got multiple gaffes in one email, what that shows me is that you don't really care about this. If you can't be bothered to proofread a short letter that is theoretically extremely important to you... how shoddy is your book?
Our official agency policy is "no response means no" -- but time permitting, I do try to just at least send a form response to everyone who seems sane and like they are trying. I don't respond to people who blatantly don't follow query guidelines, or who query with stuff I don't rep, but other than that, I do my best.
But I'm just... I'm just really burnt out on this part. I spend my entire Sundays doing this most weeks, and it is making me bitter. I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BE BITTER Y'ALL.
At the same time, I really don't want to close to queries.
Understand this: MOST of my clients came from slush, especially in the beginning. I didn't know them, they weren't referred to me - I just liked their query letters and asked to see more. I KNOW there can be gems in there. So I never want to palm off query reading to some third party, or say I can't look at all... I want to look! I have a strong desire to find awesome stuff in the box!
And this is the paradox:
Everyone will think I am being mean about THEIR query... but I promise you I am not. If you are reading this, there is a 99.999infinity% chance it is not addressed to you. Because I am not frustrated with "people who are decent writers but their story just doesn't tickle my fancy" -- or "beginners who mean well but are off-base" or "people who messed up one piece of the directions but otherwise had a pretty good query" .... I'm really frustrated with the actual bottom half of the barrel.
The people who send me emails (or worse - find my phone number and call me) demanding information on... how to send queries. The people who send insults or screeds or threats. The people who have no sense of boundaries, or self-awareness. And those people are not reading advice blogs.
Sigh.
THE GOOD NEWS:
Every time I find something awesome to request? ALL of the bad feelings go away.
AND... All of you are automatically in the top 40% of queries. YAYYY!
YOU are somebody who is seeking out knowledge and absorbing it like a sponge. YOU are somebody that knows about research and takes the time to do a little before sending out query letters. YOU have a basic grasp of how the English language works, and how to be polite and sane in correspondence.
Sadly, YOU guys, the awesome folks reading this right now, represent less than half of those who send me queries. Less. Than. Half. The majority are sent by people who will never see this. And they pretty much all have one or more of the following problems:
* They do not understand who I am or what I do (generally they think I publish books... which I do not) -- or they DO know I'm an agent, but are sending me material not even close to something I represent, which the simplest google search or website glance would have revealed.
* They betray an inability to write in English. I'm not saying "they aren't brilliant" - I'm saying, they are barely coherent. I have several each day that have been seemingly run through Google Translate or Babelfish and are just nonsensical. Is it spam? I have no idea.
* Mega-typos. I really am not going to get judge-y about the occasional typo in a manuscript. Look, it happens, that stuff can get fixed, no biggie. But if you have multiple typos in a three paragraph letter... I'm going to raise an eyebrow. And if you've inconsistently spelled your own TITLE... OR YOUR OWN NAME... That's a problem.
* They are rude, psychotic, scary. ("I'm sure, as a woman, this will be hard for you to understand" -- "Jesus was a Dinosaur!" -- "My book is about MURDERING LITERARY AGENTS", etc) (note: actually I changed these somewhat... nobody sent me these EXACT queries... but the idea is similar. And in fact, I thought I made up Dino Jesus, but apparently it's a thing. And I kinda like it.)* They don't follow directions. They are addressed to somebody else, or to no-one at all. There is no query letter (the pages start immediately). There are no pages (we ask for 10 pages in the body of the email). There are a query letter and pages, but they are all as an attachment (which I don't open). There is a query letter, but I have to sign on to some site to see it, or it comes in a block of graphics that I can't read, or similar.
I understand, honest mistakes happen, and I'll happily overlook it if you get my name wrong, or the formatting is weird, or you've use the wrong form of it's/its. If I like the query but you haven't put pages, I'll ask for them.
But let's be honest. If you've got multiple gaffes in one email, what that shows me is that you don't really care about this. If you can't be bothered to proofread a short letter that is theoretically extremely important to you... how shoddy is your book?
Our official agency policy is "no response means no" -- but time permitting, I do try to just at least send a form response to everyone who seems sane and like they are trying. I don't respond to people who blatantly don't follow query guidelines, or who query with stuff I don't rep, but other than that, I do my best.
But I'm just... I'm just really burnt out on this part. I spend my entire Sundays doing this most weeks, and it is making me bitter. I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BE BITTER Y'ALL.
At the same time, I really don't want to close to queries.
Understand this: MOST of my clients came from slush, especially in the beginning. I didn't know them, they weren't referred to me - I just liked their query letters and asked to see more. I KNOW there can be gems in there. So I never want to palm off query reading to some third party, or say I can't look at all... I want to look! I have a strong desire to find awesome stuff in the box!
And this is the paradox:
Everyone will think I am being mean about THEIR query... but I promise you I am not. If you are reading this, there is a 99.999infinity% chance it is not addressed to you. Because I am not frustrated with "people who are decent writers but their story just doesn't tickle my fancy" -- or "beginners who mean well but are off-base" or "people who messed up one piece of the directions but otherwise had a pretty good query" .... I'm really frustrated with the actual bottom half of the barrel.
The people who send me emails (or worse - find my phone number and call me) demanding information on... how to send queries. The people who send insults or screeds or threats. The people who have no sense of boundaries, or self-awareness. And those people are not reading advice blogs.
Sigh.
THE GOOD NEWS:
Every time I find something awesome to request? ALL of the bad feelings go away.
AND... All of you are automatically in the top 40% of queries. YAYYY!
Sunday, July 01, 2012
Happy Book Birthday: CAPTURE THE FLAG
On the same day that the enormous flag that inspired “The Star Spangled Banner” is stolen from the Smithsonian Museum of American History, three very different kids (who have more in common than they realize) are snowed in at a chaotic Washington D.C. airport, along with a mysterious tattooed man, a flamboyant Texas politician, and a rambunctious poodle named for an ancient king. When the kids figure out that the flag and whoever stole it are snowed in at the airport, too, they decide to work together to solve the heist. They'll have to slink through baggage handling tunnels, commandeer luggage carts and other airport mayhem to avoid getting nabbed by baddies and CAPTURE THE FLAG.Kate Messner's CAPTURE THE FLAG is the start of a fun, funny and action-packed new series about a group of kids who are descendents of the Silver Jaguar Society -- a secret society dedicated to protecting the world's treasures. The series will appeal to fans of art-world mysteries like Chasing Vermeer and Masterpiece as well as kids who love the high-octane fun of National Treasure movies.
More about the book from Kate Messner here.
Read the first two chapters here.
CAPTURE THE FLAG teacher & librarian resources on Pinterest.
Kate is having a launch party tomorrow, 7/2 at the Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid from 4-6pm. I'll be there! If you can join us, that would be fantastic -- if not, you can still order a personalized signed copy of this or ANY of Kate's books (here's a list) for your bookshelf. Kate says: "Their number is 518-523-2950 – you’d need to call Monday morning, 7/2 before the signing that afternoon!"
Or buy the book from Indiebound, Powells, B&N or wherever fine books are sold.
Monday, June 18, 2012
How Does Your Garden (of words) Grow?
.JPG)
I have to preface this post by saying, I know nothing at all about gardening. I grew up in a city, with a little concrete patio that had some potted plants on it, which I dutifully forgot to water and killed every time my mom went out of town. Which was often. Then I lived in college dorms and apartments with no gardens or plants at all. So when I moved to the Hudson Valley, it was my first ever house with a backyard and a garden. The owners at the time paid a nice set of ladies to come and weed and take care of things out front. But now... now I own the house. And it is my garden to take care of. And gardening ladies are expensive.So I - a total nature newbie - am now confronted for the first time ever with this PROFUSION of greenery that is mine to deal with. Most of the shady plants are doing fine on their own, but the sunny plants on one side of the house are at this point all taller than me, taller than the windows, quickly trying to consume the driveway and the house. It's chaos.
As I was outside today finally pruning it reminded me of what you writers go through in writing and especially revising your work.
First step: I put on my special pink gloves. I went outside with shears. And I looked at all the green madness. I really looked. It was pretty - VERY pretty - but also, to be honest, a hot mess. And how to fix it? I was overwhelmed at first.
The giant plants-that-I-don't-know-what-they-are were starting to encroach on the driveway. They are beautiful ... but my car needs to go there. So, though I wasn't sure what was OK to cut and what wasn't... I just had to go for it. Cut. Cut. Cut. Oh wow - it's still beautiful - but now my car fits! And it all looks better actually!
That mass of green that is the prickly ancient giant miniature rose bush (giant bush, miniature roses) -- well, many of the roses are dead and can just be trimmed off. And in fact, it isn't just a rose bush. It has other plants winding around INSIDE of it, some of which are dragging poor Rosy's branches down. Some branches are clearly dead and are just weighing down the whole bush.
So I trimmed a few dead blooms off here and there. Fluffed some leaves. But no real progress until I TOOK A RISK. I had to decide, on purpose, to plunge my arms in. YES it scratched, but it was the only way to access the ivy and whatnot and cut it out of the bush, and really, though it stung to dive in like that, it was a thousand times faster and more effective than if I'd been dawdling around the outside parts for an hour. Then I had to take another risk and cut off pieces of the bush itself. I was nervous, because I didn't want to RUIN the bush - but they had to go. Not only dead branches, but branches that were alive, and even nice, but just too heavy.
And guess what? It is STILL a prickly ancient giant miniature rose bush. It is STILL sweet smelling and beautiful. But now it is actually much nicer looking, and much more likely to survive, because all the crazy stuff that was weighing it down is gone.
SO here are a few revision tips, culled from my first hour or so of gardening:
The only way to do it is to DO IT. This is how you prune the plants. You get suited up, put on the gloves, go outside with some shears, and start cutting. Peering at the plants from the porch, thinking about the plants, researching them online? None of those will actually prune the plants for you.
You will not succeed unless you take a risk. You WILL get scratched up. It WILL be a pain in the ass. Yes, it is hot and there are probably bugs out there. Oh well. If you don't work hard, you're probably doing it wrong. But it is immensely satisfying once it is done.
But how do I know what is a weed and what is a plant? My mom told me, "A weed is anything that is growing where you don't want it." Hm. But WHICH ONES?? Some of them are pretty! How do I know? "Just use your common sense and look. A weed is something that is choking out other plants."
Bonus tip for SECRET GARDEN fans:
Check for Wick. If a plant (or an idea!) seems dead, it might not be dead. Check and see if it is "wick." If there is any color there, clear the weeds around it. Give it some room to grow, and pat some fresh dirt around it, and give it some water, and some sunlight. See what happens.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Taking the Mystery out of Querying
HEY GUYS!
I am going to be in Austin TX next week for the awesome Writer's League of Texas Agent Conference and I have been tasked with doing a breakout session called "Taking the Mystery out of Querying."
