Most Interesting Conference Experiences

I can’t even begin to count the number of conferences I’ve been to. Since starting the agency ten years ago I have attended anywhere from five to ten each year, and prior to that I attended a number as an editor. Needless to say, I’ve had more than my share of interesting experiences. I’ve had terrific moments where I met future clients. I’ve had horrible moments where organizers were anything but and attendees spent more time worrying about the color of the envelope they were submitting in than they did their writing, and I’ve had the truly scary times where groups of agents and editors fled after hearing some truly threatening remarks made by a seemingly unstable attendee.

While I’ve certainly given a great deal of advice about conferences, one of the things I don’t think I’ve ever done is share some of the more interesting or rewarding experiences I have. These are typically conference workshops that were different from anything else I’ve ever done before and that I found refreshing and fun from my side of things and hopefully useful for authors.

At one conference they had critique sessions, and I have to admit I was dreading it, unsure of how authors were going to take my face-to-face feedback. The way the session worked meant I received eight to ten samples before the conference. The samples included the first ten or so pages of each book and a one-page synopsis. Everyone taking the workshop (they kept it to a small number, about 10) received the same material. On my flight to the conference I read the material and made my comments. Then the entire group got together and went around the circle to discuss the pages we received. I would start by giving my feedback and suggestions and then open the floor to everyone else at the table. I have no doubt that it was a little painful and very difficult for the authors, and I give anyone who participated a lot of credit. However, I think hearing an agent’s feedback, as well as feedback from other authors, on your own work and on the work of others can help you learn a lot. It felt very productive to me.

At two different conferences I did a workshop the conference came up with that allowed attendees to get a sneak peek into what it must be like to read the slush pile. One conference focused on queries only, while the other on the first two pages of the manuscript. All material was submitted anonymously by brave writers. A reader read the material aloud, and when the agents on the panel reached the point where we would have stopped reading we simply said stop. Once all agents were in agreement we went on to explain further why we stopped. In some cases it was a simple phrase that sat wrong with an agent, in other cases it was simply unclear writing, and in other cases it was entirely personal. We tried to be nice, but I do think authors were really given insight into how subjective the business is as well as what goes through an agent’s mind when considering new material.

One conference held “take a speaker to lunch” days. Instead of hosting a lunch, they encouraged attendees to invite one of the speakers out to lunch. I’m sure there are a lot of agents who might groan at this possibility, but I enjoyed it. There were no rules (other than that the attendees were encouraged to pay for the lunch) so an entire writing group could ask one agent or an individual could ask. It allowed me a little downtime to discuss one of my favorite topics (publishing) and learn a little about the area I was visiting, and it certainly allowed brave attendees to get easy quality time with an agent and really learn about the business rather than pitch a book in ten minutes. Oh, now that I think about it, pitching might have been discouraged for these lunches.

I’m sure there are other conference events that stood out for me, but these were different and fun for me to participate in. What about you as conference attendees? Have there been any different “activities” or workshops that you think more conferences could benefit from?

Jessica

Know Thy Reader

It seems that daily I’m receiving comments about how sad it is that the people who really need to hear my advice aren’t reading the blogs, and while that’s true when it comes to those of you who have been here for a while and have been reading the blogs of other agents, I’m not convinced it’s true across the board.

Just the other day, for example, I received a very lengthy email from an author who, after querying me, discovered the blog and spent most of her evening reading all my past posts. She was new to the publishing world and was thanking me for all the insight I’d provided. Every day I see comments from some of my die-hard readers and every week I see a comment or receive an email from someone who has just discovered me.

One of the biggest challenges I face is trying to appeal to as many people as possible, but I think as writers we can all agree that I’ll never please everyone. I work hard to write my blog for all audiences. In the end I know that who I appeal most to are the unpublished, although I do know that a number of published writers also read fairly regularly and I hope they too find information they can use from time to time.

When I post something that you feel you know already, I apologize, but please keep in mind that to someone else this might be new information. While I have no real statistics of whether or not the blog makes a difference, my queries tell a different story. I do think my blog is making a difference in a much bigger way than just those who comment. I think the blogs of all agents make a difference. I think we’ll all agree that query letters are getting better. Most important, though, professionalism has improved. Authors are coming into publishing (from the beginning) with an understanding of what exactly it is they’re getting into. They know it’s not easy and they know it’s a business. I have to say, that’s a vast improvement over what I was seeing five years ago.

