Perpetual WIPs Returns: Mid-Career Authors

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Literary Agents, Publishing, querying

Welcome back to my not-so-daily blog, and to my favorite series within it, Perpetual WIPs! For those unfamiliar, Perpetual WIPs is a blog series I started back in 2012 (which I guess makes it officially ancient?) that asks the same questions of a series of publishing professionals in a specific category and posts the answers anonymously in an effort to help authors navigate this beautifully and brutally complex industry we call publishing. You can read more about it here, but now I’m gonna move on to the The Point: a new edition launches today, and it’s all about authors who are making agent jumps in the middle of their careers.

You may notice that discussing mid-career querying is kind of a passion of mine, partly because it’s very rarely talked about and partly because I find it really interesting how much our needs change as our careers go on, and what kind of industry changes we see reflected in that as well. If you take away nothing else, though, it should be this: changing agents is a perfectly normal part of the process, and while it isn’t something every author does, it sure is something a lot of authors do! And it isn’t always a reflection on the agent or even indicative of a bad relationship or any bad actors; as you’ll see, there are many reasons authors and agents part, and many ways in which careers shift. So whether you’re querying or just curious, I hope you enjoy and learn a thing or two!

Here we go!

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Interview with Literary Agent Jennifer Johnson-Blalock!

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Jennifer Johnson-Blalock, Literary Agents, Liza Dawson Associates

It’s been such a long time since I’ve interviewed a literary agent, so the opportunity to interview one as lovely as Jennifer is one I absolutely had to take! Check out her wisdom, scout her wishlist here, and above all, query her!

You acquire in such a wide variety of areas, from cookbooks to contemporary YA to law. What categories and genres feel the closest to your heart, and why?

I’m definitely a generalist! I’ve always read widely, and I think one of the joys of agenting is that you’re not constricted to a certain style or type of book. And it’s lovely to be able to send things out at the same time and not have to juggle editors—I’m going out in the next month or so with a women’s fiction, a YA, and a nonfiction project.

To answer your question, though, if I had to pick one category of my heart, it would have to be women’s fiction. I’ve been reading it for years; I devoured the Red Dress Ink imprint in the early 2000s. (Blogger’s Note: Me too!!) One of the reasons I read is to figure out who I am and what my place in the world is, and those are the books where I can most fully see myself. (And on a related note, I’d really like to find more diverse authors in this category so that a greater number of women can feel the same way.) But don’t stop sending me all the other good stuff, writers; I love it, too!

I never get to talk to anyone who works with cookbooks, but that was actually my first internship in publishing—the now-defunct (I think) little cookbook division at HarperCollins—so I have to ask about it. What kind of cuisine is your favorite to read about? To eat? To cook?

I think in the internet era, when we all just google “chicken goat cheese” or whatever we have in our fridges, a cookbook has to bring something extra to the table. (That was an unintentional pun that I’m intentionally leaving in place!) I really love cookbooks with a narrative component or themed cookbooks like Judith Jones’ THE PLEASURES OF COOKING FOR ONE, and my favorite sort of food books are memoirs with recipes like Molly Wizenberg’s A HOMEMADE LIFE.

On a trip to Italy once, my sister-in-law posed a question: if you could only eat either French food or Italian food for the rest of your life, which would you choose? I went French–I can’t live without my mother sauces and pommes frites. But I actually love to cook Italian food. The precision of baking is my favorite, but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so pasta is my savory equivalent. You know I like you if I bust out my gnocchi rolling board.

I actually have yet to sign a cookbook author—if you’re reading this, cookbook writers, query me!—but I DID just sign an amazingly fun project from writer Lauren Koshere (@LaurenKoshere) called PIE-WORTHY: How to Bake Smart in Love that guides you through what to bake at various stages in a relationship and includes recipes. I’m thrilled to be working with her on that.

You have such a wide variety of professional experience outside publishing, too. How do those experiences contribute to how you do your agenting job, and what you particularly want to see in work submitted?

If I’d just worked in a PR firm, too, I think I’d be fully equipped to be a literary agent! In all seriousness, though, while it’s by no means necessary to go to law school to be an agent, I do think that I have a stronger than average grasp on contracts, licensing, and copyright issues, which has been a huge help as I’ve gotten started. And working as a high school English teacher 1) improved my editorial skills and 2) gave me a firmer foundation in YA lit (another category I love so hard—I actually started a YA for adults book club in Austin!). This is very much a learn-as-you-go sort of job, but I do think that my other career starts gave me a solid foundation on which to build.

In terms of how it affects what I like to see, as a teacher talking to teens every day, I became very aware of the gulf between what teens want to read and what some adults want teens to read. I actually think most YA writers are aware of this and write for teens themselves, but it seems like a bigger issue in MG. With the law, honestly, that was largely a misstep for me, and more than anything the experience has made me connect more with stories about people who are struggling to find their way or opting for a less obvious path in life.

Obviously we’re all familiar with some serious agent-querier horror stories, but let’s talk the fiip side – what are some best practices you wish all queriers abided by?

First of all, let me just say that most queriers are lovely. And I can imagine how difficult it must be for writers! There are many agents out there who have talked in depth about queries, but here are the highlights:

– Do your research—An agent’s submission guidelines are the bare minimum. I love when writers respond to my #MSWL or note something I said on Twitter. (Non-book things are fair game! I got a query in response to my complaining about bridal showers; I LOVED that.)

– SELL your book to me—Don’t just summarize. Figure out what what makes your book special and what the most compelling way to convey that is. Comp titles are your friends if you use them right.

– Be responsive–If I ask for pages and you can’t send them within a couple days for some reason, that’s totally fine, but I appreciate you letting me know. I get excited to see things when I request! And definitely pay attention to the format agents ask to see your work in.

– Be polite–Obviously! This is a professional communication. I will say, though, that I don’t think you need to reply to a form query rejection.

– Query only when your manuscript is ready and only when you know you want an agent—If you know it needs more revision, do that first. If you think you might want to self-pub, make that decision first—or later, but I shouldn’t be involved in it.

– Set guidelines if you get an offer–It’s incredibly helpful when you tell me you got an offer and plan to respond to it by X date. If I really need more time, I can ask for it, but I always flounder a little when I get an email that says essentially, “I got an offer, so let me know…”

Those are the basics, but here are a few for extra credit:

– Don’t change the subject line when you send requested material–Many of us use Gmail-based email, and if you change the subject line to say requested or what not, it moves it out of the conversation. Then, particularly if you’ve started an entirely new email, I have to dig through my inbox for your query to refresh my memory before I read. Which brings me to:

– Paste your query into the front of the manuscript—Then I don’t have to go back to my inbox at all, and I’m happy when I start reading!

– Use small paragraphs in your query letter–They’re easier to digest when I’m reading many queries in one sitting, and if I understand your work easily, I’m more apt to like it.

You used to curate YA content for Riffle. If you were doing that right now, what recent books would you absolutely have to include?

So many things. For those of you who have never checked out Riffle, it allows you to make lists of books, and part of my job was to come up with themed lists of YA titles. I don’t think I ever got to do a dance-themed list, which is a particular obsession of mine, and there are so many goodies to put on that now: TINY PRETTY THINGS (dying to read the sequel that just came out), POINTE, THE WALLS AROUND US…just to name a few. I’d also love to do a football list—FIRST & THEN would definitely be on it, and THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD gets bonus points because it could go on either of those two lists. And on a more serious note, I would definitely include a list on rape and sexual assault that would include, among others, ALL THE RAGE and EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR.

Anyone can see what you’re looking for right now on your site, but what’s something that you made you insta-request that you had no idea you were looking for until you saw it?

I requested a speculative fiction manuscript recently that I’m excited to read–I usually stick to the realistic world and leave speculative to my capable LDA colleagues who specialize in it. But this writer was responding to my MSWL request for books about happy couples, and the project just sounded fascinating. Though it’s important to follow agents’ guidelines, I think it’s also okay to take slight chances with queries particularly when responding to something an agent says she’s looking for. I’m really never unhappy about receiving a query; sometimes you truly don’t know until you see something.

Imagine you’ve just gotten a manuscript that looks amazing and you know you want to read it from start to finish. And whoa, you have an entire day free to do it! What’s your ideal reading setup? (Space, snacks, the works. Don’t skimp.)

Ah, the dream. When I really want to treat myself and focus in on a manuscript, I read in bed. I’m a little weird about my space division, and I normally make myself sit in a chair or at my desk if I’m working; bed is for sleeping only. But I have a very soft mattress and far more blankets than I need, so it’s very cozy.

I’d also change into what I call “play clothes”—not stuff you sleep in but not things you’d leave the house in on a normal day either; think, the ratty pair of sweatpants. Glasses, not contacts. Blinds open for the natural light. My “mellow” playlist in the background: Norah Jones, Sara Bareilles, Carole King, etc.

Definitely an oversized mug of tea in my favorite grey TYPEWRITER mug in the morning with a Kind bar or some such—I don’t like to waste time on meal prep when I’m in deep reading mode. Chex Mix and cherry Coke Zero (almost impossible to find in NYC, but a girl can dream) as the day wears on; eventually I’d break down and order a pizza. This actually sounds delightful; I’m going to implement this plan as soon as these moving boxes are gone.

