These four things you shall not do . . . At an agent panel . . . In my opinion.

Dear people-who-will-probably-never-see-this-blog-because-if-you-read-blogs-and/or-are-skilled-in-google-fu-you're-already-aware-of-these-things:

But just in case. . .

Here's a list of four things you might not want to do at an agent panel:

1. Not pay attention and ask a question that's already been answered IN DEPTH. And then proceed to ask a series of follow up questions making agents repeat their IN DEPTH answers.

Because: Duh.

2. Ask a question that's actually a thinly veiled pitch for your book. For example:

Writer: Um, okay, so like, my dad was a famous dragon slayer in the 80s and 90s--and I'm writing a non-fiction novel about how he didn't want to marry any of the princesses he saved. Can you even believe it?!? I'm also writing a nonfiction tell-all about my time as an extra on the set of The Simpsons and I totally made out with Bart...So I guess my question is... what's the best way to let you know about what I'm writing?

Yeah. No. I mean, I can't speak as an agent (why? because I'm not one, obvi) but as a fellow writer in the same panel, I now pretty much hate your guts.

Okay. Dislike you.

Okay. Am annoyed.

Because: Unless the panel is titled "Everybody Pitch Now" (clearly to the tune of C+C Music Factory's Everybody Dance Now) panels aren't the place to pitch an agent. Plenty of conferences have agent pitch sessions that you can sign up for. And sometimes agents linger after their panels, for you to speak with them privately then. I don't know if those times are times you should pitch or not, but they're better than in a room full of people who want answers to real questions that will help more than just one person.

3. Ask an agent if you can send them your query even though they've just said they don't rep what you write. For example:

Agent: I absolutely 100% do not represent fiction. 

Writer: So. . . I know you don't represent fiction, but I have this amazing YA paranormal. Can I query you anyway?

Agent: . . . *crickets*

Because: Here's the thing: a LOT of times agents will make exceptions for conference goers. As in, they'll open up to queries if they're currently closed. But I've never heard of one opening up to queries for things that they absolutely do not represent. And, think about it. Why would you want them to? Don't you want an agent who loves what you write? Who has contacts at publishing houses based on previous sales with your genre? Also, other writers will probably maybe probably laugh at you for asking a question like that. (I mean, not me, of course. Because I would never laugh at you.) 

4. Disagree with an agent's answer in a condescending way. Por ejemplo:

Agent: Right now, most publishers pay authors 25% royalties for e-book sales.

Writer: No. You're wrong, you idiot. My friend told me blah blah blah...

Because: Welp, it's just plain rude. Didn't you ever learn your manners ? No? Well then. You should know that the agent's right and you're misinformed and you look like a big beyotch. (I will say: this is different from asking follow up questions. I think those are fine because sometimes things aren't easily explained/understood on the first go-round. Or maybe that's just because I'm blonde.) 

Love always,
Sara


PS All examples are exaggerations of things I've seen recently. Except the part where the agent says e-book sales are at a 25% royalty rate right now. That's something I heard from an agent at VA Festival of the Book this year. 

QOTD: What's your favorite word today?

Mine's beyotch.

Overheard

@ SCBWI LA! 

"Don't believe everything you hear." - Author Jon Scieszka, in regards to the industry and writing for children.

"The books that take us away from what we expect are what show us the world anew." - Author MT Anderson

"A pitch should include the page/word count, the first 15-20% of the plot, comparison to other writers, genre, and industry questions." - Agent Ginger Clark (Curtis Brown)

Senior Editor (Katherine Tegen Books, imprint of HarperCollins Childrens) Claudia Gabel looks for story inspiration all over (music, TV, movies, magazines, etc) and believes writers should too!

Agent Josh Adams (Adams Literary) explained the difference between preempts and auctions. (Preempts are meant to take a book--or books--off the table, an editor makes a bid high enough to keep others from bidding. At auctions, agents allow multiple editors to make bids on the book.)

