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What Is the Agent Doing While I Wait?

May 3, 2012 in Agency, Business, Tamela, Writing with 19 Comments

by Tamela Hancock Murray

You submit a great manuscript to an agent. Then you wait. And wait. And wait.

What could she possibly be doing?

Let’s say your baby jumped most of the hurdles and is near the top of the slush pile. (See the previous post on the Mystery of the Slush Pile) Why can’t the agent make up her mind? Might I offer a few ideas:

1.) Market changes can mean a shift in priorities. An agent may receive an email at five in the afternoon on any given Friday that opens up a new market or closes an old one. The agent may need to reevaluate and reassess her strategy. This does not mean agents chase the market. What it does mean is that, for example, if markets are trending away from a certain type of novel (Remember hen lit?) the agent may realize she’d better focus on the writers she already has rather than risking taking on a new client writing that type of book, no matter how wonderful. Or if a huge market opens up, the agent might focus on that category for awhile, shunting your wonderful retelling of Genesis to the side, if only temporarily.

2.) She may have gotten surprise submissions from clients already on her roster. In my experience, it’s not uncommon for writers to explore new territory or to ramp up their speed in submitting. The agent’s obligation is to the clients already signed rather than clients as yet unsigned. She might hold on to your book while working out career options for the existing client, thereby holding up a firm decision on your work.

3.) Your work is good, but someone else’s may be just as good. The agent may delay while choosing between the two submissions.

4.) Your work is perfect for the market, but the agent is unsure if the writing sparkles enough. He might put your work aside to re-evaluate while deciding if he should proceed.

5.) The agent sees how to improve your manuscript and could market it with a few tweaks, but is unsure whether to lead you on, so to speak. Once an agent dispenses advice on how to change the manuscript, she feels a sense of obligation and partnership with you. A wise agent will think before engaging an author to this level unless she’s THIS close to offering representation.

6.) The agent may be traveling out of town to visit publishing houses so she can meet with editors as well as sales and marketing teams.

7.) The agent may be attending conferences, during which time he will learn more about the markets and other authors — and where he may also meet you in person. He may wait until after the conference to report back to you.

8.) Contracts often come in waves. The agent may be tied up in negotiations, delaying a response.

9.) The agent may be so busy with current clients, regardless of how and why, meaning responding to slush pile submissions is #56 on the To Do list.

These are just a few reasons why it may take an agent awhile to get back to you. We agents wish we could give everyone a five-day turnaround period, but my office isn’t able to respond with lightning speed unless the submission is so far out of the park we’re not able to consider it, or such a sparkling, must-have property that my assistant tells me I must pick up the phone that day to talk to the author. For everyone else, no news really is good news, or at least near-miss news.

Don’t lose heart, though. I have found many authors through the standard slush pile, and I want your submissions. Without your work, I have nothing to send editors. So thank you for submitting, and thank you for your patience.

Your turn:

1.) How many agents do you submit to at any given time?

2.) Do you think it’s worth waiting for your dream agent, or do you think writers are wiser to go with the first reputable agent who acts quickly?

How Can You Manage So Many Clients?

April 23, 2012 in Agency, Business, Communication, Steve with 21 Comments

by Steve Laube

I am frequently asked this question. It is perfectly understandable as many agencies carry a sizeable list of clients. A prospective client or even an existing one wonders, “Will this agent or agency have time for me?”

We post a list of our clients on the web site because we are honored to work with so many gifted people. Not every agency makes their client list public. It is neither right nor wrong, it is merely a preference. As of this morning we have nearly 170 clients on our roster.

Proper management of a client base is all about communication and work flow. The best metaphor I’ve been able to use to describe how a literary agency works is “We are like a major airline that is always overbooked but never flies full. But if everyone show up at the gate at the same time, we would be in serious trouble.”

The writing profession is somewhat cyclical. During the proposal and contract stage the agent/author conversations are frequent. But once the deal is set the writer disappears into a cave to write. Then periodically the writer comes out with a question or a situation that needs attention. Later on the editorial, production, and marketing stages can have issues that require an agents attention.

