Submission Freak-Outs

I received an email recently from someone freaking out because she forgot to include an SASE with her submission, and it made me think about all of the times I think authors freak out post-submission. Let me try to quell some of those fears.

SASE Problems . . . If you sent the submission to BookEnds, never fear. Simply email the agent in question around the time the response time is up and ask if they’ve gotten to it. You could also email our assistant at bookends@bookends-inc.com. Assistants know all. If they have responded and you didn’t receive the SASE for some reason, the agent can simply let you know via email what her answer was. Usually if we are requesting something more we will email that request (as long as there is an email address on your letter). Some of the SASE problems we have seen include forgetting one altogether, putting our address in place of yours on the envelope, not including enough postage (even before rates go up), or not putting your address on there correctly at all.

Query/Cover Letter Problems . . . If you forgot to include crucial information on your cover letter there’s not much you can do about it right at this moment. Write it off and keep your fingers crossed. However, once you receive that response, don’t be afraid to requery with the new and improved letter. While that can be a drag for me as my queries go up and it’s the same letters over and over, it’s great news for you. Why not? What do you have to lose? That being said, I would only query the same book twice. More than that and you start to become a strong memory.

Envelope Problems . . . I’m amazed how many people panic because they forgot to put “requested materials” on the outside of the envelope. Well here’s a good piece of information: No one here cares if it’s marked "requested materials" on the envelope or not. We only care what the letter and materials inside say. So make sure your letter says that the materials were requested, but don’t worry about the envelope. I never see the envelopes myself anyway.

U.S. Postal Service Problems . . . This should come as no surprise, but if your package arrives postage due we won’t pay for that. It’s going to come back to you. The same holds true if your package requires a signature. I will sign for it if I’m here (as will everyone else), but if the mailman isn’t able to track us down or doesn’t feel like it, those packages can often be returned too. Do not require signature and make sure you have enough postage on the package you’re sending. There are plenty of ways to track a package without requiring signature.

Revision Problems . . . If your material has been sent and has arrived and you suddenly decide to do some serious revisions, it’s usually too late as far as I’m concerned. I can’t have my interns, assistant, or me spending half of our days replacing submissions. Make sure what you send is the absolute best it can be. If you receive a rejection from me and the book has been completely, entirely reworked, feel free to re-query and start the process over. In this case you will need to tell me it’s a re-query. I have to say, though, that it’s the rare case I’ll want to take a second look.

That’s all I can think of for some of the common problems I’ve seen. My best bit of advice where all of this is concerned: Don’t stress. Just the other day, in fact, when submitting to an editor, I accidentally emailed the wrong file. Oops. I sent an immediate reply with the new file. Mistakes happen, we all make them. Try not to sweat the small stuff, as they say.

Jessica

Submission Reporting

It’s been a long time since I’ve reported in on my submissions—what I read and my decisions. I know readers like to see this from time to time, so here we go. . . .

The weekend was incredibly productive for me. I was able to get a lot of queries read from Friday to Sunday. Keep in mind, I did not look at requested material that may have come through via email, but simply unsolicited query letters. I was about a week behind in my reading, which means that some things might have been a week old, but nothing had been sitting in my in-box any longer than that and, frankly, most of what I read was between 5 and 7 days old. In other words, this was roughly 2 to 3 days' worth of queries.

In those 3 days I read 79 submissions. The sad thing about that is that I sill have over 100 queries sitting in my in-box.

• Of those 79 I rejected 73.
• I requested 5 partials and 1 full (the author had wisely included about 3 to 5 pages in her query).
• I received 2 queries that told me a great deal about the author and her background, but nothing about the book (other than title).
• 2 queries I forwarded to either Jacky or Kim because, while I rejected them, I thought Jacky or Kim might have some interest.
• 2 authors sent the letter and/or other materials as an attachment rather than in the body of the email, while 5 authors sent no letter, simply author name, title, genre, and the synopsis. I really prefer a letter.
• Only 11 of the 79 queries were nonfiction.
• 3 were sent to my assistant instead of me and needed to be forwarded
• 4 of the emails were simply asking questions about a previous rejection, submission policies, or something else publishing-related.
• And last, 2 of the emails, both from the same person, were haranguing me for giving advice on writing a stronger query, called me stupid (among other things), and told me point-blank that all authors are superior to me. Interesting weekend reading.

Keep in mind that my reasons for rejection are long and varied. Some, at least 2, were for YA or middle-grade books, which I don’t represent. Some, at least 2, were far outside acceptable word counts, and while I think word counts can always be stretched, these were a little too far (below 30,000 words and above 175,000). Some sounded interesting, but just not different enough. Some sounded different enough but the writing in the query did not give a positive indication of how the writing in the book would hold up. And some just didn’t inspire me.

I feel pretty good about my weekend. You? How was your weekend?

Jessica

The Art of Persistence

I received a question recently from a reader who was asking how persistent she should or needs to be when it comes to her queries. She had e-queried Agent X in late December and again on April 14th, but has yet to hear anything back. She assumes her query ended up in a spam filter or something similar since friends who have also queried the same agent have heard back. The question is when do you stop or when do you assume that no answer means no?

This is a trickier question than it should be. I would imagine many readers will simply tell you that no answer means no. However, if this is an agent who does reply to all queries (and not one who says that no reply means you’ve been rejected), then you would assume you would hear back. You would be amazed at how many e-queries get lost. If they make it out of our server’s spam filter they can often end up in our email program’s spam filter. While each of us do check those regularly, things can easily fall through the cracks, especially if a query is not marked “query” or “submission” in the subject line. And you might be amazed how often I respond to queries that for whatever reason don’t get through. Sometimes they are bounced back because of my server or yours, and sometimes I receive a notice that they are in your spam filter (which I hope you are all checking).

If you’re querying BookEnds and not receiving replies, I would suggest you try again and even follow up with a snail mail letter and SASE. In fact, earlier this year I received an e-query from an author telling me that in November she had e-queried and never received a reply so decided to try again. Guess what? Within two weeks' time or so that author became a client.

