Random Questions

I get a ton of questions emailed to me for the blog and I appreciate each and every one. I apologize if I haven’t yet gotten to yours, but I’m working on it. Some are hard and I haven’t figured out how to answer them yet, while others are too short and don’t necessarily warrant a full post. So today’s blog is dedicated to those that are just too short.

Here’s a collection of random blog questions and answers.

How long should women’s fiction be? Is 270,000 words too long?

In the author’s own words, “yikes!” 200,000 words is too long. Women’s fiction is general fiction, mainstream, whatever you want to call it, it should be like most novels, in the range of 80,000 to 100,000 words. Of course there’s always some leeway in there, but keep in mind in this crazy economy, publishers are really not happy to see longer books. They’re more expensive for everyone.

If an agent’s Web site doesn’t specifically mention to send snail mail or email queries, but provides both addresses, how should the query be sent? How can I ensure my query gets more face time?

However you want to send it, and as for guaranteeing more face time, that’s on your shoulders. Write a really great query.

When you (or another agent) ask for a chapter or pages to be pasted into the body of an email, does it need to be in any certain format? When I paste from Word into my email program, all formatting is lost. I've tried plain text and rich text with negligible results.

First let me clarify that I would never ask for material to be pasted into the email (other than the query itself). If I did, though, and even with queries, I want it to read as if it were the email. Maybe the best thing to do is paste it in and then reformat it using your email program? I don’t have an answer to this, but maybe other readers have some advice?

Earlier this year you mentioned that an editor was looking for “strong, poignant, commercial women’s fiction, not chick lit.” Can you elaborate a little on what type of stories we're talking about? What sort of heroines? What are the editors looking for?

What do you have? They would like to see older, younger, married, single, divorced, widowed, grandmothers, mothers, childless. . . . The key to these types of books isn’t necessarily that editors are looking for a particular story, but they want a story and characters that evoke certain feelings. How that’s done is up to the writer, that’s the beauty of a book.

Can you interpret the phrase: "I didn't make a strong enough connection with the manuscript in order to offer representation." I've had three agents respond in this way after reading my full manuscript and one agent respond this way after reading fifty pages. Is there some revision work I should be considering based on this information?

You’ve been rejected with a form rejection. Make revisions if you see the need, otherwise simply continue to plug away.

I have completed 41,00 words of my manuscript, which is approximately 50% of my book. At what point should I begin to contact literary agents?

When the book is done.

Several of us were comparing agent responses and noticed a weird trend . . . or lack of trend . . . with some agents and wonder if there was a rationale behind it. A group of us use the same query tracking system and have noticed that there will be huge gaps on no-response and we'll never hear back (we're talking 12+ months). But scattered in there will be a couple of rejections. When checked, these rejections are form letters that state nothing more than the typical "not for me" rejection. I'm all for the form letter. Is there a reason a very small number receive the rejection but the majority receive nothing? Is there something going on we don't know as writers?

I want so bad to say something really funny and snarky here, but I don’t think I’ve got it in me. What I will say is quit over-analyzing. Agents just don’t have that much time to plan elaborate ruses. I’m sure it’s just a fluke.

I have finished writing my first fiction novel. However, when I typed it out it ended up being about 75 pages. Is it me or does that seem a bit short? Of course, I haven't gone through and edited but the point of the story is completely in there. Can anyone give me any advice on this?

Let me clarify first that “fiction novel” is redundant. Learn to erase that phrase from your vocabulary. Second, even if you still need to double-space, 75 pages is far too short. I think the best advice I can give you is keep writing and join a writer’s group. You have about 250 pages to go before you have a book.

My professors keep telling me that student publications count as a publication, but I was wondering if they were worth mentioning in a query letter? What about writing articles for internships?

I’d definitely mention them, but only if you are newly out of school. Ten years later they aren’t going to have the same significance.

I have a question regarding query etiquette. Is it appropriate to mention, in a query letter, work that has not been published yet if the author has it on good authority that their work will be featured in a future magazine publication?

If by good authority you mean a contract, then yes, go ahead and mention it. Otherwise I would just be patient.

