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 Jessica

The ideal time to meet the love your life is probably not when you’re stalking your ex. Unless the love of your life is also stalking your ex that is...

I think this is a strong and interesting opening. My only hesitation would be that it sounds a little chick lit, but I'll hold judgement at this point. I'd also delete "that is"; I think it weakens the point.


Josie Stephenson is not just accident-prone - she's so intimate with disaster that she could probably have its baby and no one would ask questions. Thankfully she's still a virgin, so that's one thing she doesn't have to worry about. That just leaves her glamorous career at the mortuary, owing her godmother eleven new gnomes, and her fiance leaving her for another woman.

I'm totally thrown by this paragraph. It has nothing to do with the preceding paragraph and now I feel like you're tossing a lot of information of me, but none of it fits into a story, at least from my perspective.


All she wants to do is survive her heartbreak - and maybe get a new job, a new place to stay, and a dinosaur bone for her dog. Instead she finds herself falling for (in front of, on top of, and over) the mysterious new guy. But is he going to be the best thing she’s stumbled upon since shin pads? Or will he convince her that the only safe men are dead ones?

I think this could be a strong paragraph if I understood what the book was about. Honestly, if feels like you've brushed the hook away and you've definitely downplayed it. I assume, given the title, that the gnomes play some significant part of the book and are quite possibly a paranormal element, and yet I have absolutely no sense that this is paranormal. Or maybe it's not since you call it contemporary romance. See, I'm confused.

What exactly is this book about, what's the hook, what's the chief storyline. That's what I need to know, not fragments of who the character is.


Naughty Gnomes is a finished, contemporary romance of 83,000 words, set in a large rural town in Australia. Please find the first chapter and synopsis below.

Unless the gnomes are playing a large part in your book, and presumably the query, this title doesn't work. If you can show me in your query why the title would be "Naughty Gnomes" it would make sense.

And lastly, I miss that you didn't give me an bio. I assume (from your address actually) that you are from Australia, but I'd like to know a little about you, a tidbit of who you are.


Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely




Jessica

Why I Do What I Do

I just wanted to thank you. A while back, you had a post about querying agents at the same agency. Previously, this was something I would never have considered doing, but after reading your post, I decided to take my chances and send to an agent I felt might be interested in my novel in spite of the fact that another agent there had already rejected me.

Well, I received a request for the full manuscript almost immediately, and I recently signed with said agent. I never would have queried him had I not read your blog post, and I would have lost an amazing opportunity in the process. Thank you for your post and for giving me the courage to take a chance.




Jessica

An Agent Leaves

I'm hoping you can help me understand something. I see mentioned occasionally that an agent is moving from one literary agency to another. From what I've been able to tell, this can mean transitioning their clients to someone else in the old agency and acquiring new ones with the new group.

Is that common? A writer spends so much time looking for the right literary agent; someone they click with and get along with who is passionate about their work. So is the writer signing with an agent or with the agency when they finally make that connection? I realize it's different when an agent just takes another career path, but while they're still in the business, how does the managing of clients work under these circumstances?


An agent leaving an agency can mean a ton of different things depending on the contract the agent has with the agency. The clients could go along for the ride or stay with the original agency. Sometimes the contracts the agent negotiated stay with the agency, but the clients themselves, and their new clients, would go along with the agent. I don't know that it's common for agents to leave agencies unless they are starting their own. I guess I've never thought about how often it does or does not happen.

The only way to know what would happen with you in that situation is to ask the agent when an offer of representation is received what would happen if that agent chooses to leave the agency.


Jessica

Christie Craig: Three Why Questions; Three Writing Tips

Christie Craig
Don't Mess With Texas
Publisher: Forever Books
Pub date: August 2011
Agent: Kim Lionetti


(Click to Buy)



I get a lot of questions tossed my way. For today’s guest blog, I decided to answer three of them, along with three connecting snippets of writing advice.


Why do you set all your books in fictional Texas towns?

Most people are surprised to learn that I’m not a native Texan. However, I was only here a few weeks when I knew this was where I’d hang my hat. Texas and Texans are just . . . well, unique. I mean, where else is it illegal to put graffiti on someone else's cow, shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel, or own more than six dildos? Yup, those are real laws in this fine state; I know because I checked when I decided to live here. (Not that I’m into graffitiing cows, shooting buffaloes, or stockpiling dildos. I just like to know the laws of the land, so I can poke fun at them in my books.) So I guess what drives me to base my books in Texas is that this place is one of a kind. And since I try to write one-of-a-kind books, it fits. And for what drives me to use fictional towns, that’s easy. I don’t want to worry about getting geographical facts incorrect. Okay, I’m lazy and hate research.