I can’t tell you anything specific about the agent mentioned above, but as long as you’re still willing to follow up within the time frame this agent suggests that she replies, go ahead and do so. Eventually you’ll hear back or decide yourself that enough is enough.

Persistence is great. I applaud and admire it, but don’t let it get in the way of what might ultimately be the right choice. While you think that Agent X is the perfect agent for you and are zealously pursuing her, don’t ignore other things that are going on. You might discover that, in fact, Agent Z, the agent you never considered, is in fact your dream agent.

Jessica

Revisions Before Representation

I recently received a question and long explanation from a reader. Rather than reprint the entire question, I’m going to try to summarize as best I can. Ultimately this writer was told by an agent’s assistant that they (she and Agent) really liked Writer’s novel, but felt it would need some work. The assistant went into detail to explain to Writer that they (Assistant and Agent) wanted to send over their notes on the novel and asked if Writer would be willing to work with them. When asked, Assistant clarified that they were not offering representation, at least at this time.

Because I know it will come up, the agent is reputable and works for a very-well-established agency. The question is whether this is common practice, and in general the writer would like me to make the entire thing less confusing.

This sort of situation does happen all the time and, in fact, BookEnds agents regularly give revision suggestions and work with an author without offering representation. It’s a tricky situation for everyone and I think, without knowing who this agent is, I can explain what’s going on.

The agent read your work and really, really liked it. She sees great potential. The problem is, it’s not a book she could sell . . . yet. There are too many problems that would need to be fixed first and, since you’re an (I assume) unproven/unpublished author, she has no proof that you can actually make the changes successfully, or at least in the way she thinks they need to be made. Rather than simply mailing off a revision letter she hopes to get her foot in the door by making a call. This establishes a relationship and hopefully establishes some sense of loyalty from you to this agent. Ultimately she doesn’t want to send you her suggestions if you don’t seem interested in her and have you take them to another agent for a sale, something every agent has had happen to him or her.

I think one of the reasons this feels so confusing to writers is that in the agent submission process you often feel that you are the only one trying to woo and charm an agent,so when an agent calls you and works to woo and charm you, you get confused. Makes sense.

Here’s the deal from the agent’s side. Sending out a revision letter to an author I am not offering representation to is tricky business. I realize each time I do this that I’m taking a risk that Writer will take my suggestions and turn around and offer the book to another agent. Hey, it happens all the time. Earlier this year in fact, I saw a deal on Publishers Marketplace that I’m pretty sure I had a hand in. Last summer the author had sent me the manuscript, I had spoken with her and written a lengthy, multipage revision letter. In the end, when the changes were made, she clearly chose not to send the book to me. Of course, on the other hand, I’ve sent letters a number of times to writers who later became clients, and those who resubmitted and still got rejected. There are no guarantees in this business from either side of the desk.

When giving revisions, the agent always hopes that you will take into consideration the fact that your book is stronger because of that agent and hopefully you’ll see that a working relationship is already in place and clearly working for you. By not offering representation we are not giving false hope. After all, if you couldn’t do the revisions as the agent had hoped, she would probably simply end up firing you, and that would really be unfair.

I think the honorable thing to do is resubmit to the agent if you have taken her revisions and used them to make a stronger book, and while I’d like to say I think you should give that agent an exclusive (in the case where I might be that agent), you all know how I feel about exclusives. When you do get multiple offers of representation because one agent helped make your book stronger, you need to consider that relationship and what she’s already done for you. In the end, however, I’ve preached time and time again that choosing an agent is about making sure the fit feels right for you, and that’s what needs to be foremost in your mind when the ultimate decision is made.

Either way, it sounds like you’re well on your way, so congratulations!

Jessica

Formatting Guidelines

When authors are getting ready to submit to agents, I see a lot of them who get caught up in what’s really too ridiculous to stress over, and that’s formatting. Listen, folks, follow the simple term paper formatting rules you had to follow in high school or college and you’ll be fine. But for those who are still worried, here are some guidelines. Guidelines, mind you, and not rules. Every agent is different, but if you follow these guidelines, few are going to reject you without reading a word.

Query Letter
Standard business-letter formatting. If you’re using a word processing program like Microsoft Word you can probably use a template, but here are my suggestions:

• Single space
• One page only
• Include your address, email, phone, and web site if you have one
• Include the date (and make sure to update this with each letter you send, otherwise it gives a sneak peek into how long you’ve been submitting for)
• A font that’s comfortable for you to read over and over and over. Times New Roman, Courier, Arial. All are acceptable. Usually 11 or 12 point. Again, think of reading 50 of these in one sitting and avoid eye strain.

Manuscript
Again, standard word processing format works best, but here are some guidelines to help you get started

• One-inch margins
• Double space
• One-sided only
• Page numbers in a header including your last name (should be the same name as on the letter)
• A font that’s comfortable for you to read over and over and over. Times New Roman, Courier, Arial. All are acceptable. Usually 11 or 12 point. Again, think of reading 50 of these in one sitting and avoid eye strain.

Listen, I am not going to reject you if your margins are less than one inch or greater. I won’t reject you if your query letter is double-spaced. I might not read as much of your book if it’s single-spaced because my eyes will start to hurt, and I might not read as much of anything you submit if you use a fancy script type that’s hard to read. When formatting a manuscript or when submitting anything to an agent, think logically. There are absolutely no rules in this, no matter what people say, just make sure we can read it.

Anything I missed?

Jessica

What Makes Me Say "Yes"

I get asked all the time by authors what, out of all the submissions I receive, makes me say, "Yes! I want to represent this writer." And it’s a fair question. I’ll tell you now though that if you’re looking for the secret to getting an agent you aren’t going to find it in this post. What gets me really excited about a new writer and a new book is first and foremost voice. That one indefinable thing that attracts us all to someone else’s writing. When I pick up a few chapters of a submission I’m usually attracted to the idea initially because, let’s face it, it’s what got me past the query letter and into the chapters. But an idea is only going to take you so far. The one thing that’s really truly going to grab me and hold me is the author’s voice. I have to fall in love almost immediately and want to get to know more about these characters and story. That’s what will take me through to the end of the book.