And finally, tell us the coolest thing you’ve experienced in bookworld since starting work in publishing. 

EVERYTHING; I love being an insider! One of the best things, though, is on the nonfiction side. Whenever I see someone doing something cool in the world, I can email them to introduce myself and ask if they want to talk about writing a book. Oftentimes, nothing comes of this, but the conversations I’ve had have all been fascinating. And it’s just such a luxury to have greater access to talented people.

One of my clients, Jessica Luther, is a prominent sports journalist, and when I was reading a proposal for a colleague a couple weeks ago, her client cited Jessica (not knowing she was a client of mine) in one of the chapters. It just tickled me to get confirmation that I’m working with someone who’s an influencer, whose work matters to other people. It’s wonderful to feel that, as an agent, I’m helping to put good and important things into the world.

Jennifer Johnson-Blalock joined Liza Dawson Associates as an associate agent in 2015, having previously interned at LDA in 2013 before working as an agent’s assistant at Trident Media Group. Jennifer graduated with honors from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in English and earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Before interning at LDA, she practiced entertainment law and taught high school English and debate. Follow her on Twitter @JJohnsonBlalock, and visit her website: www.jjohnsonblalock.com.

On Querying and Subbing Simultaneously

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Literary Agents, Small Publishers

*This post also appears as a guest post today on Brenda Drake’s blog. We like to cover our bases pre-Pitch Madness!

Publishing has evolved into a pretty fascinating thing over the past decade—new publishers opening, old publishers folding or merging, the rise of self-publishing… the options seem pretty endless. And the best thing about having so many options is that truly, what’s the best option for one book might not be the best for another, and encompassing different methods in order to optimize your sales is now a very real—and, in my opinion, very freaking awesome—way to build a writing career.

But, notice I said “what’s the best option for one book might not be the best for the other.” As in, each book might have its own best path. What this means is, your contemporary NA might do best self-pubbed, while having an agent sub to big houses might be the best move for your YA psychological thriller, and subbing to a small press might be optimal for your YA fantasy.

What this doesn’t mean is that you should take that contemporary NA, self-pub it, and then query your self-pubbed book to agents for representation. And what this really, really doesn’t mean is that you should query that YA to agents while subbing it to small presses.

Unfortunately, there’s been a really huge rise of simultaneously querying agents and submitting to small publishers, and while I understand the reasons and intentions behind it (and we’ll get to the most understandable ones later), what’s getting lost is that it’s genuinely hurting many authors, agents, and editors.

What’s the big deal? you might think. Because of course you want to get published. Of course you want to see your book become a book. You want to give your book every shot you can. But as with all things, there’s a right way and a wrong way, and after speaking to both agents and editors on the subject, it’s become clear that the wrong way needs to stop.

Because here’s the big deal. It’s an agent’s job to submit your manuscript. It’s an agent’s job to send your manuscript to everywhere (s)he deems a worthy fit, and try to get you the best deal (s)he can. Agents want to do their job, for you and for themselves; 15% of a six-figure deal is a whole lot more than 15% of a three-figure one. The crux of the author-agent partnership is a certain amount of faith that your agent knows what’s best for your work. So what kind of message does it send when you take that element out of the relationship? When you effectively say, “I’ve done the work of finding the best place for my manuscript”?

Now, I’ve made no secret of my feelings on small publishers, but in case it’s not clear by the fact that I’m publishing with one, let me make it clear—I love them. I love the amount of input I get, I love being so in the loop, I love how easy it is to communicate with them, and I love the personal attention. I have no regrets about going with a small publisher, and had no hesitation about doing so. That said, was going with a small publisher my agent’s first choice? Of course not—from a business perspective, as wonderful as they are, it will never be the highest-earning option. It’s an agent’s job to think big, to assume big, to aim for big, and to do so widely. That isn’t to say they shouldn’t sub to small presses too (though some do not, and if it’s something you think you want, that’s definitely something to discuss on The Call), but think about how you’d feel if an agent offered on your manuscript and strictly subbed small. What would you think that said about your agent’s confidence in your manuscript?

So why does this matter? Why should you care what I think? Because this isn’t strictly coming from me; it’s coming from agents, to me and Brenda—agents who no longer want to participate in contests, because they’re tired of having their submission options pulled out from under them. They’re tired of small publishers offering on submissions within a week of requesting and having five authors nudge them all at the same time, creating an impossible situation. And why should you care that they’re tired? Because it makes them say “no” when they might otherwise not have. Because sometimes, it’s just bad timing, and the crunch of only having a week, and the fact that an offer is already on the table, and the fact that they don’t feel it’s their place to tell you to pass on it on the chance they might be interested. And if an agent was what you really wanted in the long term—an agent who was going to widely sub your book—you just lost it for an offer you didn’t really want in the first place.

To quote one agent, “We want to help break authors out—to try to help them get to places they can’t get to by themselves. We want to put them in front of NY. Some books are good for digital and fit there. But the ones that would work well in NY are heartbreaking to pass on.”

And that’s exactly it—that’s what agents are for. So why take that away from them and from yourself?

You know who else it sucks for when you do this? The editors at those small presses. The ones who get really excited about your manuscripts, who get invested, only to get put on hold so you can find an agent. Yeah, they’re not any happier about this. Every editor I spoke to was absolutely on board with their authors using agents to negotiate contracts, just so there’s no confusion about that, but not with their offers being leveraged to secure agents who are then stuck in the position of negotiating a deal that’s already been accepted. As per one small pub editor, “An agent’s job is to get you the best possible deal, and when they are presented with one that is already accepted, their only option is to push back hard, and that will most likely put the editor in an awkward place.

Keep in mind that when a small press makes an offer they are already on your side, and they have likely spent some significant portion of time pitching your MS and being your advocate on the inside. If you are in the midst of talking with agents and have multiple queries out [and] need to use the offer to ask others for a final decision that is one thing. When you receive an offer is not the time to start looking for an agent. And vice versa, if you have an agent don’t sub on your own to publishers with an open call. Let them do that for you.”

In addition to hurting your relationship with your potential editor, doing this might actually be hurting the book itself. Books are scheduled for particular seasons, and there’s a specific amount of editorial time that’s been allotted to your book before it goes to press. The time you spend looking for an agent after getting an offer cuts into that editorial time, or time you could be spending on revisions. And no, you cannot demand an editorial letter before you sign a contract; if you don’t ultimately end up signing with that press after all, such as if you do land an agent and (s)he wants to sub more widely, that’s a ton of time and work spent on you that should’ve been spent on acquisitions and editing existing signed clients.

Now, that said, what happens if you do get an offer from a small press and want to find an agent?

“In pretty much every situation, honesty is always the best policy,” says another editor. “As a publisher, we want our clients to have every comfort in signing with us and usually recommend that if they don’t have an agent, they have a lawyer look at the contract. Depending on the publishing house, a pub offer is usually good anywhere from 30 days to a year, so it is absolutely appropriate to let the house know you’d like to use that time to find an agent to handle negotiations. Again, the biggest thing is just to keep communication open and be honest about your goals and plans.”

And finally, one more biggie from an editor:

“‘DON’T query small presses unless you are INTERESTED in publishing with one.’ It sounds so simple, but it happens all the time.”

Let me explain something about both agents and editors that seems to get lost in the shuffle a lot. It doesn’t matter how much power you’re tired of them having, and it doesn’t matter how curious you are about the strength of your work: Agents and editors are not test subjects. When you use one as “offer bait,” you ruin things for everyone. It means you’ve wasted time they could’ve spent reading subs from people who genuinely want this, or editing client manuscripts they’ve already signed. Seriously, next time you think of using an agent or editor or even a contest as a test subject, think of that writer friend of yours who’d kill for the offer you just used as a “test.” Think of the fact that your actions might be talking agents out of doing contests. Think of the fact that your actions might be the ones to make a publisher decide to stop taking unagented submissions. And stop.

I’m sure not everyone will agree with what I’m saying here, and that’s fine; I’ve had enough frustrating conversations with writers to know that plenty of people out there will do whatever they wanna do. But I’ve also spoken to many I know would never knowingly hurt other writers, and to those, I hope this will help you think twice about the path you’re forging for this manuscript.

To be clear, I genuinely understand the different innocent scenarios in which this happens.

I understand that sometimes you get an offer, genuinely want it, but are scared of negotiating the contract yourself. To that I say, be honest in your query that you are looking for an agent to negotiate this contract. This isn’t a situation where you’re leveraging or nudging to lure an offer. An agent can agree to handle it or not, and you can discuss on the call whether this is a one-time thing or the beginning of a partnership. Some agents are perfectly happy to do this. Alternatively, you can use a lawyer for the contract and just query with the next one; they’re not subbing this ms anyway, so wouldn’t you rather ensure they’re the perfect fit for the next one?

I understand that sometimes, contests have judges that are both agents and editors. To that I say, if you’re in one of these contests, pick one path and stick with it. If you want an agent, and you get requests from both, send to agents only. If an agent offers, you can always state that you had interest from that pub and let the agent choose whether to sub there. If you want a small pub offer, send to editors only, and then see previous paragraph if you receive one and want an agent to negotiate it. 

I understand that it’s a really, really freaking tough business. But it’s tough all around, and the best we can do is try to work together so everyone gets a fair shot and awesome manuscripts become books. Seems like a pretty solid goal to me, no?