Writing tip #1: Using fictional towns equals less research and less hassle. You won’t get readers emailing you notes like: There isn’t a fifty-foot-high bridge in Spring, Texas, like you used in your book.


Why do you add suspense and humor to your romance novels?

Years ago, I published a sweet Silhouette Romance. Unable to sell a second book, I focused on my freelance career. I wrote words to feed knowledge-hungry individuals. I wrote about China, calligraphy, window fashions, tomato horn worms, and ugly shoes.

Basically, if an editor would pay for it, I wrote it. After an eight-year sabbatical from fiction, I was desperate to return to writing novels. I announced my intentions to my family, my friends, and to the innocent bystander at the post office: I, Christie Craig, was going to publish another book even if I had to kill somebody to accomplish it.

What I didn’t realize was that’s exactly what it would take. When I whacked my first person, guilt sat on my shoulders like a fat gorilla. But as soon as I washed the imaginary blood off my hands and reread my deadly scene, I had an epiphany: Nothing can liven up a party or a plot like a dead body.

Since then, mystery and murder are prevalent in my work. Yes, there’s other stuff like romance, but I’m not sure I can write a story without having one person kick the bucket. Or at least having someone try to kick someone else’s bucket. Death or someone facing death excites me, and that comes across in my writing.

As for the humor? A writer needs to stay true to their writing voice, and my voice is humorous. When I first started writing my funny suspense novels someone warned me that murder wasn’t funny. They’re right, but how people respond to it under duress can be a real belly-roller.

Take Nikki Hunt’s situation in Don’t Mess With Texas: Nikki thought her night couldn’t get worse when her no-good cheating ex ditched her at dinner, sticking her with the expensive bill. Furious, she tells anyone who will listen to her that she’s gonna kill that man. Then she found his body stuffed in the trunk of her car and lost her two-hundred-dollar meal all over his three–thousand-dollar suit. Now not only is Nikki nearly broke, she’s a murder suspect. See, that’s kind of funny.

Writing tip #2: Find what excites you, what sparks your emotions, and stay true to your writing voice. Be prepared to ignore well-meaning pieces of writing advice when your gut says it’s not right.


Why did I choose Kim Lionetti as my agent and why I’m still with her?

I’d heard some good things about BookEnds, and I liked the fact Kim had been an editor. I submitted, not knowing of her upcoming maternity leave. Months later, one of Kim’s clients judged my work in a contest and recommended me. Kim recognized my name as someone from her post-pregnancy slush pile. And the rest is history.

Why I stay with Kim is another matter. Contrary to what Kim probably believes, it’s not her wit or sparkling personality. This is a marriage. And it holds a lot of similarities with regular marriages. There’s a honeymoon stage where everything is blissful: i.e., I love her because I’m sure she’s going to sell me to some big rich publisher; she loves me because she’s sure she’s going to sell me to some big rich publisher.

Ahh, but the honeymoon period doesn’t last forever. Revisions are requested—rejections come in, and the initial bliss wanes. (Kim and I were together for a year before I sold.)

Just like in regular marriages you learn your partner doesn’t lower the toilet seat lid and they stop telling you they love you every day. Now, I’m not accusing Kim of not putting the toilet seat down and I’m not sure she’s ever told me she loves me. My point is that you start learning how you and your agent are really going to get along, how you communicate—or don’t communicate—and how you will have to compromise to make the marriage work.

This is actually the most important stage in an agent-author relationship. If you can’t learn to respect, communicate, or compromise you’re likely headed for the Big D. It may even be after you’ve sold several books. Over seventy-five percent of published authors who divorce their agents do so due to a lack of one of the above elements. Sometimes the personalities never meshed, and sometimes it was a breakdown in communication on the side of one or both parties.

