Making Money

It’s not uncommon, when witnessing a tirade by a frustrated author, that you hear the complaint that the only thing agents want are books that will make them money. This is usually some thinly veiled criticism (I use that word loosely) of the books agents are representing.

Well, once and for all I’d like to put this point to rest because it’s true. The only books I want to represent are books that make money. See, I’m in the business of selling books for my clients to make us all money. I agent because it’s my career. Sure, it has the added bonus of being something I love, but I also need to feed myself and keep a roof over my head. So criticize all you want, but the truth is that good agents will only represent books they think will make them money. That’s called a job.

Jessica

Getting Reviews

If you have a book coming out soon (yay!) and you want to make sure it gets reviewed, how do you make sure the reviewers get it? Do you buy a copy and send it? Do you send a PDF of it to them? How do they get them? Pretty much, how, what, when, where, who help!!!!

First, let me congratulate you on the upcoming publication of your book.

The first thing you do when it comes to publicity is talk to your publisher about where they intend to send your book for reviews. Typically, at least with newspapers and magazines, a review copy of your book should be sent six months prior to publication. Blogs and web sites obviously have much, much shorter lead times, and waiting until you have final books will work just as well.

I would also work with your publisher to come up with a list. If you have places you’d like to see review your book, places your publisher might not consider, you should definitely let them know. There’s a good chance they’ll send the books for you. I think some of the best reviews are not those that are necessarily geared toward books. A lot of our cozy mystery authors, for example, have had great success with their books because they got the word out to those crafters who might be interested in what they’re writing about outside of the mystery.

Sending out copies for review is similar to querying agents. You send them whatever they want. Some might be happy with PDF files, while others will probably prefer hard copies. Either way, in addition to the galley, you’ll also want to send along a cover flat or copy of your cover as well as information on you and any marketing the publisher is putting behind the book.

Jessica

An Agent's Workload

I believe I may soon be getting an offer of representation. This agent is new, having just started representing her own clients in the past few months. I know that she has just signed two new clients three weeks ago. If I sign with her, that is three clients that she will be going on submission with around the same time. Is that a reasonable workload? How many clients does the average agent have on submission at one time?

Truthfully, there is no answer to this question. Agents all operate differently and, like the rest of you, all have a different definition for “reasonable workload.”

You say that this agent just signed two new clients and “will be going on submission around the same time.” Not necessarily true. Sure, presumably she’ll be submitting everyone at the same time, but that’s presuming that everyone is ready to submit. For all you know, she’ll be asking two of the three people to do major revisions, while the third feels ready to submit. She might go two or three rounds of revisions with one of you, while the other two are out on submission.

I don’t think there’s any one answer to this question. Some agents, just like some people, can easily handle multiple tasks at the same time, while others are better off handling only one client at a time.

I don’t think the number of clients this agent has recently taken on should impact your decision of how she might work for you. Instead, you should talk to the agent and decide if she’s the right agent for you.


Jessica

T.G.I.F.

The last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy and of course I love every minute of it. I've been catching up on a lot of reading, unfortunately for those who have sent me submissions most of it has been for clients. I've been brainstorming with clients, spending literally hours on the phone to come up with new ideas or help take current ideas to that next level, and I've been negotiating contracts (yippee!!).

So where do I stand on submissions? Here's the count:

Queries: Unfortunately I've fallen very far behind I again. A few weeks ago I actually reached the 300 mark, fewer then 300 sitting in my inbox. That is such a faint memory. While I've made it my goal to read at least one day's worth of queries each day, I still can't seem to keep up. At this moment I have 584 queries in my inbox. By the time you read this I'm sure the number will have grown. I have read every query submitted up to and through March 20. If you submitted before March 20 and haven't received a reply I haven't received your query.

Requested Proposals and Fulls: I have been requesting fewer, but, thanks to my intern, I'm also getting through them faster. I do believe I have fewer then 25 waiting to be read and responded to and, unless I'm missing something, I have responded to everything sent to me in 2009.

I've loved the Summer-like weather this week and am hoping to find time today to finish one client's proposal, another client's manuscript and maybe, just maybe, I'll find time this weekend to finish House Rules by Jodi Picoult. Rumor has it though that I should be expecting more client submissions in the next week.

Have a great weekend!

--Jessica

I Never Get Tired of This

I got an email last week from a teenage relative. She had recently bought The Homework Helper Guide to Chemistry, opened the book, and saw my name in the acknowledgment section. She wanted me to know that she thought that was pretty cool because she knows me.

