We Interrupt This Program

It's rare that I ever do two blog posts on the same day, but today deserves a dual post, a program interruption if you will.

In yesterday's Washington Post Twelve publisher Jonathan Karp wrote a thought-provoking and brilliant piece on the state of publishing and the problems caused by what he says are publishers, agents, editors and yes even authors and readers (my own words) seduced by gossip, celebrity, fame and maybe fortune rather then simply looking for really great books that may or may not sell.

Karp is praying that publishers will at some point be forced to do what he is doing with Twelve and that is "invest in works of quality."

I was so thrilled with this essay that I think I'll let it speak for itself and of course I look forward to hearing what you have to say about it.

--Jessica

Querying if You're Not Sure of Genre

I currently have a fantasy manuscript that I wrote with no thought of a sub-genre. After having a few beta readers mention my work leaning towards the YA side of fantasy, I now begin to wonder if I should worry about the word count. It was meant to be a full-length fantasy at 100K words, but I know most YA novels are at least 20K less than that (typically).

Do I go ahead and query this as a fantasy with no mention of YA since it's possible it could go either way, in hopes an agent will find the shine in my work and say, "Hey, this is good! Let's try and work it to the YA audience though. Cut it down to 75K"?

Does this even happen? Would an agent do that? Or is the market more flexible nowadays that the manuscript could be pitched as both, or as a YA but still acceptable with such a big word count?

Or (yet another or, sorry!) do I query it as YA, with the big word count and cross my fingers?

First let me address the word count issue. I don’t represent YA and haven’t done YA in years, but I think I can fairly and honestly tell you not to worry about it too much. Fantasy has always been a genre that tends to run a little longer than other genres.

What’s great about this conundrum is that it opens more doors for you. I would simply pitch the book as fantasy and see what kind of reaction you get from agents. If it seems that over time you are getting comments or suggestions that the book might be better suited for YA you can start pitching YA agents. Or, if you’d like, you could pitch fantasy and YA agents at the same time.

It is very possible that an agent might suggest to you that the audience you thought you were shooting for isn’t the audience she would consider. In fact, I had a mystery recently that I have pitched as three different genres—paranormal mystery, fantasy, and romance, depending on the publishing house.

I don’t think the word count is that much of an issue here. I can’t tell you how to query your book, I think you need to read more fantasy and YA fantasy to make sure you have a feel for both genres and see what you think. Otherwise, pitch in both directions and see what happens.

Good luck!

Jessica

Spelling Bees

The word occasion. I don’t know what it is about that word, but every single time I type it I get it wrong. I know that if I were in a spelling bee and up for millions of dollars it would be that one simple word that would bring me down.

In a conversation lately with a friend we were discussing spelling and today’s youth. Okay, specifically her daughter. Because of spell check and computers it seems that we are all becoming poor spellers. I have to say, I still instinctively backspace and change words as I’m typing. Must have been those manual typewriters I learned on. But I think most people simply type away, let the red lines appear, and spell check to fix everything in the end. Few bother to actually learn how the words are spelled.

What about you? What are your thoughts on spelling today and what words always, always trip you up?

Jessica

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

Kate Douglas on Writing

Kate Douglas
Wolf Tales VI
Publisher: Kensington Aphrodisia
Pub Date: June 2008
Agent: Jessica Faust




(Click to Buy)


Author Web/Blog links: www.katedouglas.com, www.myspace.com/katedouglas_wolftales, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KateDouglas/


Why We Do What We Do . . .

About a year ago, I finished a manuscript I’d been working on for about three months. The story, Wolf Tales VI, was just released, but it was due in my editor’s hands on June 1 of 2007. It didn’t get there. For some reason, the story would NOT come together the way I wanted it to, and I struggled for weeks with the first three chapters. I asked my editor for a month’s extension, and she very graciously allowed it, since I was no closer to finishing the book on June 1 than I’d been three months earlier.