Y'all know how I feel about Texas (I don't mess with it, I don't tread on it, I know its eyes are upon me, I run around looking for awesome pink boots every time I am there, and I LOVE IT)... but you also probably might know how I dislike doing talks about queries (because hello boring!)
So I'm aiming to take the boring out of this topic, and it starts with YOU.
What do YOU need to know about about queries -- and also, what pearls of inspiration do you have to share with me about them?
Things that you've never seen addressed, or things that are important that I not miss, or just general words of wisdom, all are appreciated. Share what has worked for you, what you STILL don't understand, or anything else you'd like.
Go play in the comments! I will shake all of this around in the gem tumbler of my brain and see what happens. Yay! Thanks in advance!
xo JL
I am going to be in Austin TX next week for the awesome Writer's League of Texas Agent Conference and I have been tasked with doing a breakout session called "Taking the Mystery out of Querying."
Y'all know how I feel about Texas (I don't mess with it, I don't tread on it, I know its eyes are upon me, I run around looking for awesome pink boots every time I am there, and I LOVE IT)... but you also probably might know how I dislike doing talks about queries (because hello boring!)
So I'm aiming to take the boring out of this topic, and it starts with YOU.
What do YOU need to know about about queries -- and also, what pearls of inspiration do you have to share with me about them?
Things that you've never seen addressed, or things that are important that I not miss, or just general words of wisdom, all are appreciated. Share what has worked for you, what you STILL don't understand, or anything else you'd like.
Go play in the comments! I will shake all of this around in the gem tumbler of my brain and see what happens. Yay! Thanks in advance!
xo JL
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The Pre-Conference Query... Huh?
Q: Would you like to receive a query from a prospective writer prior to meeting them at a conference?I got this question on Twitter last night, and in thinking about it I realized, sure enough, before every conference I attend I get a handful of queries from people that say they are "about to meet me at XYZ conference next week" (for example). Actually, I've been getting more lately than ever. It makes me feel like somebody must have written an article advising people to do this or something. Hm.
I must start by saying, I don't think you need to go to conferences to meet agents or to learn craft. It is cool if you can, or want to -- they can be very helpful -- but they are far from necessary. Most of my clients do not attend conferences, and I've never signed anyone at a conference.
So my initial response on Twitter was something like I don't give a good god-damn when you send your query. Which is true. However... I do sort of wonder about the reasoning.
* How do you know you'll like me? Obviously you never REALLY know if you'll like working with somebody until you're actually working with them. You can query agents all day, but just because you like their books, or think they are funny on Twitter, doesn't mean you'll enjoy working with them. But you are in a sort of rare position in that you are about to meet me! Since you only have one opportunity at my agency, perhaps hearing about my interests in real life will cement your decision to go with me, or sway you toward another one of our excellent agents. But if you've already queried me, that chance is gone, sooo...
* I try to clear my inbox before I go out of town. Purely from a housekeeping perspective, I try to get at least the bulk of my queries done before I go away for a conference. Which means that if you pre-query me, often I have already rejected you by the time we meet. That's awkward, no?
* If you pitch me in real life, you'll get to see my response. If we have the chance to talk at the conference, you can ASK me if your picture book about Weevil-Ghosts or whatever is a good fit for me, or if you should send to somebody else at the agency. (Actually I'll stop you right there: Don't send me the Weevil-ghost picture book. Try Caryn, she'll love it.) (KIDDING PLEASE DON'T KILL ME CARYN.)
* People I've met tend to stick out in a good way. Again, remember, I've never signed anyone at a conference, and I hadn't met the vast majority of my clients when I signed them. But. If we DID get the chance to talk, and you mention it in your query, it's natural that I'm more likely to pay attention. Obviously I am not going to remember "pass the salt" - but if we had some connection over a shared love of a book, or we had a funny convo about the Weevil-ghosts, or whatever, I'm likely to remember it. Just human nature. I'm not going to offer you representation based on meeting you, or even just hearing a pitch, of course, but if I go in with good expectations, I am more likely to give your work the extra chance and want to read more, or even take just that extra minute to try and personalize my response to you, even if it is a rejection.
* MOST IMPORTANTLY, isn't the point of going to the conference so you'll learn things? Not to be a jerk or anything, but seriously? I've read what people turn in to conferences. That stuff is NOT ready for prime time. That is, I assume, why the authors are AT the conference - not just because they love nametags, or get a thrill from hanging out in hotel ballrooms drinking cheap white wine. I hope they are going to take all the wonderful stuff they've learned at the conference and APPLY IT TO THEIR WORK to make it stronger. I'm extremely dubious whenever I get a query a day or a week after a conference, because it feels like the attendee didn't even listen or let anything sink in... so it follows that I'd be even more dubious about a PRE-conference query.
So I guess it turns out I have more feelings about this than I thought I did.
What do YOU think the reasoning is behind pre-conference querying? Is there some obvious reason to do this I'm totally missing?
Sunday, June 10, 2012
About the Agent-Author relationship... aka, Who's the Boss?
Often on Writerly Internet Message Boards, if you are around them in the "agent" section for more than two nanoseconds, you'll come across this phrase, meant to bolster a shy query-writer's confidence when dealing with those Big Bad Agents:
"Remember, YOU'RE HIRING THE AGENT, not vice-versa!"
Ugh. The thing is, that's not true. Yes, I work for my authors. But they also work for me. It's a partnership. We both have to communicate, or it doesn't work. We both have to be happy, or it doesn't work. We both have to WORK... or it doesn't work.
To imply that an author is "hiring" an agent the same way one might hire a repairman is misleading. You don't get to pick whatever agent you want out of a phone book, call them up and ask for an estimate. You don't order them around, or pick and choose from a list of priced services, and then throw them a check. That just isn't how it works. First of all, because your book is not a washing machine or an automobile or a widget, it is YOUR BOOK. Presumably it has bits of your heart and soul wrapped up in it - you want somebody who reps it to have a sense of passion for it, too. And because there are no "estimates" or "list of services" - every single project is its own peculiar beast that will demand its own unique approach.
And it's also not an "employer-employee" relationship where you sit in an office and call the shots while your agent is out digging ditches. An agent is navigating the world that they know quite well, and that you are unlikely to know well at all. You have expertise about writing your story - but your agent (hopefully!) has expertise about selling it and all the business associated with that. You need to listen to them, not "boss" them... and they need to listen to, and not boss, you. (Well, OK, I am a bit bossy, but WITH LOVE.)
An agent might work with you for a lifetime. Even if you part ways, they are always the agent on the books you sold together. You have to trust them, they are your fiduciary, they handle your money and tax info and know secrets. If you work with them long enough, they'll likely know more about you than anyone outside your family.
So here's another thing that people say:
"Finding the right agent is like GETTING MARRIED."
Nope, I totally disagree with that too. Sorry, guys, you know I love you, but... I don't LOVE-love you. While I work closely with my authors, we don't actually go home together at night.
While marriage is closer to the truth than the "repairman" model above, I still think it is off-base. Most people don't find a spouse by sending applications to a dozen potential ones and then letting them pick, first of all. And, it implies that the relationship is all about FEEEEEEELINGS and that the loss of it is or should be DEVASTATING.
Look, it's not an employer-employee relationship. It's not a marriage. It's a business partnership, OK? When they work out great, there can be magic. But not everyone is a great fit for everyone else. Sometimes the magic doesn't happen. You often really can't know what it will be like to work with somebody until you work with them - and you can't know how you'll react to being published and all the mishegas that goes with it till it happens.
And sometimes business partnerships don't work out for whatever reason. If you aren't getting along with your agent, or you disagree with them about the direction you should be going in, or whatever, and you've had the conversation with them but nothing has changed, you are holding yourself back by remaining tied to them. It's OK to part ways. It happens all the time, and, provided you've given it a fair shot and been honest, there should be no hard feelings. IT'S NOT A DIVORCE.
What do YOU think?
"Remember, YOU'RE HIRING THE AGENT, not vice-versa!"
Ugh. The thing is, that's not true. Yes, I work for my authors. But they also work for me. It's a partnership. We both have to communicate, or it doesn't work. We both have to be happy, or it doesn't work. We both have to WORK... or it doesn't work.
To imply that an author is "hiring" an agent the same way one might hire a repairman is misleading. You don't get to pick whatever agent you want out of a phone book, call them up and ask for an estimate. You don't order them around, or pick and choose from a list of priced services, and then throw them a check. That just isn't how it works. First of all, because your book is not a washing machine or an automobile or a widget, it is YOUR BOOK. Presumably it has bits of your heart and soul wrapped up in it - you want somebody who reps it to have a sense of passion for it, too. And because there are no "estimates" or "list of services" - every single project is its own peculiar beast that will demand its own unique approach.
And it's also not an "employer-employee" relationship where you sit in an office and call the shots while your agent is out digging ditches. An agent is navigating the world that they know quite well, and that you are unlikely to know well at all. You have expertise about writing your story - but your agent (hopefully!) has expertise about selling it and all the business associated with that. You need to listen to them, not "boss" them... and they need to listen to, and not boss, you. (Well, OK, I am a bit bossy, but WITH LOVE.)
An agent might work with you for a lifetime. Even if you part ways, they are always the agent on the books you sold together. You have to trust them, they are your fiduciary, they handle your money and tax info and know secrets. If you work with them long enough, they'll likely know more about you than anyone outside your family.
So here's another thing that people say:
"Finding the right agent is like GETTING MARRIED."
Nope, I totally disagree with that too. Sorry, guys, you know I love you, but... I don't LOVE-love you. While I work closely with my authors, we don't actually go home together at night.
While marriage is closer to the truth than the "repairman" model above, I still think it is off-base. Most people don't find a spouse by sending applications to a dozen potential ones and then letting them pick, first of all. And, it implies that the relationship is all about FEEEEEEELINGS and that the loss of it is or should be DEVASTATING.
Look, it's not an employer-employee relationship. It's not a marriage. It's a business partnership, OK? When they work out great, there can be magic. But not everyone is a great fit for everyone else. Sometimes the magic doesn't happen. You often really can't know what it will be like to work with somebody until you work with them - and you can't know how you'll react to being published and all the mishegas that goes with it till it happens.
And sometimes business partnerships don't work out for whatever reason. If you aren't getting along with your agent, or you disagree with them about the direction you should be going in, or whatever, and you've had the conversation with them but nothing has changed, you are holding yourself back by remaining tied to them. It's OK to part ways. It happens all the time, and, provided you've given it a fair shot and been honest, there should be no hard feelings. IT'S NOT A DIVORCE.
What do YOU think?
Friday, June 08, 2012
Query Guidelines - A refresher course
I know, I know, I'm probably preaching to the choir here, and I'm sure nobody who NEEDS this info will actually read it. But it needs to be said once again. Note that these are MY query guidelines - other agents at other agencies may have different guidelines. Check agency websites for details.