I love the books I represent, but will always be surprised and thrilled when I hear from someone I know that they’ve randomly picked up a book I’ve worked on. It is really, really cool to know that the books I love are being read by thousands of others, even cooler when one or two of those thousands are people I care about.

I will never get tired of hearing stories like that. I will never, ever get tired of seeing “my books” in bookstores, and one of the biggest thrills of all? Walking through an airport or riding on a subway and seeing someone enjoying one of “my books.”

Jessica

Submission Guidelines

I printed out most of your guidelines for a submission. I printed out one page. Now i need a bit more. where do i find them please.

I’m not sure what more you would need. Our submission guidelines are fairly simple and easy to find. They should also be self-explanatory. However, all that being said, if you are still having trouble, here is what we ask for. A query letter. That’s it. That’s the only submission guideline you need to know to get started.

However, in case you still aren’t clear.

Our submission guidelines are listed on our web site.

For information on query letters and proposals (only if requested) you can go to the FAQ section of our web site. You can also spend time reading through the blog. Since you queried the blog I assume you know how to find the blog. Check out the Must-Read Posts at the side of this page. You’ll find a ton of helpful query examples there.

And that’s the last of the research I’m doing for you. I think we’ve worked hard to guide readers through the submission process. Do some research and you’ll find what you need.

Jessica

Paige Shelton on Getting Published

Paige Shelton
Farm Fresh Murder
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Pub date: April 2010
Agent: Jessica Faust


(Click to Buy)


How to Do Almost Everything Wrong and Still Get Published . . . Someday

I think I still have the notebook with the psychedelic design on its cover. I pasted comical cigarette stickers all over the back of it. It was 1971 after all, and I was only seven years old. Inside, on the first page, I wrote a poem titled "My Kite." As I finished the four-line masterpiece, I realized that I was destined to be a writer. Surely, the magnificent feeling that creating the poem gave me meant destiny was speaking – determining my future.

If only it had spoken a little more clearly.

I continued to write for my own enjoyment, but between 1971 and 1997 lots of other great stuff happened, like friendships, school, marriage, motherhood, jobs that weren’t always soul-sucking. In 1997 I decided it was time to turn this writing dream into a reality. I decreed I would be published by 1999, just in case all that Y2K stuff came true.

Though I was an avid mystery reader, the only local writing group I could find was the Utah Chapter of Romance Writers of America. I should point out that I looked the number up in the phonebook – the Internet wasn’t as grown-up as it is now. Anyway, they were (and still are, by the way) a great group of women (and some men) who taught me so much, but it was a huge mistake for me to think that I could write romance when, at the time, I hadn’t read even one. I started reading and writing, but I reached December 31, 1999, with only a bunch of poorly written love scenes and way too many euphemisms for sex.

I’ll summarize the next number of years by saying they were full of rejection – some constructive, some downright vicious. Honestly, when I hear about writers who dream (while sleeping) something that they turn into an immediate bestseller, I want to beat my head against my desk. I don’t begrudge anyone their success; I just wish it was that easy for the rest of us. I still dream about missing the all-important Psychology 101 final. I never dream bestselling stories.

Then somewhere along the way, the Internet did grow up. Suddenly, information became so . . . available. There are some amazing editors and agents out there who were kind enough to start these things called “Blogs.” Suddenly, I learned so much. So, that’s what a query letter is supposed to sound like! I’m not supposed to call editors? I need an agent? Really? Well, okay then, let me work on that.

With a few more manuscripts under my belt, more rejection followed until one day an agent said she actually wanted to represent me. Of course, I was stunned and excited beyond belief – and believe it or not, this was another huge mistake. The entire time I talked to her during our first phone call, something in my gut told me that she and I wouldn’t be a good fit. Something told me that I should politely tell her that I didn’t think it would work, but I didn’t. Instead, I spent the next two years trying to reach her – by email, phone or snail mail. The only time she responded was when she was in a hurry to something else and didn’t have much time to talk. I have no idea if she submitted my manuscript to the people she said she submitted it to.

But, I also spent those two years working on a mystery – this was my fifth completed manuscript. I won’t say the writing was easy, but it was almost a relief. I’ve probably read thousands of mysteries. I loved the plotting, I loved planting the red herrings, I loved . . . well, I loved the mystery. In fact, though I’ve always loved writing, writing this story was more satisfying than even the masterpiece poem I wrote when I was seven.

