Book Packager v. Agent

Help! I feel like a bunny in a lions den! I had an idea for a non-fiction book, not being a writer and knowing absolutely nothing about the publishing industry, I searched for books on similar subjects and contacted them with my idea and asking if they would like to collaborate. One of the authors who replied was a book packager who began working with me on the proposal. We both had the same ideas on what the book should be so I thought it would be a good fit . . . until they sent me the contract. It was a work for hire agreement - no way was I going to agree to it, this was my baby and I was the one doing the work, they weren't planning on helping me write - just the packaging and finding a publisher, yet here they wanted to pay me a small fee and keep the copywrite. I began to querry agents. In the meantime they agreed verbally to most of my terms but wanted to split any advance 70/30 - net, my cut being thirty and any future royalties 50/50 - net. They wouldn't budge on this stating that their expenses were going to be high and this was normal for first time authors. Mabe I'm being stubborn but since their expenses are taken out before the split why does their split have to be so high? To make me trust them less, when they sent the new contract they stated that the split for advance AND royalties at 70/30. They have since sent a corrected contract but I just feel as if they are trying to take advantage of my inexperience and there may be something else I am missing. In the meantime, one of the agents I had contacted asked me to send my full proposal. I should be hearing back from her in a few weeks. I don't know if I can put the book packagers off for that long but there are moments when I think I'd rather not do it at all than get ripped off!
Any advise???

There’s a lot here. In other words, there’s a lot for me to comment on and a lot of different issues to address. I’m going to try to take it step by step.

You started by saying you had a book idea but you aren’t a writer, so it sounds to me like you were looking for someone to write the book for you because you thought the idea was so revolutionary. That might be the case, but the truth is that an idea is nothing without the execution, at least in the book world. I have seen some of the most amazing ideas cross my desk in both fiction and nonfiction, but without the right execution it never made it to publication.

As for the book packager. This is a typical book packager agreement and why I urge all writers to do their research before putting things out there. Without knowing what the book is or what is being done to package the book, I can’t tell you for sure if what they’re doing is fair. It sounds to me like it is. A 70/30 split and 50/50 royalties is far more than most authors receive from packagers. Do you know what they’re doing for you? Is this a heavily illustrated book and are they supplying the illustrations? You claimed earlier you are not a writer and were looking for a writer, but now you say you are the one doing all the work. I’m a little confused by this. Are you actually writing the book or is someone else? Are they doing a lot of work preparing the package and editing or are you expected to do all of that yourself?

Here’s the deal. Here’s what a book packager typically does. If what you want is to keep the majority of the money and hold on to the rights, you need a literary agent. To find one, however, you need to be prepared to write the book proposal yourself (or pay someone to write it for you) and submit it to agents for consideration. If illustrations or art are required you will need to be the one to pay for and supply those.

As for what you should do? I can’t tell you that. I don’t have enough information for one thing, but I also don’t know if you’re getting ripped off. That depends on what the packager is doing to make this a project that can be sold.

Jessica

Author Speed Date

The idea of speed dating is that you get 10 minutes to sit down with a prospective date and get to know them. In that spirit, we present Author Speed Date. A quick 10 minutes for you to get to know some of our clients. Today we'd like you to meet Christie Craig.

BookEnds Author Speed Date

Name (the one you’re published under): Christie Craig/C. C. Hunter or “hey you.”

Speed date Bio (one or two lines): When Christie Craig isn’t sipping wine and telling a joke, she writes humorous romantic suspense for Grand Central and young adult paranormal romances for St. Martin’s Griffin as C. C. Hunter. (Is that longer than two lines? Sorry, I’m Southern, and long-winded. Plus, math was never my best subject.)

Web Link: www.christie-craig.com and www.cchunterbooks.com

Next Book, pub date: Born at Midnight, March 29th (C. C. Hunter) and Don’t Mess With Texas, August 23rd (Christie Craig)

Agent: What’s her name . . . Oh, yeah, Kim Lionetti. (Did I spell that right?)

About Me

Real Name or Pseudonym: Christie Craig is my real name. C. C. Hunter is a pseudonym.