Nudging and Multiple Offers, Part II: The Agony and the Ecstasy

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Literary Agents, Multiple Offers, Nudging

The absolutely wonderful Lydia Sharp was here yesterday to talk about the basics of nudging agents once you have an offer of representation, and then the responsible, professional way to manage having multiple offers.

And now, in my role as most overshare-y publishing blogger ever, I’m here to talk a little more about the emotional side of it.

To quickly reiterate, here’s how it all works, in a nutshell: You query, maybe revise it, get requests, maybe get R&Rs, etc. and eventually you get an e-mail from an agent saying (s)he wants to talk. (Some agents just straight-up call, I know, but this has never happened to me. Thank the freaking Lord.) You set up a phone call, and you have a conversation. If that call contains an offer, you politely contact all agents who haven’t yet responded to your query*.

*I’m going to pause to discuss this for a second, because this is probably the most highly debated nudging point. Some people think you shouldn’t nudge agents who only have your query. I’m going to state that this is absolutely, categorically wrong. In both cases in which I’ve been offered representation, I nudged agents who only had queries, because the offers came very early in the process and I knew it was likely they hadn’t even read my query yet. I’d venture to say the total response was about 90% asking for more material. Sometimes, they really don’t get to your query for a month.

There is an exception to be made for when queries have passed a reasonable deadline, and certainly if it passes an agency’s “no response = no” deadline. However, if it’s on the border, when in doubt, get in touch, even if it’s just to withdraw. This last time I opted not to nudge exactly one agent, because it was so close to her agency’s no response = no time. She ended up sending me a very lovely e-mail a week or two after I signed that made it pretty clear she would have requested. So, you never know. Also, this 🙂

Okay, now, where were we? Oh, yes, nudging! God, it’s uncomfortable, isn’t it? Like, yeah, it’s really exciting and the world seems full of possibilities, but also you really just want to announce to the world that you have an offer, and also you don’t know how to nudge, and also, how much time are you really supposed to give, and what about the agents you don’t really want, and oh crap this is so much more uncomfortable than I thought.

For real, yo. Nudging is a wonderful reminder at all the possibilities out there, but it’s also pretty scary. So, let’s talk your options for a sec:

1. Contact all agents and say something like, “Dear Schmagent Lipman, Thank you again so much for requesting THE SECRET LIVES OF CLOWN DOLLS. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve had an offer from an agent, and I’d love to get back to her by [a date 7-14 days from now*].” or “Dear Awesome Agent, I know you haven’t requested any material, but given that my query was relatively recent, I wanted to let you know that I’ve received an offer of representation. I have not yet responded to the offer, but as a courtesy to the offering agent, I would love to do so by [a date 7-14 days from now].” OR WHATEVER. Point is, you get in touch, you politely nudge, you offer more material upon request, you keep it all in the same e-mail chain but with OFFER OF REPRESENTATION in your subject line, and give them a reasonable time frame in which to read and decide if they would like to make a competing offer.

*Let’s take another break to discuss time frame. Why is time frame really important? Why do I say 7-14 days? Because here’s the reality of what’s happening when you nudge: you’re asking A) the offering agent to wait, and B) the agents you’re nudging to push you up to the top of their TBRs, whether it’s a good time for them or not.

So, making an agent who’s in love with your manuscript and made an offer wait more than two weeks? Not so nice. (And good freaking luck having that patience yourself. Seriously.)

Making agents speed read? Not going to work in your favor. Especially if you happen to be nudging during a conference (my first time was during BEA, my second during RWA, so trust me on this one), an agent who might’ve otherwise loved your manuscript may not be able to make the time for it. The other thing to note about responses to nudging (which, by the way, should absolutely make you think twice about listening to those people who suggest using your lower-choice agents as query guinea pigs, or about using an offer you don’t really want to get ones you do)? Agents who might’ve given you an R&R are almost definitely going to step aside in favor of the offering agent who loves it enough as is.

Guys, do not mess around. There’s a limit to how many times you’ll get to do this. If you’re going to stop querying because you’ve got an offer, make sure it’s an offer you actually want. And the best way to do that is not to query anyone you don’t. Which brings us to the next option…

2. You withdraw from the agents you don’t want to consider. Now, look – to my mind, this is a perfectly okay thing to do. You don’t want to consider the agent, so why make him/her do the work of reading your manuscript? But. You know how agents are people too? Well, getting one of these… it kind of sucks. And lately, I’ve seen more than one agent talk about that fact, and how unfair it seems. So, my inclination is to just nudge all around and deal with the responses as they come; it seems to be the preference of agents, so, not much I can really say to that.

And now, back to nudging! At which point I am going to share a really uncomfortable truth that may not be universal but is absolutely true for me: getting responses to your nudges can be the ultimate confidence shaker. Because the same way that that one nugget of crit from a beta might stick with you even if sandwiched between heaps of praise? Same deal when an agent rejects upon being nudged.

You’ve got your ace in the hole! You’ve got someone who loves it! Hell, you’ve essentially got a freaking agent!

BUT WHAT DID THOSE AGENTS MEAN WHO SAID “Congratulations on the offer! I’m going to step aside because I really didn’t connect with the voice/I thought the pacing needed a lot of work/I would’ve had you do major revisions.”?!?!?! WHAT DO THEY SEE THAT MY OFFERING AGENT DOESN’T?!?!

So, yeah, for all the excitement and awesomeness, nudging is actually kinda tough. Because you’re basically forcing a flood of responses to come within the same one-week time frame, and some of those are probably gonna be rejections, and rejections always kinda suck. And the fact that you’ve gone from the high of “Someone loves my book and thinks it’ll sell!” to the low of “Oh, right, this stuff is subjective and not everyone loves everything” at a dizzying speed can be a shock to the system.

But let’s say some of those responses are actually really positive, and you get multiple e-mails to set up multiple phone calls that result in multiple offers! I mean, that’s objectively awesome, right?

*draws your attention to the subtitle of this post*

Look, it is wonderful every time an agent falls in love with your manuscript enough to want to represent it. I don’t ever want to be confused for being ungrateful. It is lucky, and it is glorious, and it’s a huge privilege to get to talk to multiple agents about your work.

But agents reject as part of their job on a daily basis. Writers? Not so much. So when we have to do it – when we have to choose only one after two or more have shown real interest and passion in our work, have had lengthy phone conversations with us about our writing and careers and the industry? It’s hard.

So how do you do it? How do you choose? Especially when you’ve queried right and genuinely think any agent you queried could be the right fit?

Dear reader, I have THOUGHTS.

1. Let go of the idea of a dream agent. Seriously. I know people say that and you’re all STFU but seriously, there is a lot you can’t know about an agent until you get on the phone and have that conversation, and one thing that may surprise you is how much an agent’s level of passion for your work and planning for your future can vary. A phone call is a great way to get an idea of how an agent plans to pitch your book, which happens to be a phase you have very little control over, if any. Also, because #3.

2. Figure out what’s most important to you in an agent. It’s pretty hard to find anyone in life who’s 100% of what you want. I wish my husband loved Pretty Little Liars and didn’t think seeing the Panama Canal was the coolest possible vacation on Earth. You do, however, have to have priorities. Do you care a lot about an agent’s response time? About whether (s)he’s an editorial agent? Make a list of the things that are real must-haves for you and make sure you get all your questions answered about whether an agent fits those criteria by the end of the call, whether explicitly or implicitly.

3. Ask about revision plans. Seriously. This is the number one best way to see if an agent’s brain really clicks with yours. If you don’t like an agent’s revision ideas, and don’t trust that they’re what’s best for your book, it’s a pretty safe bet this isn’t going to be a great partnership.

4. Do a little red flag fishing. Yeah, I know – no one wants to think about this crap during a happy phone call, but unfortunately, especially with newer agents and agencies, it’s a must. Is an agent unwilling to talk about his/her sales? Is the agent new and doesn’t seem to be getting any guidance/mentorship?

I’m going to be honest – I surprised the hell out of myself by going with the newest agent who offered. But I also knew what mattered to me, and she was all of it. And even though every agent I spoke to was fantastic, I ultimately just couldn’t see myself with anyone else.

So, knowing that in your own head is great. Having to tell the other agents that? Not as much. Certainly, they were gracious and lovely, because they’re gracious and lovely people, but yeah, it sucks to say “Thank you for being awesome and thinking I’m awesome, I just thought someone else was more the right kind of awesome for me.” It really does.

But it’s part of the job. On both sides.

So take a deep breath, use both your head and your heart, be as polite and gracious as possible, and push through. And when it’s all over, get yourself a drink and/or macaron. You’ve earned it.

Nudging and Multiple Offers, Part I: The Basics, by Lydia Sharp

Tags

Guest Post, Literary Agents, Lydia Sharp, Multiple Offers, Nudging

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat, shall we? Getting multiple offers from agents is objectively flattering and cool. We work really freaking hard to write books people will love, and when a number of them do, it’s a great feeling.

It’s also fifty shades of terrifying.

As you may know if you read my blog regularly, I recently faced this situation when querying. As you may also know, so did my fabulous and prolific author friend, Lydia Sharp. Ultimately, I signed with Lana Popovic of Zachary Shuster Harmsworth, and she signed with Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency. I think I can speak for both of us when I say we have absolutely zero regrets about those decisions.

