DREAM MAKERS

One of the things that lured me to become a book agent was the idea of helping to make literary dreams come true. What an awesome feeling, I thought, to be the one to tell a hard-working author that I've sold his or her book to a respected publisher!

What I didn't think about too much was the flip side of this equation--telling a hard-working author that we are "passing" on his or her project. It's no fun and, unfortunately, we do this many, many, many times every day. No to the queries; no to the partials; and sometimes even no to the manuscripts. Today I had the even more poignant chore of writing to several authors who were under contract with us. The contracts have been over for some time and we've not been able to find a publisher. We had gotten very fond of some of these authors and we feel like--uh--failures when we fail. It's awful every time we have to do it and it goes to the heart of this business.

Today I resolve to be a sterner, more calculating agent--to practice a kind of tough love. So let me bare my soul (again) and tell you how I'll do this:

• I will NOT ask for partials if the query is flawed.
• If the partial is weak, even if I love it, I will NOT ask for a manuscript.
• If the manuscript doesn't knock my socks off, I will NOT ask to represent you.
• In fact, I will not ask to represent you until I have several editors and houses in mind for the work.

I love the dream maker part of this work; I hate being a grim reaper, even with queries. So forgive me for laying this on you, but I've crushed a lot of hopes today. Yet, on a positive side, I'm just one agent in a pool of thousands! So, just because we can't sell something does not mean Ms. Snark, Mr. Post or Laura Literary can't. Don't let one agent's rejection get you down. (Even if I'm that agent.) Send your work to everyone you can think of and continue to improve it as you go. That's the way dreams are made.

SO, WRITE ALREADY!

Like all businesses, the world of publishing is rumbling with news of layoffs, restructuring and new ways of doing business. Publishers large and small are looking at their bottom lines and trying to figure out new ways to make their businesses more efficient. Independent bookstores and chains are struggling. Borders is in big trouble and their problems seem to be increasing. How does this impact authors who simply want to get their work published?

Unfortunately, the challenges to becoming a published author are increasing. But I advise that you listen to the rumblings, then keep doing what you do. Write and improve and push yourself. Pay attention to social media and consider starting a blog if you have something interesting to say. Write, write, write for whomever you like--church bulletins, your local paper, websites, clubs, organizations, newsletters. Write a journal. Write a cookbook for your family. Write letters. Write every single day.

After all, you're a writer. Just cause the bottom is slowing dropping out of the industry doesn't mean that you should stop writing. When the dust settles, we'll still need writers. We'll still need stories and information. So, write already! (Oh, the photo? That's Norton, one of the office cats, taking a well-deserved rest from shredding duties and enjoying the autumn color.)

SLEEPING ON IT

Something is happening with the agency. The partials and manuscripts we requested last spring and summer are of a consistently better quality than those we requested in the "early years." That's the good news AND the bad news. Now it's much harder to make a final "go or no-go" decision. Jon employs the "sleep on it" technique. If he's having trouble deciding on a partial or manuscript, he'll put it aside for at least a day or two. When he comes back to it, his head has cleared and he can make a decision based on:

1. His passion for the plot and the writing


2. His belief that others (in other words EDITORS) will share his enthusiasm


3. The joy the work brings him; how it rattles in his head long after he's read it

If the work stands up to those judgements, he'll move forward. If not, he'll reluctantly pass. It seems to be a good method and I'm trying to employ it myself. I have two such projects on my desk today. At this point, they are both calling to me. I think I'll sleep on it.

OOPS

"Ye gods!" It hit me this morning. That line is NOT from "Oklahoma!" It's from "Music Man." (See post from last week.)

Luckily I'm better at book titles than musicals.

SPAM ALOT?

Dear Writers:

Please make sure this email message isn't automatically sent to the agents who kindly respond to your queries:

I apologize for this automatic reply to your email. To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand. If you would like to be added to my list of approved senders, please fill out the short request form (see link below). Once I approve you, I will receive your original message in my inbox.

We get these responses every once in awhile and I always ask myself, "Huh?"

You go to the trouble to email a perfectly good query. Then we go to the trouble to email back a nice rejection--or--be still my heart--perhaps a "Please send more--we love this--we love you!" response. And what happens? A robot tells us we are not approved. It makes me feel like my credit rating isn't up to snuff or my deodorant has failed me!

We trash these messages and then you never know what our response was. But that's your fault. Make sure we never get this silly automated message. I'm not going to take the trouble to become one of your special "approved senders." Why, I hardly know you!

OK, I feel better. It's going to rain tomorrow and I'm going to bake cookies and drink wine while Jon cooks one of his special dinners! Have a nice weekend.

OKLAHOMA!, ELECTION FEVER & EXCLUSIVES

"Ye gods," as they say in the movie version of "Oklahoma" in-which-is-starring-one-of-my best-friend's-handsome-sons-in-a-local-production. (Remember the name Colin Hooker-Haring--he'll be a big star one day.)

Where was I and why haven't I been blogging? I've been working on our local presidential campaign, that's where. Phone banking, meeting, cooking for the crew, stuffing envelopes and sorting brochures. Oh, yeah, also working on our book publicity campaigns and the literary agent biz. For sure I haven't been blogging.

But today I write because I want to talk about exclusives. We don't ask for them. We don't want them. Jon is struggling with a writer at this very moment who is being rather troublesome. Jon enjoyed this guy's partial. He asked for the manuscript, but certainly did not ask for an exclusive look. We are so behind in our reading that asking for an exclusive would be completely unfair AT THIS POINT.

In the end, Jon turned down the manuscript for many good reasons. He wrote to the author and told him, in broad strokes, why he was not going to take the book. The author asked for specifics and told Jon that he'd given the manuscript to us "exclusively," and therefore, Jon was obliged to give the author his reading notes. He then suggested that he'd pay for the reading notes. Jon is writing him yet another email with the final goodbye.

But this experience has left a bad taste in our literary mouths. You should never consider that an agent has requested an exclusive unless that agent has said he wants an exclusive. And, please don't offer us money for any reason. That is a big, big no-no.

Now for the good news. We've been up at 6 every morning for the past two weeks to get caught up on our partial and manuscript reading. We'll continue until we have read everything through the September pile. So, if you're waiting to hear from us, give us a bit more time. We're getting there!

AN INTERESTING QUESTION

In response to a recent post, a reader inquired:

"On a new subject, how would you, or do you, handle someone who submits a novel that he has already published on the Amazon Kindle, or similar e-reader device? I currently have three previously self-published titles listed on the Kindle and have just finished my third round of edits on a new novel and am considering sending that straight to the Kindle, with or without an ISBN. If I do would I be killing any chances of obtaining agent representation for it."

I'm not a Kindle expert--Jon and I are looking into this. It may be that if you publish with Amazon, they hold the rights (at least the e-rights) to your book. We'll find out and blog about this later.

I can't speak for other agents. But we have received several queries for novels that have been self-published or have been published as e-books. Right or wrong, we're never inclined to look too hard at these--perhaps to our peril. Unfortunately for self-published or e-published novelists who query us with their project, neither Jon nor I can muster the enthusiasm to give them much attention. Other agents may have a totally different view--that's just our bias and we can't even defend it at this point.

To answer the reader's question: We don't know if it would be killing your chances for obtaining agent representation. That's up to individual agents. But, it would not be a project we'd pursue with vigor.

On the other hand, before I was a "real" agent, I sold two self-published books (nonfiction) to big publishers. I would consider an excellent nonfiction self-published book today as long as it was uniquely wonderful and the author was a great spokesperson for the book and has "great platform." As for Jon, nonfiction seldom interests him, unless you happen to be a Formula One driver writing about your career.