Rarely does much of this happen on the same day. Thus the airline metaphor is apropos. If every client called their agent on the same day it is doubtful that every author would be served properly.

Another consideration when looking at a list of clients it to realize that not every author is what can be termed as “Active.” An “active” author is either writing their book, creating a new proposal, or otherwise engaged in activity that affects their work as an author which I would be representing.

However I have some clients who have retired but there is still work to be done their behalf when issues arise on their older titles. Other clients have passed away. In those situations if there is an issue with the estate and the intellectual property we are still there to handle it. We have clients who take years between projects. We keep these people on our list of clients because they are our clients, but they would not necessarily be considered “active.”

From a workflow standpoint I try my best to respond to each client’s situation as soon as possible. Am I perfect? Hardly. But generally we hope our clients are satisfied with what we can do for them. Each of us in the agency works hard to take care of each situation as they arise. Some days are crazier than others. E-mail is a tremendous tool for taking care of quick questions. The phone is still a powerful tool. (Read “The Barriers to Effective Communication.”)

Ultimately the question is not “can we” but “do we” manage a number of clients. The answer is a celebratory “yes we do!” We will not take on a new client unless we think we can sell their work or help them to achieve their publication goals. A project or an author must be commercially viable otherwise nothing happens and no one is happy. So while our client base may continue to grow it is done with intentionality and purpose.

The Mystery of the Slush Pile

April 19, 2012 in Agency, Book Proposals, Tamela, Writing with 42 Comments

by Tamela Hancock Murray

When you submit a manuscript or query to an agent, you may wonder what happens to it, and what our thought processes are regarding the properties we offer to represent versus those we must respectfully decline. Every agent is different, but you may find learning about my process helpful.

I have a very smart assistant. When she reviews my slush pile submissions, she goes through a winnowing process.

The first submissions she rejects are those that are obviously not a fit for me. These include:

1.) Stream of consciousness submissions. If she can’t figure out what you are talking about, she sends it back. By this we don’t mean that we don’t understand systematic theology. It means that the query letter is incoherent.

2.) Error-ridden letters. Even the best of us can type “here” when we meant to type “hear” but more than one error in a final letter is a red flag that either the author is not well-versed in basic grammar or will turn in careless, sloppy work.

3.) We rarely acknowledge queries sent as an email blast in the cc line to the entire industry. It is a form of spam. Target a select few and then personalize your proposal to each.

4.) Books that aren’t in categories we represent.

Submissions that bypass these four problems, among others, and otherwise show promise are passed on to a reader. The reader looks for factors such as:

1.) Excellent writing.

2.) For fiction, coherent plot.

3.) For nonfiction, whether the intended audience is likely to connect with the topic.

4.) Overall message of book, whether fiction or nonfiction.

Our reviewer’s opinion carries weight. If the manuscript doesn’t pass muster, the reviewer reports as to why it doesn’t. Based on the evaluation, unless my assistant has an extremely good reason to disagree, a rejection is sent. But if it survives that initial read, then the submission is sent to me for final evaluation. At that time, I must consider many factors as I make my final decision. The factors differ, depending on the author’s publishing history, type of manuscript in question, and my belief in its marketability. The main point to remember is that rejections from my office are never a reflection of a writer as a person, and I think most agents would make the same statement. I wrote books and articles for many years, so I know what receiving a rejection letter feels like. Since so much of yourself is put into your work, rejection does feel personal. One of the most difficult parts of my job is sending a rejection notice to an author I know and like. But if I waste her time, mine, and the editor’s, then attempts to market out of a sense of friendship won’t help any of us.

On the flip side, when I do offer representation, you can be confident that in my representation, you will have the full support of The Steve Laube Agency.

Your Turn:

What is the longest you’ve had to wait for an agent to reject or accept your work?

Did you earn an offer of representation for your first manuscript, or did you write several books before finding success?

Christy Award Finalists 2012

April 16, 2012 in Agency, News You Can Use, Publishing, Steve with 0 Comments

We are quite excited to announce that our agency has a number of finalists in this year’s Christy Awards. (Click here for the list of this year’s finalists.) Congratulations to all finalists. Below are our clients who have been honored and a link to their publisher’s site for more information on the book.