So I think this is the best time to remind you that if you want to see something specific on the blog, the best way is to ask. Many of my posts are based on the emails I receive from readers. I keep all identifying information confidential if quoting the email directly and frequently I simply use your question as a launching point for a post of my own. So if there’s anything you’d like to see more of or a question you’d like answered, don’t hesitate to send an email to blog@bookends-inc.com. As always I have a backlog of questions, but I’m always looking for a new topic.

Jessica

The Submission Process

I've been thinking a lot lately about how the process of submitting to an agent has both changed and remained very static with the advent of the internet. Specifically, I'm wondering about the tradition of agents requesting a partial manuscript and then, if they like it, a full.

Now, I understand why this made sense in the old days, when writers had to print out and mail everything; it would be a waste of paper and effort to send an entire 400 page manuscript if the agent was only going to look at the first 50 pages before rejecting. However, now that many manuscripts are sent using the internet, there doesn't seem to be a difference between sending a complete manuscript vs. a partial. Wouldn't it save agents time if they simply requested full manuscripts for every query that interested them? That way if they liked the first 50 pages they wouldn't have to request that the author send them more materials and they wouldn't have to wait for the rest of the manuscript to arrive. And it's not as though they would have to read the entire manuscript; the agent could still just read the first 50 pages (or less) before deciding to reject.

Is the process really more for the author's mental health? Meaning, the query-->partial-->full process has several indicators to the author of the agent's interest before ever reaching the point of offering representation, one of which would be taken away if partial requests were eliminated?

Interesting question, especially since it comes from the author’s perspective. I am constantly rethinking my submission process and how I personally do things. I have to admit, though, most of my decisions are based on my own mental health and not the author’s (although I do try to take the author’s mental health into consideration when writing my rejection letters).

I know there are some agents who will request the full right out of the gate for that very reason: they don’t have to wait for more. And there are agents who are entirely electronic as well as those who prefer hardcopy in all things (including queries). I fall somewhere in the middle. My interns and my assistant do a lot of great preliminary reading for me. I find their reports invaluable in helping me review proposals. After all, it never hurts to get a second opinion. For that reason I still request about 50% of my submissions via snail mail. How those requests are made have little to do with my enthusiasm for a project and more to do with timing. If I’ve requested a lot via email the next batch of requests will be snail mail. And honestly, these days my snail mail proposals are getting read at a faster rate because I have the interns to keep up with.

I do agree that it makes perfect sense to request a full instead of a partial, but I can’t get myself to go there yet and it’s entirely psychological. The sight of a stack of fulls (even if they are sitting in my Kindle inbox) is intimidating. That’s a lot of reading. The same stack of partials feels much more manageable. And I guess I’m also a little old-fashioned at times. I like the idea that a full request is still something special and means that you’re getting to that next level. I know, that’s silly, but sometimes I’m silly.

Jessica

How Much Can You Really Tell

I don’t envy authors when it comes to making a decision about an agent. Sure, it’s one thing to send the queries out, but it’s an entirely different thing when multiple offers of representation come in and you have to decide which agent you think is right for you because, let’s face it, unlike dating, you don’t have weeks, months or even years to get to know this person and rarely do you have the opportunity to sit down in person. Typically the decision is made after a few phone calls and lots of thought on your part.

I’ve done multiple posts on what questions to ask and how to trust yourself and your gut, so I’m not going to get into that again. Instead I’m going to address comments I see regularly from writers who feel that you should base part of your decision of choosing an agent on how that agent responds to you prior to making an offer of representation. The biggest factor seems to be slow response times. Many writers feel that if an agent is slow to respond to queries or submissions (or responds later than a posted respond-by date) it’s a sign that she’s an agent who will also be slow to respond to clients. I disagree. I’m not sure you can judge an agent by response times at all, except when it comes to response times.

I’ve said this before, but a good agent will always prioritize clients first, and sometimes that means that submissions have to sit longer than intended. For an agent there is no such thing as a typical day. Things can be going along smoothly and neatly with all queries, client emails, and phone calls being returned regularly and in a timely manner when suddenly you’re hit with four clients who have fresh proposals or manuscripts that need to be read and responded to (often with a revision letter) or contracts that need to be negotiated and reviewed. All of this takes a lot more time than even an agent can typically expect. I’m often amazed at how much time contract reviews and revision letters take. Hopefully the agent will always put queries and submissions aside to focus on clients first.