I noticed recently that about half the queries I get don't follow the guidelines at all. And so they are deleted. Just... deleted. I don't have time for it. See, agency submission guidelines are not arbitrary. Nor are they some sort of test, or game, or trial that I am putting you through. They are simple, they are useful, and they exist for one big reason:
QUERY GUIDELINES EXIST SO YOUR WORK WILL GET A FAIR SHOT.
Let me explain. I just got home from a few days away and had 3,000 emails in my inbox upon my return. I generally get 300-500 emails per day that are NOT queries. Believe me when I tell you: YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE IN MY REGULAR INBOX. My regular inbox is a slash-and-burn affair where I am trying to delete or flag as fast as the stuff comes in.
What gets flagged for closer inspection are emails from clients and friends and work colleagues (editors, other agents, bookstore people and the like). Anything else gets deleted pretty much without a glance. The ramblings of strangers are not going to get flagged, let's put it that way.
Queries that follow the directions and have the word "query" in the go into a special marked QUERIES! folder. I read them when I am not doing anything else. I read them whenever I have time, and I take my time to read them. All the agents at ABLA, including me, have found gems in the slush, and it is extremely important to us that we keep going through these submissions. I may gripe about the people who don't follow directions, but for the rest of you, I really want to read your stuff, no joke. I WANT to find the next big thing. New talent is our life-blood.
So please help me help you.
The guidelines are easy. Pick one agent at the agency, and query them following these simple rules. If you don't follow them, you'll be deleted unread.
1) PUT THE WORD "QUERY" IN THE SUBJECT LINE
2) PUT A QUERY LETTER AND THE FIRST TEN PAGES IN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL
3) NO ATTACHMENTS
NOTE: I only rep MG and YA. Everything else will be deleted unread.
I noticed recently that about half the queries I get don't follow the guidelines at all. And so they are deleted. Just... deleted. I don't have time for it. See, agency submission guidelines are not arbitrary. Nor are they some sort of test, or game, or trial that I am putting you through. They are simple, they are useful, and they exist for one big reason:
QUERY GUIDELINES EXIST SO YOUR WORK WILL GET A FAIR SHOT.
Let me explain. I just got home from a few days away and had 3,000 emails in my inbox upon my return. I generally get 300-500 emails per day that are NOT queries. Believe me when I tell you: YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE IN MY REGULAR INBOX. My regular inbox is a slash-and-burn affair where I am trying to delete or flag as fast as the stuff comes in.
What gets flagged for closer inspection are emails from clients and friends and work colleagues (editors, other agents, bookstore people and the like). Anything else gets deleted pretty much without a glance. The ramblings of strangers are not going to get flagged, let's put it that way.
Queries that follow the directions and have the word "query" in the go into a special marked QUERIES! folder. I read them when I am not doing anything else. I read them whenever I have time, and I take my time to read them. All the agents at ABLA, including me, have found gems in the slush, and it is extremely important to us that we keep going through these submissions. I may gripe about the people who don't follow directions, but for the rest of you, I really want to read your stuff, no joke. I WANT to find the next big thing. New talent is our life-blood.
So please help me help you.
The guidelines are easy. Pick one agent at the agency, and query them following these simple rules. If you don't follow them, you'll be deleted unread.
1) PUT THE WORD "QUERY" IN THE SUBJECT LINE
2) PUT A QUERY LETTER AND THE FIRST TEN PAGES IN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL
3) NO ATTACHMENTS
NOTE: I only rep MG and YA. Everything else will be deleted unread.
Friday, June 01, 2012
On Contests, and being a Sneaky Agent
Last week I participated in the Backspace conference. During a panel, somebody asked me about WRITING CONTESTS. How do I feel about them, are they worth entering, do they make me sit up and take notice if you mention them in the query, etc. And so I told them a story.
See, also last week there was this contest you might have heard of on various blogs or all over twitter called "The Writer's Voice." A takeoff on the TV signing competition, this one got four "teams" of authors, each under a coach, pitted against one another to grab the attention of agents - who would see only a pitch and first page, no bio or anything else, and would vote to see material based on that.
Now, I wasn't one of the agents participating. But everyone in my twitter stream was talking about the contest... so I clicked. And I read. And I made a note of a few of the entries that I thought sounded appealing.
While the entries were posted anonymously, all the writers were talking on twitter. I typed something like, "there are a few entries that I really liked - too bad I'm not a judge!" And one of the writers said, "Oh... well... one of those entries might be in your query inbox right now!" So I searched for her name in my inbox... and I found STITCHING SNOW. Which was, indeed, one of the entries I had my eyes on.
So I requested the full and read it before the contest was even over, so I'd get the jump on the other agents. And I was able to offer representation to R.C. Lewis before they'd even read it. SNEEEEAKY ME! But whatever, it was IN MY MAILBOX, obviously it was meant to be.
What's the point I'm making?
OH RIGHT, CONTESTS. Yes. Contests can be a great way to get practice pitching, to sharpen your first pages, to boost your confidence, to start thickening your skin, to possibly get feedback on your work.
If you go in thinking "I'm gonna BE DISCOVERED! An agent will see this and I'll BE A STAR!" ... you'll probably be disappointed. If you go in thinking "This will be fun, and a new experience!" you'll probably be pleased. While R.C.'s is a contest success story, I suspect these are pretty rare. And as she'll tell you - she herself has entered similar contests in the past and gotten nary a nibble of interest. So yeah. Temper your expectations, is what I'm saying.
Also... be sure it is a contest you want to win, and get the details. Some big contests require you to not shop the manuscript for a certain period of time while the contest is being held, sometimes for months or even a year. Other contests give a "prize" that may actually be more limiting than helpful. The Am*zon Breakthrough Novel contest, for example, seems pretty cool. It could be great exposure. The grand prize is a publishing contract with Penguin. So look, it MIGHT be the perfect contest for you. But it might not. If you read the fine print... that contract is completely non-negotiable. If you win, that probably means you have an extremely tight, highly commercial manuscript that is publisher-ready. If that is the case, you might well be better off getting an agent and selling it for better terms, keeping more subrights and getting higher royalties. If I love the book, and a person tells me in their query they're in this contest (as many people do, including my client Ilsa J. Bick once upon a time), I'm just thinking PLEASE DON'T LET THEM WIN!
As to whether to mention contests and the like in your query? I don't really think so unless it is a MAJOR contest (ie, held by a national organization with professional judges) which you WON or were one of very few finalists. Or, if you had contact with the agent through the contest and they requested material, then obviously mention it. Other than that, it doesn't impress me personally.
See, also last week there was this contest you might have heard of on various blogs or all over twitter called "The Writer's Voice." A takeoff on the TV signing competition, this one got four "teams" of authors, each under a coach, pitted against one another to grab the attention of agents - who would see only a pitch and first page, no bio or anything else, and would vote to see material based on that.
Now, I wasn't one of the agents participating. But everyone in my twitter stream was talking about the contest... so I clicked. And I read. And I made a note of a few of the entries that I thought sounded appealing.
While the entries were posted anonymously, all the writers were talking on twitter. I typed something like, "there are a few entries that I really liked - too bad I'm not a judge!" And one of the writers said, "Oh... well... one of those entries might be in your query inbox right now!" So I searched for her name in my inbox... and I found STITCHING SNOW. Which was, indeed, one of the entries I had my eyes on.
So I requested the full and read it before the contest was even over, so I'd get the jump on the other agents. And I was able to offer representation to R.C. Lewis before they'd even read it. SNEEEEAKY ME! But whatever, it was IN MY MAILBOX, obviously it was meant to be.
What's the point I'm making?
OH RIGHT, CONTESTS. Yes. Contests can be a great way to get practice pitching, to sharpen your first pages, to boost your confidence, to start thickening your skin, to possibly get feedback on your work.
If you go in thinking "I'm gonna BE DISCOVERED! An agent will see this and I'll BE A STAR!" ... you'll probably be disappointed. If you go in thinking "This will be fun, and a new experience!" you'll probably be pleased. While R.C.'s is a contest success story, I suspect these are pretty rare. And as she'll tell you - she herself has entered similar contests in the past and gotten nary a nibble of interest. So yeah. Temper your expectations, is what I'm saying.
Also... be sure it is a contest you want to win, and get the details. Some big contests require you to not shop the manuscript for a certain period of time while the contest is being held, sometimes for months or even a year. Other contests give a "prize" that may actually be more limiting than helpful. The Am*zon Breakthrough Novel contest, for example, seems pretty cool. It could be great exposure. The grand prize is a publishing contract with Penguin. So look, it MIGHT be the perfect contest for you. But it might not. If you read the fine print... that contract is completely non-negotiable. If you win, that probably means you have an extremely tight, highly commercial manuscript that is publisher-ready. If that is the case, you might well be better off getting an agent and selling it for better terms, keeping more subrights and getting higher royalties. If I love the book, and a person tells me in their query they're in this contest (as many people do, including my client Ilsa J. Bick once upon a time), I'm just thinking PLEASE DON'T LET THEM WIN!
As to whether to mention contests and the like in your query? I don't really think so unless it is a MAJOR contest (ie, held by a national organization with professional judges) which you WON or were one of very few finalists. Or, if you had contact with the agent through the contest and they requested material, then obviously mention it. Other than that, it doesn't impress me personally.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
On Establishing a Good Line of Credit with Agents
Sometimes people say "YOU CAN'T GET AN AGENT UNLESS YOU KNOW SOMEBODY!" or "YOU CAN'T GET AN AGENT UNLESS YOU ARE PUBLISHED!" - but we all know both of these are myths.
Newbies with no publication credits get agents (and book deals) all the time. But they aren't REALLY newbies of course... they might be unknown, so far, but they've been working on their craft for years. They are good writers. And, I'd venture to say, they've also been mindful of the agents' time and tried to put their best, most polished work out there, and been sure to follow guidelines so as not to sour good will or burn any bridges.
Let's say for each finished manuscript you want to query, you are given a "chit" of sorts. This chit gives you access to x-amount of an agent's bandwidth/time/patience, provided the agent is taking queries.
Since agents are generally benevolent creatures who really want to help writers, they are happy to accept the chit. However, since agents don't know you from Adam and you don't have "good credit" yet, this chit is for, at most, three minutes worth of time. (If you've been referred or you do have other work, the credit line is likely to be a bit longer - but everyone gets credit). Since you have so little time, you'll definitely want to be sure to have followed directions and submitted a really stellar piece of writing!
If the agent is simply not interested in the book, you'll get your same chit back. Better luck next time, no harm done, try again later with a new manuscript.
If the agent likes the book, they will go ahead and give you more credit on that chit. Depending on how much they like the work, you might get a few hours or even a day of credit.
If they end up liking the book but they don't sign it up, you'll get the chit back, likely WITH the extra credit included. Go ahead and use it again next time. Yay!