"The best time of year to submit to an agent, is the time of year your book is ready." - Agent Lisa Grubka (Foundry Literary & Media)

"You want an agent who will aggressively market for subsidiary rights. If a publisher gets them, they take a cut on top of the agent's cut." - Agent Josh Adams (Adams Literary)

According to Author Gail Carson Levine, some of the best ways to create suspense are: time (pressure), distance (looming destination), thought (character worries turn into reader worries), action, separation, MC flaw, secondary character flaw, isolation, expectation (too high or too low), a test, a disaster, something lost...

"Learning to be a character physically changes the way the character thinks." - Author Rachel Vail

"Everything you do online should be friendly and professional." Agent Ginger Clark (Curtis Brown)

"Don't be careful what you wish for. Be proud of what you wish for!" - Author Carolyn Mackler

"You must know the rules before you can break them, but the rules are beginning to wiggle." - Publisher Francesco Sedita (Penguin Young Readers)

"I'll never tell an editor no if they truly love a book." - Publisher Justin Chanda (Simon & Schuster)

"Great story telling has been around for ages and will continue for ages." - Publisher Jennifer Hunt (Little Brown)

"Most successful authors develop after several books." - Publisher Stephanie Owens Lurie (Disney Hyperion)

"Write what you think is cool and release your inner child." - Publisher Stephanie Owens Lurie (Disney Hyperion)

"Timeless (writing) will always be timely." Agent Josh Adams (Adams Literary)

"Writing is a BITCH. But In The CHair!" - Author Rachel Vail

"Agents have short attention spans. Grab them early, both in your query and in writing." - Agent Josh Adams (Adams Literary)



Okay. Any questions??

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Mayjah Contest

Sarah Wylie, of Sarah with a Chance, recently sold her book! In a two-book deal!  Here's what Publisher's Marketplace had to say:

Sarah Wylie's debut ALL THESE LIVES, pitched as a literary YA My Sister's Keeper, about a girl who believes she has nine lives and copes with her fraternal twin sister's leukemia by setting out to rid herself of all her extra lives, only to discover that she might have only the one life after all, to Margaret Ferguson at Margaret Ferguson Books, in a two-book deal, at auction, by Suzie Townsend at FinePrint Literary Management (NA).

So, as if that's not awesome enough? She's having a super huge celebratory contest--seriously, you've never seen a contest as sweet as this one. It is made of win.

• 1 Lucky Winner will receive a critique of their first 30-40 pages by the fabulous Suzie Townsend + a pack of Twizzlers + a copy of Hex Hall
• 3 Lucky Winners will receive a query letter critique by one of these three agent extraordinaires: Kathleen Ortiz, Joanna Stampfel-Volpe, or Colleen Lindsay (One agent will be randomly assigned to each winner.)
• 1 Winner will receive a writer's survival guide consisting of Twizzlers, a copy of Silver Phoenix and When You Reach Me, and a cute notebook and pen
• 1 Lucky winner will score a lunch date with THE Janet Reid and THE Suzie Townsend. It's not a free trip to NYC. BUT if you live in the NYC area, or whenever you're visiting NYC? You. Janet. Suzie. LUNCH.

Yeah, so are you salivating yet? It's really easy to enter! Go sign up! (Or... you know, DON'T. So I have a better chance... Yeah, if you love me you'll just bypass this contest. What? You don't love me enough to skip it? FINE. Ugh.)

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Agent Roundtable (VA Festival of the Book)

So this is my final post about this year's Virginia Festival of the Book. Hopefully you're not sick of them yet!!

The last session that I attended was an agent roundtable where four agents discussed what they look for in writers and offered insight into the author-agent relationship. Here's who and what they had to say!

Simon Lipskar (SL) is a partner in and an agent for Writer's House. At Writer's House they work with a boutique approach. He follows passion, not trends, and compared agenting to a marriage. He also explained that the publishing industry is in a tough transition right now.