On the other hand, an agent who always responds to submissions in a timely manner (and I stress the word "always" here) might be super organized or she might be avoiding what really needs to be done and letting client contracts, proposals, and even checks pile up while she’s busy looking for the next big thing. You might get a timely response because you submitted at just the right time, when things were quiet and she had time to get to it immediately upon its arrival. It might also be a submission she was able to look at and know instantly it wasn’t for her or it was exactly what she was looking for and she put everything else aside to read it.

What I’m trying to say is that how an agent responds to submissions is an indication of practically nothing. It simply means that you got a response. When choosing an agent I think it’s so much more important to talk to that agent’s clients to really find out how they feel about her and to base your decision on the conversation you have with her and the questions you ask. Trust your gut.

All that being said, I do think there’s one thing you can learn from an agent before “the call” is made, and that’s whether or not she’s respectful of authors in general. An agent who treats you rudely or unprofessionally or who has a reputation for unprofessional behavior will probably treat others unprofessionally, and I’m not sure that’s someone you want on your side.

Jessica

When You're Ready to Hear It

Years ago I was standing in the crowded lobby during an RWA National conference talking to an author about her career. She was reminding me of something I had said to her a few years earlier, and while she thought it made sense at the time, it hadn’t really clicked until recently. And when it did, suddenly, everything seemed to make sense and a book deal soon followed. One of the things we were talking about is how much you can hear and read and learn and how it can all make sense, but not necessarily click; that somehow, you have to be ready to hear, really hear, what people are saying, and when you do it’s like magic.

I think about this conversation often and remind myself when I’m giving advice, whether it’s to my clients, at a conference, or through the blog, that not everyone is always ready to hear the words I’m saying, but when they do it will be like magic. I remind myself of this when I think of my own career too, how age and experience have made me wiser and yet how much more I still expect to learn. How things people said to me in my younger days may not have made as much sense at the time, but boy do I rely on those words now.

So continue to absorb all the information you’re getting, continue to learn and study, and continue to write and I swear, I really do, when your subconscious decides you are ready to really hear what someone is saying, you too will feel the magic.

Jessica

Idea Theft

I suspect the topic of plagiarism or idea theft is common among authors, especially in this day of computers and scanners, but how common is it and how much should authors be concerned about it?

I have to admit, I think at times I’m a bit of a Pollyanna (although I prefer to call it optimism). I really like to think the best of people, especially those who call themselves professionals (you would think in this age of Bernie Madoff I would learn). More than that though, I suspect when it comes to agents and publishers, few have the time or the inclination to steal an idea if the project submitted is good enough on its own (and I’ve certainly blogged about this before). But what about authors? Can you trust your critique group or the contests you’re submitting to? I know there are horror stories out there, there are always horror stories, but how often does it really happen and how much do you have to worry about it?

The reason I’m writing about this today is because one of you wants to know specifically about contests: “Recently, I sent in the first chapter of my newest project, something out of my norm, and my crit partners were wild about it. When I told them I planned to enter it in a few contests, several of them were vehement that I not. When I asked why (our typical use for the contests is to get a read on what people think), they were concerned that the idea – the spin – was something new and different, and putting it out there for contests would leave it open to idea stealing.”

Here’s the catch: an idea is not copyrightable, so yes, someone could steal your idea, but what really matters in the end is the execution. If your idea is brilliant, but you aren’t able to execute it as brilliantly, it’s not brilliant. Does that give others permission to steal the idea? Certainly not, and I would never condone stealing someone’s idea. What I do want to do instead though is challenge you to actually define “idea” when it comes to your book. Is the idea simply that you are writing a fantasy featuring elves or is it the entire breakdown of the story? For example, I know for a fact that there are or have been three knitting mystery series published. Does the simple fact that they are knitting mysteries make that an idea that’s now stolen or is it how the knitting mystery plays out that’s really the idea? Does the idea also include the setting and the characters? The reason I ask these questions is because frequently I’ll hear authors complain that someone else has stolen their idea when the idea is really a simple one-sentence description, and I truly believe that the idea or success is what you do with that description, not the description itself. Let’s take Harry Potter, for example: the idea of Harry Potter (in my mind) is an orphan boy who learns he’s a wizard and is sent to wizard boarding school. It’s the execution of the idea that makes it Harry Potter and not just another paranormal YA.

Okay, I severely digressed and maybe oversimplified. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think you need to worry about ideas being stolen. Instead I think you need to focus on making the execution of your idea more brilliant than anyone else could ever make their execution. And as for whether or not you need to worry about contests, I think that’s a personal decision. I’ve never heard of anyone stealing ideas from contests, but I don’t know that I necessarily would hear of that. Certainly the more people you show your work to the greater the likelihood that it could be stolen. Frankly though, I think it’s unlikely.