If the agent loves the book and you become a client, you get a bag full of chits back. You can use them to ask lots of questions, and your agent will likely encourage you to do so, but do BE AWARE: Middle of the night panicked phone calls at home for no good reason WILL cost more than reasonable questions asked by email in the light of day. That being said, the longer your agent knows you, the more you work together, and the more sane you are in general, the bigger credit line you will get (so when you DO have a legit cause for a panicked phone call, don't worry, you'll get heard!)
BUT.
If your manuscript is riddled with errors, you have clearly never read the submission guidelines, or your work seems like a monkey might have typed it... you might not get your chit back. You can rebuild credit, but it is going to take a while, and you're going to have to submit something different in truly stellar shape next time.
If everything is OK but you pull a weird stunt like re-sending multiple slightly revised versions, or they request the full and you send it but then snatch the manuscript away from them as they're reading it, or they ask for revisions and you say you're on board but then nothing is actually changed... well. Again, you've cashed in your chit. It will take a while to get that line of credit back. It can be done, but it isn't going to happen overnight.
If you reveal yourself to be a class-A jerk by doing something like responding to a civil form rejection (or frankly ANY kind of rejection) with vitriol or threats - you cashed in your chit for good. In fact, you set your chit on fire. No more credit for you ever. (But what do you care, right? You have to know you are burning bridges when you send an email like that.)
Make sense?
PLEASE NOTE: THERE AREN'T REALLY QUERY CHITS. (But man, wouldn't life be easier if there were?)
Newbies with no publication credits get agents (and book deals) all the time. But they aren't REALLY newbies of course... they might be unknown, so far, but they've been working on their craft for years. They are good writers. And, I'd venture to say, they've also been mindful of the agents' time and tried to put their best, most polished work out there, and been sure to follow guidelines so as not to sour good will or burn any bridges.
Let's say for each finished manuscript you want to query, you are given a "chit" of sorts. This chit gives you access to x-amount of an agent's bandwidth/time/patience, provided the agent is taking queries.
Since agents are generally benevolent creatures who really want to help writers, they are happy to accept the chit. However, since agents don't know you from Adam and you don't have "good credit" yet, this chit is for, at most, three minutes worth of time. (If you've been referred or you do have other work, the credit line is likely to be a bit longer - but everyone gets credit). Since you have so little time, you'll definitely want to be sure to have followed directions and submitted a really stellar piece of writing!
If the agent is simply not interested in the book, you'll get your same chit back. Better luck next time, no harm done, try again later with a new manuscript.
If the agent likes the book, they will go ahead and give you more credit on that chit. Depending on how much they like the work, you might get a few hours or even a day of credit.
If they end up liking the book but they don't sign it up, you'll get the chit back, likely WITH the extra credit included. Go ahead and use it again next time. Yay!
If the agent loves the book and you become a client, you get a bag full of chits back. You can use them to ask lots of questions, and your agent will likely encourage you to do so, but do BE AWARE: Middle of the night panicked phone calls at home for no good reason WILL cost more than reasonable questions asked by email in the light of day. That being said, the longer your agent knows you, the more you work together, and the more sane you are in general, the bigger credit line you will get (so when you DO have a legit cause for a panicked phone call, don't worry, you'll get heard!)
BUT.
If your manuscript is riddled with errors, you have clearly never read the submission guidelines, or your work seems like a monkey might have typed it... you might not get your chit back. You can rebuild credit, but it is going to take a while, and you're going to have to submit something different in truly stellar shape next time.
If everything is OK but you pull a weird stunt like re-sending multiple slightly revised versions, or they request the full and you send it but then snatch the manuscript away from them as they're reading it, or they ask for revisions and you say you're on board but then nothing is actually changed... well. Again, you've cashed in your chit. It will take a while to get that line of credit back. It can be done, but it isn't going to happen overnight.
If you reveal yourself to be a class-A jerk by doing something like responding to a civil form rejection (or frankly ANY kind of rejection) with vitriol or threats - you cashed in your chit for good. In fact, you set your chit on fire. No more credit for you ever. (But what do you care, right? You have to know you are burning bridges when you send an email like that.)
Make sense?
PLEASE NOTE: THERE AREN'T REALLY QUERY CHITS. (But man, wouldn't life be easier if there were?)
Saturday, May 12, 2012
ProTips for Published Authors pt 2: THE BOOKSTORE EVENT
Desperate in Vermont asks: What do most authors DO at bookstore events? Do they simply read from their work? Or do they tell stories about the writing of it? What do CUSTOMERS like them to do? What do BOOKSELLERS like them to do/not do? What makes one author event more successful than another? Are there any no-no's I should be aware of?
Oh sweetheart. I've got bad news: There is no formula for a successful event.
But the good news is: If you have a good attitude about it, your event is highly unlikely to be a failure.
I've been a bookseller for a long (LONG) time. For many years I was an events coordinator. I had events that were insanely, unexpectedly fabulous - and events where somebody wound up crying in the fetal position. And everything in between. I know I've told these stories before, but I have to repeat them.
Tip #1: DON'T BE A JERK. Smile. Introduce yourself to everyone on staff. Be kind. Even if nobody shows up - believe me, the booksellers are as much or more mortified when that happens than you are. A thank-you note to the store events coordinator after the event is not required, but is nice, particularly if they did a great job & you connected with them in some way. Remember, you have a whole career ahead of you... and booksellers tend to have long memories. When they think of you, they should remember your sweetness!
Tip #2: INVITE PEOPLE! For pity's sake, drag your friends, family, facebook friends, old school chums and whoever else isn't nailed down along with you. The bookstore can advertise all day long, but let's face it, unless you are well-known, the people most likely to show up are people that you can kick in the shins later if they don't. If not a lot of people show, you'll be glad of the company - if the event turns out to be packed with strangers, you'll be happy to see some familiar faces in the crowd. IF you send an invite out to people and you get a lot of RSVPs, you should definitely let the bookstore know a week ahead of time so they are sure to have extra books on hand.
Also, before the event, be sure to advertise the event yourself as much as possible, and always link to the bookstore holding the event on your website or blog. And after the event, if you have a blog, mention what a great time you had and put a picture! [ETA: It's probably a good idea to carry a little notebook to write down bookstore people's names, or any fun incidents that happened at the store, because you might be too overwhelmed to remember later. If you have a mailing list, it is cool to ask attendees at the event to give you their email addys if they want to be on it - but don't add people without their knowing.]
Tip #3: Don't oversaturate your market. If you have a couple of different bookstores in your immediate area, don't book events with both of them for the same title in the same month. You'll be cannibalizing your own audience - even your most hardcore fans and friends are unlikely to come to the same event twice. I suggest doing a "launch party" at one store, and perhaps offering to be on a panel event or just sign stock at the other store, at a later date.
3b: If you are not a well known author, the adage is, do one awesome launch party in the town where you live, and another in your hometown or wherever your MOTHER lives. Sounds silly, but many moms have secret ways of influencing people to show up at events. You could also do one wherever you went to college, if you know a lot of people in that area. But don't worry your pretty little head about booking events all over the free world in towns where you don't know anyone unless your publisher is sending you - that is a lot of energy and time that you could be spending on writing another book.
Tip #4: Keep it light, keep it fun, keep it brief. As for what you actually do during the signing? I like it when authors chat a bit about what brought them to write the book, maybe tell a couple of anecdotes on the making-of, read a little, take Q&A and sign.
For most people, reading very short excerpts works best. I prefer a few well-chosen sections - maybe a couple pages each - with commentary about the book in between. VERY few people can read lengthy passages straight through without being boring as sh*t. Plus you are trying to get people to BUY THE BOOK - don't read the whole dang thing aloud! (And don't be afraid to end your section on a cliffhanger!) [ETA: For the actual signing, stores should have good pens at the ready, but if you need special pens, don't forget to bring them yourself - and test them first to be sure they don't bleed through the page.]
Tip #5: Create your own questions. During Q&A, sometimes the audience clams up. I'd definitely create a list of 5 or so questions that you can "fall back on" -- so if nobody asks anything you can say something like "you know a lot of people ask ________" -- and tell a little story to illustrate the answer... this buys you some time until somebody actually asks something. If nobody asks ANYTHING (unlikely), you'll just go through your five or so stories and then wrap it up.
Tip #6: Visual aids raise interest level. Kids especially love to see visual aids. I know one prolific author who has ALL his jackets taped together and unfurls them like a scroll and has kids hold it up - it stretches across the room! People think it is cool if you show off all the book jackets from around the world or early versions of book jackets that didn't make it, or a funny story you wrote as a kid, or a writing notebook with a thousand cross-outs in it, or your own embarrassing childhood photo, the menu from the restaurant that inspired the book, or whatever. People love "behind the scenes" stuff and "making of" stuff, and kids love knowing that fancy published authors were just kids like them once upon a time.
6.b - Caveat about technology! USE YOUR IMAGINATION in your presentation, sure. But be aware that if you are relying on powerpoint, most bookstores won't have a screen or projector... so. Don't rely on powerpoint, is what I'm saying. But if you do, be prepared to bring your own equipment. (If you know that you have a tiny voice and it is likely to be a big crowd, tell the store ahead of time - they might well have a microphone, but they'll probably have to set it up.)
Tip #7: Bribe the audience. It's fun if you have giveaways - like maybe bookmarks or postcards to hand people as they are getting their books signed (or for kids who can't get a book but would like an autograph). Sometimes authors bring little prizes (stickers, pins, a little candies, something like that) for the people that ask the first questions or buy a book -- or something a bit more special (galley of a new book, bookstore gift card, t-shirt, burned CD of a "playlist" for the book, etc) as a raffle or for the person who came from the farthest. At my store we always do giveaways for the teen events, but most bookstores probably don't, so you can bring stuff yourself and make it happen if you want to.
Tip #8: Feed the audience. Personally, I love having little refreshments at events. The bookstore will sometimes provide refreshments, sometimes not. Sometimes they aren't allowed. By all means ask. If you want to bring special treats, CLEAR IT WITH THE BOOKSTORE FIRST so they are aware and have a place to put the stuff - and be sure that you provide napkins, a platter, cups, a wine key, or whatever you will need. Don't bring anything that requires cutlery or is messy - no popcorn or red wine.
For regular signings, I think just a plate of cookies or something is sufficient and nice. For launch parties, it is fun to go a little overboard and have a nice spread, and to have things that are "book specific" - like, Japanese treats for a book set in Japan, or food that is mentioned in the book. But whatever you do, keep the type of refreshment appropriate for the time of day and audience - animal crackers and (light-colored) juice works for little kids. Cookies or mini-cupcakes and lemonade works for older kids. White wine, sparkling water, grapes and crackers & cheese if you are expecting mostly adults.
Tip #9: APPRECIATE YOUR BOOKSTORE! This should go without saying, but kind words about the bookstore you are in is always appreciated. Buy a book or two yourself while you're in there. AND PLEASE, do not direct people to buy the book from a competitor like A**zon while you are IN THE BOOKSTORE having an event with piles of the book in front of you. Yes, this has actually happened. It is absolutely shocking, and makes the booksellers Instantly Hate You Forever. Common sense, no?
