tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post3973491418368089184..comments2023-11-02T06:57:11.400-04:00Comments on BookEnds Literary Agency: Seeking an Agent Is Not Seeking a JobBookEnds, A Literary Agencyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06287278822065839469noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-51040104155635079412011-09-25T09:35:37.204-04:002011-09-25T09:35:37.204-04:00Excellent analogy. Bookmarked yours and the link ...Excellent analogy. Bookmarked yours and the link you provided to share with those who contact me asking how to get an agent. Neither whiny neediness nor hostility impress possible investors (or in the old analogy, employers.) <br /><br />Worth noting that a good business plan can impress an investor who doesn't choose your project to mention another investor he/she knows for whom it might be a better fit.Elizabeth Moonhttp://www.elizabethmoon.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-62875509838510665732011-09-25T04:25:06.542-04:002011-09-25T04:25:06.542-04:00Good observations, Jessica! I love "business...Good observations, Jessica! I love "business of writing" blogs that are practical and down to earth.<br /><br />This one was spot on.<br /><br />-Ann C. Crispin<br />Chair, Writer Beware<br />www.writerbeware.com<br /><br />A.C. Crispin<br />Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom<br />Disney EditionsAnn C. Crispinhttp://www.accrispin.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-16262293912782189702011-09-24T15:19:28.372-04:002011-09-24T15:19:28.372-04:00Great analogy.Great analogy.Donna K. Weaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15763832177263927311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-49420716713276911282011-09-23T18:11:32.529-04:002011-09-23T18:11:32.529-04:00This is such a great way to think about it. And i ...This is such a great way to think about it. And i believe agents might want to look at it this way, too. A writer's career is not just a single book, so it's very sad when an agent gives up on an author if their book doesn't get a publishing contract within 6 months. That's never happened to me, but i know several writers who have had that experience. Very sad. :(Karen Duvallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01839711547501582977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-53208044980507387062011-09-23T15:33:42.463-04:002011-09-23T15:33:42.463-04:00Great analogy, and much better a correspondence to...Great analogy, and much better a correspondence to our reality than job-seeking. Thanks--I can tell this will be a useful one in the future!Kristin Laughtinhttp://kristinlaughtin.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-853254447192185282011-09-23T09:54:40.072-04:002011-09-23T09:54:40.072-04:00Very interesting perspective because I've alwa...Very interesting perspective because I've always thought the job seeking analogy was a little off. Thanks for sharing.Tricia Clasenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02283651173568831963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-91612827868887729492011-09-23T09:22:45.041-04:002011-09-23T09:22:45.041-04:00Jessica, I was thinking hiring an agent is akin to...Jessica, I was thinking hiring an agent is akin to hiring a lawyer, who may choose to take on a case or not. <br /><br />Your agent-as-investor comparison was much better! I'd never thought about it in quite that way.<br /><br />Brilliant post!Lauren Ruthnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-71658137722238850982011-09-23T06:50:48.938-04:002011-09-23T06:50:48.938-04:00That's another interesting way of thinking abo...That's another interesting way of thinking about it.<br /><br />It's funny, you put so much effort into your query letter to snag a literary agent. Yet you're actually the one who's hiring them, but they're the ones rejecting you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-38980801294775207752011-09-23T00:02:40.888-04:002011-09-23T00:02:40.888-04:00Oooh, thank you, Jessica. What a sound analogy.