Disgusted, I set it aside and took a couple of days off. It had been a hectic year, what with moving and the remodeling we’re doing on the new house, my husband’s retirement, and a little incident that included me almost getting myself killed when a tree came down where I was standing—along with a writing schedule that meant finishing eleven novels and novellas in just twenty short months. And no, I can’t blame Jessica for that one—I said I could do it, and I did, but it wasn’t nearly as easy as I’d thought it would be!

I’d forgotten that life often gets in the way of the best intentions.

Taking a break from my story was the best thing I could have done. Once I stepped back from the project, I was able to see what was wrong. Letting go of my preconceived hero wasn’t easy, but I suddenly realized the problem—I was writing the wrong character’s story. It wasn’t the hero’s story at all—it was the secondary character who needed a voice. I’d been trying to force him into the background, and he was having none of it. Once I gave Oliver the freedom to exist at center stage, my book took off. I completed Wolf Tales VI in about three weeks, and when I went back and reread it before sending it to my editor, I realized I had written a book I could really be proud of. It’s got a great plot, it’s sexy, and it’s not anything anyone will expect.

It made me think about the process of writing, the fact that we go into a story with an idea, but we all reach our goal in a totally unique manner. For writers like me who don’t plot in advance, who don’t outline or even write a detailed synopsis, finding the plot and getting to know my characters can be a serendipitous adventure. It’s a trip I absolutely love. Once I get to know my characters, they literally take over my head, and I’ve had to learn not to fight them. They write their own stories, and I never quite know what’s coming next, but that’s part of the process—my process—that makes writing such a joy for me. It’s the excitement of discovery, the feeling that I will always find a surprise around the next corner.

We all do it differently, but somehow we all manage to find our way through a beginning, to a middle, and on to an end. There are no set rules, but for those of us who write, who absolutely have to write, the journey is as much the joy as is the moment when we hold our completed work in our hands.

Which is, I guess, the point of this post—a reminder to think of the reason why you write, whether it’s for publication or your own personal fulfillment. Don’t ever let go of the joy you find in the words, the thrill of a new character, the utter satisfaction of pulling all the threads of a convoluted plot together and knowing it’s perfect. We’re a very lucky group, those of us who call ourselves writers. We can create new worlds with our words and give life to imaginary characters who wouldn’t otherwise exist without us. It doesn’t get much better than that.

What I'm Looking For

Yesterday’s post on queries and my reporting of them reminded me that it’s been a long time since I’ve updated you on what I’m looking for these days. Of course I’m always looking for everything on my list (for those who haven’t made it to the About Us page on our web site, that means romance, mysteries, thrillers, women’s fiction, and a variety of nonfiction). But as with all agents, there are always times when you decide you would like to see something specific, when you’ve talked to editors and know what they’re hungry for and just hearing about it makes you hungry too.

I’ve had some really great luck lately with nonfiction, and while it’s been a bit of a new direction for me I’m loving it. Two recent sales include Frederick Lane’s People in Glass Houses: American Law, Technology, and the Right to Privacy, an examination of whether privacy still exists in a world of vast consumer databases, growing government surveillance, and exhibitionist television shows. I sold this book to Brian Halley at Beacon Press. And while on a trip to a conference recently I spent much of my time negotiating the deal for Lewis Maltby’s The Vanishing Constitution, an investigation into how the restriction of our constitutional rights are impacting the workplace. Lewis Maltby is head of the National Work Rights Institute, a division of the NAACP, and gives the reader a very scary look at how constitutional rights have no effect in the private workplace. The book won’t be published until at least 2009, but should be must reading for everyone. This book was sold to Tim Sullivan at Portfolio.

Those two sales have really inspired me and I would love to see more current affairs/investigative-type titles. I love books that can open our eyes in a new way. Maybe they look at the history of a certain product or business or make us realize something that maybe we thought, but never really grasped (like the lack of privacy in today’s society). Keep in mind that both authors of the above-mentioned books are nationally recognized experts in their fields. In addition to bigger business and career books, I would love to see issue-oriented titles or investigative titles on things like food, consumerism, or the government (among others, of course). Some recent titles that have caught my eye in these areas include Julie and Julia, Kitchen Confidential, Nickel and Dimed, and Fugitive Denim. Obviously I have a lot of other interests, but that might get you thinking.