Susan May Warren – My Foolish Heart (Tyndale) – Contemporary Romance

Ronie Kendig – Wolfsbane (Barbour) – Contemporary Romance

Ginny Yttrup – Words (B&H Publishing) – NOMINATED TWICE – Contemporary Standalone & First Novel

Ted Dekker & Tosca Lee – Forbidden (Center Street) – Visionary – (we represent Tosca)

Lisa Bergren – Waterfall (David C. Cook) – Young Adult

 

 

Implications of the Department of Justice Lawsuit Against Five Major Publishers

April 16, 2012 in Agency, Business, Contracts, Publishing, Steve with 9 Comments

by Steve Laube

As you have heard by now the Department of Justice (DOJ) has leveled a lawsuit against Apple and five major publishers accusing them of conspiring to fix prices. There has been a lot written on the topic with varying degrees of understanding and a wide disparity of conclusions.

Authors are asking what this all means to them. And many are confused about the math involved. A great, and lengthy summary has been brilliantly composed at Shelf-Awareness. Read that article if you do not understand the details of the situation. It is important that every writer grasp the implications because it could affect how books are sold moving forward.

Already, three of the five publisher have agreed to settle without admitting guilt (HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon and Schuster). And that settlement will take at least 60 days to finalize. This leave MacMillan and Penguin who have vowed to fight the suit. Such a fight could last years.

By the way, Random House was not named in the suit because they did not change their pricing policies until much later and thus cannot be accused of colluding.

At is core, the issue revolves around who gets to set the prices of books, the publisher or the retailer? When the retailer controls the sales price a company like Amazon has, in the past, used their clout to cut prices severely, even to the point of losing money on the sale of the books they sell. Since Amazon is so large and diversified in their products a books-only company like Barnes & Noble or Books-a-Million is at a disadvantage. The DOJ doesn’t care if the retailer of the publisher controls the prices, but they did take offense that five publishers and a major vendor agreed to the same terms at the same time. It has the appearance of collusion.

Years ago when I was in the bookstore business we were constantly being challenged by bargain pricing done at the warehouse clubs on selected titles. They would buy a book that retailed for $20 and with their buying power purchase the book for $10 net from the publisher. Then they would retail the book to the public for $10.88. There were stores in our area that had little purchasing clout and the best price they could get for the same book was at $12.00 net. To match the warehouse club price they would lose money on each sale.  You see the problem?

However

However, many authors do not understand that this “Agency Model,” the lawsuit, and its implications have had little effect on the rest of the publishing industry. While the Big Six comprise a huge portion of the market, they are not the entire market.

Read my previous blog about “Who Owns Whom in Christian Publishing.” The Agency model of selling books to Amazon and iBooks has not applied to the majority of Christian publishers. See that post starting half way down where there is a long list of publishers not owned by any of the Big Six.

Each publisher has had to negotiate their own agreement with Amazon to sell their ebooks and paper books. Unfortunately we are not privy to what those terms are. And Amazon and the publisher work together to set prices in most cases. If they are unable to come to an agreement Amazon has used their weight to pull titles from their site. IPG (Independent Publisher’s Group) in late February refused to renegotiate terms with Amazon. Overnight thousands of IPG books disappeared from the Amazon site. And to this day they have not yet been reinstated. (Read this article for full information.)

But that is an unrelated incident, other than being instructive as to the clout of Amazon. As for what will happen? Kristine Kathryn Rusch quite ably said in her very informative blog, “No one knows.”

Any Questions?

After you have assimilated the information linked above, do you have any questions? I will try to answer as best I can in the comment section below. Or use the green “Ask Us a Question” button to the right to send a private question.

 

True Confessions

March 29, 2012 in Agency, Business, Publishing, Tamela, Writing with 12 Comments

by Tamela Hancock Murray

When our eldest daughter was learning about various religions in college, she told me that converts to the Greek Orthodox faith must make a lifetime confession. This would mean confessing all of your past sins. Don’t worry — joining our agency does not require a lifetime confession. However, we do need to know about your publishing past.