Jessica

The Easy Writer

As a first-time author, I'm trying to get my brain around query letters. Maybe I'm just thinking of it too much like a resume or a CV, but I feel that I need to include something that says "I'm easy." That is, I know that:

1. I'm a first-time author.
2. Pretty much everyone else is going to have a better concept of "the right thing" than I will.
3. I have a day job so I'm not starving and freaking out trying to get published.
4. I'm willing to shut up, listen, and do what it takes to enjoy the ride.
5. Whether it takes 2 weeks or 2 years, 2 or 200 rounds of revisions, I'm cool with that.

But . . . I'm having trouble coming up with a way of saying all of that so it doesn't also sound like "I'm doing the writing thing as a lark and don't really care about it." It's not that I don't care -- I care quite a bit -- but I'm smart enough to not let my ego get in the way. I'll save the crazy high-maintenance stuff for when I've published 20 books and optioned them all to movie studios.

Is there a concise way of saying all of that? Or am I on the exact wrong track?

You are on the wrong track. Here’s the deal: note to all of you aspiring writers out there, you better all be “easy.” It’s not an option. Here are my thoughts on your list.

1. I couldn't care less if you’re a first-time or fiftieth-time author; if the book wows me, I want you. From there, each book is a new experience and we’ll ride that wave together if necessary.
2. I’m not sure I have a better concept of “the right thing” than you do. Heck, I don’t even know what you mean by that. This whole crazy business is subjective and what’s right for one isn’t always right for another. What you have to know is your book and your characters and what’s right for them.
3. Starving and freaking out about getting published are two different things. If you’re starving and published you’re likely to still be starving. If you’re freaking out about getting published you’re a writer.
4. We should all be willing to shut up and listen and do what it takes to enjoy the ride. If you’re not, get off the bus now, I don’t want you. Publishing a book is not the job of one person, it’s a team effort, and the better you are at playing with the team the more successful you’ll be.
5. Time is your friend in the publishing world. It will take 2 weeks, 2 years and 200 years (oh, sorry, you said rounds of revisions), and whether you’re cool with it or not you don’t have a choice. So buckle in, write until your fingers ache, and work on your blurb, because that’s what the query is all about.

Jessica

Building a Platform for Fiction

I’ve received a lot of questions about the importance of building a platform for fiction writers. Should you write platform-building pieces under your real name or the pseudonym you want to use? What if you wrote mystery short stories, but now want to write romance novels? Do those short stories even count toward your platform? Do you need to worry about blogging now to build a platform or should you just write?

Holy cow, folks! Just write and write and write and write. If you are someone who writes short stories very well and wants to submit them to literary magazines while working on your novel, go ahead. It’s a bonus to have a writing platform like that, but not every novelist can write short stories and not every short story writer can write a novel. It just isn’t that easy, so if you’re someone who doesn’t feel strongly that you can do both, why are you wasting your time focusing on your weakness instead of your strength or instead of on what you really want to do?

As for blogs, I’ve said it over and over and over again, but I’ll say it again. Go ahead and write a blog if you really want to, but don’t feel that it will necessary do anything for a future publishing career. The only thing that’s going to do that is the book you’re writing or the book after that or the one after that. And frankly, at this point, I don’t care what name you do it all under.

Let’s worry less about the peripherals of publishing—platform, credentials, etc.—and more about our writing. Because that’s really what’s important.

Jessica

Earning Royalties

What's the story with earning out/royalties?

I have often heard that only 1 in 5 novels earns out its advance. I've always wondered about this figure, because if publishers were paying too much for 80% of their books, they should presumably know that and start offering lower advances across the board. But, at the same time, I read that "very, very few books make much on royalties" (this is from your Contracts 101: More on Advances post), so I wonder if maybe it's true after all that most books either don't earn out or earn 50 cents over the advance.

What's going on here? Are publishers overpaying for their books? Or is the answer that the publisher can make a profit even if the author doesn't earn out his advance, so the fact that the *author* makes no royalties doesn't mean the *publisher* is doing poorly? What should an author realistically expect (or hope for), on average, on the royalties front?

I have heard all sorts of crazy figures when it comes to the number of books that earn out. The truth, though, is that I’ve never, in all my years of publishing, actually seen any facts. That means that I can’t tell you for sure what the statistics are on books that earn out. I haven’t even gone through the titles I’ve sold over the years to determine how those figures might compare. I do know that a good number of our books are earning or have earned royalties at some point, even if some of those books haven’t made much over $100 or so. At least they earn something, right?