But that doesn’t mean they come easy.

Since I knew from this extremely helpful post of Lydia’s that we’d actually had very different experiences with our offers, I asked her to share her experiences too. Because I just might be the most oversharey blogger in publishing, I’ll be writing my own post on the topic, to discuss why something that seems so awesome can also be kinda awful, but first, Lydia’s going to very helpfully explain everything from “How’d I get here?” to “How do I handle it?”

So, without further ado, I give you Lydia Sharp!

First, what leads to being in this type of situation to begin with? A lot of things. And all of those things have to align, along with the stars of luck, to get you here.

You wrote a novel. You wrote a synopsis and query letter. You received feedback on all of those and made them the best they can be. You researched your publishing options and decided that getting an agent was right for you and your book. You researched agents and compiled a to-query list. You sent out targeted query packages, all of them according to individual submission guidelines, and tried not to stress. You stressed anyway. You received several manuscript requests. You danced and then stressed even more. You may or may not have received a request to revise and resubmit. You received an email from one of these agents that they love your book and they want to call you. You wanted to dance but you were too stressed. You talked to this agent on the phone and they offered you representation.

You said you needed time to think it over, but you were already thinking it over. You danced and danced and danced. And danced some more.

Then you remembered your book is still in the hands of other agents that expressed interest. Now you have a problem. It’s a good problem to have, but still a problem. Every agent you queried, you queried because you believed they would be a good fit. There is no easy choice between them.

The professional thing to do at this point is contact every agent that has your book. This is not optional. If you queried selectively, there shouldn’t be anyone reading your book that isn’t a good choice for you, not that you would know of without talking to them first. Anyone who has your book should still be an option. You need to let them know you have an offer.

If you receive an offer within a month or two of sending out query letters, notify everyone, not just the agents that requested. Give those agents a chance. Replies on query letters can take up to two months or more sometimes. Just because they haven’t requested anything yet doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. Look to their guidelines, and any query updates they may have posted, to help you determine the best course of action here. For example, if you’ve passed the “no response means no” point, then you likely won’t nudge them.

This is how you nudge the agents that are still reading, no matter how long it’s been since they requested. They might have requested the day before or six months before–you still need to nudge them. They need to know you have an offer now, that the stakes have been raised. This is one of the few situations in publishing where things move unbelievably fast. Don’t intentionally leave anyone in the dust.

Hit reply on the last email communication you had with each agent. Usually this is their request for your manuscript. Add “OFFER OF REP” to the subject line. Leave no question what this email is about. Keep the notification as simple as possible, but give them a specific time frame to respond. Standard is a week. The agents who are sincerely interested will respond ASAP, some within minutes or hours. You might be shocked at how soon those replies come back. You might also be shocked by the agents who take their good old time in replying, or never reply at all. Yes, that happens too. And in such case, don’t let it bother you because you are better off without them. You don’t want an agent that doesn’t value prompt communication.

The agents that do respond will say a version of one of three things. One, “I’m still reading and I’m still interested. I’ll get back to you within the week.” Two, “I love this and I’d like to arrange a phone call.” Three, “Congratulations, but this isn’t for me. Good luck to you.”

Reply number one can later lead to reply number two or three. Reply number two usually leads to another offer of representation to consider. Reply number three, at this point, is a relief. Even if that agent was one of your top choices, if they didn’t connect with your book, they were not the right agent for you and they just made your pending decision a little bit easier.

Fast forward to a week after your original offer of rep. The other agents have either respectfully backed out or eagerly thrown their hats into your ring. If you did not receive another offer of rep, and you feel the original offer is good for you and your book, the decision-making process ends here. You accept the offer and move on to bigger and better things. But if you received one or more additional offers of rep, you still have a bit more stress to endure.

You consider EVERYTHING you know about EVERY agent that offered. You researched them before querying, but now you dig even deeper. This decision is important. It is not the be all end all, but the agent you sign with will greatly affect the direction your career takes from this point onward. Once you have considered everything you can consider, and you’ve made a decision you feel is right, now comes the hardest part…

You have to send a rejection letter to an agent. Or two, or three, or however many offered that aren’t the one you choose. Expect ulcers over this. Authors are used to receiving rejections, but have little practice giving them. It’s crazy hard.

As with all email communications, keep it professional, positive, and brief. Personalize it where you can. You do not have to list the reasons why you didn’t choose that agent. You do not have to list the reasons why you did choose the other agent. But it is okay to let them know who you chose. An agent offers to represent you because they are genuinely interested in you and your career. They will likely be cheering you on from the sidelines now. Some may even go as far as to tell you this after you reject them. They want you to succeed, they truly do. If you have handled this whole process with a positive tone and a good measure of professional decorum, the agents you reject will have nothing but respect for you afterward.

And then you dance again, but this time you don’t dance alone. You get to dance with your new agent.

Jumping Back Into the Trenches

Tags

Literary Agents, querying, referrals, Rejection

Well, that’s basically a nightmare phrase, isn’t it? Signing with an agent is supposed to be the thing that hoists you out of query letter hell forever. It’s a safe zone, a guarantee, a lifetime plan!

For some.

For others, it’s a really great thing that happens but isn’t meant to be the start of a lasting relationship. There are about a billion reasons for an agent-author partnership to end, and some of them are far worse than others.

I’m an “other”; my first agent and I split in June, just shy of a year together. I didn’t announce it, because how do you announce it? Instead, I shifted things around on my website and blog (rather than removed, because she’s still the agent on the contract for BEHIND THE SCENES) and deleted her from my Twitter profile and PM page. I told people I speak to in non-public forums, and answered anyone who asked on Twitter. In reality, what more can you do?

At the same time, I was also really lucky, because here’s the thing about my first agent: I still think she’s awesome. I have no regrets. Ask me what I would’ve done differently, and I have no answer for you. Ask me what I think she should’ve done differently with the book she offered on, and I definitely have no answer for you.

Here, though, is where that offer part is so tricky: it’s on one book. You query one book. You get an offer based on one book. And sure, an agent can ask what else you’re working on, but A) a lot of them don’t, and B) what can sound great in premise isn’t necessarily something they’ll love in execution. It’s one reason it’s so important for an agent to love your voice; it’s their best insurance they’ll love the rest of your work. If your first book isn’t necessarily a reflection of your later work (which, due to its highly commercial nature, mine wasn’t), then it may turn out the expectations just weren’t quite on track, and you’re not meant to be after all.

So, let’s say you hit an impasse on a book, or communication style, or pitching plans. Then what?

Dear readers, I’m not gonna lie – it is terrifying. Leaving your agent, even when it’s mutual, even when it’s amicable… it is like setting your security blanket on fire and then rolling around in the ashes. And when I see it continuing to be a great partnership for my former agent-sisters, it feels sort of like watching my ex-boyfriend in a great new relationship and wondering why we couldn’t make it work. No matter how neat, and how much you adore and respect everyone involved, it sucks. And boy, will it screw with your confidence.

Plus, for me, it wasn’t just as a writer – I was fully prepared for a “If you can’t even keep your agent, why the hell should we listen to your pub advice?” from someone who follows my blog. (This did not happen even once. I love you guys.)

If you read The Daily Dahlia, you already know that I have a lot to say about querying. I give a lot of advice, discuss etiquette and best practices… I have four queries posted up top that have all gotten requests.

And yet, when I started querying again, I felt like I knew nothing. Like, I could not figure out how to do a thing. I’d read someone else’s post on querying for the second time and it was basically “I got a new agent in five minutes, after getting a hundred referrals!” and I was all “WHY ISN’T EVERYONE AND HER MOTHER REFERRING ME AND NINJA-ING ME AND WHY DO I FAIL AT LIFE?!”

Then there was everyone else’s raging confidence that everything would be fine. I got a ton of, “Oh, you’ll get a new agent again in five seconds. You’re so networked.” Never mind that the extent of my “network” is Twitter friends, same as everybody else. Never mind that sure, I’ve got agent friends, but people liking you doesn’t mean they like your work, or take your genre. The votes of confidence were sweet, but at times, it felt like I’d have to be an idiot to screw this up, and I was pretty sure I was going to. So I ran to my CPs and trusted friends, and I posted on OneFourKidLit, and I scoured AbsoluteWrite, but ultimately, what it comes down to is this:

If your current agent relationship isn’t right for you, but you know you want an agent, you just have to push yourself to do it eventually. You will come up with a thousand reasons why it’s risky or scary or crazy. But if you can’t get out of your own way and push past them, you’re never going to get what you want.

So, let’s do this! Round 2! Kinda awkward, right? Especially if people know you had an agent before? Or if you have a book deal? I mean, like, what kind of reject are you?

THE KIND OF “REJECT” THAT HAPPENS ALLLL THE TIME.

Guys, for real, this is a thing that happens. Hi, I’m Dahlia! Now you know someone it happened to. Also? I had three friends going through the same thing at the same time and all three have great new agents. The point is, this happens, you’re not a freak, and agents do not take one look at your query and go, “Ew, why would I want her now?”

So, now that that’s out of the way, how do you actually do this thing?

