Finding a Literary Agent: Four Things I Learned

Literary agents are fantastic creatures. They get your manuscript into the hands of top editors, which is important since a lot of publishers don’t accept unagented work, and the ones that do can take a long (really long) time to respond. Agents negotiate contracts, not just the dollar amount, but rights issues and other clauses that you may not know much about. Agents have the connections needed to sell foreign rights and to make sure you’re actually paid for these rights. Getting an agent might be hard—they work on commission, so they’ll only take on manuscripts they think they can sell—but becoming a successfully published writer without one is even harder.

If you’re a writer in search of a book deal, it makes sense to look for an agent first. Here are four things I’ve learned from my own agent quest.

1.      Research queries. For those of you who don’t know, a query is a letter you send to agents in an attempt to pique their interest in representing your manuscript. A bad query can ruin your chances of ever getting to the next stage. Luckily, there are websites devoted to helping you. I like Query Shark and the Query Letter Hell section at Absolute Write. I’d like to point out that the names here are rather telling. I’ve never heard of a query puppy or a query letter heaven.

2.      Research agents. There are a lot of fabulous agents out there, but there are also some dishonest and incompetent ones. Look for agents with a solid sales record. If you’re going with a new agent, look for one with publishing experience or connections at an established agency. Also, make sure the agents you query actually represent the genre you write; otherwise, you’re wasting everyone’s time. Once again, Absolute Write has a great section—Bewares, Recommendation, & Background Check—to help you. Literary Rambles is a blog that does informative spotlights on children’s agents. Query Tracker makes it easy to find agents who represent your genre.

3.      Pace yourself. If you query all the agents on your list at once, you won’t be able to tweak a letter that doesn’t get a good response. On the other hand, querying one agent at a time could take you the rest of your life, especially since some agents never reply. I suggest sending your query out in small batches of about five to ten.

4.      Don’t be desperate. For many unpublished writers, getting an agent can seem like a daunting obstacle, and it’s easy to settle for anyone willing to offer representation. The truth, though, is that a bad agent is worse than no agent. Don’t query anyone who looks shady. Don’t sign anything you’re not comfortable with. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

©Trent Black
 
Laurel Gale lives in the desert with her husband and a band of furry monsters that might actually be ferrets. She enjoys reading novels, playing board games, and learning about everything from history to science to grammar. Her debut middle grade novel, Dead Boy, comes out September 29, 2015, from Random House/Crown Books for Young Readers. 

You Say It's Your Birthday

By Natasha Sinel

Today is July 23^rd. My birthday. I know exactly what you’re thinking: Hey! Happy birthday, hope it’s a great year! Also, You’re aging quite gracefully!

This is what I’m thinking: Thanks! Also, Thanks!

A year ago today, I was celebrating. Big time.

The day before, I'd gotten the call from my agent. The editor who’d shown interest in my manuscript had managed to jump through all the hoops on her end, and made an offer for THE FIX. Honestly, the first thought I had was: Tomorrow, I actually get to celebrate. For real. The last four birthdays had been bittersweet—happy to have another birthday, a chance to eat cake, get cards and presents and such, but mixed with that other thought, too—another year without a book deal. It would've been my fifth birthday wishing for that one thing.

But on July 23, 2014, there was much to celebrate. There was cake, cards, presents, hugs from the kids, and champagne for the book deal.

And then everything happened so fast.

Contract, announcement, joining a debut group and getting up to speed on what it meant to be a debut author—all the things I’d have to do. There were the things I’d expected: edits, cover, blurbs, bio, etc. But also so much more: social media, blog posts, self-promotion, postcards to libraries, bookmarks. ARCs. Planning launch parties. Media. Bookstores. So. Much. To. Do. I got sucked into it all.

On June 23, 2015, exactly one month ago and nearly a year after the offer, my agent asked me, “So, how’s writing going?”

I laughed. “Um, it’s okay. I’ve been side-tracked with all the promotion stuff for THE FIX, so I haven’t written a ton, but I will. I mean, I’m writing, don’t worry…but…” Cue nervous laughter. Was I making excuses? About writing?

A tough love speech followed (emphasis on the love). It included a much-needed reality check that went a bit like this, “You need to prioritize your writing. This is your job. You are a writer. You write books. So, write another book.” And then the follow-up question, “When can you get a first draft to me?”

As authors (debut authors, at least), we do the bulk of our own marketing and promotion. More than you can even imagine, actually. And while I’ve been having a great time on social media, ordering bookmarks, designing cute stickers, and planning launch parties, those aren’t the things I’d signed up for. Somehow, I found myself working nonstop all day, yet not adding a word to my new manuscript.

Along the way, I’d lost focus.