Poor Sales History

Poor sales of your books in the past can be a challenge. Major publishers always ask for these details because the accounts to whom they sell ask for those details. A poor track record can suggest more of the same with the next book. That is one advantage of a debut author…no sales history. However, when talking to us about your career, this is no time to be coy leave us uncertain about a less than stellar sales history. Instead, let us know so we can strategize how to overcome that obstacle. And if we can’t come up with a good strategy and you have to find a different agent? This is not the worst thing that can happen. Rather, it would be worse for both of us to waste everyone’s time if another agent can come up with the right strategy for your career.

Wish I Had not Written That

What if you have great sales history, but you’re embarrassed by one of your previous works? Perhaps you wrote steamy novels or published a strident political tome before your views changed. Fortunately the Christian community is generally a special place of second chances.

More than once, I have met authors who wrote steamy books in the past, but now want to embark on a career writing for the Christian market. Is this possible?

I believe it is. There are many examples of authors who have done so with great success. However, it is critical that you tell us everything so we can assess how to handle your past books with new editors. We will all have to work together to rebrand you, and that process may take several steps. Once we discuss your new goals, we can be at our most effective for you.

Secrets

What you do not want to happen is to cover up something you wrote and hope no one finds out. The Internet is a powerful tool and you would be amazed by how much we can discover about you. And be assured that a major publisher is also going to do their due diligence and research an author if they are unfamiliar with them.

Rest assured that we treat your information with with very high level of professional confidentiality. Once you place your trust in us, we will do everything we can to further your career. And besides, as the Scottish proverb says, confession is good for the soul.

Your turn:
Have you written a book or article you wish had never been published?
What have you done to overcome that experience?

A Few Things Your Agent Needs to Know

March 22, 2012 in Agency, Communication, Tamela with 20 Comments

by Tamela Hancock Murray

You have an agent, but want to be low maintenance. You value your agent’s time and hesitate to fill her in-box with lots of chatty emails or tie him up on the phone all day. I’m sure your agent appreciates you for being considerate.

Still, writing is a serious profession and a business. Therefore some personal events and occasions in your life are critical for your agent to know:

Happy Event

If you are the bride or groom, the parent of the bride or groom, expecting a new life in your family, are taking a month-long vacation to Hawaii, or have another major happy event planned, let us know so we will be aware that you might not be around for stretch of time.

Death of an Immediate Family Member

If you don’t tell us about a death that affects you in a major way, we won’t understand your emotional state. Also, consider that if you are responsible for executing a will and disposing of an estate, it’s best to let your agent know you are involved in time-consuming, heart-wrenching work that could affect your productivity.

Major Medical Issues

This includes any major illness or surgery, particularly if you may be looking at time-consuming physical therapy and multiple visits to doctors. If you don’t tell us, we won’t understand that you must see the doctor three times a week so you never seem to answer your phone or email. Or if you are faced with a chronic condition that changes how you approach your work.

Caregiving

If you must become a caregiver let us know. Not only are you having to adjust to a new routine, but taking on the responsibility of an adult who is unable to function on her own will also consume much time and emotion.

Difficult Family Circumstances

Family difficulties, a separation, or even a divorce are all things that you might hesitate to mention to your agent. Don’t fear judgment. Let your agent know. Your agent is your business partner and these situations can have a chilling effect on your creativity. And sometimes the agent can let your publisher know if you are in danger of missing a deadline, but in a tactful manner that protects your privacy.

Jury Duty

Each state has different rules regarding Jury Duty. For some it is only a day. For others it means being on call for a month. But at least tell your agent if you think you’ll be sequestered. If you are, then we’ll have a heads up and have thought of an action plan for while you are away.

Moving

Keep us up to date, even if you are months away from our deadline and don’t think it affects your work flow. We need to know your new address. And don’t forget to tell the publishers who are sending you checks! Or if you spend months in a second home, let us know when you switched to the new location.