So exactly why am I still with Kim after six years? Two reasons. One, agents wear many hats. A good agent will wear different hats for different clients. And Kim Lionetti wears all the hats I need her to wear: editor, adviser, cheerleader, contract negotiator, big bad agent who fights in my corner. All good agents in some instances wear these hats, but if you get an agent who prefers wearing the editor hat more than you want them to wear that hat, then you may not be a good fit. If they excel at wearing that adviser hat but you’d like them to wear the cheerleader hat more often, this can cause friction. Kim’s preferences for the hats match all my needs.

The second reason goes back to the respect, communication, and compromise issue. She respects what I want to achieve in my career. I respect her knowledge of the business. Her style of communication and mine fit well; neither of us are intimidated by the other, and when we don’t agree on something (and that’s not that uncommon) we debate until one or the other changes the other's mind, or we compromise.

And much to Kim’s dismay, this doesn’t mean she’s the perfect agent, any more than I’m the perfect client. I don’t think those birds exist. Again, it goes back to the whole marriage thing. I’ve been married to my hubby for over twenty-five years. Some of you couldn’t live with that man for twenty-five minutes. But our personalities work and we’re almost perfect for each other. And the same goes for Kim and me.

Writing tip #3: Before you sign on the dotted line for any agent, ask enough questions to know if your personalities will fit together and be prepared to communicate and compromise. Know what type of hats the agent is mostly likely to wear and compare it to what you need them to wear.

Thank you, BookEnds, for having me and a huge thank-you to the readers for letting me share a few of my Why answers. I hope something I’ve said is helpful, and if it falls into that category of not matching what your gut says, then toss it out like last week's leftovers.

Have a great day.

CC

Only the Righteous

So here's the story . . .

I receive a message through my LinkedIn account. Honestly, I'm not sure why I have a LinkedIn account. Occasionally I've looked for clients for nonfiction projects through LinkedIn, but rarely has anything ever come of it. Truthfully, the most success I've had in social networking comes through Twitter.

Anyway, a message came through LinkedIn from someone I've never met, I'm not even sure we're connected, asking for assistance in "partnering with a literary agent." This person was a fellow alum from Marquette University and proceeded to tell me about their book. The author ended by telling me there was a book proposal ready. My response, as is my response to all queries sent through social networks (if I respond at all), was that I don't accept queries through social networks, but the author should feel free to query following the guidelines on our website.

The author, apparently because we attended the same school, felt that she was exempt from following my guidelines and was apparently put off by my response, "I'm afraid I do not accept queries via social networking sites. To query me and BookEnds you should review the guidelines on our website."

Well, not that you're surprised, that set off a sh**storm. One that I can now honestly say amuses me and I'm sharing for your entertainment only. The author corrected me to explain how, after rereading the original message, there was nothing in it to indicate this was a query and that not only was my response disappointing, but indicated I have a "lack of belief in Marquette Ideals." What?! What?! Because I stick to a company policy I am now apparently morally corrupt?

And then after explaining that LinkedIn is a professional networking site and not Facebook and that I use it to solely seek to benefit from others the author said, "While I realize you cannot instill decency into people, it disturbs me to have Marquette's name to continue to be represented in such a poor manner."

And there you have it. I am nothing but a money-grubbing, self-absorbed, indecent human misusing my alma mater. Dang, I'm a jerk.


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.


Before I get into the critique I want to say that I think this is a really good letter. Sure, there's always something to critique, but for the most part I think this query could go out to agents as is and I do think the author will have some success with it.

Dear Ms. Faust,

I am seeking representation for my 98,000 word mainstream novel, Doubting River.

This is just fine. My only comment is that I think you could come up with a better title. I don't see how this title ties into the book and I suspect you could come up with something a little more striking.


Former runaway, Charm Freeman, returns to his old life after his sister's husband is killed in a car accident. Initially planning to fulfill his brotherly obligation and then disappear for another twenty years, Charm reluctantly agrees to stay and help with his sister's injured son, but they clash over how to best help the ten year old deal with the death of his father.

I have to admit, maybe I read too many romance novels, but my first thought was that Charm was the husband's brother and that the two were going to fall in love. My second thought was that since it doesn't come into play in the query at all, do you even need to mention that he's a former runaway? Honestly, this makes the book sound like it's about Charm, but later I sense that the book is really about the boy and Charm. I think you could switch the focus and make it more about the boy and what Charm needs to do to help his nephew.