Once the author has me hooked it’s going to be the execution that makes the final decision. I expect a little editing and have no problem with that, but if there are major errors or inconsistencies you’ll likely lose me early on. If, however, the characters remain engaging from beginning to end and the plot holds up, it will be pretty dang hard for me to say no.

So I would say voice first and execution later. I would suspect that this is the same thing that attracts all of you to someone you would call one of your favorite authors.

Jessica

Does an Agent's Gender Matter?

I received a very interesting question recently, one I had never really thought of. A reader asked if choosing an agent is anything like choosing a doctor; do you consider an agent’s gender when submitting or making that final decision? Does it make you more comfortable to think you might have an agent of a certain gender or does the track record and method of doing business trump all of that?

I had never really considered that gender might play into the equation when an author chooses an agent, and I’m not sure why, because there are plenty of times when gender comes into play for us. For example, when choosing which editors to submit a project to, there are plenty of occasions when we feel that maybe a certain book would have greater appeal to male versus female editors or vice versa.

I would imagine that for some people gender might be an issue, whether you consciously realize it or not. Often I preach that choosing an agent is a very personal decision, and in addition to finding a reputable agent it’s important to make your decision based on comfort, and it’s very likely gender could play into that.

But what about readers? When putting together your submission list or when you finally said yes to your agent, did gender play a role? Do you feel your book would appeal to a certain gender agent or editor, and do you prepare your lists accordingly? Or do you think this entire discussion is ridiculous—gender shouldn’t or doesn’t matter at all if the agent is good at his or her job?

Jessica

How Much to Tell

I get a lot of questions about how much to tell an agent. If an agent previously reviewed your material and liked it enough to ask you to keep her in mind for other work, should you remind her of this rejection? If your work is currently under consideration at a publisher, should you let agents know? If your full has been requested by another agent, should you let agents know? If you’ve received an offer from either an agent or publisher, should you let agents know? And last, if you have received and accepted an offer of representation, how should you let the others know?

So here are my guidelines. Not rules, guidelines. I’m sure many of you will be able to tell me that other agents have told you differently and that might very well be true. Agents are people too and have different opinions on many things—which is one of the reasons this business is so subjective. Ultimately, whatever you decide, you need to go with your gut and your own level of comfort. Some of you might feel the need to share more than others, and that’s fine. Ultimately there’s no right or wrong. However, since I’ve been asked these questions by numerous readers, I’m going to give you my opinion. After all, that’s really what this blog is about, my opinion.

I think that any time an agent expresses interest in you or your work, you need to remind her of that. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with rejection. You need to learn that to survive in this business and agents know that too. Hey, agents send out work that gets rejected all the time. It’s part of the business and doesn’t mean we think any less of any of our authors. In fact, it usually just makes us more determined. So when you are resubmitting to an agent, whether it’s something fresh or a revision she helped influence, you need to let her know. Your name might not be enough to spark her memory, but reminding her that she asked to see more of your work will. It’s all about networking, and this is your way of using that connection.

Getting a request for a full manuscript from a publisher is a big deal, and if you have one, I think it’s important to let agents know. A couple of caveats, though: I think it’s good to know how you got that request. A red flag will go up if an agent is led to believe that you’ve been submitting to publishers as well as agents. However, if after reading your work in a contest a publisher made a request, or after a pitch appointment, that’s a different thing. The second caveat is who the publisher is. An e-publisher will not impress agents in the same way a major New York house will. So my advice: tell an agent you’re under consideration only if it’s a major house.

I would not, however, tell agents that other agents have requested the full. It’s not necessary and can backfire. Some might just wait around to see if an offer comes through, and others might just get annoyed because, remember, we all want to believe we are the first and only on your list. Let us live that fantasy. When an offer comes through from an agent, that’s the time to get everyone jumping. Now the ball is in your court and, well, I’ve written many times on how to handle this. . . .

And finally, what to do when you’ve accepted that offer of representation from your dream agent and need to notify other agents that your work is no longer under consideration? Email, snail mail, it’s up to you. All you need to do is send a polite note thanking them for their consideration, but letting them know that you are pulling the work (include title) you sent on such and such date from consideration. There’s no need to let anyone know who you accepted representation from, although if you want to tell, we are all dying of curiosity.

Hopefully this will help answer those sticky etiquette questions so many of you have.

Jessica

I Get Paid to Pester

Not too long ago Moonrat did a post on waiting to hear back from your agent on submissions. In her post she asked any agents who might be reading to jump in and give their own advice or opinions. Of course I did. But the post also got me thinking about this particular situation.

The reader in question asked Moonrat how she should handle an agent who doesn’t seem to be nagging editors the way her agented friends claim he should be. The original letter to Moonrat can be found here. In this case the project had been on submission for roughly three months with only one response. And as far as I’m concerned that’s at least five responses too few. After three months, in my opinion, you should have heard back from all but one or two editors. I think Moonrat’s advice was spot-on. She suggests first a gentle nudge and later a polite phone conversation. Very civil of you, Moonrat. Well done. The unfortunate part of this is that it’s not an easy situation for an author to handle. How do you confront your agent and question her business practices, which is essentially what you’re doing? This is just one of the many reasons why it’s so important to have an agent you feel you can really communicate with and an agent you trust.

A huge part of my job is to be a pest. I nag editors for answers to submissions, for contracts, for checks. . . . I hound them for better covers, more publicity, and a stronger contract. In other words, I should have been someone’s little sister, because like a little sister I don’t leave those editors alone. When you're first talking to a potential agent I think it’s very fair to ask what their expectations are for the sale of your book. Not necessarily how much money you’ll make, but how quickly they think it might sell and how they usually approach the selling process. How many submissions do they send out at once? At what point do they start following up with editors, and at what point do they just give up with editors? I also think it’s worthwhile to ask what their relationship is like with editors or at certain houses. I know for a fact that I get very quick reads with a number of editors only because we have the same sensibility and they want to get a jump on any project I send over. I also know there are editors who don’t or won’t read anything until they’ve been nagged, and then there are those who don’t bother reading anything until you have an offer in hand. I know who they are, though, and I use all of that to my advantage.