What Not to Do

Please remember that the sooner you can let us know about any changes, the better. The worst mistake you can make is hoping against hope that things will be better than you think, and you can still make that deadline. Don’t make the mistake of meeting the deadline by just turning in whatever you have on screen, in other words, the raw first draft. It would be better to ask for a few extra days to clean up the mess before scaring your editor with something not ready for prime time.

And please, do not assume anyone is reading your Facebook or Twitter updates and consider that sufficient notice. Social Media posts do not substitute for an intentional notification via e-mail or a phone call.

My Hat Collection

March 15, 2012 in Agency, Humor, Tamela with 21 Comments

by Tamela Hancock Murray

As an agent, I wear many hats and I love them all!

Miner’s Hat:
Worn while picking through slush pile submissions.

Tiara:
Worn in celebration of gem discovery in the form of your marketable manuscript.

Gold Crown:
In celebration of signing you to be a new client.

Baseball Cap:
Worn as I strike through weasel words in your manuscript.

Sun Bonnet:
Adorned during our picnic, where I dispense tea when you need sympathy.

Saucy Red Beret with diamond ribbon broach:
My sales hat. This means I am energetically pitching your wonderful manuscript! The diamonds mean I am already successful, and you will also be successful since you’re with me!

Fedora:
Serious meeting hat for contract negotiations, and is always accompanied by a business suit. In black.

Bankers Visor:
For those times when the we analyze your royalty statements and collect the publisher’s payments.

Hermes Scarf:
For tooling around town in our rented convertible, on our way to meet with editors, to keep hair from getting mussed. Accompanied by Tiffany sunglasses.

Royal Ascot Hat:
Wide-brimmed and adorned with an embarrassment of blooms, this is what we wear to celebrate your success!

Your Turn:
What type of hats do you wear when you are writing?

By the way, Steve Laube wanted to share what hats he wears. They are pictured below. One to wear and one for backup while the third is being washed.

 

It’s A Brave New World

March 14, 2012 in Agency, Business, Craft, Karen, Publishing, Trends, Writing with 11 Comments

by Karen Ball

I’ve been in publishing for lo, these many years (over 30), so you’d think the work would be pretty much second nature for me. No so! In fact, just this last week I did something completely new!

I edited a book, in four days, using Skype and Dropbox.

The amazing thing about this isn’t that the author and I got the book done so quickly, but that it was SO MUCH FUN! We parked on Skype for hours, so that if I had questions as I edited a chapter, I could just ask him, and if he had questions about the editing, he could just ask me. It was like being in the same room together, but without the expense or stress of travel. And I discovered that doing the edit this way gave me a fresher understanding of what the author wanted to say. It also enabled us to do a bit of arm wrestling when we disagreed on something, but to do so with humor and kindness. When you deal with issues over the phone or in email, you always run the risk of misunderstanding because folks can’t see your expressions or body language, or hear the tone of your voice. With Skype, those risks were gone, so we handled a couple of sensitive issues without frustration or misunderstanding.

And that, my friends, is a miracle!

So how does this affect you? Well, as I was working with this author, I started to think about all the other ways we, as agents and authors, could use this technology:

When you know a conversation is going to take more than a few minutes, use Skype (or whatever video calling option you have). Seeing each other, being able to read expressions and body language, to hear tone of voice, goes a long way to heading off misunderstanding.

Use video calling when you’re communicating with someone you don’t know well. I didn’t know this author at all before I stared working with him. But now I feel as though I’ve had an editing retreat with him, and he’s become a friend.

Writers, use video calling if you need to hash things out with your editor. Face-to-face works so much better than email and phone calls.

Are you collaborating with another writer on a project? Use video calling to brainstorm, discuss, and edit your project.

Writers could also use video conferencing to:

  • Mentor other writers
  • Have a critique group with other writers from across the country (Skype has group conferencing)
  • Brainstorm your books together
  • If you’re stuck on your work and need some help, video call a writer friend and brainstorm together. Or just take a coffee break together. I have a good friend who lives in Illinois. When I lived in Illinois, she and I loved to do coffee runs together to Starbuck’s or Caribou Coffee. I’ve missed that time with her so much, so I proposed doing a coffee run on Skype. It’s working out great!