Jenny Bent (JB) has been an agent since 1992. She recently opened her own agency, The Bent Agency, and was recently joined by Susan Hawk (who reps MG/YA). Susan has 15 years in the publishing field. Some of you might remember that this was not my first time seeing Jenny. For details about the first time, click here!

Laura Rennert (LR) is a senior agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Andrea Brown also follows a boutique approach to agenting. Laura's been an agent since 1998, and specializes in Picture Books through Young Adult. She holds a PhD in English Lit and taught at the college level for 8 years.

Erin Cox (EC) is a part of the Rob Weisbach Creative Management Team, an agency that opened its doors a year ago. Erin has a background in PR (fun! just like me! Okay, well KIND OF. I majored in it during college anyway...) The Rob Weisback Creative Management Team is a group of five people who concentrate on public relations, film, acquisitions for production, and editorial services. Erin prefers literary fiction, memoir, and non fiction.

So here's what they had to say!

About finding an agent:

SL: There are fantastic agents working at every kind of agency. Look for:

• Experience
• Knowledge
• Passion
• Real interest in your work

You should never pay an agent. They make money when YOU make money, not before.

Also, check out the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR). Agents who join must follow a Cannon of Ethics. The site's also a good place to find questions to ask agents who offer you representation (there's a list of questions in the FAQs).

About ending agent relationships:

Be open and honest.

Before you leave, try and work out whatever the problem is. Communication is key!

About the agent-author relationship:

LR: Both parties should be honest about what they hope to achieve.

SL: It's a business marriage. NOT an at home marriage--please don't do unscheduled drop-ins, whether or not you're a client.

LR: Educate yourself! (About the industry and the way things are done.) It makes the relationship better.

JB: Have a list of questions to ask.

SL: Don't forget that writing is a job and you should treat it as such.

About QUERIES:

SL: Do NOT say you're novel has movie potential. He's not a big fan of traditional queries--he really likes to know the Voice of the author through the query. If you query him, send it through e-mail. SLipskar(at)writershouse.com

JB: Be yourself, don't lose your Voice. She's a fan of gimmicky queries. She can be reached at Jenny(at)thebentagency.com.  Her website is http://www.thebentagency.com/.

LR: Looks for Voice. Also wants to know who, what, where, and why should she care? For YA, why is the longing different than what's already out there? Do you have visibility? She wants to know if your blog has a large following! She can be reached at LJRennert(a)mac.com, or you can find her at http://www.andreabrownlit.com/.

EC: What will make you stand out? One line opening pitches are good, followed by a short description of what the book is about.  She can be reached at Erin(a)robweisbach.com, or http://www.robweisbach.com/.

SL: It does help to know people. Also, you should spend more time writing a good book and less time worrying about finding an agent.

Other notes:

The first three chapters need to raise questions. Don't wait til chapter 5.

Lots of agents have other day jobs.

Alright, so in the query section--did you notice the repeated word? VOICE. Agents want queries that let your Voice as an author shine through. You know who can help you with that? CJ REDWINE! She offers two week query workshops specifically designed to help your Voice come out through your query. I can not recommend you take this workshop enough. Seriously, by the end? You'll have an agent-ready query. It. Is. So. Worth. It.

Check her query workshop out here: http://queryworkshop.blogspot.com/ And if you get there fast, you could still nab one of the 3 spots left for April's workshop.

PS. CJ didn't ask me to plug her--I'm doing it on my own because her workshops are amazing.

Still reading? Wanna see some pretty pictures of the DC Cherry Blossoms? Check out my other blog! I've been posting pictures all week! http://simplysaradise.blogspot.com/

Here's a sample:

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VA Festival of the Book 1

Two weekends ago I went to the Virginia Festival of the Book.  For those of you who don't know what it is (from the festival website):

The mission of the Virginia Festival of the Book is to bring together writers and readers and to promote and celebrate books, reading, literacy, and literary culture.