Most important, though, I think you need to know how you’ll handle a situation like this, and there’s no easy answer. In my case all it takes is a simple phone call from a client checking on the status herself. Usually I follow up every few weeks with editors, but those phone calls always spur me to check my list and make sure it’s only been a few weeks since I last followed up. Each agent is different, though. Some don’t like to be reminded to do their jobs and will need to be handled more carefully, while others need more than a subtle hint and could probably use a cattle prod. I guess the bigger question here is how do you feel about that agent? Is she someone you still feel you can trust to handle your work, and her response to your prod might give you that answer. Remember, the agent works for you and there is absolutely no harm in calling your agent and asking point-blank if she would check with editors because you’re getting antsy. Don’t be afraid to be direct. What’s the worst thing that can happen? The agent gets mad at you and I suppose she could fire you, but in all honesty if she fires you over something like this she has lost interest in your work anyway.

Good luck! I’m off to bug a few editors.

Jessica

Can an Author Return to the Nest?

Suppose a person gets multiple offers of representation. She makes the choice between the agents, alerts the other offering agents, and starts moving into the submission process herself with her agent. After a year, the agent she chose has not yet sold her work and is not enthusiastic about her second manuscript, so they part ways. Would it be unethical to contact one of the previous offering agents to see if they're interested in the second manuscript? Writers, I assume, even if they're rejected by an agent, they might query said agent again with another project. However, I'm wondering if an agent would consider going for a writer who once turned them down.

There’s nothing unethical about that at all. In fact, I think the smartest thing you could do is contact the agents who have already shown an interest in your work. You know you already have an in and that they like something about your writing so should be your natural first choice. The very worst thing that can happen is that they aren’t enthusiastic about your second book either and reject it. But anytime you’ve had a positive experience with an agent you should use it to your advantage when you need to. That’s called networking.

The truth is that BookEnds does have at least one client who did just this. She chose to go with another agent (we had also offered representation) and as time went on realized that relationship wasn’t working and got in touch with us again. We were and are very happy to have her.

But let me turn this question around to you. I often hear published authors say things like, “I would never contact her again if I needed an agent since she already rejected me.” The implication being, too bad, you lost out because you once rejected my work. If you were on the lookout for an agent again would you consider agents who once rejected you or would you only go to those who had never seen your work?

Jessica

Agents Getting Preferential Reads

A good number of the science-fiction/fantasy imprints accept unsolicited manuscripts or unsolicited queries. While searching for an agent, I ran across one that stated authors should look for an agent who has sold to a publisher that doesn't accept unsolicited manuscripts. If they only submit your manuscript to publishers that do accept unsolicited manuscripts, then your manuscript isn't going to be treated with any more priority than if you submitted it yourself.

I kind of doubt this claim since at least an agented manuscript has successfully passed one professional's crap-o-meter, so it's bound to be looked at more quickly and closely. However, it did make me wonder about another statement that I've heard from several agents. They don't want authors to shop manuscripts around by themselves because, once a manuscript is rejected, they can't try a publisher again. They might have submitted the manuscript to a different editor at that publisher who would have liked the book, but that chance is lost now.

But isn't there one editor--the acquisitions editor--that the manuscript will have to get past whether the author submits it or the agent does?

I would love to hear more about the things authors are being told on other agent Web sites. That’s crazy. What that says to me is that this agent doesn’t know enough people in the business. Of course my submissions are going to get read faster than those that are unsolicited. I already have a relationship with that editor, and that editor, or any editor, knows my name and my reputation, and, more important, the editor knows that sitting on my submission for too long is likely to mean either I won’t submit to her again and/or I’ll sell it out from under her. In other words, from most agents a submission is going to get preferential treatment, but if you are with an agent who doesn’t have contacts, then no, it’s just as good as submitting it yourself.

As for your other question, that’s very true, and let me explain why. If you send your manuscript to Joe Dell at Bantam and he rejects it, I have no real idea what process the book went through. Did Joe simply read it himself and reject it? Did he pass it on to an assistant who rejected it or did he pass it on to a freelance reader who rejected it for him? Or, did Joe like the book enough to bring it up at an editorial board meeting, get second reads, and ultimately reject it based on the decisions/opinions of his peers? Even if I think the book would be better for Jill Bantam at Bantam, I can’t go over Joe’s head (even if Jill is Joe’s superior and even if Joe had a reader reject it for him). Now, there is the rare instance when an agent might be able to resubmit to the same house, but as we know, this business is tough enough. Why depend on a rare instance?

Of course there are exceptions to every rule. Always exceptions. If an editor asks you directly to submit, then submit. Don’t wait around and don’t miss a golden opportunity.

Jessica

What to Write Next

Conventional wisdom seems to be that while a writer has their book out on submission to agents/publishers they should be working on their next book. But what should the next book be? Should it be the next book in the series they've envisioned, or should it be an entirely new book (because if the first book doesn't sell, chances are the second can't either)?

Also, I'm assuming that if an agent has a book out on submission, that they would urge the writer to write the next book in the series. Is that correct?

Thank you so much for asking this question. It’s actually a post I’ve been meaning to write but haven’t gotten around to yet.

I’m going to start from the bottom of your email up. I would never urge a writer to work on the next book in the series while I’m submitting the first. When a series idea is on submission I talk with the author and encourage her to start coming up with fresh new ideas. Why? Because if the first book in the series isn’t going to sell, it’s very likely the second book isn’t either.

When I'm in a pitch appointment with an author there are few things that make me wince faster than an author saying that she’s pitching me the third book or working on the second, third, or fourth book. There are so many reasons why a book isn’t picked up by an agent—writing, voice, marketability, etc.—and if the first book in your series isn’t deemed marketable enough, the second and third won’t be either. You can always go back to the series when you get an agent or get that publishing contract in hand, but you can’t go back and get the time you spent writing books you can’t even submit.