These are just a few of the ways we can jump into this technological world and use it not just for meetings, but to enrich our relationships and writing.

So hey, why not give it a try? You may find that you enjoy it even more than I do.

What if You Get a Book Deal on Your Own and Then Want an Agent?

March 5, 2012 in Agency, Business, Conferences, Contracts, Publishing, Steve with 4 Comments

by Steve Laube

One of our readers asked this via the green “Ask us a question” button.

What happens if you get a book contract before you have an agent? What if, by some miracle, an editor sees your work and wants to publish it? (1) would having a publisher interested in my work make an agent much more likely to represent me, and (2) would it be appropriate to try to find an agent at that point (when a publisher says it wants to publish you)? My fear is that querying an agent and receiving a response could take several months, but I’d need to accept a potential contract with a book publisher right away (I would think). Is it appropriate to ask the editor to speak with an agent on your behalf to speed the process?

This is a great topic but there are a few questions within the question. Let me try to break it down.

Many times we have had authors approach us with contracts in hand and seeking representation (happened just last week). Of course this will get an agent’s attention immediately. But there are caveats:

a)      Who is the publisher? There is a big difference between a major company and your local independent publisher. Not all publishers are created equal (see the Preditors & Editors warnings). I remember a situation where the publisher who had made the offer to the author was not well known in the industry, they appeared to be a startup, and the terms in the contract were onerous. This was not a publisher we could recommend the author work with. We declined to represent the project. The author signed the contract anyway. A few years later the author came to me detailing their regrets.

There are also packagers, subsidy publishers, and vanity presses that can easily confuse a new writer into thinking that their contract offer is similar to getting a contract offer from Random House. This is not a criticism of those companies but merely to present their contract offers as a contrast to what is offered by Traditional Publishing. Do your due diligence and practice discernment.

b)      Is this a real contract offer or an editor who said they were interested? This is a big difference. I once had a writer literally beg for representation because an editor had said they were interested at a conference (and when I wrote “literally beg” I mean with all the fullness of what that phrase suggests). Found out later the editor had been stopped in a hallway and after hearing the author’s pitch said to the writer, “Sure I’ll give it a look if you have an agent send it to me.” [FYI: That is not a contract offer.]

c)      What is your content? To maintain our integrity we would still need to see your book. We never will represent someone’s work without seeing it first. Our company becomes associated with that material. But if your contract offer is from a major house, trust that we will not sit on the content for long. There is no need to ask the editor to get involved at this stage. It would put them in an awkward position, especially if they would prefer working with a different agent! Also do not ask the editor which agent they prefer. Again you would be putting them in an awkward position. Better to ask, “I’m thinking of working with Steve Laube as my agent, are there any red flags that you feel comfortable sharing with me?” [I anticipate a few jokes in the comments with that set up line.]

d)     Who are you? We may have never met or talked. We need to find out if you are who you say you are. If we have met in the past, remind me of the context.

I have a client right now who I met at a conference. The writer pitched their idea I thought the idea intriguing but challenged the writer to “blow me away” with their sample material and send it to me. At the same conference the writer connected with an editor at a major publisher. That editor became quite enthused and worked directly with the author for a few months refining the project. I did not know this was happening and was simply waiting for the proposal to arrive at our office. Good news is that the editor and publisher offered a contract. The author immediately contacted me with the deal in hand. I asked a few questions including:

a)     “Can you send me the material that got the editor so excited?”

b)      ”Have you agreed to contractual terms yet?” Fortunately the answer was no. NEVER agree to terms with a publisher if you want to have an agent become involved. If you do, the agent is handcuffed in their ability to adjust certain rights and terms to your benefit.

c)      ”Why do you want an agent? You already have a deal in hand!” The author said, “Steve, I know my limitations. If I were to represent myself I would have a fool for a client.” We signed and have been working together ever since.

I also want to make sure the writer knows what an agent does for a client beyond just the sale or the book deal. It is a myth that all an agent does is have exotic lunches and influence editors with their wiles and force of personality. In today’s publishing labyrinth an author needs a guide. I firmly believe that every author needs a good agent by their side. But that is a post for another day.

 

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