Currently Reading: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Next on Your Reading List: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Facebook or Twitter (include account name): ChristieCraigFans and @Christie_Craig, plus CCHunterFans and @CCHunterBooks

Three authors living or dead you would want to have dinner with: Janet Evanovich (because people keep comparing my Christie Craig books to hers), E. B. White (he wrote my favorite children’s book, Charlotte’s Web), and Stephenie Meyer (so I could ask her why Bella chose Edward).

Jet-setter or armchair traveler: Jet-setter, love to travel. I’ve visited China, France, South America and almost all the U.S. And I’m just getting started.

Glass ½ full or ½ empty: The glass is always half full. If you want to make it as a writer, you have to keep going in spite of the hurdles, so having a positive outlook is essential to success.

Tea or Coffee: Coffee with cream, please. I’m waiting . . . where is it?

Live to write or Write to live: Both. Wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop, can’t stop.

About My Writing

When (time of day) I write: 7 a.m. – whenever. I’m bad about writing ten or more hours a day, especially when I’m on a deadline.

Writing soundtrack: None. Shh, silence, please. I can’t write with music if it has lyrics.

Character Inspirations: I steal from the world, from my own personal experiences and waitresses who wait on me. All is fair in the author’s world.

Plot Inspirations: What ifs. Anything that makes me stop and think. Imagine me, sipping coffee, looking out my office window. A garbage truck roars down my street. What if the thing that had the garbageman looking so hard into the neighbor’s garbage can was a human head? Did my neighbor kill his wife? You know, I’ve always thought he was a Colombian drug lord. But wait! (Flipping into my paranormal mode of thinking.) What if the garbageman’s not really a garbageman but a rogue vampire? And my Colombian drug lord neighbor is really a werewolf . . . Oh yeah, oh yeah, this is going to work.

Setting Inspirations: Sunsets, sunrises, the moon, the Waffle House. Put me somewhere and I’ll find something in that setting that inspires me to write about it.

Plotter (carefully plot books) or Pantser (write from the seat of my pants): Complete pantser. Even my synopses go to my editors with sentences that read, “I don’t know who the villain is right now, but it will be the least likely person the reader expects.”



Thanks for the interview, guys. Signing off, going to stand by the window and watch the garbagemen a while.

Advance Expectations

I am having a lot of trouble finding information on what type of advance one might expect for a fictional work that has been previously published in another country but not the United States. The work was originally published a few years ago in England by one of the big publishers. What sort of offer might be expected if it's accepted for publication by another of the big publishers in the States?

You’re having trouble finding the information because there’s no answer. How well did the book sell in England? What is its marketability in the U.S. (just because a book is successful in one country doesn’t mean it will work in another)? These are just a couple of questions that will come into play when a publisher considers whether or not to even offer on a new book, let alone how much to pay.

When it comes to how much of an advance an author can expect, whether it’s for a foreign rights sale or a first sale, there are no answers. How much a publisher offers is going to come down to your background as an author (previous sales numbers), the marketability of the book, the timing of the market, and generally how much passion people feel about the book.


Jessica

Workshop Wednesday

By repeated request we've started Workshop Wednesday. It will definitely play out through 2011, and beyond that we'll just have to see. We've received well over 200 queries at this point, but we are choosing at random, so don't be afraid to participate as per the guidelines in our original post.

For anyone wanting to comment, we ask that you comment in a polite and respectful manner, and we ask that you be as constructive as possible. If you can be useful to the brave souls who submitted their query and comment on the query, that's great. Please keep any anonymous tirades on publishing or other snarky comments to yourself. This is and should remain an open and safe forum for people to put themselves and their queries out there so that everyone can learn. I'm leaving comments open and open to anonymous posters, as I always have; don't make me feel the need to change that policy.

And for those who have never "met" Query Shark, get over there and do that. She's the originator of the query critique, the queen, if you will.


Because your agency represents many authors whose titles I've read, I would like to be considered for your query workshop.

I think this opening is fine. You show that you've done your research on the agency, and that's good.