Tip #10: VITAL for traditionally published authors: Keep your publicist in the loop. Don't go off half-cocked and book a bunch of events without telling anyone. You really don't want to work at cross-purposes to your publisher. Some publicists will really want to be the point person for all events - others are more hands-off - but even if they don't do anything and it is something you are totally booking on your own, you REALLY need to tell them what is going on & where you'll be at least. This is for your own benefit, so they don't think you are a loose cannon, and because the bookstore will probably need to be in touch with them for various reasons (ordering the book, getting hi-res author photos, or getting co-op money for advertising, for example!) - and boy-oh-boy is it awkward when the publisher has no clue what the author is doing.
Any other questions for me, or tips for our anxious writer-friend?
Oh sweetheart. I've got bad news: There is no formula for a successful event.
But the good news is: If you have a good attitude about it, your event is highly unlikely to be a failure.
I've been a bookseller for a long (LONG) time. For many years I was an events coordinator. I had events that were insanely, unexpectedly fabulous - and events where somebody wound up crying in the fetal position. And everything in between. I know I've told these stories before, but I have to repeat them.
Once at a store in San Francisco, on a night when the Giants were in the playoffs AND it was the storm of the century (a storm so bad that the heavy glass & steel back door of the store LITERALLY FLEW OFF ITS HINGES)... we had an event for a fairly little-known cookbook author. Not a soul showed up, but the author and her assistant, and the three booksellers. We had a great conversation and ate cookies the author brought. She was absolutely charming and gracious and understanding, signed books, told jokes. And on the back of that event, all three booksellers were so delighted by her that they sold that stack of books...and the next...and the next... and the book became a bestseller for the store, for years. Yay!Get the point? Yeah. So now. In no particular order. Tips for before, during & after the event.
Another time, I held an event for a bigshot author. 150+ people showed up, on a gorgeous day when they could have been doing ANYTHING. She was angry that so few were there, and she SAID so. She was insufferable and rude about the whole thing, even though people had come early and waited hours to see her. She complained within earshot of the crowd. When she left, we boxed up the books we hadn't sold and returned them. Feh.
Tip #1: DON'T BE A JERK. Smile. Introduce yourself to everyone on staff. Be kind. Even if nobody shows up - believe me, the booksellers are as much or more mortified when that happens than you are. A thank-you note to the store events coordinator after the event is not required, but is nice, particularly if they did a great job & you connected with them in some way. Remember, you have a whole career ahead of you... and booksellers tend to have long memories. When they think of you, they should remember your sweetness!
Tip #2: INVITE PEOPLE! For pity's sake, drag your friends, family, facebook friends, old school chums and whoever else isn't nailed down along with you. The bookstore can advertise all day long, but let's face it, unless you are well-known, the people most likely to show up are people that you can kick in the shins later if they don't. If not a lot of people show, you'll be glad of the company - if the event turns out to be packed with strangers, you'll be happy to see some familiar faces in the crowd. IF you send an invite out to people and you get a lot of RSVPs, you should definitely let the bookstore know a week ahead of time so they are sure to have extra books on hand.
Also, before the event, be sure to advertise the event yourself as much as possible, and always link to the bookstore holding the event on your website or blog. And after the event, if you have a blog, mention what a great time you had and put a picture! [ETA: It's probably a good idea to carry a little notebook to write down bookstore people's names, or any fun incidents that happened at the store, because you might be too overwhelmed to remember later. If you have a mailing list, it is cool to ask attendees at the event to give you their email addys if they want to be on it - but don't add people without their knowing.]
Tip #3: Don't oversaturate your market. If you have a couple of different bookstores in your immediate area, don't book events with both of them for the same title in the same month. You'll be cannibalizing your own audience - even your most hardcore fans and friends are unlikely to come to the same event twice. I suggest doing a "launch party" at one store, and perhaps offering to be on a panel event or just sign stock at the other store, at a later date.
3b: If you are not a well known author, the adage is, do one awesome launch party in the town where you live, and another in your hometown or wherever your MOTHER lives. Sounds silly, but many moms have secret ways of influencing people to show up at events. You could also do one wherever you went to college, if you know a lot of people in that area. But don't worry your pretty little head about booking events all over the free world in towns where you don't know anyone unless your publisher is sending you - that is a lot of energy and time that you could be spending on writing another book.
Tip #4: Keep it light, keep it fun, keep it brief. As for what you actually do during the signing? I like it when authors chat a bit about what brought them to write the book, maybe tell a couple of anecdotes on the making-of, read a little, take Q&A and sign.
For most people, reading very short excerpts works best. I prefer a few well-chosen sections - maybe a couple pages each - with commentary about the book in between. VERY few people can read lengthy passages straight through without being boring as sh*t. Plus you are trying to get people to BUY THE BOOK - don't read the whole dang thing aloud! (And don't be afraid to end your section on a cliffhanger!) [ETA: For the actual signing, stores should have good pens at the ready, but if you need special pens, don't forget to bring them yourself - and test them first to be sure they don't bleed through the page.]
Tip #5: Create your own questions. During Q&A, sometimes the audience clams up. I'd definitely create a list of 5 or so questions that you can "fall back on" -- so if nobody asks anything you can say something like "you know a lot of people ask ________" -- and tell a little story to illustrate the answer... this buys you some time until somebody actually asks something. If nobody asks ANYTHING (unlikely), you'll just go through your five or so stories and then wrap it up.
Tip #6: Visual aids raise interest level. Kids especially love to see visual aids. I know one prolific author who has ALL his jackets taped together and unfurls them like a scroll and has kids hold it up - it stretches across the room! People think it is cool if you show off all the book jackets from around the world or early versions of book jackets that didn't make it, or a funny story you wrote as a kid, or a writing notebook with a thousand cross-outs in it, or your own embarrassing childhood photo, the menu from the restaurant that inspired the book, or whatever. People love "behind the scenes" stuff and "making of" stuff, and kids love knowing that fancy published authors were just kids like them once upon a time.
6.b - Caveat about technology! USE YOUR IMAGINATION in your presentation, sure. But be aware that if you are relying on powerpoint, most bookstores won't have a screen or projector... so. Don't rely on powerpoint, is what I'm saying. But if you do, be prepared to bring your own equipment. (If you know that you have a tiny voice and it is likely to be a big crowd, tell the store ahead of time - they might well have a microphone, but they'll probably have to set it up.)
Tip #7: Bribe the audience. It's fun if you have giveaways - like maybe bookmarks or postcards to hand people as they are getting their books signed (or for kids who can't get a book but would like an autograph). Sometimes authors bring little prizes (stickers, pins, a little candies, something like that) for the people that ask the first questions or buy a book -- or something a bit more special (galley of a new book, bookstore gift card, t-shirt, burned CD of a "playlist" for the book, etc) as a raffle or for the person who came from the farthest. At my store we always do giveaways for the teen events, but most bookstores probably don't, so you can bring stuff yourself and make it happen if you want to.
Tip #8: Feed the audience. Personally, I love having little refreshments at events. The bookstore will sometimes provide refreshments, sometimes not. Sometimes they aren't allowed. By all means ask. If you want to bring special treats, CLEAR IT WITH THE BOOKSTORE FIRST so they are aware and have a place to put the stuff - and be sure that you provide napkins, a platter, cups, a wine key, or whatever you will need. Don't bring anything that requires cutlery or is messy - no popcorn or red wine.
For regular signings, I think just a plate of cookies or something is sufficient and nice. For launch parties, it is fun to go a little overboard and have a nice spread, and to have things that are "book specific" - like, Japanese treats for a book set in Japan, or food that is mentioned in the book. But whatever you do, keep the type of refreshment appropriate for the time of day and audience - animal crackers and (light-colored) juice works for little kids. Cookies or mini-cupcakes and lemonade works for older kids. White wine, sparkling water, grapes and crackers & cheese if you are expecting mostly adults.
Tip #9: APPRECIATE YOUR BOOKSTORE! This should go without saying, but kind words about the bookstore you are in is always appreciated. Buy a book or two yourself while you're in there. AND PLEASE, do not direct people to buy the book from a competitor like A**zon while you are IN THE BOOKSTORE having an event with piles of the book in front of you. Yes, this has actually happened. It is absolutely shocking, and makes the booksellers Instantly Hate You Forever. Common sense, no?
Tip #10: VITAL for traditionally published authors: Keep your publicist in the loop. Don't go off half-cocked and book a bunch of events without telling anyone. You really don't want to work at cross-purposes to your publisher. Some publicists will really want to be the point person for all events - others are more hands-off - but even if they don't do anything and it is something you are totally booking on your own, you REALLY need to tell them what is going on & where you'll be at least. This is for your own benefit, so they don't think you are a loose cannon, and because the bookstore will probably need to be in touch with them for various reasons (ordering the book, getting hi-res author photos, or getting co-op money for advertising, for example!) - and boy-oh-boy is it awkward when the publisher has no clue what the author is doing.
Any other questions for me, or tips for our anxious writer-friend?
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
ProTips for Published Authors pt 1: WEBSITE TIPS
UPDATED 5/9/12: The lovely Laura L. Sullivan has changed her website so it now features the info I highlighted in this post. So now the example doesn't work -- but you CAN now use her page as an example of what you SHOULD do! I'm leaving the post as-is because I think the info is still important, but the links won't show you what they used to now. Carry on. (And buy LADIES IN WAITING!) ;)
--
Time to put on my bookseller hat and give all you adorable published authors a couple of quick but IMPORTANT tips.
I'm going to pick on a certain blog/website, by author Laura L. Sullivan (LADIES IN WAITING, Harcourt 2012) today. Note, and edited for clarification: I don't know Laura personally, she isn't a client or anything. I'm only picking on Laura because I happened to notice it this morning, and it is something I notice ALL THE TIME on various author websites. There is nothing inherently "bad" about Laura's website, just a couple small points I noticed with my booksellers eye. On the whole, it's a good, simple and clean presentation, with a funny and informative blog. Her book looks awesome and I can't wait to read it. And... that's where the problem comes in.
Take a look at the page she's set up for her brand new YA book. It's neat, clean, has a nice description and a good image. It looks right up my alley, in fact! But... notice anything missing? I bet booksellers will...
I don't know who the publisher is, or what the ISBN is, or how to order it other than from A**zon, where I don't shop.
My first question when somebody tells me about a new book is almost always "who is the publisher?" (My second question, if I am sitting at my desk, is "what's the ISBN")
If I know the publisher, I know which sales rep to beg for a copy. I know how I'll be ordering it for the store. (If I have the ISBN I can order it right then and there and be sure I am getting the right book!) I'll likely have a good idea of the type of reader the book will appeal to, to be honest, because so many imprints really do have a "brand" -- a book about bawdy restoration teenage girls is probably going to be a lot different as a Simon Pulse book than as an FSG book. It just IS. I might order it either way, but I'd like an idea of what I am getting into. I know that the general public, average readers, don't know or care much about who publishes what. But booksellers, particularly buyers, and librarians care - they care a lot.