While we’ve all seen million-dollar deals posted and wonder how those books will ever earn out, I think the truth is that most of the time, for most of the books, publishers are fairly conservative with their money and I’m sure many of my published readers will agree that “overpaying” hardly seems to be the problem. I think the real problem is that every single book is a risk. If a publisher is buying a book by an established author they already have sales figures to look at and can base estimates on those—estimates of how many books will sell and how much a book will earn. With debut authors, however, and there are a lot of debut authors every year, those estimates are really more of a guessing game based on how other similar books have done in the market and the publisher’s enthusiasm for the project. Sometimes those estimates are just plain wrong and other times the market changes so dramatically (think our recent recession) from the time a book is sold to the time it is published that outside forces change the estimated success of the book.

I can’t say what an author can realistically expect or hope for from royalties. That depends on what you’re writing, how much of an advance you were paid, and what the market is doing. I think the smart thing for an author to do is worry about selling books and not making royalties, at least at first, and to not expect that the royalties you earn will pay much more than a utility bill or two. It’s always nicer to be surprised with a bigger than expected check than it is with a smaller check.

When you sell your book, ask your agent if she has any idea what you might expect. Knowing the inside workings of a contract can help in making that estimation. Also keep in mind that royalties usually include subsidiary rights sales from foreign rights to book club rights, serial rights, etc., and the more of those your agent or publisher sells on your behalf the higher your “royalty” check will be. There are a lot of variables into how royalties work and how they’re paid out that I haven’t even touched on here, but if you work at writing really good books, know your market, and do some publicity, I would hope that most of you will see some additional money down the line.

Jessica

What Other Agents Do

I get a lot of blog questions from authors asking me to give them an idea of what they can expect from their agent. For example, “My agent is submitting my material. How many houses can I expect her to submit to?” How should I know? I’m not your agent and I haven’t read your book.

My biggest concern about questions like this is why are you asking? Are you asking just to get a comparison for what you know your agent is planning or are you asking because you really want to know the answer, but for some reason think it’s better to ask me than your agent? If your answer is the latter, I would suggest you get a new agent. The author-agent relationship is probably one of the more important relationships in your career, and if you want it to work you need to start off on the right foot and be able to communicate effectively and honestly with your agent, and I implore all of you to learn to do just that.

Jessica

Read Your Contract

One of the best things about having a literary agent is having someone with knowledge and experience in publishing contracts. For anyone who has ever done a deal with a publisher, you know what I mean. It doesn’t take more than a few paragraphs before your eyes start to cross and your mind freezes. Not only are they filled with a whole heck of a lot of legal jargon, but to the layman it’s legal jargon few truly understand.

While having an agent relieves you of the pressure of negotiating a contract, it does not excuse you from reading the contract. While your literary agent should and will do her absolute best to make sure that what you sign is as fair as it can possibly be, in the end she is not responsible for the paper you are signing. In other words, she’s not responsible for turning in a manuscript by the due date you’ve just committed to. She’s not responsible for the art and illustrations you’ve just agreed to provide, and she’s not responsible for the word count you’ve just said you’d meet. And once that paper is signed you’re committed. Not even the best agent is going to be able to suddenly cut your word count in half or eliminate 90% of the illustrations that you conveniently forgot about.

The beauty of having an agent is you can ask about anything you really don’t understand or if there’s anything you should know, but do ask, please ask, before signing your contract.

Jessica

He v. She

Some of you have noticed and have pointed out that in the blog I regularly use “she” when talking generally about readers, editors, clients, and pretty much anyone. I find it interesting that I’ve been criticized for this or questioned on it. I use “she” because “he/she” is awkward, and I was taught as a writer and an editor that readers prefer you choose a pronoun and stick to it. I’m a woman, and while I represent both men and women, I feel that it makes it more interesting to use “she.” This was actually a conscious decision when I started writing the blog. I wanted to make sure when talking generally and using pronouns that I would always use feminine pronouns. What I find most interesting is that this even has to be a discussion and that I am even questioned on it. Would I be questioned if I had used “he”? Would anyone have even noticed? Would someone have asked me if I had any female clients? Would someone have criticized me for clearly only representing men because I used “he”?