Now there are exceptions to these rules and the biggest is when your series is very loosely tied together. Sally MacKenzie is an example of this. Her “Naked” series is technically a series. Many of the same characters appear in the books. However, they are loosely connected in that the protagonists change from book to book and the “continuing” characters play secondary roles. In this case it’s really a series of stand-alone romances, and when initially selling it I probably wouldn’t have thought of it as a series, but instead as a historical romance. Karen MacInerney’s Tales of an Urban Werewolf series is another story. Each book has the same protagonist and is somewhat of a continuing story. While you can read them in any order, each is a stand-alone book, there are some continuing story lines. In this case I would not have encouraged her to work on the next book in the series, and I didn’t. She had begun to think of new ideas and work on new things while I had this book, Howling at the Moon, out on submission.

Think of always moving your career forward. Don’t get stuck working for years on the same book or the same series. If you truly want a publishing career, and not just to write books, you need to be in search of the next thing.

Jessica

Coming to the Party

Some time ago I wrote about the nonfiction submission process, and in my example I gave a respond-by date, letting editors know that I was hoping to hear of their interest by a certain date. Well, one wise reader asked what happens next. What do you do when you have more than one publisher interested, or worse, what happens if no one is interested?

First let me clarify that every agent is different and every agent’s response will be different. Some feel no need to ever set such deadlines, not wanting to rush editors, while others think every project they have is worth setting a respond-by date for; it rushes the submission process and moves things along more quickly for them. I tend to fall in the middle. If I have a project that I am 100% confident will be hot I will set a respond-by date, but often I like to give editors time to explore something new at their leisure and let it grow on them if necessary. Why? I know I for one don’t always like to be rushed. Sometimes it’s good to have time to process and slowly fall in love rather than be pushed into it.

But when I do use a respond-by date, what might I expect?

After having worked on both sides of the submission process, I can honestly tell you that most respond-by dates go by unnoticed. The truth is that people are going to offer if they’re going to offer and the only thing that’s going to make them move faster is a bona fide offer from another publisher. One of the reasons a respond-by date can backfire is because it also shows your hand. If no one comes in and offers, all other publishers will know this and they’ll know where they stand. If SuperBooks was interested and planning to make a $50,000 offer, the lack of interest from others could quickly drop that to $25,000. Why not? They suspect that no one else is out there to raise their price.

But what if no one offers at all? Do you then submit around to other publishers and set a new respond-by date? I don’t. I think a respond-by date is a one-shot deal. If no one responds it is definitely time to go to your second-tier group, but I wouldn’t set another respond-by date. I would simply submit the old-fashioned way . . . send to my group of editors and bug the heck out of them until they respond.

And what if everyone (or at least two or three people) call to tell you that they’ll definitely be making offers? Again, this is a situation where every agent is different, but my strategy is to set an auction date. I like to give everyone a day or two to put their offers together, so let’s say two days after the respond-by date I’ll hold the auction. In this case I set guidelines. If one publisher came in before the respond-by date with a decent offer, but not as high as I would like, I’ll often use that as my basis. Let’s say we’re starting all bids at $5,000. I then give a time. All bids need to be presented before a certain time, let’s say noon. If by 12:30 I haven’t heard from some publishers who mentioned that they would be biddin,g I will call and remind them as well as let them know where the price stands. You would be surprised at how things can play out from respond-by date to auction. Some publishers will drop out and others will suddenly show up. You never know what’s going to happen until the bids come in.

There are different ways to hold an auction too. Some can do final and best, which means everyone simply comes in with their very best bid the first time around and winner takes all. Another technique is a round robin. You keep calling all bidding editors to let them know what the current high bid is until the last man is standing. A round robin auction can take days, or even weeks.

I’m sure I’m missing something. An auction can be as complicated or as simple as an agent wants and each one is different depending on the editors involved, the agent, and the project, but I think this gives you, in a nutshell, an idea of what you might expect if an agent tells you that she’s asking for a respond-by date and hoping to go to auction.

Good luck!

Jessica

Conference Etiquette

Conferences are a lot of work for agents and a lot of pressure for authors, and very frequently I’m asked questions about how authors should and can approach agents in various situations. I know we’ve chatted about what to do in an elevator or at a pitch appointment (which I’ll touch on again), but how do you approach an agent who has already seen your work, who currently has something of yours on submission, or who has rejected you five times?

First of all, before even getting to the conference, do some research. Most conferences should let you know ahead of time who is attending, so pop on the Internet and find out what you can. Learn about the agencies they work for as well as the agents as individuals, and definitely find out what they represent. The more information you have the more confident you’ll feel when talking to an agent. And second, relax. Agents attend conferences for two reasons: to help authors by teaching them about the publishing business and to find new clients. They’re hoping to get as much out of the conference as you are.

So let’s look at a few of the possible scenarios for meeting an agent. . . .

If an agent has previously rejected your work, there’s no need to mention that when you walk up to introduce yourself. When meeting someone for the first time, try to keep your introduction positive. There’re few things more uncomfortable than an author bitterly telling you upon introduction that you’ve already rejected her work. It’s hard to have much of a conversation after that. However, if after an introduction the agent mentions that your name or the title of your book sounds familiar, don’t hesitate to spin it positively. Let her know that in fact you had submitted to her and she had passed, but you’re working on something fresh and new and you’re hoping to keep her in mind for the future. Focusing not on the rejection but on what’s next is much more appealing to everyone.

And keep in mind that just because an agent has rejected your work doesn’t mean you should avoid meeting her (unless you’ve already decided you never want to work with her). While it might seem like there are millions of agents out there, the list can seem pretty small if you start weeding people out. It’s important to remember that conferences are about networking. It can never hurt to know as many people in this business as possible and, if for some reason you don’t find representation for Book #1, you’ve already got a good connection for Book #2, a personal connection.