I have been on the receiving end of many a query when I worked for a literary journal. However, drafting a query for the specific type of genre I've chosen to write -- women's fiction/romance -- has been the most challenging and confusing aspect of seeing this m.s. through to completion. (Synopsis? Cake walk.)

I actually like the way you slip in your experience at the literary journal and connect with the agent by showing that you have a background in publishing and writing. The same holds true for the genre. This is very conversational. I would suggest you spell out "manuscript." One of the problems with email is it can easily become too casual, especially if you're also a Tweeter. It's easy for all of us to get lazy and start to shorten or abbreviate. I've been guilty of this many times. When it comes to professional correspondence, no matter how conversational, use your best grammar. Remember, we're judging your writing on this query first. I also like the parenthetical comment you made. Again, conversational, which, even though it's a professional correspondence, works nicely.


The hapless query attached has been through so many incarnations, with so much (conflicting) input from various mentors, I'm beginning to wonder if the poor thing will ever reach its zen. I keep fingers crossed that your agency can give me gentle guidance.

And here's the problem. You've attached the query. Many are going to wonder why I even bothered to include this in the query workshop when it's not actually a query. Because many times it is the query I receive and only the query I read. At least once a week I receive a query very similar to this. The author spends a great deal of time writing a nice email explaining the query and then attaches it. It states on our website that queries should be written in the body of the email, and most agents will agree. Few will open an unrequested attachment. Contrary to popular belief, this is not entirely about a fear of viruses. In fact, as far as I'm concerned it's not about viruses at all. The BookEnds policy to not open query attachments is about time management. I can easily spend an hour a day answering queries and still not be even close to caught up. Opening attachments and then going back to the email to respond adds extra time, and to be successful in life we all need to carefully manage our time. This is one way I try to streamline the query process for myself. Think of it this way: What if every response to a query you sent came as an attachment, including my response telling you the query was received?


Fond regards from Austin,

There's nothing wrong with this. The "fond regards" bugs me personally for some reason, but in the grand scheme of a query critique that doesn't matter.


Jessica

Character Copyright

What is the proper use/copyright requirements if I want to allude to a copyrighted character in another work? Can I do it? Specifically, I'm looking at a single reference - as in a single line of dialog, something like "You're quite the Nancy Drew, aren't you?" (this is an example, not a quote). Am I required to get permission to use the term "Nancy Drew" from the copyright holder (I am referencing their description of the character, I suppose, but it's a term that's commonly used), or is noting the copyright holder enough?

Copyright becomes an issue if you plan to use that character in your work. If, for example, you want Nancy Drew herself to be a character in your work. To talk about a pop culture reference, whether it’s a character, a famous person, a book, a movie, etc., is not a copyright issue. Therefore your example is not a copyright issue at all, and you don’t need to reference the copyright holder or obtain permission.

Jessica

Idea Testing

Is there any forum for / opportunity to share novel ideas, prior to writing them?

I have three ideas that I am playing about with, and I would love to get some industry feedback. It is possible that a similar book has been written, or the topic doesn't have a large enough platform, and I would hate to find this out after investing a year in the writing. A forum where writers could pitch their story ideas - not for representation or sale, but to get a feel for viability - would be an excellent resource for writers and agents alike. I am sure if anyone knows about the existence of something like this, it would be you.

I don’t know of any such forum, and while it’s not a bad idea, I think you’d have a difficult time getting both authors and industry pros to participate.

My guess is that authors would be hesitant to participate because an idea is just an idea, and the fear of idea theft would be huge.

My guess is that industry pros would be hesitant because an idea is great, but it’s the execution that makes all the difference. Take a look at published books, and let’s use vampires as an example. There are hundreds of romances written featuring vampires, but it’s the execution of the story that makes all the difference when it comes to grabbing readers.

Unfortunately there are no shortcuts in this business. You can use your writing group as a sounding board for your ideas, but ultimately you need to sit down and execute the book and then see if it works.

Jessica

Author Speed Date

The idea of speed dating is that you get 10 minutes to sit down with a prospective date and get to know them. In that spirit, we present Author Speed Date. A quick 10 minutes for you to get to know some of our clients. Today we'd like you to meet Lynn LaFleur.