I think my preferences in fiction are a little easier to describe and really don’t change too much for me from post to post. I would love to see more women’s fiction (light or heavy). I tend to be very attracted to stories about friendship, marriage, and parenting (from both sides of the issue). I’m a sister, but don’t have a sister, so for some reason sister stories rarely grab me as much. I like lighter stories (although not chick lit) as well as those that can make me sob from page one.

I’ve also been a fan for a long time of historical mysteries, and yet, I don’t have one on my list. I would love to see a historical thriller a la Caleb Carr or a quieter, softer historical mystery. To me a historical really needs to capture the mood and atmosphere of the period and make me feel like I’m there. That’s what makes them so great. And I have a softness for historical New York.

In romance I’m still hungry for a great romantic suspense and big, sexy historical romances. Of course, I like the other genres as well, but those are the two areas I’m gravitating most to right now.

Now that summer is on us, what are you in the mood to take on your summer vacation?

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

An Interesting Thought on "Rules"

A lot of comments lately have blasted agents and editors for all of our rules. We stifle authors, we cause nothing but problems, and we’re rude to boot. I debated a discussion on rules because I have a feeling I’m going to get blasted for it, but a client of mine pointed out that what makes my blog work are my honest answers and the honest comments I get from my readers. So here goes . . .

There are seemingly a lot of rules in publishing, but if you’ve ever heard me speak or read enough of my blog posts I think you’ll know that I’ve repeated again and again that those rules are not rules and should not be seen as such, but should be looked upon as guidelines. One of the most frustrating things for me about being blasted for all of our rules is that so many of them are created because authors ask for them, and so many more are not rules I’ve put out but rules authors impose themselves.

I am constantly asked for more clarification, for more rules. Authors want to know a secret to getting in the door. How do you write the perfect query letter, how do you write the perfect synopsis, and how do you write the perfect book? I cannot tell you that. I can give you hints, clues, examples, and critiques. I can do my best to help you along the way, but there are absolutely no rules. You’ve said it yourself, agents impose rules but then sell books that break them. When asked how to write a query letter or a pitch I can give you tips on what I’ve seen that’s worked for me. Does that mean it will work in the same way for another agent? Not necessarily, because it’s all subjective. This is the same for resumes and resume cover letters. You can read a resume book and see hundreds of examples. They might all work for you or they might not. Ultimately, when reading the advice of agents you need to pick and choose what resonates with you.

Reading our blogs should be done in the same manner you read revision letters from critique partners, agents, or your own editor. You need to see what worked and didn’t work for other people and see how it resonates with you. Then you need to make your own decisions. Making smart, professional, and personal decisions are in the end what the only rule should be.

Part of this entire rules thing is that authors often take what we say as an absolute. My comment last year on saying thank you in a query letter is a perfect example. In trying to help one particular reader tighten her thank-you (and granted, I should have used a different tone) I was barraged with criticism and read all over the Internet that if you thank me in a query it is an automatic rejection. What?!? Come on. Do you really think I’m that narrow-minded and obtuse? I will take the blame for the tone I used and I guess I should have explained myself in a kinder, gentler manner, but to have it so blown out of proportion is crazy. I’ve learned as the blog goes on what voice works best for me and my readers and tend not to be snarky anymore (or not much). However, that was certainly not a rule. It was a piece of advice relating to one particular query letter.

So my advice to you . . . take what you read on all agent, editor, and publishing blogs with a grain of salt. We give the best advice we can from our own knowledge base. We have few rules and only guidelines. And while we’d prefer you email a query letter, there are plenty of you who include a page or two of your work, and, you know what, I do read them.

This business is hard enough. Coming up with amazing ideas and writing them with near perfection is not easy, and I know that, I really do know that, so to let these so-called rules get you down is crazy. There are plenty of other things about publishing to get us all down.