First things first, make sure you understand your agency contract’s termination clause before you and your agent actually part. (And yes, you should understand it before you ever sign it.) Termination clauses vary by agency, and can be anything from “Either party can terminate whenever” to much stricter options that will keep you from subbing for months. The wrong move can mean breach of contract or even that you’re obligated for 15% to both your old agent and your new one.

In some cases, what you can do is ask for a waiver of the termination period. If your agent doesn’t want to sub your manuscript anyway, (s)he may be willing to just give it up and free you completely. If this is your situation, and you’re parting on good terms, it may be worth asking. (Can you tell I did this? I did this.)

As for actually writing a query letter? Well, it’s… a whole lot like you did it the first time. A query letter is a query letter. The only differences are that you might add something like this:

“After an amicable split with my previous agent, I am currently seeking new representation.” If you mention the split, you should also mention whether or not the manuscript you’re querying has previously been submitted. Mine had not, which was admittedly a good place to be in. If yours has been submitted, make sure you have a list of every single editor it’s gone to. (If it’s been submitted to a lot of places – say, more than 5-10 – it may not be the best ms to query with, and you might have better luck if you queried with something else and saved it to use as your option.)

For me, one thing that came up a few times was the fact that I had a three-book deal. Now, obviously that’s a pretty specific situation, but the point is a general one: Be prepared to answer any and all questions about how your previous representation affects this one. Terminating your agency contract isn’t terminating your publishing contract. The agent on that contract is still entitled to his or her 15% of every book (s)he signed for you.

Again, for me, this was an easy situation – the three books in my contract have already been decided, so there was no obligation to submit the manuscript I was querying for it, which means there was total freedom for new agents to sub it anywhere they liked. This isn’t always the situation. If you’re in a multi-book contract in which not all the books have been determined, or you have an option clause, this is something you need to be aware of. If the manuscript you’re querying isn’t freely available for multiple submission, agents need to know.

Now, in case you haven’t noticed the common theme here, I’ll state it plainly: I was in a great situation to do this. I had a wonderful first agent who made it as easy as possible and wanted me to find an agent who was truly the right fit. I had a manuscript (two, actually) that had never been submitted to editors. I had a multi-book contract that had no claim on any manuscript I was pitching. This was very neat. Not all splits are. Unfortunately, I can only speak to what I know.

If your split isn’t quite as neat, remember the following two things:

1) Never badmouth your former agent. There is literally not a single good thing in the world this can do for you. If your split wasn’t amicable, just don’t say it was amicable. “I recently parted ways with my agent and am seeking new representation” is just fine. But if you trash your agent, you’re only going to hurt yourself.

2) If you’ve been subbed, the list of where you’ve been subbed is key. If you don’t have this, and your agent won’t provide it, query another manuscript. I know this sucks. Withholding that list is one of the worst things an agent can do. I’m so sorry I don’t have a better answer for this. It just is.

Finally, let’s talk specifics, and what you really “need” when you’re querying the second time:

Connections? Nope. Among the agents I queried are several I consider myself friendly with. Some requested, some did not. I will concede that not one rejected with a true form rejection, but at least one rejected at the query level. Because she’s an agent, and it’s her job to reject manuscripts she doesn’t connect with. If you’re going to take that personally, either don’t query your agent-friends, or don’t befriend agents. And the one I ultimately signed with? Never spoke to her before in my life before sending that query.

Referrals? Nope. I had three friends really, really kindly offer referrals to their agents. Because I didn’t think any of their agents were the right fit, I didn’t use any of them. I asked one friend to use her name, and she allowed it, but her agent turned out to be closed to queries. And that’s the glorious history of me and referrals.

Pub credits? Obviously, now that I have a book deal, I can’t speak to whether or not this matters, but as far as I know, every single agent I queried is happily open to taking on debuts. Honestly, the whole multi-book contract thing seemed to hinder more than help, if we’re playing with sides of that line.

The point of all this is, you did it once, and you can do it again. You’re not damaged goods. You are experienced, you are proven, and you’re probably pretty damn good at what you do. So step out of your own way, dive back in, and give yourself the second chance you deserve.

***

On a personal note, I want to give massive thanks to everyone who was utterly awesome to me during this time when even I found me utterly unbearable. If you guys knew how much crap and freaking out some of my friends have had to listen to in the past few weeks, you’d be amazed that any of us even function. If you’re not sure who you are, check your IMs, DMs, e-mails, and texts from the past few weeks. If more than 50 of them are from me, I probably mean you ❤

So, that’s the story of why you saw me in pitch contests, why I haven’t been blogging, and why you might’ve noticed changes in my bios in various places. I split with my agent, and now I have a new one, and her name is Lana, and yelling it in Archer’s voice is really fun, and all is well. And if you’re reading this because you read all my posts, thank you, you’re awesome. 😉 If you’re reading this because it applies to you, please remember you’re not alone, and plenty of these stories have happy endings – there’s no reason in the world to think yours won’t too!

And, of course, if you want to know how some agents feel about it, you can always check this out 😉

Querying and Best Practices

Tags

Literary Agents, query letters, referrals, Self-Publishing, Small Publishers

Good Lord there is a lot of bad advice about querying out there. And I don’t know why people continue to dispense it, but it’s clearly coming from people who haven’t done their research in the right ways… like, by listening to how good, respected agents actually feel on the subject.

So, let’s discuss a few of the bad pieces of advice out there, and why they’re so bad, shall we?

1. Query only your bottom choices first, in case your query sucks.

Now, why is this bad advice? Well a couple reasons.

• It uses agents as your test subjects on a query. Why on Earth would you use agents as test subject on your query instead of other writers? You should not be sending out a query that sucks, period, even if it’s to agents you don’t care about. (And you definitely shouldn’t be querying agents you don’t care about, because what’s the point for either of you?) Use the right test subjects – other readers and writers. When a minimum of three people (who aren’t of the varity that tell you everything you produce is a unicorn tear) tell you they’d request from your query as is, then you’re probably ready to go. Until then, you’re just wasting everyone’s time, including your own. (And yes, obviously you may still receive comments that suggest your query needs tweaking, but that’s a chance you take, especially because of #2)

• If you get an offer, you’ll never actually get to query your top agents. Now, apparently, some people think that if you get an offer, you can toss out your query to your top choice agents with an “I have an offer of rep.” No, no you cannot. Here’s what you do when you get an offer of rep – you e-mail all the agents who have material (this is non-negotiable), and depending on circumstances* you might also e-mail all the agents who have just a query. THAT IS IT. YOU DO NOT GET TO SEND OUT MORE QUERIES. This is how it works for agents/editors as well – once an agent gets an offer while out on sub, (s)he only gets to nudge the other editors who are reading. You’re not going to intrigue new agents with “Here’s my query – YOU HAVE ONE WEEK TO RESPOND.”
  

*I did this when I got an offer because it was within the week I started querying, and I’d queried agents who’d requested fulls before, so I had significant reason to believe they might be interested but hadn’t had time to respond. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this if an agent’s had it for two months and has never requested from you before.

2. You should be taking advantage of every opportunity possible, all at once.

This is, to an extent, great advice. But what it’s missing is the part where they’re the opportunities you actually want, and that going after what you want still requires a certain amount of respect and professionalism.

For a while, I was getting a lot of questions about what to do if you got an offer from a small press while you were looking for an agent. But here’s the thing – in reality, you shouldn’t be bumping into that issue. And here’s why:

When you query, what you’re saying is “I want an agent to work with me and this book.” When you sub to a small press, what you’re saying is, “I want to work with you on getting this published, in a partnership between me and you.” When you do both at the same time, what you may well end up saying is either:

• “Agent, I’ve taken the opportunity to do what you think is best for my manuscript out of your hands and made the decision for you.” It’s taking all the trust you’re supposed to be putting into an agent and basically tossing it out the window. Not to mention that as much as I love small presses, they’re seldom going to be an agent’s first choice. (More on that here.)

or

• “Editor, you’re actually not my first choice – really, I want an agent. But I also want a book deal, so, just hold on while I awkwardly navigate this whole agent thing I’m in the middle of and then I’ll get back to you, please?”(This is definitely the lesser of the evils, and I have plenty of friends who’ve scored an agent while navigating a book deal to no negative repercussions. But, it’s a lot harder to deal with this paragraph without also having to deal with the previous one.)

Now, I also know what you’re thinking – WTF am I supposed to do when I’m in a contest or Twitter pitch party and both agents and editors are requesting? The answer is you don’t have to send material to everyone who asks. If you want an agent, and you’re not looking for a book deal with a small press right now, don’t sub to the small press you don’t want. Remember that this isn’t set in stone: you can always sub to the small press later, or query these agents later.

3. If you really, really love your book, you will never, ever give up on querying it.

Look, I stand by all my manuscripts. I love them. But here’s the thing about querying – even though what you’re querying is just one manuscript, what you’re really doing when you query is trying to find an agent who wants to rep your career. So yeah, you can send out your query to 300 agents (at least I think you can; I have no idea how many actually exist) and number 300 may want it, but then you’ve got your 300th-choice agent repping your career.

So what to do? Well, you have options. (Please note that I am simply presenting the options that exist; each has its own pros and cons as well.)