This focus—I write stories about teenagers. That’s what I love to do. I’m a writer, and writers must write. Right?

My agent waited quietly while I thought. I made quick calculations in my head.

“August 15^th,” I said, as my heart started to pound.

“Great,” she said. “That’s great.”

So, I’ve been writing. After I make my word count goal for the day, I work on the other stuff, which is also important, but the writing has to come first.

A year ago today, I was celebrating my first book deal. Today, I’m anticipating the release of my debut novel in less than six weeks. And I’m confident, thanks to my agent, that in less than four weeks, I’ll be sending the first draft of my new manuscript to her.

Natasha Sinel writes YA fiction from her home on a dirt road in Northern Westchester, NY. She drives her kids around all afternoon, but in her head, she's still in high school, and hopes that no one near her can read minds. Her debut YA novel THE FIX will be out from Sky Pony Press on September 1, 2015.

Five Tips to Help You Read Like a Writer

After I became serious about wanting to write fiction, the way I read fiction changed, too. I read more, for one thing, although I'd always been an avid reader. I also became more analytical about it. I often hear—and echo—the sentiment that writers should also be readers. Here are some tips on how to spend that reading time effectively.

1. When you don’t like a book, consider why. I don’t finish every book I start. I used to try, out of some strange sense of duty or something, but I found that attempting to slog through books I didn’t enjoy made me read more slowly and less often. I’d stop reading to avoid the book, and that didn’t do me any good. Now if I don’t like a book, I put it down. First, though, I think about why I don’t like it. Is the prose awkward? Do the characters lack motivation? Is the beginning too slow? Is the action too pointless?

2. When you like a book, also consider why. It’s easy to speed through the pages of a book you love, but it’s helpful to pause every once in a while and think about why it’s pulling you in.

3. Read reviews. Not necessarily of your own books—that’s a topic for a different blog post. But read reviews of books you’ve read, both ones you’ve loved and ones you’ve hated. Read five-star reviews, one-star reviews, and everything in between. This is a great way to compare your own reactions with the reactions of others. You can also get a feel for what tends to annoy readers.

4. Read a variety of genres. You should read in the genre you write, but you should read other books, too. Each genre has its own strengths. There’s no reason an author can’t study love interests from romances, surprise twists from mysteries, and pacing from thrillers.

5. Read the classics. They’re classic for a reason. Read them and think about what has made them stand the test of time—but keep in mind that markets change, so what sold a hundred years ago wouldn’t necessarily sell now.



©Trent Black
 
Laurel Gale lives in the desert with her husband and a band of furry monsters that might actually be ferrets. She enjoys reading novels, playing board games, and learning about everything from history to science to grammar. Her debut middle grade novel, Dead Boy, comes out September 29, 2015, from Random House/Crown Books for Young Readers. 



 

That Dream of a Book Deal Isn't As Unlikely As You Think

I have a theory that's been banging back and forth inside my head for many, many years. A post by Harold Underdown and another by Ryan Dalton on this very blog fed this theory further, to the point that I decided to dedicate today's post to specific things that make traditional publishing a little less hopeless.

Most writers, unfortunately, will fail to traditionally publish their book. The statistics don't lie, and I can't manipulate the numbers to say otherwise. I can, however, tell you there are often solid reasons why writers fail in this respect. It's not a conspiracy or a fate left exclusively to a dice roll. There are specific things that hold writers back, and your chances of success increase exponentially by making a few small decisions.

Here are a few:

1) Submit smarter

A lot of agents say the number one reason they reject queries is because they don't represent the type of book the author submitted. Other times it's abundantly clear the author didn't research the agency. There are hundreds of queries sent every day by aspiring authors who submit willy-nilly without bothering to check who they're submitting to.

If you simply do your research and submit to agents who are a good match for your book, you are putting yourself ahead of hundreds of other submissions. You have just lifted yourself above a ton of slush, and you barely even broke a sweat.

My advice? Before hitting send on a submission, ask yourself why the recipient is the right person for your story. If it takes longer than ten seconds to answer that question, submit somewhere else.

2) Listen, listen, and listen some more

If you get a rejection that says something more specific than "not right for us", do a backflip. If it says something horribly offensive and insulting about your work, do a backflip, howl at the moon, and then ask yourself if maybe, just maybe, this person who spends their whole day in front of words might have a point about your humongous plot hole or unlikeable one-dimensional narrator.

3) Look Ahead

No matter what happens, don't stop writing. I kept the rejection blues away by always having something new to submit before I gave up on a previous project. If you're always looking ahead, the constant barrage of "not right for us" is a lot less depression-inducing.