When you don't put the publisher name anywhere on your website, it makes it seem like the book is self-published. There isn't anything wrong with being self-published... but frankly, it makes it a lot more difficult for booksellers and librarians to get hold of your book, and a lot less likely that I'd pursue vigorously for author events and the like. Yes, I could click around a bit and find the pub info on A**zon (which is what I did in this case) -- but if I was on the run, or only had a second to look, I simply wouldn't bother clicking - I'd say, Oh, well, I guess I'll look it up again later, and then promptly forget.
A**zon doesn't hold author events, or host book fairs, or contribute to the community. It is really important to a lot of people (not just booksellers - but YES, BOOKSELLERS!) that you not just link to A**zon. I would strongly encourage adding links to B&N and IndieBound at least, plus it would be EXTRA nice if you also linked to whatever your personal indie bookstore is, and if you don't have one, someplace like Powells or Books of Wonder.
I was a buyer and events coordinator for a major bookstore for many years. I am still a bookseller in fact, and I still do author events! So please believe me when I tell you:
You are losing sales when you don't have publisher information immediately visible - and you are accidentally offending people when you only link to A**zon. Your website is for readers - but it isn't JUST for readers, it is also for people who get books into readers' hands. And it is easy-peasy to help them help you!
I like to see the TITLE (pub, date), as I did in the opening to this blog post, the first time a book is mentioned on a website (like, on the "about me" page for example). You don't need to KEEP mentioning it, but mentioning it once is nice. You can take the year out once it isn't "new" anymore, if you like.
And then this info would be great to see set in its own paragraph after the description on the book page:
TITLE
by Author
Young Adult
Publisher, Year
ISBN 13:
Audio ISBN: (if applicable)
Available from [IndieBound], [B&N], [A**zon], and your local independent bookstore.
AND NOW, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna go get my hands on a copy of LADIES IN WAITING!
[ETA: Again, this is a UNIVERSAL problem, I notice it ALL the time - and I picked Laura's website because I think it is otherwise REALLY GOOD. And the book looks REALLY GOOD. This is not a ding against her personally - I hope a thousand people click on her website and think the book looks great too!]
--
Time to put on my bookseller hat and give all you adorable published authors a couple of quick but IMPORTANT tips.
I'm going to pick on a certain blog/website, by author Laura L. Sullivan (LADIES IN WAITING, Harcourt 2012) today. Note, and edited for clarification: I don't know Laura personally, she isn't a client or anything. I'm only picking on Laura because I happened to notice it this morning, and it is something I notice ALL THE TIME on various author websites. There is nothing inherently "bad" about Laura's website, just a couple small points I noticed with my booksellers eye. On the whole, it's a good, simple and clean presentation, with a funny and informative blog. Her book looks awesome and I can't wait to read it. And... that's where the problem comes in.
Take a look at the page she's set up for her brand new YA book. It's neat, clean, has a nice description and a good image. It looks right up my alley, in fact! But... notice anything missing? I bet booksellers will...
I don't know who the publisher is, or what the ISBN is, or how to order it other than from A**zon, where I don't shop.
My first question when somebody tells me about a new book is almost always "who is the publisher?" (My second question, if I am sitting at my desk, is "what's the ISBN")
If I know the publisher, I know which sales rep to beg for a copy. I know how I'll be ordering it for the store. (If I have the ISBN I can order it right then and there and be sure I am getting the right book!) I'll likely have a good idea of the type of reader the book will appeal to, to be honest, because so many imprints really do have a "brand" -- a book about bawdy restoration teenage girls is probably going to be a lot different as a Simon Pulse book than as an FSG book. It just IS. I might order it either way, but I'd like an idea of what I am getting into. I know that the general public, average readers, don't know or care much about who publishes what. But booksellers, particularly buyers, and librarians care - they care a lot.
When you don't put the publisher name anywhere on your website, it makes it seem like the book is self-published. There isn't anything wrong with being self-published... but frankly, it makes it a lot more difficult for booksellers and librarians to get hold of your book, and a lot less likely that I'd pursue vigorously for author events and the like. Yes, I could click around a bit and find the pub info on A**zon (which is what I did in this case) -- but if I was on the run, or only had a second to look, I simply wouldn't bother clicking - I'd say, Oh, well, I guess I'll look it up again later, and then promptly forget.
A**zon doesn't hold author events, or host book fairs, or contribute to the community. It is really important to a lot of people (not just booksellers - but YES, BOOKSELLERS!) that you not just link to A**zon. I would strongly encourage adding links to B&N and IndieBound at least, plus it would be EXTRA nice if you also linked to whatever your personal indie bookstore is, and if you don't have one, someplace like Powells or Books of Wonder.
I was a buyer and events coordinator for a major bookstore for many years. I am still a bookseller in fact, and I still do author events! So please believe me when I tell you:
You are losing sales when you don't have publisher information immediately visible - and you are accidentally offending people when you only link to A**zon. Your website is for readers - but it isn't JUST for readers, it is also for people who get books into readers' hands. And it is easy-peasy to help them help you!
I like to see the TITLE (pub, date), as I did in the opening to this blog post, the first time a book is mentioned on a website (like, on the "about me" page for example). You don't need to KEEP mentioning it, but mentioning it once is nice. You can take the year out once it isn't "new" anymore, if you like.
And then this info would be great to see set in its own paragraph after the description on the book page:
TITLE
by Author
Young Adult
Publisher, Year
ISBN 13:
Audio ISBN: (if applicable)
Available from [IndieBound], [B&N], [A**zon], and your local independent bookstore.
AND NOW, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna go get my hands on a copy of LADIES IN WAITING!
[ETA: Again, this is a UNIVERSAL problem, I notice it ALL the time - and I picked Laura's website because I think it is otherwise REALLY GOOD. And the book looks REALLY GOOD. This is not a ding against her personally - I hope a thousand people click on her website and think the book looks great too!]
Sunday, May 06, 2012
Reading with the Enemy
I've seen a lot of outraged links this weekend to a certain commentary by Orson Scott Card. Frankly, I don't have the energy to find the offending article, but if you really want to know the deets, you can probably google something like "Orson Scott Card Homophobia" and come up with plenty of dirt.
Because yeah. Orson Scott Card? Pretty much a flaming homophobe, and he is in no way shying from this position. He's loud, he's proud, he's not a fan of equal rights for The Gays. This is not news, though of course every time he writes a new commentary on the subject, people get freaked out again.
And I get it.
As a huge fan of The Gays myself, I'd rather not support somebody who I think is hateful against them.
But near as I can tell, what OSC is doing is just exercising his freedom of speech. Rather bravely, I'd say, considering he's spouting some seriously unpopular opinions. (I absolutely DO NOT AGREE with him and think he might be broken-brained, but I still acknowledge that it takes some balls to wave your loony flag around like that.) And he isn't dumb - he knows very well that his position is not embraced by a lot of people (particularly the people who will likely be keen to leave outraged comments on the interwebs), but he's living his own truth. He's not actively taking anything away from anyone, he's not attacking anyone physically, he's not threatening anyone or committing any crime. Soooo...
Do I want to line OSC's pockets with gold? Heck no. I don't pay for his books anymore, personally (though I certainly did as a kid). If somebody asks me what I think of him, I'll say this: He is a very good storyteller. Ender's Game is probably one of my most re-read books of all time. He's excellent at starting series (less successful at finishing them). He's extremely problematic personally/politically.
BUT. You should still totally read Ender's Game. Get it from the library. Borrow it from somebody. Order it from A**zon, read it, then return it. [ETA: kidding!] If only so you can know what people are talking about. It is sort of silly to get up in arms about a book you haven't read or an author whose work you don't know.
And Ender's Game is good. It's VERY good. It had a profound impact on the way that I personally read, and since reading is like 80% of my life, it has had a big impact on my life. So actually... maybe buy it. What the heck, it's only a mass market paperback, it's not like you are giving him more than two bits.
And this brings me to my real question:
At what point does an artist's work overshadow their personal issues?
Like... look. Let's get real. Lots of great authors, directors, painters, singers and the like are actually TOTAL DOUCHE-CANOES. Basically 9 out of 10 people from the olden days were at least somewhat one or more of the following: racist, misogynist, anti-semitic, homophobic, violent alcoholics and/or wife-beaters. It's easy to sugar-coat the old days, or excuse bad behavior. Some bad behavior, indeed, is in the eye of the beholder. But to get specific:
* Herge, creator of Tintin: Nazi Collaborator. ("But he didn't know what he was doing!")
* Elia Kazan, director of ON THE WATERFRONT and STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: Turned over his friends and colleagues to the House Unamerican Activities committee. ("But he only named names that they already knew!")
* William Burroughs: drug addict, total weirdo, shot and killed his wife. ("But it was an accident!")
* Frank Sinatra: Mafia ties, violent, alcoholic wife-beater. ("OK, but only when he was drinking gin.")
* John Lennon: Drug addict, wife-beater. ("But he was a GENIUS!")
* Harlan Ellison: Noted curmudgeon, inappropriate lady-groper. ("Inappropriate, or zany? Curmudgeon, or gadfly?")
* Frida Kahlo (only because I haven't mentioned any ladies): Bisexual communist who had extramarital affairs all over the place including with Trotsky. (Not that I think there is anything wrong with that, personally, but lot of Americans would). ("Everyone was a communist in those days! Trotsky had that neat goatee!")
* Michael Jackson: Come on.
Woody, Roman, Pee-Wee, etc etc, THE LIST GOES ON. Lots of people are less awesome in real life than we'd like them to be. They are... well, they are people. People are flawed. Some people believe things that you don't believe. Some of them do things you wouldn't do. Some are real schmucks. Some of them are actually criminals. Does this take away from their work?
I seriously want to know: Do you expect creators to be "nice" or have private lives or political beliefs that you approve of? Do you think this is an unreasonable expectation?
Can you separate somebody's political/personal/religious views or personality from their artwork/writing/music?
If you met an author and he was a real jerk to you - would you read his books? What if you were already a fan? Would you stop liking whatever you'd liked before?
If you saw some art, and you had no knowledge of the creator, and you thought it was a work of genius... and then you found out the artist had murdered somebody then committed suicide ten years ago... would you think less of the artwork?
Same piece of artwork, you have no knowledge of the creator, you think it is a work of genius... and then you overhear the artist telling racist jokes at the bar. Think less of the artwork now?
I AM FULL OF QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS on this topic and I could go on for ages - I'd love to hear what you all think.
[ETA: To clarify (or mystify?) even further: Despite however it might sound above, I really DON'T have concrete opinions on this topic. It's a big one, and I myself am completely conflicted and unable to process it without emotions. So don't worry about offending me or anything else - I am asking what you think because I really want to know!]