BookEnds Author Speed Date

Name (the one you’re published under): Lynn LaFleur

Speed date Bio (one or two lines): Author of over 30 erotic romance books.

Web Link: www.lynnlafleur.com

Next Book, pub date: The Birthday Gift, from Ellora’s Cave February 2011

Agent: Jessica Faust

About Me

Real Name or Pseudonym: Lynn LaFleur

Currently Reading: RWA RITA contest entries

Next on Your Reading List: Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Facebook or Twitter (include account name):

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lynn.lafleur
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lynn_lafleur


Three authors living or dead you would want to have dinner with: Sandra Brown, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jill Shalvis

Jet-setter or armchair traveler: Armchair traveler

Glass ½ full or ½ empty: Always ½ full

Tea or Coffee: Tea

Live to write or Write to live: Live to write

About My Writing

When (time of day) I write: Morning to late afternoon.

Writing soundtrack: New Age instrumentals.

Character Inspirations: They all come out of my head.

Plot Inspirations: Most of those come out of my head too, but sometimes a simple phrase I hear someone say will spark an idea.

Setting Inspirations: I usually set my books in either Texas or Washington, as I’ve lived in both states.

Plotter (carefully plot books) or Pantser (write from the seat of my pants): Big-time pantser!

From Self-Pubbed to Contract

After finishing my novel I sent it out into the slush piles. I got 5 requests, 2 of them for the full. All of them decided to pass in the end, despite them saying that they liked it, thought it was well written, and that it was very original. None of them really gave me a reason for passing. After playing out the attempt to get an agent, I decided to make my novel available through print-on-demand service since all of my family and friends were begging to read it. I’ve gotten great reviews on it, not just from people I know, most of them people I have never met. I’ve had half a dozen book review bloggers contact me about reviewing a copy and have gotten amazing support and reviews. I’ve made a decent establishment of myself online, if you search my name I pop up everywhere.

I am realistic about the potential of success using a POD service though. The chances of getting this off the ground are slim to none. Feeling a little more confident that people will actually and do actually like my work, I would like to send it back out to agents. My concern is, however, that an agent will be more hesitant to look at me because I have done the POD service. Many agents seem to see this option as the “kiss of death.” I recently sent a submission to a medium-sized publishing house who said they liked it but since it had been “published in any form” they would not be interested.

So I wonder- is it going to help me at all, even though I’ve gotten such amazing feedback and have started to make a name for myself? Have I done myself a great disservice by making it available already?

It will definitely help you that you’ve received good reviews and feedback. It will help you even more if your sales have been exceptional, because when it comes right down to it, publishers are only really interested in sales numbers.

I don’t think you’ve done yourself a disservice by making this book available, I think you’re doing yourself a disservice by not moving on from this book. The smartest thing you can do at this point is move on to your next book and start submitting that to agents. The feedback you’ve received on your first book might help present your book but, more important, your next book is bound to be stronger.


Jessica

Workshop Wednesday

By repeated request we've started Workshop Wednesday. It will definitely play out through 2011, and beyond that we'll just have to see. We've received well over 200 queries at this point, but we are choosing at random, so don't be afraid to participate as per the guidelines in our original post.

For anyone wanting to comment, we ask that you comment in a polite and respectful manner, and we ask that you be as constructive as possible. If you can be useful to the brave souls who submitted their query and comment on the query, that's great. Please keep any anonymous tirades on publishing or other snarky comments to yourself. This is and should remain an open and safe forum for people to put themselves and their queries out there so that everyone can learn. I'm leaving comments open and open to anonymous posters, as I always have; don't make me feel the need to change that policy.

And for those who have never "met" Query Shark, get over there and do that. She's the originator of the query critique, the queen, if you will.

Dear Bookends,

Always address your query to a specific agent, not just the agency’s name. Queries that aren’t aimed at a specific agent will most likely be read by an intern first, or will be passed over quickly because the agent will perceive you as someone who didn’t do their homework. And, at any rate, it should be spelled “BookEnds.”


I am writing you in regards to my first novel. I am a 23 year old aspiring author. I currently work as a stonemason.