If you know you are going to a conference and you know you are going to have pitch appointments or just meet agents personally, do not send your work out right before the conference. In the case of a pitch appointment, you want the benefit of the pitch. Anyone can query or submit to an agent, but a pitch appointment gives you an edge. It gives you the opportunity to discuss your work with the agent before sending it along. At every conference there’s at least one person who sends me a proposal a week or two before the event. I get the feeling that they are expecting me to show up at the pitch with a critique, but what they’ve actually done is wasted a pitch. What will happen is you’ll tell me you just sent it, I’ll tell you that’s fine, I’ll read it when I get back, and your pitch is over. You’ve just missed out on the opportunity to get constructive feedback on your pitch and possibly your story. I know that often in pitch appointments the author and I will get to talking about her work, and many times I’ll have suggestions of where I see things might be off or directions she should consider.

If you have a requested full with an agent who is going to be at the conference, good for you. Definitely make the time to introduce yourself to this agent. Remind her what your story is about and thank her for requesting it. Don’t quiz her about her timing or regale her with your concerns about what’s wrong with the book, and don’t expect her to give you feedback. There’s no need to call or notify her ahead of time that you’ll be at the conference. A face-to-face introduction should suffice.

One of the reasons I advise against getting in touch with agents or submitting just before a conference is that for a lot of agents this puts them in an uncomfortable position. They feel that you’re expecting something they don’t want to give—usually feedback or more personal, detailed critiques than they would normally give. We’ve discussed before that there are a lot of agents who will honestly say that in pitch sessions they simply ask for everything. They tend not to like confrontation. I’m not one of those agents, and I will happily discuss your work if I’ve read it. However, I can only discuss your work if I remember it, and here’s where it becomes embarrassing. It’s very possible that I’ve read your work, and rejected it yesterday; that doesn’t mean I remember enough about it to give you feedback.

When meeting an agent in various public places around the hotel, here’s my advice:

In the gym: Smile, nod, and walk on. Nobody wants to make an introduction while sweating to LL Cool J on the treadmill.

In the pool: Feel free to start a casual, friendly conversation, but no business talk allowed. For one thing, I don’t want to talk business in a pool. For another, I don’t want to be reminded that now you’ve seen me in my swimsuit.

At a conference-sponsored dinner: Chat up the agent. Ask about the business, tell her about yourself. Talk about the town and what it has to offer. This is one of the best times to get to know someone. You have her trapped at your beck and call for at least a couple of hours. Use it to your benefit and don’t forget to get a business card on the way out. Whatever you do, make it your responsibility to ensure the agent is having a nice time. All too often I’ve observed agents at conference dinners left to flounder while everyone else at the table chats away. I’m not sure what it is, I suspect fear, but the worst thing you can do is leave an agent trapped in silence at the other end of the table.

In the elevator: Smile, nod, and introduce yourself. You need to take these moments when they arise, and elevators are perfectly acceptable. However, when it’s time for the agent to get off, let her off. Don’t hold up the elevator and do NOT follow her to her room.

At the airport: At this point, if you recognize the agent, she’s usually tired and exhausted. I think it’s perfectly acceptable to strike up a friendly conversation, but no one wants to be pitched at this point. We are tired, we’re homesick, and we just want to read one of our new books.

When in doubt, my suggestion is to always introduce yourself and make small talk. You can usually get a feel fairly early on if the agent is up for chatting. I don’t think it’s ever necessary to ask if you can submit. Of course we’re going to say yes, we have submission guidelines. And I don’t think it’s necessary, outside of a pitch session, to launch into your pitch. If you do feel the need to pitch, this is where short comes into play. A pitch is awkward and a bit of a conversation stopper. Instead I would simply say something along the lines of, "Would you be interested in a romantic suspense featuring a bounty hunter?" But you really only need to do this if you’re unsure. If you absolutely know your work is right for this agent, just have a chat. Enjoy your time together and query her when you get home. If the chat was nice she’ll remember you enough to request more.

I hope I covered all the bases here and I hope to see more than a few of you at conferences this year. Good luck and happy travels!

Jessica

Multiple Submissions within the Same Agency

Or maybe I should have titled this “The Trouble with Email Submissions.” There’s been a new and frustrating phenomenon lately, and that’s authors who are submitting the same work to all three BookEnds agents. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it’s no skin off your teeth and only irritating to us, but here’s what happens. I get a query, I pass. It isn’t for me and didn’t grab me. However, I think it might be interesting to either Kim or Jacky, so after rejecting I forward the email to Kim and Jacky and let them know that if they are interested they should go ahead and respond. Lately, though, Kim or Jacky have replied that they received it too and had either already passed or were reading it. Recently, though, we had an issue where the same query was sent to all three of us and all three of us expressed interest and were ready to go ahead and make offers when the problem was discovered. While I suppose it’s possible, it wouldn’t be easy for three agents to represent the same client, and it doesn’t make much sense, for us anyway. Now what? Who gets the book, or is it just easier to keep the peace and let the book go altogether? It wasn’t a big book. It wasn’t going to make anyone millions, and letting it go wouldn’t be a big financial loss, but one of us keeping it and forcing the other two agents to watch its success, bitterly, could cause problems. In the end we were able to come to an agreement everyone was happy with, but it was an uncomfortable day or two and should never have happened. Obviously the book would have found the right agent by submitting to only one of us.

Being an agent is a bit of a cutthroat job, and to a certain degree we are all out for ourselves. First things first, I want all of the good submissions to come to me, but if I think it’s a good submission, but not right for me, the second thing I want are for all of the good submissions to come to our agency. The last thing any agent is going to do is simply send anything packing if she thinks there’s potential. If it’s not for me I’m going to pass it along, and I would say that at least four to five queries a month get passed to my colleagues.