Because yeah. Orson Scott Card? Pretty much a flaming homophobe, and he is in no way shying from this position. He's loud, he's proud, he's not a fan of equal rights for The Gays. This is not news, though of course every time he writes a new commentary on the subject, people get freaked out again.
And I get it.
As a huge fan of The Gays myself, I'd rather not support somebody who I think is hateful against them.
But near as I can tell, what OSC is doing is just exercising his freedom of speech. Rather bravely, I'd say, considering he's spouting some seriously unpopular opinions. (I absolutely DO NOT AGREE with him and think he might be broken-brained, but I still acknowledge that it takes some balls to wave your loony flag around like that.) And he isn't dumb - he knows very well that his position is not embraced by a lot of people (particularly the people who will likely be keen to leave outraged comments on the interwebs), but he's living his own truth. He's not actively taking anything away from anyone, he's not attacking anyone physically, he's not threatening anyone or committing any crime. Soooo...
Do I want to line OSC's pockets with gold? Heck no. I don't pay for his books anymore, personally (though I certainly did as a kid). If somebody asks me what I think of him, I'll say this: He is a very good storyteller. Ender's Game is probably one of my most re-read books of all time. He's excellent at starting series (less successful at finishing them). He's extremely problematic personally/politically.
BUT. You should still totally read Ender's Game. Get it from the library. Borrow it from somebody. Order it from A**zon, read it, then return it. [ETA: kidding!] If only so you can know what people are talking about. It is sort of silly to get up in arms about a book you haven't read or an author whose work you don't know.
And Ender's Game is good. It's VERY good. It had a profound impact on the way that I personally read, and since reading is like 80% of my life, it has had a big impact on my life. So actually... maybe buy it. What the heck, it's only a mass market paperback, it's not like you are giving him more than two bits.
And this brings me to my real question:
At what point does an artist's work overshadow their personal issues?
Like... look. Let's get real. Lots of great authors, directors, painters, singers and the like are actually TOTAL DOUCHE-CANOES. Basically 9 out of 10 people from the olden days were at least somewhat one or more of the following: racist, misogynist, anti-semitic, homophobic, violent alcoholics and/or wife-beaters. It's easy to sugar-coat the old days, or excuse bad behavior. Some bad behavior, indeed, is in the eye of the beholder. But to get specific:
* Herge, creator of Tintin: Nazi Collaborator. ("But he didn't know what he was doing!")
* Elia Kazan, director of ON THE WATERFRONT and STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: Turned over his friends and colleagues to the House Unamerican Activities committee. ("But he only named names that they already knew!")
* William Burroughs: drug addict, total weirdo, shot and killed his wife. ("But it was an accident!")
* Frank Sinatra: Mafia ties, violent, alcoholic wife-beater. ("OK, but only when he was drinking gin.")
* John Lennon: Drug addict, wife-beater. ("But he was a GENIUS!")
* Harlan Ellison: Noted curmudgeon, inappropriate lady-groper. ("Inappropriate, or zany? Curmudgeon, or gadfly?")
* Frida Kahlo (only because I haven't mentioned any ladies): Bisexual communist who had extramarital affairs all over the place including with Trotsky. (Not that I think there is anything wrong with that, personally, but lot of Americans would). ("Everyone was a communist in those days! Trotsky had that neat goatee!")
* Michael Jackson: Come on.
Woody, Roman, Pee-Wee, etc etc, THE LIST GOES ON. Lots of people are less awesome in real life than we'd like them to be. They are... well, they are people. People are flawed. Some people believe things that you don't believe. Some of them do things you wouldn't do. Some are real schmucks. Some of them are actually criminals. Does this take away from their work?
I seriously want to know: Do you expect creators to be "nice" or have private lives or political beliefs that you approve of? Do you think this is an unreasonable expectation?
Can you separate somebody's political/personal/religious views or personality from their artwork/writing/music?
If you met an author and he was a real jerk to you - would you read his books? What if you were already a fan? Would you stop liking whatever you'd liked before?
If you saw some art, and you had no knowledge of the creator, and you thought it was a work of genius... and then you found out the artist had murdered somebody then committed suicide ten years ago... would you think less of the artwork?
Same piece of artwork, you have no knowledge of the creator, you think it is a work of genius... and then you overhear the artist telling racist jokes at the bar. Think less of the artwork now?
I AM FULL OF QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS on this topic and I could go on for ages - I'd love to hear what you all think.
[ETA: To clarify (or mystify?) even further: Despite however it might sound above, I really DON'T have concrete opinions on this topic. It's a big one, and I myself am completely conflicted and unable to process it without emotions. So don't worry about offending me or anything else - I am asking what you think because I really want to know!]
Monday, April 30, 2012
How NOT to write a series, OR, Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
You know the old saying.
It isn't just sound egg-maintenance theory. It also applies to many things in the writing life. Including writing & querying series.
Lots of unpublished writers query and say something like: "This is the first book in a series. Books 2 and 3 are complete, I am working on book 4 now!"
This makes me sigh. I read that and see a person who is stuck completely on one story, who is not ready to be flexible and diversify, learn and grow. Not to rain on your parade, but... what if Book 1 is actually fundamentally flawed and you are building a house of sequels on a shoddy foundation? What if it never finds a home? Then all the energy that you spent on sequels is wasted, when you could have been off finding more stories and inventing even more awesome worlds.
The other day a very nice Twitterer inquired during #AskAgent something like (paraphrasing): "I've had book one out on submission for some time... when should I start querying agents book 2?"
Not to be mean, really, but what's the point? Nobody can take on and sell JUST book 2 if it has to be a series. And nobody has picked up book 1. Sooo....
"Well, I'll just self-publish then!"
That's your call, and might be the right path to take. But if you do, don't expect to then query books 3 and 4 and nab an agent to be published traditionally, unless the first two books have been phenomenally successful.
Look, you're an unpublished writer who wants to find an agent for a series, trilogy, duology, sextet, or whatever? (Keep in mind I am ONLY talking about traditional publishing here) - This is what I'd love to see:
A strong book one that stands alone, but where there is series potential. (That means: No huge loose ends in the plot, but perhaps some generally unresolved big picture stuff. Strong, compelling characters that we want to follow.)
A synopsis for book two, and/or an overview of the "series arc" -- that is to say, ideas for future adventures of these people and a vague idea of what might happen in those books. One to a few pages - no need to go overboard. (If you've got really great ideas for Book 2 and just can't wait to put them on paper, go ahead - but no need to show them to an agent at this point.)
Then, to be blunt, you should MOVE ON and write something entirely different for your next project.
Why? Well, if book one is strong enough to support a series and I want to take it on, I can sell it plus probably future books without your having to write all of them in advance.
If book one is NOT strong enough to support a series, it doesn't matter how many books you write -- if we can't sell book one, the other books are dead unless they are able to totally stand alone. And you've wasted years of your life writing them when you could have been pursuing even more amazing projects.
Some series or trilogies are sold as such. But others are sold as a one-book or two-book deal, and the publisher will want to wait to see how the book is received by readers before committing to further books. At the outset, your agent won't be able to guarantee a multi-book offer, it just doesn't always work out that way.
Not everything HAS to be a series, and you don't get a contract for a series just because you feel like it... for a publisher to keep putting books out, there has to be an audience who has demonstrated a keenness for buying them.
Some books take off and become hugely popular with the reading public, and, I promise you, if that is the case, your publisher WILL WANT more books set in the world you've created. But the fact is... some books will probably be smaller, or may not get the attention you hope. This is reality.
The goal is, ideally, to get you on a path where you write amazing stories and invent wonderful characters as a career. When you are looking for an agent, you want to maximize the chances for one of them to fall in love with your work. Once you get an agent, they'll want to maximize the number of books you sell and stories you tell. So why lock yourself into one world?
Get that story-quiver full of good, solid, arrows - - so if one misses the mark, you'll have others you are excited to string.
It isn't just sound egg-maintenance theory. It also applies to many things in the writing life. Including writing & querying series.
Lots of unpublished writers query and say something like: "This is the first book in a series. Books 2 and 3 are complete, I am working on book 4 now!"
This makes me sigh. I read that and see a person who is stuck completely on one story, who is not ready to be flexible and diversify, learn and grow. Not to rain on your parade, but... what if Book 1 is actually fundamentally flawed and you are building a house of sequels on a shoddy foundation? What if it never finds a home? Then all the energy that you spent on sequels is wasted, when you could have been off finding more stories and inventing even more awesome worlds.
The other day a very nice Twitterer inquired during #AskAgent something like (paraphrasing): "I've had book one out on submission for some time... when should I start querying agents book 2?"
Not to be mean, really, but what's the point? Nobody can take on and sell JUST book 2 if it has to be a series. And nobody has picked up book 1. Sooo....
"Well, I'll just self-publish then!"
That's your call, and might be the right path to take. But if you do, don't expect to then query books 3 and 4 and nab an agent to be published traditionally, unless the first two books have been phenomenally successful.
Look, you're an unpublished writer who wants to find an agent for a series, trilogy, duology, sextet, or whatever? (Keep in mind I am ONLY talking about traditional publishing here) - This is what I'd love to see:
A strong book one that stands alone, but where there is series potential. (That means: No huge loose ends in the plot, but perhaps some generally unresolved big picture stuff. Strong, compelling characters that we want to follow.)
A synopsis for book two, and/or an overview of the "series arc" -- that is to say, ideas for future adventures of these people and a vague idea of what might happen in those books. One to a few pages - no need to go overboard. (If you've got really great ideas for Book 2 and just can't wait to put them on paper, go ahead - but no need to show them to an agent at this point.)
Then, to be blunt, you should MOVE ON and write something entirely different for your next project.
Why? Well, if book one is strong enough to support a series and I want to take it on, I can sell it plus probably future books without your having to write all of them in advance.
If book one is NOT strong enough to support a series, it doesn't matter how many books you write -- if we can't sell book one, the other books are dead unless they are able to totally stand alone. And you've wasted years of your life writing them when you could have been pursuing even more amazing projects.
Some series or trilogies are sold as such. But others are sold as a one-book or two-book deal, and the publisher will want to wait to see how the book is received by readers before committing to further books. At the outset, your agent won't be able to guarantee a multi-book offer, it just doesn't always work out that way.
Not everything HAS to be a series, and you don't get a contract for a series just because you feel like it... for a publisher to keep putting books out, there has to be an audience who has demonstrated a keenness for buying them.
Some books take off and become hugely popular with the reading public, and, I promise you, if that is the case, your publisher WILL WANT more books set in the world you've created. But the fact is... some books will probably be smaller, or may not get the attention you hope. This is reality.
The goal is, ideally, to get you on a path where you write amazing stories and invent wonderful characters as a career. When you are looking for an agent, you want to maximize the chances for one of them to fall in love with your work. Once you get an agent, they'll want to maximize the number of books you sell and stories you tell. So why lock yourself into one world?