1. You can shelve it and move on to query something else. This may result in that ms being buried forever, or it may not. It’s possible that once you sign an agent with a new ms, (s)he might be willing to look at that one too. Or maybe you’ll get a book deal and be able to use it as an option, or “book 2” or whatever.
2. You can self-publish it, and then if you still want to pursue an agent, you can query with a different manuscript.
3. You can submit it to publishers that don’t require agents, and then if you still want to pursue an agent, you can query with a different manuscript.

So if you’re asking yourself “When is it time for me to put this manuscript away?” here’s my personal answer: The time is when it’s been rejected by all the agents you want, you don’t want to self-publish it, and either you don’t want a small publisher for it or you’ve been rejected by all the ones you do.

4. Always mention/avoid the topic of having previously submitted to this agent.

See that slash? It’s because this isn’t a black-and-white thing. What matters when deciding whether or not to mention having previously submitted to an agent is what happened when you previously submitted to an agent.

DO mention if you’ve queried with a different manuscript and (s)he requested a full.

DON’T mention if you’ve queried with a different manuscript and received a rejection at the query stage.

There’s no reason not to try again with a new manuscript, even if you were rejected at the base stage earlier. New manuscript, new shot. The one caveat to this is that you must put some time between the queries. Getting a rejection from an agent and coming back with a new manuscript the next day? Raises suspicion about why you have another manuscript at the ready, and whether or not you’re querying both simultaneously, which you shouldn’t be doing. I believe six months is the standard time to wait between when an agent rejects and when you query him or her with something new, but obviously variables will always factor in there!

5. Mention your age in your query.

This may not work against you, but it’s not likely to work for you, either. Just skip it.

6. Mention the agent’s other clients in your query (in suggestion of a referral).

This is good advice only with the client’s explicit, expressed permission. Do not ever fake a referral. I pretty much guarantee the agent will find out you did not have permission. This goes triple if you don’t even know said client. (Parentheses added to clarify, as Laura said in the comments, that if you’re saying you’re interested because they rep a client whose books you love, that’s definitely OK!)

7. Exaggerate your publishing credentials.

Hahahahahaha yes, because NO ONE WILL EVER FIND OUT YOU DIDN’T REALLY PUBLISH A BOOK YOU SAY YOU DID, or that you sold 10K copies fewer than you said. For real, if you think agents are that stupid, why do you even want one?

8. Offer an exclusive to your top agent so (s)he will take you more seriously.

This one is a huge no. First of all, as I’ve blogged about before, exclusives are decidedly not in a querier’s best interest. Now, it’s one thing to decide to give an exclusive to an agent who asks for it, but agents who don’t ask for them actually don’t want them. Exclusives just put undue pressure on agents they didn’t want, and maybe it’ll speed them up or maybe it won’t, but how would you feel about repping someone who put a burden on you you didn’t ask for? Whether you want to grant an exclusive to someone who asks for one is up to you, but it is the only circumstance under which you should be giving one.

So, those are my opinions on Best Querying Practices! Agree? Disagree? Questions? Comments?

When Agents Wave the Red Flag

Tags

Literary Agents, red flags

It’s been almost a full year now since I signed with my agent, but the thing about querying is, if you did it for long enough, I’m not sure you ever forget what it was like.

Me? I did it on and off for four years.

I got something like ten rejections on my first ms before I stopped (not that I’d normally advise giving up after that low a number, it’s just that it was far more of a “market timing” thing – NA! – than anything else), fifty before shelving the second one (what, until my most recent ms, was “the book of my heart”), and then was very lucky to find my agent through The Writer’s Voice contest with my third, for which I only sent about five queries.

That adds up to a whole lotta two things: 1) Research 2) Rejections

When I queried the first time, I admittedly had no idea WTF I was doing. I basically picked agents to query based on which agency names I remembered from working at Simon & Schuster, which was sort of an iffy move because although it did mean they possessed some legitimacy, I’d worked in Adult and had no idea there were totally separate kidlit agents. I don’t know if there was a QueryTracker or AW or anything like that, I only know that I didn’t use any of ’em.

As it happens, I queried some fantastic agents at the time, only I didn’t know it. I honestly had no idea how many subpar agents were out there, and it was total luck of the draw that I picked agents like Amy Tipton and Jenn Laughran. Had I queried bad ones, I’m not sure I even would’ve known.

But I sure know about ’em now!

I’m not sure exactly what’s changed over the past year or two, but suddenly there are a whole lot of people out there who feel cool calling themselves agents despite lacking the necessary experience, contacts, and professionalism. Somehow, “I like books” became good enough for agent bios, and people seem to have lost sight of what they should be looking for, both as good signs and bad signs.

Hopefully, this post, written with the assistance of a few helpful writers who’ve had the reddest of flags thrust in their faces, will help clarify. (And, if you need to remind yourself why no agent is better than a bad agent, see Point 1 here.)

The agent doesn’t actually know the category he/she is representing.

Now, you might be all, “How would I even know that??” Well, here are some hints from real-life examples!

• An agent says something like (direct quote!) “I would also recommend that you consider writing novellas to begin with (shorter romance-geared novels ranging around 50-60k words) not only because they also are an easier thing to sell, but also much easier to master before delving into really meaty novel stories.”

Oh, hey there! I’m real life, and I’m here to tell you that no one thinks novellas are easier to sell unless maybe they plan to go digital only. And if you do plan to go digital only, maybe share that information with your prospective client?

• You get rejected because your word count is “too low”… and it was a 60,000-word contemporary.

Right, so, as a writer, you should be doing your own research about acceptable word counts, and if you have, you’d know that 60,000 words is absolutely normal for contemporary YA. On the lower end? Sure. Rejection-worthy? By no one who knows a damn thing about contemporary YA.

So now, why would an agent reject for something like that? Either, he or she really doesn’t know better, which, red flag – as a writer, you should be informed; as an agent, it is your freaking job to be. It may sound like it’s not such a big deal, but if your agent doesn’t know this, what else doesn’t he or she know??

And then there’s option B:

 The agent’s got something to sell

I’m going to hope and pray that every querying writer knows the cardinal rule of You do not pay agents, period. But apparently, there’s a new rule that needs to be stated:

Do not trust agents that try to sell you their services, their clients’ books, or anything else. Seriously.

In the case of one of the times I’ve heard about an agent rejecting for an absolutely within-guidelines word count, the rejecting agent “helpfully” suggested the writer consult an editing service for assistance in beefing it up.

How incredibly convenient that that agency provided paid editorial service.

Thankfully, I’ve never experienced any such thing, possibly in part because this whole “agents also offering editing services” thing has really grown to be a thing in the time since I signed. But here are some things that raised flags for other people:

“Once I queried an agent and received a critique of my query. I’m usually happy for a critique, but this query letter has pulled many requests, and the tone of the critique seemed as if it were trying to shake my confidence in my skills, so my spidey senses were tingling. More research revealed that the agency also ran an editing business. An agent claimed on AbsoluteWaterCooler that the two businesses were separate, but the intern who advised me to “clean up my query a bit” had both businesses listed under his name. This was a red flag for me.”

“She suggested I not waste my money attending writer’s conferences because I had a long way to go before I was ready for them. Instead, she told me to buy the CD’s of two particular conferences and learn how to write that way. She also suggested I buy her client’s books and read those for an idea of what mine should look like.”

Sound like anything you’ve experienced?

Look, I work in publishing, and have for years. I’m going to tell you a secret: the money sort of sucks. As a result, lots of publishing professionals have second jobs (including me!) and yep, they’re still in the publishing realm, because that’s where our skill sets lie.

But if you feel like someone who happens to have an agenda is pushing theirs on you, run. The harsh truth is, it doesn’t even matter if you’re right. Because you’ve already established that you don’t trust this person, and you’re not going to have a healthy agent-client relationship with him or her if that’s the case.

The agent makes unreasonable requests.

It’s been said by many a reputable agent – exclusives are really never in a writer’s best interest. I mean, think about it. They’re not exclusively looking at you; what kind of leg up could this possibly give you?

But OK, you’ve been asked for an exclusive, as has been discussed on this blog before. Now what?

1. It should never be granted for more than four weeks. Seriously, how badly do you want to screw yourself?

Ah, but here we have: “I sent a query to an agent, and 2 days later she responded saying she would like a 7 week exclusive on a full.”

Guess what color flag that raises?

SEVEN WEEKS. That’s almost two months with exactly one agent, who may or may not want to rep you, looking at your manuscript, while you can’t query any others. This would fall under what I would deem an unreasonable request.

But then, there’s the reality that Sometimes you can’t grant an exclusive, because other agents already have your material, as is actually what you’re hoping for when you query.

So then what? Then you tell the agent you cannot offer exclusivity at this time. In my two experiences of being asked for an exclusive, one was my very first query so I had nothing else out and didn’t care, and the other simply waived exclusivity, as I would generally expect to be done.

However, what happened to our 7-weeker who found herself in that situation?

“The requesting agent asked me for the names of the other agents reviewing my fulls. I gave her the names of the agents and promised to let her know immediately if the agents offered rep. I also offered to stop querying for a period of time. The agent responded saying she is withdrawing her request for a full because I am unable to grant her exclusivity. To be fair, this agent did let me know that if the other agents passed on my work and if I’d be willing to grant exclusivity then, she would be happy to reconsider.”