Honestly, I wouldn’t divulge any of this information to an agent or editor. Don’t tell me it’s your first novel. That makes the agent immediately think that you’re sending the first writing project to ever come out of your printer — whether that’s the case or not. Writing generally gets better with practice, just like anything else. Perhaps you’re the exception and have penned a classic the first time you sat down to write. It doesn’t matter, because agents and editors have preconceived notions. And you don’t need to give up that information anyway.

I also don’t need to know your age and occupation. When you’re coming to me with a book project, you’re a writer first. Unless your occupation plays into the credibility of the story you’ve written, it’s not relevant to the letter. Especially in fiction. If your protagonist was a stonemason and that played heavily into the story, then it would be worth mentioning.


Ben awakes from deep freeze, but not in the utopia he'd been promised; in fact it's quite the opposite. He's been shipwrecked on some undiscovered backwater planet. He thought his prospects were bad on earth. His job had been taken over by droid workers, the girl he loved left him and his last living family member just died. Now, however, this may be worse. There is no food, no shelter and his only companion is a shirtless old man who constantly rummages through the landscape for edible plants. Ben decides to preserve his own sanity by finding other survivors.

This setup is a little wordy, but intriguing. I think it would capture the reader’s interest even more, however, if I understood what world and what circumstances Ben was coming from. What caused the deep freeze? And why did he think he’d wake up in utopia?


Ben and Leon rescue others from starvation and begin to establish a small society. One day they discover a crashed military vessel. Could it be a rescue crew? The only passenger is an unconscious young man. When he wakes he is barely coherent, but in a rage tries to kill Ben, claiming Ben murdered his father. Ben left earth before this kid was even born and he certainly never murdered anyone. It's assumed the young man is just some escaped lunatic - until they find Ben's mug shot tattooed on the young man's chest.

A flashback to earth presents the alternate reality that climaxes in a life and death scenario - not only for Ben, but for all of mankind as well.

Okay. Now the plot is starting to sound a bit convoluted, and I believe that’s largely due to the fact that I don’t have a frame of reference for this story. Is Earth still in existence? If so, why did Ben leave? If Ben left Earth before this young man was born, does that mean he’s been on this other planet for 20 years or more before the man shows up? If not, where was he in the interim?

Also, with that setup paragraph it really seemed like this book was going to be about starting a new society on this planet. Instead it sounds like the focus of the book is this mystery that actually took place on Earth. If that’s the case you need to focus much less on Leon and this survival story and more on the context of this world and the arrival of the young man and the mystery he carries with him.


START ANEW is a 45,000 word science fiction. It is my debut novel and the first in a potential series.

45,000 words is very short. Adult science fiction with a scope as large as the one you’ve described should be about twice as long. You should probably research the market a bit more and get a better grasp of what’s out there.


Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,



Kim

Buying the Bestseller List

Suppose a debut writer lands a book deal. For a modest advance; no one's expecting fireworks. Now, further suppose this writer has a war chest set aside for this day, and is willing to spend $100k+ of his own money on publicity, and quit his day job to make darn sure the book earns out the advance (this writer is determined, independently wealthy, and doesn't really care whether, objectively, this shot in the dark makes good business sense - it clearly does not).

My question is NOT "is it possible to buy your way to the bestseller list?" Let's presume it is with enough money and effort, albeit highly unlikely. Rather, my question is this: will the publisher stand behind this writer and allow him to buy ads in the trade pubs and co-op space at the front of bookstores, bring in an outside PR firm and purchase a few thousand review copies, etc.? Or is this sort of thing considered "untoward" in the industry?

Publishers are incredibly supportive/enthusiastic about an author who wants to work hard on their own publicity and marketing. It’s not untoward at all; in fact, these days, it’s almost required. The one thing I would encourage you to do when spending your money is make sure you’re working with the publisher to make the most of your dollar. In other words, make sure that you’re constantly communicating about what you’re both doing so you’re not wasting money simply doubling efforts.

A question for you though. If you have $100k to spend, why wouldn’t you simply epublish and make more in royalties? Forget the modest advance.

Jessica