Get that story-quiver full of good, solid, arrows - - so if one misses the mark, you'll have others you are excited to string.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Live and Let Font
I complained the other day on Twitter about Courier font. Here's my problem with Courier: Aside from being rather ugly (to me), it is wide as hell. So using it adds A TON of pages. I have very little time. When I see a manuscript to read/edit that is 400 pages long, I grumble to myself, because it might take me forever.
But when that same manuscript is put into Times New Roman font -- HOLY CALIBRI! -- it is only 315 pages! Highly manageable!
Obviously the number of words and the order they are in has remained the same. I recognize the fact that I will read these two manuscripts in approximately the same amount of time whichever font they are in. I know that if I cut the ms down to 4 point font and removed the spaces, I could probably fit it onto a set of index cards and that wouldn't make it faster to read either. I KNOW. But so what, it's my alternate reality, let me live in it.
ANYWAY. This tweet caused a bit of a furor. Authors everywhere chimed in, agonizing that this or that teacher or book told them they must ALWAYS use Courier, and now I'll hate their manuscript, etc etc.
Dudes.
You are overthinking it.
My first encounter with your work is in an email. I assume that you (like most people) are using one of the generic email fonts, either sans serif or serif, and either way, it's no biggie. I don't expect emails to be double-spaced (though if they are, I won't get mad or anything) -- it's an email. I know formatting often gets lost.
If I request a manuscript, I just want it to be clean and readable, like at school: Your info on the first page. (Where on the first page? Don't care.) 12-point-ish simple, professional, legible font. (I prefer a serif font such as TNR because it is easier to read for long periods of time than sans serif like Arial, but I am not going to get mad about it). Pages numbered. (Which corner? Don't care). Double spaced.
I truly cannot imagine a world in which the choice of font, provided it is fairly generic, curlicue-free, normal and readable, would impact my enjoyment of a great manuscript. If for some reason I am mortally offended by your choice of font, it is the work of a moment for me to change it myself.
Hound of the Baskerville, isn't there enough to worry about without adding to the list?
But when that same manuscript is put into Times New Roman font -- HOLY CALIBRI! -- it is only 315 pages! Highly manageable!
Obviously the number of words and the order they are in has remained the same. I recognize the fact that I will read these two manuscripts in approximately the same amount of time whichever font they are in. I know that if I cut the ms down to 4 point font and removed the spaces, I could probably fit it onto a set of index cards and that wouldn't make it faster to read either. I KNOW. But so what, it's my alternate reality, let me live in it.
ANYWAY. This tweet caused a bit of a furor. Authors everywhere chimed in, agonizing that this or that teacher or book told them they must ALWAYS use Courier, and now I'll hate their manuscript, etc etc.
Dudes.
You are overthinking it.
My first encounter with your work is in an email. I assume that you (like most people) are using one of the generic email fonts, either sans serif or serif, and either way, it's no biggie. I don't expect emails to be double-spaced (though if they are, I won't get mad or anything) -- it's an email. I know formatting often gets lost.
If I request a manuscript, I just want it to be clean and readable, like at school: Your info on the first page. (Where on the first page? Don't care.) 12-point-ish simple, professional, legible font. (I prefer a serif font such as TNR because it is easier to read for long periods of time than sans serif like Arial, but I am not going to get mad about it). Pages numbered. (Which corner? Don't care). Double spaced.
I truly cannot imagine a world in which the choice of font, provided it is fairly generic, curlicue-free, normal and readable, would impact my enjoyment of a great manuscript. If for some reason I am mortally offended by your choice of font, it is the work of a moment for me to change it myself.
Hound of the Baskerville, isn't there enough to worry about without adding to the list?
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Cheers to the Blue Board
Every time I go to a writers conference, I give the same advice to newbie kids book authors:
Read read read. Have patience. Don't follow trends. Join SCBWI if you are able. And FIND VERLA KAY!
Don't know what that last one means?
Verla Kay is a writer. You can find her books in libraries and bookstores near you. But she is also an extremely generous kid's book maven who started and maintains (with the help of a handful of hard-working moderators) simply THE BEST resource for children's book writers on the web. It's a message board extraordinaire, filled to bursting with extremely knowledgeable writers, illustrators, and yes, agents and editors and kids book experts of all types and at all levels who are game for dishing, advice, and general camaraderie. We in the know call it the Blue Board, or Verla's, or "verlakay."
I really shouldn't even be telling you this because it'll probably cause an influx to the board but... you're all nice folks, yes? And you are really serious about being children's book writers? And you're all very respectful of one another? Because that is what flies at Verla's.
What doesn't fly? Trolling. Spam. Flaming. Political or religious convos. You'll certainly be able to get writing advice, or a chance to share your query, or publishing insider info. You'll be able to discover average agent response times, or conduct an informal poll about tween slang. You may get a little boost of inspiration when you're feeling low, or even indulge in erudite discourse about literary themes... but you'll never get into a flame war, because it simply is not allowed to happen there. Personally, I find that extremely refreshing, and so for me (and for lots of similar-minded people) Verla's is a bit of a sanctuary.
I've been on the boards since March 2007 -- well before I became an agent (though I was already interning for an agency). I've checked in pretty much every day during those five years, except the rare days when I had no computer access. In fact, though I probably shouldn't admit to this, according to the stats, I've been logged in for a whopping 59 days. Yikes! (But that's because some days I stay logged in all day on one screen and check in a bunch and read a million topics... other days I just scan quickly to see if anything is new. But I always look. And there is invariably something there every day that I find interesting, or that brings a smile.)
There are many reasons to LOVE THE BLUEBOARD... not the least of which, for me, is that I have a ton of clients at least partly because of it. We MIGHT have met another way, if the Blue Boards didn't exist... but it would have been tougher. LK Madigan, Kate Messner, Daniel Pinkwater, Jackie Dolamore, Tara Kelly, to name a few... these amazing and brilliant talents were among my first batch of authors to sign, and while I met some of them on LiveJournal too back in the day, I know I can trace much of our early relationship right back to Verla Kay's message board or chat room.
Not because I was creepily hanging waiting to snag people based on their posted query letters, or anything like that... it isn't like those "modeling agencies" that hang out at the mall looking for tweens! Joining the Blue Boards won't get you "discovered" -- it just isn't like that. Rather, it's a place to be genuinely engaged with awesome writers, have great conversations with them, and develop mutual respect and trust.
I'd say that the OVERWHELMING majority of the queries I get from Verla Kay members are in the top 10% of all the queries I read. Verla Kay members are also 90% more likely to follow submission guidelines. Were those totally made up statistics? YES, but they made the point. Verla Kay members are not chumps off the street - they are more likely to be serious business, and I, for one, take them seriously. (Which is why, if you are a BlueBoarder, you should definitely mention it when you query me!)
So I said I have tons of clients because of the Blue Board... but the truth is, I also have loads of friends because of it, both in real life, and "virtually." Even when I was in Italy last week, I met BlueBoarders, and it was like we were old pals even though we had never met one another before. It was pretty awesome, not gonna lie!
OK, OK, I GET IT JENNIFER, YOU LIKE THE BLUE BOARD.
I do. And I think you might, too. Join us, won't you?
And don't forget, the more thoughtfully and constructively you post, the more of the message board you see... So be nice, and join the conversations! :-)
Read read read. Have patience. Don't follow trends. Join SCBWI if you are able. And FIND VERLA KAY!
Don't know what that last one means?
Verla Kay is a writer. You can find her books in libraries and bookstores near you. But she is also an extremely generous kid's book maven who started and maintains (with the help of a handful of hard-working moderators) simply THE BEST resource for children's book writers on the web. It's a message board extraordinaire, filled to bursting with extremely knowledgeable writers, illustrators, and yes, agents and editors and kids book experts of all types and at all levels who are game for dishing, advice, and general camaraderie. We in the know call it the Blue Board, or Verla's, or "verlakay."
I really shouldn't even be telling you this because it'll probably cause an influx to the board but... you're all nice folks, yes? And you are really serious about being children's book writers? And you're all very respectful of one another? Because that is what flies at Verla's.
What doesn't fly? Trolling. Spam. Flaming. Political or religious convos. You'll certainly be able to get writing advice, or a chance to share your query, or publishing insider info. You'll be able to discover average agent response times, or conduct an informal poll about tween slang. You may get a little boost of inspiration when you're feeling low, or even indulge in erudite discourse about literary themes... but you'll never get into a flame war, because it simply is not allowed to happen there. Personally, I find that extremely refreshing, and so for me (and for lots of similar-minded people) Verla's is a bit of a sanctuary.
I've been on the boards since March 2007 -- well before I became an agent (though I was already interning for an agency). I've checked in pretty much every day during those five years, except the rare days when I had no computer access. In fact, though I probably shouldn't admit to this, according to the stats, I've been logged in for a whopping 59 days. Yikes! (But that's because some days I stay logged in all day on one screen and check in a bunch and read a million topics... other days I just scan quickly to see if anything is new. But I always look. And there is invariably something there every day that I find interesting, or that brings a smile.)
There are many reasons to LOVE THE BLUEBOARD... not the least of which, for me, is that I have a ton of clients at least partly because of it. We MIGHT have met another way, if the Blue Boards didn't exist... but it would have been tougher. LK Madigan, Kate Messner, Daniel Pinkwater, Jackie Dolamore, Tara Kelly, to name a few... these amazing and brilliant talents were among my first batch of authors to sign, and while I met some of them on LiveJournal too back in the day, I know I can trace much of our early relationship right back to Verla Kay's message board or chat room.
Not because I was creepily hanging waiting to snag people based on their posted query letters, or anything like that... it isn't like those "modeling agencies" that hang out at the mall looking for tweens! Joining the Blue Boards won't get you "discovered" -- it just isn't like that. Rather, it's a place to be genuinely engaged with awesome writers, have great conversations with them, and develop mutual respect and trust.
I'd say that the OVERWHELMING majority of the queries I get from Verla Kay members are in the top 10% of all the queries I read. Verla Kay members are also 90% more likely to follow submission guidelines. Were those totally made up statistics? YES, but they made the point. Verla Kay members are not chumps off the street - they are more likely to be serious business, and I, for one, take them seriously. (Which is why, if you are a BlueBoarder, you should definitely mention it when you query me!)
So I said I have tons of clients because of the Blue Board... but the truth is, I also have loads of friends because of it, both in real life, and "virtually." Even when I was in Italy last week, I met BlueBoarders, and it was like we were old pals even though we had never met one another before. It was pretty awesome, not gonna lie!
OK, OK, I GET IT JENNIFER, YOU LIKE THE BLUE BOARD.
I do. And I think you might, too. Join us, won't you?
And don't forget, the more thoughtfully and constructively you post, the more of the message board you see... So be nice, and join the conversations! :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)