Programs range from traditional author readings and book signings to a StoryFest day of children's authors and storybook characters; from a panel on how to publish a novel to a discussion on running a book club; from a workshop on book-binding to a discussion on freelancer's rights. All programs are open to the public; with the exception of a few ticketed events, programs are free of charge.

Basically, I got to sit in on industry panels and meet awesome authors and try to overcome my ridiculousness shyness (aka completely debilitating fear to do things by myself when I don't know anyone). Yeah, the shyness thing? TOTALLY backfired. But I'll save that for tomorrow's Friday Funny. 

Moving on.

Here are the panels I attended:

Science Fiction: Other Places, Other Universes
David Louis Edelman (Infoquake), Katherine Kurtz (Deryni Series), and Kim Harrison (White Witch, Black Curse) talked about their books, writing processes, influences--and, you know, science fiction/fantasy

Book Signing
Kim Harrison--author of eight thriller and fantasy books, including the start of a YA series (Madison Avery)

Getting Published: Picture Books to YA
Laura Rennert (Buying, Training and Caring for Your Dinosaur), Deborah Heiligman (Charles and Emma), Bonnie Doerr (Island Sting), Emily Ecton (Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments), and Ruth Spiro (Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist) spoke about their books and publishing processes.

Land Ho! Creating New Worlds in Any Genre
P.J. Hoover (The Forgotten Worlds Trilogy), Keri Mikulski (The Screwball Series), Stacy Nyikos (Dragon Wishes), Barrie Summy, (I So Don't Do Myseries/Spooky/Makeup Series) Suzanne Morgan Williams (Bull Rider) shared their tips for creating believable worlds--in everything from fantasy to nonfiction.

Agent Roundtable
Agents Jenny Bent, Erin Cox, Laura Rennert, and Simon Lipskar discussed what they look for in writers and insight into the author-agent relationship.

Needless to say I'm gonna share everything I learned! Next week. I just wanted to let ya know what's to come. Well, okay let's be honest... It's mostly because I started to type it all out in this post and, um, yeah. Holy long post.


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We Interrupt Our Regularly Schedule Program For

BREAKING NEWS!!

I'm thrilled to announce that my friend and CP, Shannon Messenger, is officially an agented author!!

*throws glitter everywhere*

*sneezes*

*throws MORE glitter*

I'll let her tell you all about it, and the ay-may-zing agent she signed with, so hop over to her blog: Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe

But I will say this: As soon as I read her manuscript, I knew that it--and she--were destined for great things. So while I'm absolutely, "stood up and happy danced on my desk chair when I found out" excited for her--I'm not surprised at all! Mark my words, someday (soon) her book's gonna stand out with the greats in the Middle Grades sections all across the nation!

Now go--read her story and congratulate her =)

Oh, and make sure to remind her about her Deal with the Universe.

Yep, that's right. She made a deal with the universe that when she found an agent she would create her first vlog.

AND in said vlog she would "dress up and give a gooey, possibly tearful Academy Awards Style acceptance speech holding some sort of fake trophy." 


AND as if that's not enough, her followers get to tell give input into what she should say and who she should thank during her speech.  

muahaha

CONGRATULATIONS SHANNON! 

I'm so happy for you!!!

♥ me

Jenny Bent is Awesome

Last night, I had the privilege of listening to a lecture by Jenny Bent (the owner and founder of the The Bent Agency).  She spoke about what it's like to work with an agent and she busted some of the myths/misconceptions in the publishing industry. I took a copious amount of notes so I could share the info with you guys!  But first, let me tell you about Jenny.

She's awesome. Totally personable, upbeat, and very honest with her insight. I'm not someone who thought agents were scary to begin with (I mean, of course they might reject me--that's scary... but otherwise, they're people too and have the same fears/problems/joys/etc that the rest of us do.) But if I had been, I would feel much better now.

Jenny loves what she does--and, trust me, it shines through. In her words? She loves selling. She loves negotiating. She doesn't like to write, but she loves working with writers.