Personally, I’m not in love with the whole “agents asking who has your ms” thing, but I know some do it to warn you if it’s a major Red Flagger whose got it.

My guess is this wasn’t one of those times.

Regardless, withdrawing a request for a full because you can’t get an exclusive?

RED FLAG. I don’t know why anyone would require exclusivity that badly, and certainly not for seven weeks, but even if this person was so high on your list that you wanted to grant it, how could you possibly trust that they wouldn’t try similar strange practices with editors?

The agent doesn’t treat you with respect.

There are different conventions in the agent-querier relationship, sure. Some agents respond to all, and some don’t. Some try to respond with something personal to every writer, or at least the ones who follow their submission guidelines, and some use a form rejection unless they’re requesting material. All of these things fall under the realm of acceptable.

Then there are things that should scream “run!” to you if an agent ever says them. Like:

“However, I knew after reading more that although I love your use of language, setting, tension, story idea, and style, it isn’t publishable yet. If it was, of course, you would have heard back from me immediately.” (Emphasis mine, because vom.)

It’s okay to think “I’m backburnering this because I don’t see this going anywhere.” I’m not really sure what the point is of saying it, or of actually doing it, if that’s how you feel. Regardless, this is an agent who has no shame in actually saying, “I’m treating you less than because your work is less than.”

You know how sometimes you say to lovely agents, “If I revise according to all your suggestions, can I resubmit?” Well, save that for the lovely agents. Besides, if your agent can’t figure out how to politely phrase things for you, who’s to say he or she is capable of doing so to editors?

See a recurring theme here? Always consider how their professional behavior with you could translate in other scenarios. If you can’t at least make yourself understand that you deserve better, think of it that way. Whatever works.

Finally, one more category of things I want to address, and I’ll call these “yellow flags,” because while they’re not objectively terrible things, they’re the kinds of things that reflect agent traits specific clients may want to avoid.

• Slow communication. For me, this is maddening. If you ask me my favorite thing about my agent, it is hands down how quickly she responds and how consistently she keeps me in the loop. She gave this trait away immediately by requesting a full the day after I sent my partial, and offering a week later. I wasn’t kept on the hook in the slightest.

Contrast that with an agent who requested along the following timeline:
Query sent – 10/7/10
Request for partial – 12/3/10
Request for full – 1/24/11
Nudge from me – 10/4/11
Response on 10/12/11 – “still enjoying” but had to set it aside for clients’ work
Pass – 1/4/12

That’s 15 months from query to rejection. Now, if she’d loved it, it might’ve been faster, and if I’d nudged sooner, I might’ve gotten an answer sooner, and all in all, I don’t begrudge this agent for taking that amount of time.

But it was a really good sign for me that she was not for me.

• Small sales. I’m at the point now where it’s clear I’m a fan of smaller presses, right? This is not a judgment of small presses or the agents who sub to them. I really hope that’s glaringly obvious.

But, what’s important to understand is this: A lot of small presses don’t require submissions to be agented. A lot of acquisitions done by small presses were actually initially done with the author, who then brought an agent in to secure it and negotiate contract terms. That fact is not clarified in Publisher’s Marketplace.

So what does that mean? It means that if you look up an agent’s deals in PM and think, “Oh, good, she’s got sales! I’ll sub there!” but all the deals are with places that don’t require agents, it is literally possible she secured none of them.

Now again, it’s perfectly OK that writers want to bring in agents later, and it’s OK that agents are willing to do this. But you may not want an agent whose entire sales records are based on these kinds of deals. And even if they’re not those kinds of deals, you have to ask yourself – if an agent is only making deals at places that don’t require agents, what’s the agent really doing for you that you can’t do yourself?

(Hopefully the answer is “negotiating awesome contract terms,” but again, you have no idea. Yellow flag!)

So, those are some thoughts from me and my brave contributors; have you seen any of these things? What raises red flags for you?

Photo credit: Jenny Kaczorowski

Choosing Your Pub Path(s)

Tags

Literary Agents, Self-Publishing, Small Presses, Traditional Publishing

I’d really like someone to tell me to my face that publishing is dying, because I haven’t laughed in someone’s face in a really long time, and I miss that feeling. To think publishing is dying is to be walking around with your eyes closed, to have failed to stop the Q-tip when it met resistance. Publishing is evolving, changing, and in many ways, even growing. And as a result, we have some lovely and scary things called choices.

It used to be that there were really big houses, and then less big houses, and that was kind of it. Sure, you could go with a vanity press if you had serious money to burn and either true belief no one would know the difference or apathy whether anyone would, but none of those books ever ended up on my shelf. (Or on my ereader, because they didn’t exist! That’s how old I am!! I know you’re that old too, probably, but I’m hoping this will freak out my kids someday.)

And now… now there is so much more, it kinda boggles the mind. Between traditional publishing in the sense we think of it (get an agent, have the agent sub to editors, get published by a big-6/Hyperion/Scholastic/Bloomsbury, etc.) getting published by a small/indie press, getting published in digital only, self-publishing… there are a whole lot of ways to go.

So how do you know which is the right way for you? Well, it’s hard to say, and one of the most interesting aspects of publishing right now is that you don’t have to choose only one – you can be a hybrid author, and combine as many aspects of publishing as you can and want to handle.

First and foremost, the number one thing I have to say about choosing a pub path is that you should feel secure in your choice, and assume that it is your book’s final destination. Yes, some self-pubbed books get purchased by big houses. Yes, some books pubbed by a largely digital press hit big enough digital sales that they come out in paperback as well. But these are exceptions, not the rule. Don’t set yourself up to be disappointed in the publishing industry or, even worse, yourself. Remember that every path has its haters, and if you can’t be proud of what you’re doing, it’s only going to hurt worse when they try to tear you down.

Second, make sure you truly understand every clause of your contract, especially the rights you’re signing away.

Now, with that bit of sunshine out of the way, let’s talk specifics, shall we? (Please bear in mind that some of the bullet points that apply to one will also apply to another. I’ve listed them under the categories in which I think they are the strongest, but I think it’ll be obvious where they overlap.)

Traditional Publishing

Who it’s great for:

• Writers who have a lot of patience and/or draft slowly. With traditional publishing, it’s usually about 12-18 months from signing to publication, and publishing more than one book a year in the same genre is very rare.
• Writers who want the maximum number of “partners” in the publishing industry possible. In order to get published in print by a house, you will need an agent (who is likely going to consider this the preferred method as it is far and beyond the highest-earning for an agent)… and you’ll have an editor, who will have a superior, and departments like marketing will also have to consider your project viable… and the list goes on and on. It’s a lot of people to cooperate with, a lot of gatekeepers, and a lot of people making decisions for you. Now, if you’d rather give control to the professionals, this is fantastic. If you expect to have a lot of say in your cover, marketing plan, etc., it may not be.
• Writers who prefer a high advance/low royalty model. Traditional publishing houses unquestionably offer the highest advances (do not ask the average – there is no average), which is money paid out no matter what the book ultimately earns; they also offer the lowest royalty rates, which is the money your book brings in from sales. (For a sample scenario of how this works, say you get a $5,000 advance. You get this money – minus 15% to your agent – no matter what. Then, once your book sells, you earn a percentage of each sale – say 10% for a hardcover – but you do not see any of that money until you fully earn out your advance, i.e. until your earned royalties total $5,000. Once that happens, you’ll start seeing 10% of every book, and that will be your royalty earnings.) This scenario provides the most guaranteed income for the writer, as you will neither pay for any part of publication nor will you earn less than your advance (barring any manuscript disasters).
• Writers who want prestige. Requires the most gatekeepers + has the most money + offers the below items… realistically, the higher tier the house, the more prestigious the deal. It looks best for agents, it looks best for authors, and it will almost definitely guarantee the widest distribution and best placement for your book. (Which by no means suggests that every book at a major house will get similar treatment, or even great treatment at all. But if it does, it’s likely to be the kind of publicity no other sort of publication can match.)
• Writers who want brick-and-mortar placement. Care about seeing your book in Barnes & Noble? This is by far your best bet.
• Writers who want the bonus income of selling foreign rights.
• Writers who want to be published in hardcover.

Indie Publishing/Small Presses

I must open by saying that for the most comprehensive information on small/indie presses, the most comprehensive source I know of is #SmallPress411, which was compiled by the wonderful Danielle Ellison and Jennifer Iacopelli. You can pretty much just ignore me and head on over there for boatloads of excellent information. But, in case you’re sticking around, here are some thoughts of my own.