Jessica

Protecting Yourself in Nonfiction

I'm in the entertainment industry and I'm writing a book about one of its specific cottage industries. I have a lot to dish about and I'm not sure if my disguising names and identities is enough to legally protect me from people who might read the book and get a little excited and take legal action. What kind of attitude should I take on this?

Let’s face it, we live in the land (at least here in the US) of lawsuits. If someone can sue, and win, over a cup of hot coffee then certainly people can sue if they feel you’ve written about them in an unflattering light. I’m not a lawyer and in a situation like this I would defer to a lawyer, either a publishing lawyer by recommendation or an in-house lawyer at your publisher, however if you have concerns that you might be sued my guess is that you might be sued.

I don’t have any more information than what you’ve given me here, but you might want to consider making some major changes to your book if you are worried about lawsuits. You could fictionalize the book a la The Devil Wears Prada or, if you insist it would be much better as nonfiction, you’ll need to go that extra mile and really disguise your “characters” with more than just name changes. I think hair color and other defining characteristics will also probably have to go as well.

I will warn you that if a publisher feels that a book might bring lawsuits it’s going to be really hard to sell a project. The last thing publishers will want to do is get involved with something that upfront they feel might be nothing but a headache.


Jessica

Bookscan

Back in June agent Andrew Zack wrote a series of posts on Bookscan and since then I’ve received a number of questions from authors asking my thoughts on Bookscan and my recommendations for how authors can track Bookscan numbers or their numbers in general.

For those not familiar with Bookscan, let me explain briefly that Bookscan is the book version of the Nielson TV rating system. It tracks and monitors sales of books in various outlets. However, like any mass tracking system it’s not perfect. Bookscan does not track every sale in every single outlet and certainly there are some major stores missing from the list, most notably Walmart.

Bookscan should not and typically is not taken into account if you are going back to contract with your current publisher (they have their own, more accurate, numbers to look at) or if you are a debut author. However, where Bookscan most predominantly comes into play is for authors looking to change houses or those who might have self-published and are now looking to find a publisher for that self-published title or the next book. Publishers are not going to be able to call up a competing house and say, “Hey, we’re looking to steal your author, care to share the numbers?” and because of that they have to go to the next most reliable source, Bookscan. This helps give them a feel for what kind of orders they can expect from bookstores. And yes, they do realize that Bookscan isn’t complete, but, especially for books that they don’t expect outlets like Walmart to take, it can help make a determination as to expectations.

So how does this impact you as an author and do you need to track your Bookscan numbers? Certainly it’s helpful to have as much information as you can about yourself and how you’re perceived, but Bookscan is really expensive and I do not think the cost is worth it for an individual author, especially since it’s not a complete accounting. The very best place to go to learn how well your book is doing and what kind of numbers you’re getting is your publisher. Call your editor, or have your agent call your editor, to find out what sales look like. However, if you still, even out of curiosity, really want to know how you look on Bookscan (and it can’t hurt unless you let it), organizations like RWA have considerably cheaper Bookscan subscription fees; keep in mind, however, that the RWA subscription only tracks the top 100 romances and therefore wouldn’t be helpful if you’re writing in any other genre.

Here are my thoughts: if you can get a less costly subscription to Bookscan that’s useful for you, like through RWA, do so. It’s worth it just to see how your book and others are tracking. It’s also helpful for you to be able to see trends and keep track of the market. However, the really important numbers are those that are coming through on your royalty statement. Those are the numbers that matter and, in the end, that stand out to everyone as the ones to watch. If you are tracking Bookscan I would say do so with the same attitude you track your ratings on Amazon or B&N.com. They are a sign of how well your book is doing, but not the whole picture.

Jessica

Before You Sign

Publishing is a small and confusing world and because of that there’s no doubt that I frequently get questions from friends, family, friends of family, family of friends or anyone else even remotely related or not related, but with an interest in learning more about publishing. Often I can direct them in much the same way I direct all of you to websites or other sources (this blog) that might help them make the right decisions.

Well, recently I had an experience that really made me wonder if all of this is really making any difference. Never fear, I’m not that discouraged, it was more of a bang my head against the wall moment. I’m reminded daily by the community here on the BookEnds blog how much you all are learning and have learned from this blog and other agent blogs and how open you are to learning more. However, I’m also reminded that there’s just as many people who need to be taught and re-taught and might just not want to learn.