4) Don't Get Mad at Successful Writers

Seriously, this is a huge waste of your time, patience, and happiness. It doesn't matter that "pedestrian writers" are selling insane amounts of books and you can't figure out why.

They are not stealing your audience. They are not the reason you haven't sold your book. Nobody is looking for a 50 SHADES, TWILIGHT, or HARRY POTTER clone right now. The very idea makes most agents and editors sick, because they get that kind of stuff every day. They are looking for the next book they fall in love with, and it won't have anything to do with wizards engaging in BDSM with sparkling vampires.

So all that anger for bestselling authors festering inside you -- Let It Go. You have better things to do.

5) Most importantly, be honest when you write

Don't write what's cool. Don't write what you think will sell. It isn't, and it won't. Write like yourself. This job is hard enough without wearing a mask.

* * *

Mike Grosso is the author of I AM DRUMS, a debut contemporary middle grade for musicians of all ages. It is currently orphaned due to the closing of Egmont USA but is on its way to finding a new home. The Fall Fifteeners have been nice enough to let him hang out in the meantime.

You can visit Mike's website or follow him on Twitter.

From Query to Book Deal! Fall Fifteener Stats!

stats. stats. STATS! So. You want to know how many queries it takes to get an agent? How many months you'll be on sub for? And OMG how long does it take to negotiate a publishing contract? Well, I don’t have the exact answers for your journey. But, good news: you'll get a good picture of how all over the board OR how similar the query to book deal journeys were for the Fall Fifteeners! Rest assured, stats-hungry queriers and on-sub writers, you can get your STATS FIX here!

Note: Eighteen Fall Fifteeners participated in this survey but were not required to answer every question.

QUERY TRENCHES

1.         Is your debut the same book you queried your agent with?

            YES: 12           NO: 6

The book you query with might not be your debut!

2.         Do you have an agent?

            YES: 17           NO: 1

3.         Is this your first, second, or third agent?

            1^st:  12              2^nd:  4              3^rd:  2

4.         How many queries did you send before signing with your agent?

            0-25:  6          26-50:  7        51-75:  1        76-120:  3

How many queries does it take?

ONCE YOU GET AN AGENT

1.         How many revisions did you do with your agent?

            0:  2                1:  2                2:  11              3: 2

2.         How long was it before your book was ready to go on sub?

            1-4 weeks:  6             5-10 wks:  1              
            11-16 wks:  5            16-20 wks:  1

3.         How many books did you have on sub that didn’t sell?

            0:  10              1:  3                2:  3                3:  1

SUB TRENCHES 

1.         Were there any other offers aside from your book deal?   

            YES:  6                        NO:  10

2.         Was there an auction for your book?

            YES:  4                        NO:  12

3.         So. How long was it from the day you went on sub to the day of your offer?

            0-1 month:  8                        2-4 mths:  4              
            5-8 mths:  3                          9-14 mths:  2

How many months must one endure the pain, the excitement, the agony?

4.         Did you ever cry on sub? 

            YES:  11          NO:  5

5.         Did you ever use comfort foods/desserts/drinks to ease your rejection pain?

            YES:  11          NO:  4

           

6.         Mmmmm…what kind? Popular answers were…

            Diet coke! Macadamia nuts! Ice cream! Wine! Beer!

THE REAL DEAL 

1.         How many books did your publisher buy?

            1:  10              2:  7                3:  1               

2.         How long was it from the day your pub offered until you signed the contract?                 

            0-1 month:  3             1.5-3 mths:  9                       
            4-5 mths:  4               6-9 mths:  2

The wait is over...contract signed!

3.         How long from contract signing to RELEASE DAY?

            11-12 mths: 4           13-15 mths: 3                      
            16-20 mths: 6           21-24 mths: 5

4.         In what age category is your book?

            YA:  15            MG:  3

5.         What genres and sub-genres are represented in these book deals? Contemporary, Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Fantasy, Historical, Historical Fantasy, Steampunk, Sci-Fi, Southern Gothic, and Magical Realism!

       

6.         What was your word count at time of offer? (all numbers rep YAs except where noted)

            34k-38k:  3 (MG)      50k-60k:  3                61k-70k:  3               
            71k-80k:  6                81k-90k:  2                91k-100k:  1

How long are these Fall 15er books anyway?

BONUS:           More details on what’s in your book please!  

Thanks so much to everyone for coming by the Fall Fifteeners blog today! We've obsessed over stats and even though you won't listen...don't obsess too much over these. It's all in good fun. Happy querying and happy on-subbing! 

Stats compiled and fancified for your viewing pleasure by Ami Allen-Vath, author of Prom Bitch, releasing November 2015. Special thanks to all the Fall Fifteeners for participating, and to my husband who was my charts & graphs associate.