Who they’re great for:

• Writers who want a more hands-on (but still guided) publishing experience. When I did Perpetual WIPs: Pre-Pub Edition, this was absolutely the biggest difference I noticed between responders from small pubs and from big ones – the amount of control over and say in things like cover design and publicity plans. Small presses tend to incorporate far more author input, which can be great or not so great, depending on whether you’d like to give it or have it in other people’s hands.
• Writers who are comfortable doing some of their own publicity and marketing. The fact of going with a method other than the big guys is that you’re very likely going to have less – less in-store placement (and even if you do have in-store placement, a small press isn’t likely to spend the money necessary for co-op, which is the marketing cost that goes to having your book placed in an additional ideal location, like front of store), less advertising money behind your book, less money to spend on personalized notepads or bookmarks or whatever. Which means it’s up to you, as the writer, to make up the difference, whether that’s buying your own personalized postcards or setting up your own blog tour.
• Writers who prefer a higher royalty/lower advance model. While traditional publishing advances generally start in the mid-four-figures, advances for a smaller publisher are usually set at about $1,000 or less. However, that means if your book sells well, you’ll be earning out your advance sooner and seeing your royalties earlier. Since some smaller publishers also have considerably higher royalty rates (at least for ebooks, where they can go up to 40%, vs. the much more common 25%) this is especially great if you have confidence in strong sales. It’s not quite as guaranteed, cash-wise, as the big guys, but it all depends on where you see your book going….
• Writers who write genres that aren’t considered marketable by the big guys at present. It’s an unavoidable fact that traditional publishing is a very small world, and when a genre is considered “out,” it’s pretty universally “out,” at least for a couple of years. What does that mean for the writer? It means that selling a Paranormal Romance or a Dystopian or a quiet Contemp to a big-6 is an extremely rare thing these days. It doesn’t mean there’s no audience or that no one’s buying them, but it’s a small enough audience that it’s perceived as unlikely to earn the amount of money that would go into its production. Fortunately, it costs a whole lot less to create ebooks than it does print books, which means there are plenty of digital publishers still gladly accepting genres others won’t touch. They specialize in these genres, and they’re pretty damn good at editing them.
• Writers who want to get published and do not have an agent. This is not universal – not all indie pubs will accept unagented submissions (although those that don’t often have at least one window per year during which they accept unagented submissions) – but there are a number of small publishers that do not require an agent at all. Of course, it is then doubly on you to ensure the quality and contract terms of that publisher, so make sure you do your homework!

Self-Publishing

Who it’s great for:

• Writers who write and revise manuscripts at a far greater speed than most. Any type of publisher that employs a staff and is juggling a number of titles is going to have a significant time span between when you sign and when you publish in order to maintain a realistic pub schedule. If you’re the kind of writer who churns out a new manuscript every three months, you may find a traditional publishing schedule utterly interminable. With self-publishing, you get to create your own, which also means you must pressure yourself to meet your deadlines.
• Writers who like to control every aspect of the process. When you self-publish, every decision is on you. You may (*cough* should *cough*) hire freelancers for things like developmental editing, copy editing, formatting, cover design, and publicity, but ultimately, all of those things come back to you – you’re the one choosing your vendors. You’re the one responsible for finding the people to make your book great. Of course, that also means that your book may end up more closely matching your vision than it would have in any other venue.
• Writers who have cash to spend up front, in exchange for the highest-royalty-earning model. The biggest downside of self-publishing is that it’s the only method that actually costs the writer money. However, the flipside is that it has the highest royalty rates, at around 70%. This means that you’re extremely reliant on sales just to get back into the positive, and some books never do. Here’s where it’s really key to realistically gauge your own sales expectations. Great sales can earn you far more for a self-pub title than they would have if you’d gone traditional.
• Writers of a genre/category that no one’s really specializing in. Let’s be honest – if, right now, you want to make money by self-publishing, your safest bet is to write a steamy New Adult novel. Why? Because it’s the number one area where traditional publishers missed the boat. Sure, they’re interested in them now, but A) they still seem to be going for proven self-pubs over new submissions and B) if they were to take something new, it’d be on a traditional pub schedule. If steamy NA is big now, who’s to say it will still be in the winter of 2014? Why should an author who can easily make money by self-pubbing her own now and raking in 70% of the royalties wait to see how it works out with a traditional publisher, especially if trad pubs are buying the self-pubbed titles anyway? (This, by the way, does not mean I don’t think there’s a future for NA in traditional publishing – I just think it’s going to have a little more variety of genre, and I for one can’t wait.)
• Writers who’ve exhausted all the other options. The thing about all the paths besides self-pub is that they’ve all got gatekeepers. Some have more and some have fewer, but all require that at least one person say, “Yes, we will publish that.” (And really, if it’s literally only one person, that should raise a lot of flags for you.) And sometimes, for whatever reason, that just doesn’t happen. It sucks, but it’s real life, and it’s up to you whether you want to say, “If it’s not right for anyone who’s seen it, it’s probably not ready,” or “Just because it’s not right for anyone who’s seen it doesn’t mean it’s not right for an audience of readers.”

Now, though I talk about this in terms of “people” each method is right for, the truth is that it’s really about how you feel about specific works. For example, if I wanted to write steamy NA right now, I would absolutely self-pub it, even though with all my other works, I’m aiming for either traditional publication or a small press. And why am I aiming for a mix of those two rather than having a strong preference for one over the other? Because the number one thing I want out of the publishing process is partnership in the form of professional editorial guidance, and both large houses and smaller presses provide that. (It’s admittedly not as vague as it sounds – there are books of mine I’d rather go to a big pub and books I’d rather go to small pub – but there’s a limit to how specific I’m going to get at present ;)) I am only one writer, and yet I could conceive a way in which my ideal career comprised every one of these methods.

So, those are my feelings, and how I make my decisions as to my end goals for each and every one of my manuscripts. How did you make your choices regarding which path to pursue?

Some Pub-Related FAQs

Tags

book deals, contests, Literary Agents, pitching, Small Presses, Small Publishers

I love blogging, but unfortunately, this month is a little psychotic in the World of Dahlia, so even while topics I want to blog about pile up, unfortunately I have no time to actually write about them. BUT, because I’ve noticed that I get a few of the same questions very frequently via DM/e-mail, I wanted to throw out a little FAQ until I get some more time to blog at greater length.

The number one question I get lately is this Q: I got an offer from a small press during a contest, but I’m trying to get an agent. What do I do?

A: Now, ultimately, this is up to you, and I can’t answer it for you (though one of my next blog posts will be about choosing your pub path), but here’s what I think it’s important to consider when answering that question for yourself:

1) Is this a deal you want? (Which means look into this press and find out your contract terms) And in a related question,

2) If your agent got you this deal, would you be happy with it?

Because that’s the key – the deal, and its terms, and what it means for you. Forget the agent part for a minute, and imagine that this press is your book’s final stop. (And yes, plenty of agent deals do end up at small presses.) Are you happy with that?

Because if the answer is no (and here I’d advise looking at Ellie’s comments below, though I will address this at much greater length when I write my post on pub choices), then you’re probably taking this deal because you’re giving up. And if an editor wants you, why would you assume an agent wouldn’t? Why are you thinking about settling for less than what you want?

But if the answer is yes, then you need to assess why it is that you still want an agent for this book. And that’s the question I think you need to ask yourself to figure out the answer to exactly which way you should go.

Of course, there are more factors, one of the strongest being honestly asking yourself how likely you are to get an agent and a traditional pub deal with this book (factoring in things like genre and marketability, not just your writing skill). But if you’re trying to streamline your thinking, that’s how my personal thought process would go.

Q: Can I submit more than one manuscript to a contest/pitch more than one ms in PitMad/query more than one ms at a time?

A: Can you? Technically, yes, unless it’s explicitly against the rules of whom/whatever you’re pitching to. Should you? My recommendation is no (unless there are special circumstances, e.g. one is Adult and one is Kidlit and you’re pitching agents who don’t rep both), for the simple reason that when you get an offer, this can become really complicated.

Part of The Call is having the conversation about what else you’re working on, and when you have that call, you can talk about your other finished, polished ms that you love and would like to be considered. You can even make it a personal dealbreaker for you that you will only accept the offer of an agent who will take on both. But having one agent who wants to rep one work and another who wants to rep a different work, and one or both agency contracts stipulating that all your work is theirs….

Like I said, complicated.

So, stick with your strongest, the one you think is the most publishable, the one you absolutely need an agent to take on. And good luck!

Q: An agent requested from a contest, but I already have a query/material with another agent there.

A: This happens. It’s not your fault; obviously you were aiming for other agents at the same time, and there’s no way for either of you to know. Just tell the requesting agent. Either (s)he’ll say “That’s OK, send it anyway,” or “Send it if (s)he passes” or “Oh well,” or whatever. But honesty? Always the best policy. Really.

Q: I want to split from my agent; how do I do this?

A: Agency contracts are blissfully not that long – study the hell out of yours. Every agency contract has an exit clause, and you are going to want to follow that clause to the freaking letter. Be prepared to put the fact that you want to split and your reason why in writing, and make sure you understand at what point your work reverts to being yours again. You’re going to want to be very careful when querying that you’re not submitting work that still belongs to your agency for another 30 days, for example, or that if you are, you know and communicate to your future agent when the work is yours. If you’re querying work that was previously represented, you must tell potential new agents whether or not is has already gone out on submission. You also must know where it has gone on submission, which brings me to a major point:

Always make sure you leave an agent with a sub list in hand.
Hound your soon-to-be ex-agent if you have to, but if you have gone out on submission with a manuscript, and you do not know where, you will very likely not be able to go out on sub with it again. (This is a massive reason you will want to talk to clients of every agent who offers, by the way – ensure that providing a sub list is something your possible future agent does if not regularly then at least upon request.)

***

So, that’s some of what’s been in my inbox lately. Remember that all of those answers are my opinion, and I’m sure others’ differ. Ultimately, you can only do what’s right for you, but hopefully my thoughts will help you figure out what that is!