Before the accident, the boy and his father were training a neighbor's retriever for a field trial. The boy desperately wants to fulfill his father's dream, but his mother believes anything to do with the dog is a setup for heartache. The past belongs in the past; the way forward is forward. Against his sister's wishes, Charm and the boy join together to turn an injured retriever into a champion, a journey that forces the family to face the issues that tore them apart only to find salvation in the past they tried to forget.

My only concern with this is it lacks a little voice to me. It feels a little lifeless. If the dog is injured I think you should mention that from the beginning. The first time you mention it you say it's a neighbor's retriever. So are they training the same dog or are you talking about two different dogs? I also think you don't focus on the conflict enough. Since I assume this is women's fiction and there's a high level of emotion in this story, I want to get a sense of that emotion in the query since that is what will draw readers to the story.


An excerpt of this novel, Doubting River, won the mainstream category of the 2010 Sandy literary contest. I am a former dog trainer and the author of Click for Joy, the winner of the 2003 "Best Training/Behavior Book" award presented by the Dog Writers of America. I am also the owner of the 7000-member ClickerSolutions (dog training) mailing list, and I have published numerous articles in the magazine "Teaching Dogs."

This is all good.


My contact information is below. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,




Jessica

Life as Seen Through Queries

If life were like queries:

• All children would be orphans
• All husbands are keeping a marriage-destroying secret from their wives
• Small towns would have an impossibly high murder rate
• At the age of 16, 17, or 18 we would all learn the secret our parents have been keeping from us (and it's always some super-cool paranormal power)
• Returning home always means falling in love with the hunky man (or gorgeous gal) we left behind

Jessica

How Many Clients Do You Have

Anytime I offer representation I'm asked how many clients I have. It's a fair question and I get why authors ask. The problem is that there is no right answer. The other problem is that I refuse to count up my clients. I don't want to know. I don't need to know.

The problem with this question of how many is too many has so many variables that it really doesn't matter.

For example, what is the agent like? I've known some agents who are superagents. They can seemingly jump giant publishing conglomerates in a single bound while juggling hardcover tomes, reading a novel, and editing a masterpiece. I've known others who can barely get their pants on in the morning without help. How organized an agent is can make a big difference in how many clients she can handle.

What are the clients like? I have clients I literally haven't heard from in years. I still consider them clients, but at this point they are either busy with other things or quietly working on their next books. I have clients (especially nonfiction) who have written one or two books, and while they're still clients and we're still seeing money and working on foreign sales, I don't hear much from them either. I have clients who call or email almost daily. I have clients I edit for and those I don't. . . .

The answer to this question isn't about how many clients an agent has, it's about how the clients feel about the agent. Do the clients feel that the agent is too busy to answer emails or attend to their needs or do the clients consistently feel like they are the most important person on the agent's list (or up there anyway). Maybe this isn't a question you ask the agent, but instead you ask the client how the agent makes her feel and how well the agent attends to her needs.


Jessica

Thought for the Day

I love it when people start their query with something along the lines of "I know a query should get to the point, but that's not my style and I like to do things my own way," or "I know you don't accept unrequested manuscripts, but that's not my style and I like to do things my own way," or "I know a mystery should really have a mystery in it, but that's not my style and I like to do things my own way."

Isn't that a little like me saying, "I know I shouldn't get fall-down drunk at writers' conferences, but that's not my style and I like to do things my own way"?

Jessica

Taking the Summer Off

In your opinion, is it better for an agent to wait till after the summer to send a novel out on submission? Is it a myth that the publishing industry basically shuts down in August? Are there any advantages in NOT waiting?


I don't think there's a universally correct answer to this. I think it depends what your agent knows about the editors she wants to submit to and your agent's own schedule. If your agent has plans to be out of town maybe it is best she hold off on submitting. I don't know that publishing "shuts down" in August. Truthfully, I had a crazy two weeks between RWA and the July 4th weekend when I had offers on the table and it was taking weeks to finalize them because of RWA, editor vacations, and the holiday. It happens. It's summer. All of that being said, we've had many years where August resulted in our largest sales month of the year, primarily because it is so quiet and so many do vacation that editors have more time to actually catch up on their reading and hopefully find something they can get excited about.

When it comes to August, like many things, there's no right or wrong. A book could easily be read quickly by an editor who finds a relaxed schedule in August or sit and fall to the bottom of big piles because an editor happens to be away for two weeks and your material arrived during that time.

Jessica