...Oooh, thank you, Jessica. What a sound analogy. <br /><br />I'm going to keep this one front and center.Jessica Schleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12295725932463022104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-1135387365885341552011-09-22T16:00:26.549-04:002011-09-22T16:00:26.549-04:00Anon 3:54:
It's too bad you seem unwilling to...Anon 3:54:<br /><br />It's too bad you seem unwilling to identify yourself. Thank you for letting me know about Natalie's blog. In fact, I've never read her blog, but was pleased to see we had similar viewpoints. In order to share the wealth I thought I'd provide a link so all of my readers could see her insights as well http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/2011/09/agents-are-not-your-employees-you-are.html#comments<br /><br />--jhfBookEnds, A Literary Agencyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06287278822065839469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-41563727340387173082011-09-22T15:58:38.530-04:002011-09-22T15:58:38.530-04:00Thank you for the post. I agree; it does give a f...Thank you for the post. I agree; it does give a fresh way of looking at the querying activity.The Other Stephen Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14471972807328125155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-68213910261669017362011-09-22T15:54:27.342-04:002011-09-22T15:54:27.342-04:00You should have acknowledged Natalie Whipple in th...You should have acknowledged Natalie Whipple in this post. This is basically a rehash of a post she did yesterday which has been widely circulated on twitter by writers and agents. <br /><br />Shame on you for blatant copying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-13417565243191455902011-09-22T14:45:54.694-04:002011-09-22T14:45:54.694-04:00This applies well to the artist gallery relationsh...This applies well to the artist gallery relationship. <br /><br />@anonymous it is hard to imagine Janet Reid as con artist, she seem bone honest to me and if I wrote what she represented I'd do flips to work with herangie Brooksby-Arcangiolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08000615140577512304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-53367859774571407662011-09-22T13:58:16.645-04:002011-09-22T13:58:16.645-04:00It costs too much money to shop a new author, and ...It costs too much money to shop a new author, and there is no return and in most cases just big loss and wast of time. Agents who bad mouth other agents in order to get the better authors are the worst agents around and unfortunately there are too many con artists like Kristen Nelson and Janet Reid.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-85445525595883569852011-09-22T13:32:40.334-04:002011-09-22T13:32:40.334-04:00I like the analogy that finding a literary agent i...I like the analogy that finding a literary agent is like finding a literary agent. I don't know that there's anything quite like it.<br /><br />(The closest that comes to mind is finding a trainer for an olympic sport.)<br /><br />Anyone can invest, authors need expertise.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00068198437488875445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-6907357815642247332011-09-22T13:14:36.612-04:002011-09-22T13:14:36.612-04:00I would never have thought of an author/agent rela...I would never have thought of an author/agent relationship this way- great analogy.Angelica Weatherbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08070771755591764928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-66922986940786147862011-09-22T11:38:31.142-04:002011-09-22T11:38:31.142-04:00Great analogy!
Jessica (on a slightly unrelated n...Great analogy!<br /><br />Jessica (on a slightly unrelated note) when an agent likes the query and wants to request a full or partial, how will they typically contact the author?<br />ThanksLooking Forwardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04300905158977789848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-9066966780689983972011-09-22T11:16:12.936-04:002011-09-22T11:16:12.936-04:00I never looked at it this way, but it makes sense....I never looked at it this way, but it makes sense.ryan fieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13361694356025572544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-1634627787793052412011-09-22T11:04:03.141-04:002011-09-22T11:04:03.141-04:00Thanks for this different POV. It makes so much s...Thanks for this different POV. It makes so much sense.<br /><br />And it's more empowering.<br /><br />I don't always read other comments, but I have to say I agree with Hazel. It's time to raise the bar.S. D. Grimmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14087472181687868202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-31171444051458746662011-09-22T10:50:44.310-04:002011-09-22T10:50:44.310-04:00Genius. Never thought of it that way but you are v...Genius. Never thought of it that way but you are very right.Amie McCrackenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10183468581148360197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-48749235017600637522011-09-22T10:34:18.510-04:002011-09-22T10:34:18.510-04:00Interesting.
So why aren't agents starting th...Interesting.<br /><br />So why aren't agents starting their own eBook publishing firms with lower overhead than traditional publishing?<br /><br />I ask because with Borders closing and hardback sales pretty much plunging like the DOW today, I wonder what the best investment is today. Do publishers have any clue how many books to print after Borders closed? Are their editors freezing acquisitions until they figure out their new supply chains?<br /><br />If you used to print for two major bookstores and one goes away, then you still have all that overhead for printing twice the volume. And what happens to all those books that Borders has? Barnes and Noble and Amazon can't and probably don't want them all. And what's happening to returns in this quarter and the next quarter statements for authors?<br /><br />So taking your post to the next logical step, what's a good investment in this new book economy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-79867269909605245742011-09-22T10:32:32.240-04:002011-09-22T10:32:32.240-04:00Word!Word!Debra Lynn Sheltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08238268767406623274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-17137025905096924782011-09-22T10:09:27.476-04:002011-09-22T10:09:27.476-04:00I really like the way you put that; had never cons...I really like the way you put that; had never considered it quite like that before. Thanks!Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00222330734484913128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-79762121875495881372011-09-22T10:07:42.585-04:002011-09-22T10:07:42.585-04:00Nice analogy.Nice analogy.Laurelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08999237841742174579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23051453.post-10711864652060154862011-09-22T09:08:25.793-04:002011-09-22T09:08:25.793-04:00This is a fantastic way to re-frame the role of an...This is a fantastic way to re-frame the role of an agent and, in turn, the agent query process. Certainly waves off the hint of neediness on to outright desperation many writers, including myself, get bogged down with as they look for representation. I'm all for creative people feeling empowered - gets us in the right mindset to keep the words flowing. Thanks, Jessica.Jenna Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18330841470522823220noreply@blogger.com