This instance though. Uff, I really wanted to scream. I was emailed a question from someone I once worked with, someone I once presumably trained, about a contract she had received from a perspective publisher. This is someone who has been encouraged to read my blog daily and, from working inside the publishing industry, should know enough to at least read such websites as Preditors & Editors and Absolute Write, my two personal go-to sites. “Jane” admitted she didn’t have a great deal of knowledge about publishing contracts and wanted some input. The contract was with a smaller publisher and one I had never heard of. While I don’t claim to have complete information on all publishers, I tend to have some name recognition when it comes to both small presses and epublishers. This one didn’t ring a bell. So before wasting my time and even opening the contract I did a quick click over to both my favorite sites and in the speed of the Internet (yes, less than a couple of minutes) I learned that this house was not only a fee-charging vanity press, but not recommended by Preditors & Editors.

I’m rubbing my head just thinking about this because here’s the deal: if someone doesn’t want to make the effort to really learn about this business and understand that you don’t pay publishers, they pay you, someone will not learn. Frankly, I don’t get how someone who has enough interest in publishing to work for a short time in the business wouldn’t know this one simple thing.

So here’s the deal. For those of you who do want to learn and are listening, please, please do not sign anything with either an agent or a publisher without double-checking both Preditors & Editors and Absolute Write.

I know this business can seem complicated and certainly there’s a learning curve, but let’s face it, for those of you who want to learn and are making an effort to do so, it just isn’t that hard.

Jessica

BookEnds Trivia

Here is quiz full of information you have no reason to ever know about BookEnds, but hey, every blog post can’t be purely for educational purposes. We need fun too. So let’s see how well you know your BookEnds agents.

1. Which two agents started their careers as interns at Berkley?

a. Kim & Jacky
b. Jacky & Jessica
c. Jessica & Kim
d. All of the above

2. Who is Riggins?

a. Jacky’s dog
b. Kim’s dog
c. Jessica’s dog
d. Our assistant

3. Who invented the term “twitch” as it relates to publishing?

a. Our assistant
b. Kim
c. Jacky
d. Jessica

4. Who survives without coffee?

a. Kim
b. Our assistant
c. Jessica
d. Jacky

5. Who did Jessica once dogsit for?

a. Maurice Sendak
b. Elizabeth Strout
c. Miss Snark
d. Pete Hamill

6. What is the name of the BookEnds assistant (frequently referred to as “our assistant”)?

a. Holly
b. Martha
c. Your Highness
d. Katelynn

7. Who is the only BookEnds agent without an English degree?

a. Jacky
b. Jessica
c. Kim
d. None of the above

8. What year did Jacky, Jessica, and Kim first meet?

a. 1994
b. 1995
c. 1996
d. 1997

9. What is the longest time a BookEnds project has been on submission before a sale is finally made?

a. 2 months
b. 2 years
c. 2 weeks
d. 12 years

10. How many books did BookEnds sell in 2008?

a. 97
b. 57
c. 127
d. 77

Answers
1. (a) Kim and Jacky both started their careers as Berkley interns, although years apart. In fact, Jacky was the first ever intern at Berkley and later went on to actually run the intern program, hiring Kim.

2. (c) Riggins is Jessica’s fairly new rescue dog, but his name was suggested by Kim. He was named after Tim Riggins, a character on Friday Night Lights, although Jessica’s husband will swear he’s named after Washington Redskin John Riggins.

3. (b) “Twitching” was Kim’s idea as a way to launch Jessica (@bookendsjessica) and Kim (@bookendskim) into the Twitter world. Twitch Week was a contest of Tweet Pitches run through Twitter.

4. (d) While Jessica, Kim, and their assistant can’t believe anyone survives without coffee, Jacky does. Although she drinks a lot of tea.

5. (b) As a poor editorial assistant Jessica dogsat for extra money and author Elizabeth Strout (at about the time her first book was released) was one of her clients.

6. (d) Katelynn saves our butt more times than we can count. She started as an intern and landed the job when another former intern-turned-assistant, Holly, moved to St. Martin’s.

7. (b) Jessica actually has a degree in journalism.

8. (a) 1994, when Jessica started her job as an editorial assistant at Berkley and Kim started her internship. Jacky was already working there.

9. (b) 2 years: Jacky and Jessica each had a project that took two years from the time of first submission to sale, which is why we always encourage authors to never give up.

10. (c) 127 books were sold in 2008. Note that some of these, probably many of them, were multi-book deals and we didn’t count foreign sales in this number. Okay, the number is rough, but you get the idea.



Jessica