Okay, so you all know already not to send multiple submissions within the same agency, but what about submitting to Kim or Jacky once you’ve been rejected by me? Hopefully my example above already answered that for you. I would recommend against it; as far as BookEnds is concerned, it’s probably a waste of your time. If I thought it was better for Jacky or Kim, and still intriguing, I would have sent it to them. However, that being said, if you are sending queries we probably wouldn’t know that you’d sent to the other two, so if you are really, really determined to be represented by BookEnds and you don’t care who the agent is, go ahead. Once you’ve been rejected by one, feel free to submit to the others, one by one, until you’ve exhausted all of us.

One thing that wasn’t asked of me was what about your second work. If you submitted Book #1 to me and realized later that you think you’d work better with Kim, is it okay to submit Book #2 to Kim, or have you already put all of your eggs in one basket and committed to me? It’s okay to submit to Kim. Let’s say Book #2 is similar to a deal you just saw Kim post or she took on a critique partner of yours whose writing is very similar to yours. Go ahead. Sending a book at one time to one agent doesn’t mean you’ve made any commitment to that agent, and that holds true even if she sent you a personalized rejection letter and asked to see more of your work. Of course, if she asked specifically to see more of your work I’m not sure why you wouldn’t send to her.
Remember, though, that in all of this your goal shouldn’t be just to find any agent (not that BookEnds agents are any agents), but to find the right agent for your work. Jacky, Kim, and I all have specific interests and areas of expertise. We’ve posted about it on the blog here and it’s on our Web site, and one of the reasons we might pass something on to one another is because it better fits another agent’s sensibilities. And that’s what you want. An agent who has sensibilities and personal interests that match your own.

Jessica

Freakishly Unresponsive, Mysteriously Silent, Information-Withholding, Possibly Jekyll-and-Hydeish, Raging-Headache-Inducing, No Good, Very Bad

The title comes straight from the questioner herself. It’s so brilliant I had to use it . . .

Here’s the deal. I received a question from a reader in which she’s dying to fire her agent. She really wants to fire her agent, but said agent won’t answer her phone calls or emails . . . in over seven months. I must be in a mood today because your predicament, while obviously horrible and frustrating, made me laugh. I’m constantly asked about agents who don’t respond, but it never dawned on me that when they don’t respond you can’t even fire them. That is really annoying!

Send a letter. Send a certified letter announcing her immediate dismissal. If you have a written contract, use that as your guide. In the letter demand that she send you, within 14 days of receiving the letter, a list of publishers who have reviewed the proposal as well as those who might still have it or have rejected it. And, since she’s so unresponsive (and kind of mean, based on your email), I would insist that she pull all submissions currently under consideration. In other words, I would break all ties cleanly. Get out from under her thumb altogether.

You also asked if you should consult a lawyer for the list. That’s up to you. Is this a proposal you’re hoping to take to another agent? You could threaten a lawyer. If you haven’t seen the list after your letter is received, you could follow up with a letter insisting that the list be sent or you will be calling your attorney. Something like that. I don’t know why it can sometimes be so difficult to get this information out of an agent. I supply a list the minute the submission goes out and keep my clients regularly updated on where else it might be, who else has requested it and, of course, when the rejections come in. It’s a team effort and team efforts don’t work unless everyone knows the plays.

If it is a proposal you want with another agent, the submissions you pulled should be able to be re-sent at a later date. If not, let it die out and move on to another agent with another book.

I apologize on behalf of agents everywhere for this person’s behavior and hope that your next will be as wonderful as me ;)

Just kidding! (See, clearly I’m in a mood.)

Jessica

Listening to Signs

This post is really going to be a short vent, so bare with me.

Just recently I received a nonfiction proposal with an amazing title and a terrific new take on what’s been a fairly well published topic. But I really liked what this author had to say and she had the platform to back herself up. Before making a decision on representation, though, I needed to do some research. I studied Publisher’s Marketplace to see what had been recently sold in this area and how long it had been since books on this subject had been sold. I wanted to get a sense of when the real rise of this subject matter had been and whether or not publishers were currently feeling inundated or might be ready for a new title. I also reviewed the more popular and the most successful books on the subject to see how my proposal was different and how it would stand out in what is almost always a crowded market. And of course I discussed the project with my colleagues to see what they thought.

After doing all of this I decided that I was armed and dangerous and ready to make an offer. In fact, I was very excited about the proposal. The author had great credentials and the title and concept were absolutely brilliant. Most important, though, while I didn’t think it would be an easy sell, I knew that by doing some tweaking on the proposal and making some minor adjustments, the author and I could create something that would definitely be a hit.

So I picked up the phone and grabbed the proposal for the phone number. It wasn’t there. In fact, except for an SASE, there was nothing on the proposal to indicate how I should reach the author. No phone number, no email, no web site. Nothing. Now what? Do I send an SASE with an offer? Do I Google the author and try to hunt her down? Or is this a sign from someone that maybe this is going to be too much work and I should just use that SASE for a rejection? Do you know I actually debated this one? I don’t think of myself as a spiritual person or as someone who believes in signs, but I think I might be. I know when I told Kim and Jacky, they both had the same reaction I did. Both of them wondered too if maybe it was a sign.

But I persevered. I hunted through Google and 411.com and finally in some obscure article somewhere I found her email address. I sent off an email explaining that I loved the proposal and really hoped to talk further with her about it. No word. The entire day went by and I heard nothing. Okay . . . maybe it’s an old address, the article was about five years old. Or maybe, just maybe, it was a sign.

I own a Pit Bull, and many will tell you that dog owners are a lot like their dogs. When I get that bone I refuse to let go, so the next morning I did another quick Google search, and this time I came up with the phone number of her practice. Bingo! I called and left a message and finally, that afternoon, she called me back. Only to let me know that the book proposal had already been sent to about 40 publishers and rejected by almost everyone. Now she claimed to have interest from a publisher and didn’t need an agent. She didn’t think there was anything else I could do. Okay . . . so why, less than three weeks earlier, had she sent me her dang proposal?

I guess next time I’ll pay closer attention to the signs.