Jessica

Co-Agenting and What It Means

I was asked recently what happens when two authors with different agents finish a project together. And that’s a great question. What happens then is called a co-agented deal, and BookEnds has done a number of them.

Typically, once both agents have read and approved of the project, the agents will start talking to discuss a marketing/submission strategy. Sometimes they will divide up a list of houses and contacts and submit separately (knowing, of course, who is submitting where and to whom) and other times one agent will take the lead, doing much of the submitting, but consulting with the other along the way.

When the offer (or offers) comes in the agents will again consult and handle the deal together. Usually one agent is the go-to person for the editor, but the co-agent of course has an opinion every step of the way. When all is said and done, and a deal has been finalized, both agency clauses will appear in the contract specifying which client is responsible for which agent’s commission, etc.

This is very similar to how many foreign and movie rights are sold by smaller agencies (like BookEnds). We have co-agents we work with in a number of countries. These agents work in their respective countries to sell our titles, and when a deal comes through they consult with us throughout the course of negotiations. In this case, though, the fee is split between the agents.

Keep in mind, co-agenting is great if you and a writing friend decide you have just one or two projects you’d like to do together. If, however, you think of yourself as an author team who plans on writing all or most of your work together, you will not need two separate agents. In that case I would advise querying your one project together and finding one agent you both feel happy and comfortable with.

Jessica

The Sophomore Slump

In the comments section to one of my blog posts there was a reference to the sophomore slump, when an author has spent years writing and perfecting her first novel and now only has nine months to a year at most to write the second novel and just can’t get it there. This resulted in the following question off the comment board:

Does it really have to be that way? Can't I say to a publisher, "No, I'm only dealing with you for this book, but you'll have the first option to see the next one"? Or is it always a package deal and they buy the next two books in the series or trilogy? Because honestly, it's almost enough to make me put my foot down and say, "No, I'm not going to make any deal on books I haven't written, because if a book is not ready, I WILL NOT put it on the market, deal or no deal."

Honestly, you can do almost anything you want. If a publisher comes to you and offers a three-book deal and you’d rather make it a one-book deal, you can certainly try to do that. I will tell you, though, that there have been times when part of the negotiation did involve the number of books and the publisher wouldn’t budge. You can also set your own delivery dates. If the publisher wants books number two and three at nine-month intervals, but you would be more comfortable with eighteen months, you can try to schedule accordingly.

The problem with waiting so long to deliver the follow-up book and subsequently publish it is that if you are writing genre fiction it’s going to be nearly impossible to build a career on this kind of schedule. More and more publishers are finding that authors who really have success and break out do so based on a quick publishing schedule, especially with the release of their first few books. Once an audience is established with two or three books, it’s possible to stretch things out again to give the author time to catch her breath; and the readers, they’re already fans, so they will happily wait.

By coming out with one book and waiting two years for the next it’s very likely readers will have forgotten you and might not even think to come back. Now, I do believe that writers of literary fiction can be a huge exception to this rule. If the book is truly mind-blowing you will probably get the reviews (NYT, etc.) on the second book to bring the readers back. Of course, you’re hinging your career on reviews.

Now what some publishers are doing to accommodate authors who can’t write a book every three months is to hold the first book or two so that they can schedule the books three months or six months apart, or even back to back in subsequent months. The problem with this, based on your question, is that if I sold a two-book deal for you today and you wanted to wait eighteen months to deliver book two, your first publication date wouldn’t likely be until sometime in 2010.

Ultimately, what I tell my clients is first things first: you need to write a good book, and if the publisher wants it in six months, but you’re more comfortable with nine, you need to go with what makes you comfortable. Reasonably, though, I think you need to learn to write a really knock-out book in nine to twelve months at the outset if you want to build a career. Yes, there are exceptions, but don’t look at authors who first published ten, twenty, or even three years ago and use them as an example. The market has changed.

Jessica