Jessica

Authorpass and Agentpass Day

A few days ago I gave you the opportunity to share your gripes about agents, and I have to admit it gave me a bit of the agida. It’s really easy to read your comments and wonder whether or not I’ve done something like what you’ve described, and since I’m not perfect I’m sure I have committed more than an error or two. However, with every moment of complaining we all need and deserve a moment of positive, and as one reader requested, “any way we can also have an agentawesome day where we can give props to those agents who went above and beyond?”

And I’m happy to oblige. It’s always easy to complain, sometimes harder to share stories about the good things that happen. I’m going to start by sharing some of the stories about the authors who I think really have had their acts together. . . .

Kudos to the authors who remember that an offer of representation is an opportunity to make sure you pick the agent that’s right for you. While I always hate losing and of course hate the possibility that I might lose, I respect the author who gives me the opportunity to reply to a submission when she has an offer of representation and I respect the author who’s willing to say to me that she wants to talk to other agents.

Kudos to the authors who see the author-agent relationship as a team relationship, and just as I try to give updates and feedback to you, you keep me posted on what’s going on from your end. What feedback you’re getting from your editors, where things stand with revisions and what, if anything, you need from me along the way.

Kudos to the authors who take the time to listen and learn, who do the research ahead of time and to the best of their abilities who know and understand that publishing is a business and treat it as such.

Kudos to the authors who take a minute to approach me at conferences just to say hi, to reintroduce themselves or share a success story.

Kudos to all of you who posted your gripes and complaints. I’m not perfect, but I strive to be better at what I do every day, and while I’ll never read submissions fast enough and I’ll always feel behind in my client reading, your feedback helps me acknowledge my faults and work to correct them.

Kudos to everyone who sits down and writes a book and then writes another. Kudos to you for putting your dreams on paper and then sending them out there to be judged, critiqued, reviewed and hopefully enjoyed.

This is a frustrating and heartbreaking business at times, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I love this crazy job.

Jessica

Is This Standard?

In teaching my class this semester at NYU and in talking to authors, I’m often struck by how often I am asked whether something is typical or standard within the industry, and this is probably one of the most frustrating things that writers have to deal with. While certainly with publishers there are a lot of things that are considered industry standard, this isn’t always the case with agents.

Just recently, for example, I was asked by a reader whether or not it’s standard for an author-agent agreement to be in effect for one year. And my answer is yes, and no. For some agents and agencies it is; some do contracts that are for a certain number of books and for a certain time frame, allowing what the agent feels is sufficient time for them to have to sell the project. Other agencies, BookEnds included, has a contract that is unlimited and hopefully for the life of your career. While we don’t have a time frame on our contract we do have a rather easy termination clause to allow any party the ability to get out of the contract at any time.

So if few things are standard between authors and agents, what are they? Typically commissions are standard. Most agencies take a 15% commission on domestic sales and rights sold through the publisher and 20% on foreign rights. It is standard that you should not be paying any upfront fees to your agent for any reason. Not only is it standard, but it’s part of the AAR’s Canon of Ethics.

And I think that’s it. The rest is a matter of comfort to you and if there’s ever anything in the author-agent agreement you are not comfortable with or don’t fully understand, you should talk to the agent about it. If you’re not comfortable doing that then maybe you should first question whether this is the agent for you.

Jessica

Agentfail Right Here

In the aftermath of #queryfail, there was some discussion of whether or not authors should start #authorfail, their own Twitter ranting of what agents do that make them fail in an author’s eyes. I’ve heard many times of authors who after having met agents, having corresponded with agents, or just having heard about agents decided to drop them from their list of agents to query.

Janet Reid did a fabulous post on this on her blog. I highly, highly recommend everyone read this if you haven’t already. But I do think it’s possible for authors to do an #agentfail and I think to some degree I’ve allowed you to do it in the past. Wasn’t it just last year that I opened up the blog to all of your complaints about agents? Well, let’s do it again. Here you are, an entire day, on an agent’s blog, devoted to complaining about agents. We all want to hear it (or maybe we don’t): tell us how or why we are failing you or have failed you (and post anonymously, of course, unless you don’t want to).

Jessica