Jessica

Signed: Nervous

I have an agent and I am a bit concerned now: your latest blog post said that most books are sold within a few weeks. Mine has been with my agent for about 6 months. He is still going strong at it and doesn't appear phased at all, and we've only had 4 rejections.

He is one of the biggest names in the business so I have had complete confidence in him. But do first-time novels sometimes take this long to sell?

Please do not get nervous. I believe the blog post you’re referring to was my piece on the agent submission process, where I mentioned that I usually hear from editors within a few days or a few weeks. That does not in any way mean that if your book has been on submission for longer than three weeks that you should throw in the towel. In fact, it doesn’t even mean that I have an offer in a few days or a few weeks. What usually starts happening very quickly is activity. That means editors are rejecting the book, calling to ask more questions, bringing it up at an editorial board meeting, and, yes, making offers.

What I always remind my authors is that it only takes one. It only takes one offer to sell that book, and while we would love an auction for every sale, the truth is what we want is to see these books in print. I think the record for a BookEnds sale was two years. The book had been sitting on one or two editors' desks and the author and I had pretty much forgotten about it and moved on. After a while you even stop calling and simply assume that no news means no interest. Then out of the blue I got a call with an offer. The timing was right and the publisher wanted to buy the book. Of course, on the flip side of that we’ve received offers within 24 hours of sending submissions out.

I think the important thing to note is that whether your agent is the biggest name in the business or the smallest fish in the pond, you want someone with the necessary contacts and you want someone who has more than just enthusiasm for your book, you want an agent who feels passionate about the book you’ve written and has the determination to stick with it. Whenever I’m asked how many houses I’ll send a book to or for how long I’ll try to sell it, I always give the same answer: as long as it takes until either the book is sold or we firmly believe we’ve exhausted all of our contacts.

In the case of this reader it sounds to me like you are in great shape, not because your agent is one of the biggest names in the business, but because he is still going strong and you have complete confidence. Those are more important than almost anything else. Besides that, though, four rejections is nothing. You’ve got a long way to go before this project has run its course. Good luck!

Jessica

Resubmissions and ReQueries

Regularly I am asked about the etiquette of resubmitting work to an agent, but lately, with my query critiques, I am also being asked about the etiquette of requerying the same book (now that you have a better idea of how to pitch).

I’ve told you stories of clients who were rejected by me at one time and later, with another work, offered representation. But what about resubmitting the same work? Off the top of my head I can only think of one client who resubmitted work and became a client based on that resubmission, and that particular client did extensive revisions based on my rejection letter. The truth is that even with a bad pitch it’s probably pretty likely that I am able to see something in your query that would make me ask for more. I’m not a complete dolt, you know. But if your pitch seems boring, typical, or just doesn’t inspire me and the writing in your query doesn’t grab me, then it’s unlikely I will ask to see more.

If you have truly done extensive, and I mean massive, revisions to both your query and your work, go ahead and resubmit. However, take note that in this case I’m not going to tell you that you have nothing to lose, because in fact that’s not the case. When you make the decision to query an agent, I expect that you’ve put that book to bed. In other words, Book #1 is now sitting safely on a shelf next to your computer waiting for Wise Agent to call and request the full. It’s shiny, it’s bright, and it looks beautiful. In the meantime you’re whiling away your time, in between query letters and agent research, of course, writing Book #2. In fact, you’re so busy on Book #2 you haven’t even had time to think about Book #1. If you keep sending me Book #1, I worry that you’ve got nothing else in you, and that’s not a client I want either.

I know how difficult it can be when the rejections start rolling in. Hey, I get them too, remember. But the truth is you really do have one shot. I have one shot, and that’s why it can take me all day to write a pitch letter or query letter to editors, and I do this all the time. So the best thing you can do is make your work, including your pitch and your letter, the best it can be the first time around. And then, and here’s the really hard part, put it out of your head. Work on the second book and the second pitch and query. Make them even stronger.

Jessica

Why Snail Mail Is Sometimes Preferred

As you all should know by now, the BookEnds submission policy requires equeries first and the submission of proposals or manuscripts only at our request. Now I know a lot of agents accept everything via email—all manuscripts and proposals—but I’m still fairly old-fashioned and prefer that anything more than a query be sent via snail mail. Why is this? Primarily because I don’t do my reading in the office, and while I do have a laptop, I don’t find it comfortable to sit on the couch reading proposal after proposal from a computer screen. There is another reason, though, and that’s because there’s something different in the experience for me when I’m holding paper in my hand versus a computer. I can settle in and take the time to enjoy myself. I’m less distracted by incoming email or the Internet and I feel less of this feeling of getting through the piles. In other words, I can actually take the time to enjoy the book.

Despite that, there are definitely occasions when I will ask an author to email me the material. Some reasons for that could be she has an offer in hand, it’s exactly what I’m looking for, and I want to read it instantly, or she’s from another country and it’s not easy for her to snail mail the material. I know email is great. I love it, you love it, and I certainly know it makes the submission process easier for authors. However, there is a downside and I’m in the middle of it right now. A few months ago I got myself a spanking new MacBook. I love it! In making the transition from my old iMac, though, there was a problem with the Microsoft software and I lost a couple of days' worth of emails. Let me clarify here that his was not a problem with Apple, but entirely Microsoft. I’m not going to get into details, but I was annoyed.

Anyway, I had printed out the first 50 pages of an emailed manuscript I was excited to read. For some reason, though, my printer went wonky too and I only managed to get pages five through fifty. And now the email is gone. I have no contact information for this author, no way to reach her, and since I haven’t heard from her, no way to tell her what I think of these fifty pages. Worse yet, I have no way to read the rest of the material.

I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to find this author, but I do hope all of you can use this as a lesson. Put your name, title, page number, phone number, and email address in the header of every page of your manuscript. In addition, make sure the cover page of your manuscript, in addition to your query letter, contains your name, address, email, phone, web address, mother’s maiden name, first dog’s name, hospital where you were born . . . well, you get the picture. Pages get shifted and manuscripts dropped all the time. If an agent is loving your work, don’t make it difficult for her to find you.

Jessica