For more info, check out The Bent Agency website: http://www.thebentagency.com/
Or, Jenny Bent's blog: Bent on Books

And now onto the stuff she spoke about!

Querying/Finding an Agent

• Don't query agents based on location. NY agents are great--but so are the agents in locations all over the country. 
• Don't overlook new agents. While older ones have more experience, younger ones often have more energy! Plus, with a smaller client list--they'll have more time for YOU.
• Do NOT write for the market. Do be aware of the market. Do let the market influence the way you pitch. But write the stories that YOU are driven to write! 
• Along that note, don't listen to what people tell you will/won't sell. ALL trends circle back.
• Jenny found 1/3 of her clients from the slush pile. While she says publisher house slush piles are over, as a new writer you can still get picked up from queries. (PHEW! I didn't even know that people thought this wasn't true. Thank God because I would have panicked!)
• Credentials help you to stand out from the slush pile. Namedropping helps too. 
• Also, when you query--allow your Voice to come through! Don't let 15 people read it (or your WIP) so that it ends up not sounding like you anymore.
• OH and if you need help with Voice in a query or synopsis? CJ Redwine is a GENIUS and holds very, very reasonably priced online workshops for both things. I'm taking the synopsis one now and loving it. And I'm taking her query workshop starting March 1st. She pays a LOT of attention to Voice. Make sure you check them out. (And make sure to say I sent you!) http://queryworkshop.blogspot.com/ 
• Don't query for multiple projects at once.
• It IS okay to mention that the novel you're querying is part of a series. But stick to information about the specific book you're referring to in the query.
• It's totally fine to query an agent with a new project that rejected a different one. Jenny rejected some of her current clients the first time through--and didn't remember them the second time they queried!
• More now than ever, agents are more hands-on with editorial process.

So you make it past the slush... What's Jenny Bent's representation process?

1. Jenny offers representation.
2. She doesn't do agency agreements (feels they're unfair to the writer) and goes on a handshake.
3. Revisions.
4. Submission strategy meeting--discussions with the author about the best houses to submit to.
5. Calls publishers.

How to decide between multiple agents offering representation (you lucky freaking duck--Sara's words, not Jenny's)

1. Do your homework--know about the agents. Look at their client lists.
2. Talk to them, ask questions.
3. Remember: an agent has a sales job. Are they comfortable when they speak to you? Do you like them?

The numbers game: Jenny gets 50-100 queries a day. They're all screened by interns. Of those that come in, she sees about 10/day. She asks for about 1 manuscript/week. And she picks up 3-5 first time writers a year.

Jenny on E-Books: At this point, e-books haven't affected her ability to sell. There's a LOT to still be figured out about them. Like price points and royalties... Jenny's 100% sure that e-books are going to change everything. But right now? E-books only make up 4% of total book sales.

Other stuff:

• Publishing Houses read submitted manuscripts online (e-readers, etc) so agents submit your manuscripts online.
• Most publishers don't pay for author tours anymore--it doesn't make sense. You fly, stay in a hotel, and sell 20 or so books if you're lucky at a signing... Book promotion techniques are changing.
• Someone asked if it was appropriate to friend-request an agent/editor on facebook. Jenny said that while she doesn't accept requests from people she doesn't know, she doesn't get mad when people try or think it's a bad thing to do in general, if you want to.
• But what about the RECESSION? And how HARD it is to make a sale these days? Well, to this Jenny says that in her 15 years of experience the SAME thing has been being said. It's always hard to make a sale.
• Hardcover books are NOT necessarily more prestigious than paperback. Not anymore anyway. Jenny doesn't even want to see her clients' first editions in hardcover. (Think of it this way, if you put something out hardcover in today's market, you'll sell like 5,000 copies. And mathematically when paperback comes out, you sell half as many as you did in hardcover. So that means you'll only sell like 2,500 in paperback.)

Well, there ya have it! See you kids tomorrow for my Friday Funny :-)


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