And I certainly wasn’t going to give it to my agent. I fired her – too politely probably – and set out to find another agent, a good one this time.

I’m not sure I can remember the exact sequence of events, but a few months into querying, two agents – two really good agents – were suddenly interested in my work. One had had the manuscript for a while. One hadn’t responded to my first query, so I sent her another one – finally, I did something right. The second one, the one who hadn’t responded at first, was Jessica Faust.

Things happened quickly at that point – this was February/March 2008. Not only did I know Jessica and I would be a good fit, but when I told the other agent who was interested (who is awesome, too, by the way) about Jessica, she only wished me luck and told me I was in great hands. She was right, and from the beginning Jessica has done exactly what she said she would do, and she has never once ignored a communication from me even if she didn’t have good news to share. These are things everyone should expect from their agent. I wish I’d known that sooner.

Anyway, Jessica set out to sell the manuscript. And, much to our disappointment, it didn’t sell. But Ms. Faust doesn’t even know the concept of “giving up.” She and I had a brainstorming session. Here’s the deal: When you have a brainstorming session with your agent and you feel like she knows you better than you even know yourself, rest assured you’ve signed on with the right person. The Farmer's Market Mystery Series idea came from that meeting.

It took some time for me to get about a hundred pages written, but in October of 2008, with those pages, Jessica sold the first three books of the series to the fabulous Michelle Vega at Berkley. The first book, Farm Fresh Murder, comes out today, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Yes, I made lots of mistakes along the way, some stupid, some just human, but I’m sure that somehow everything has worked out the way it was supposed to. It might have taken thirty-nine years from that first poem to get published, but hey, at least it didn’t take forty.


Farm Fresh Murder is Paige Shelton’s debut novel and the first in A Farmer’s Market mystery series. She also made a recent deal for If Fried Chicken Could Fly and two other books in the Grandma’s Cooking School mystery series. Both series are published with Berkley Prime Crime. More information on Paige and her books can be found on her web site www.paigeshelton.com/.

Making Comparisons

It’s not at all uncommon for authors to compare their work to that of others. In fact, it’s not uncommon for agents to do the same thing. In a quick search of Publishers Marketplace I found the following comparisons:

pitched as in the tradition of Raymond Carver and Lorrie Moore
pitched as in the spirit of Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life or Richard Holmes's The Age of Wonders
pitched as a James Bond-meets-The Da Vinci Code political crime thriller
pitched as in the tradition of Kate DiCamillo
pitched as in the tradition of Robert Ludlum and Dan Brown
pitched as a Pete McCarthy-meets-Nick Hornby travelogue
pitched as Infinite Jest with Silence of the Lambs
pitched as Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong meets Diana Gabaldon's Outlander
pitched as Dexter meets The Silence of the Lambs for teens

Now, my guess is that while some of these samples will appeal to you, others will turn you off. Maybe you’ve never been a fan of Robert Ludlum or you despised Infinite Jest. Whatever the reason, that’s the trick with using comparisons and why I caution you to be careful when doing so. Just as a comparison can give an agent or editor a very quick and easy idea of what your book is, it can turn them off or, worse, make it more confusing.

For example, I have no idea what Twilight meets Blue’s Clues would even be. Who would be the audience and how would a book like that work? And yes, this example is based on an actual pitch I received.

If you choose to do comparisons, take a look at Publishers Marketplace to get an idea for what works. Comparisons are used to show who an audience might be and work best if you’re using bestselling names, current or recent bestselling names, and not old or obscure references. They also work best if you have some idea that they are books or authors that will appeal to the agent you’re trying to pitch.

Jessica

World Autism Awareness Day

There is a very special little boy in my life. He is sweet, brilliant and a joy to be around. And he has been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), commonly known as Autism.

I have known this little boy since birth and he has taught me so much. I've learned to stop and watch the ants because they really are fascinating and I've learned how truly noisy a quiet house can be. I've also learned that no matter what we might label someone or how we might decide to categorize someone, the truth is that they were the same people before the label. The same wonderfully loving, charming people.

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. I'm wearing blue to show my support for the Autistic community and one little boy in particular who is near and dear to my heart.

--Jessica

Note to All Writers

I will not return your phone call simply to give you detailed advice of why I rejected your proposal, especially when I have no idea why I rejected your proposal, because I only have a very vague recollection of said proposal at best.

So please stop calling.

Jessica