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Elsewhere in the blogosphere, the New Yorker’s Book Bench blog posted a covers contest so challenging that even previous winners Jim and I couldn’t get ‘em all. (Seriously, people, what are #2 and #4? They haven’t posted the answers yet, and it’s driving me a bit nuts.) They also interviewed a seriously awesome 4-year-old on his love of books and monsters. Everyone talked about the eminently deserving Colum McCann’s win of the National Book Award. Eric at Pimp My Novel pointed out that we’re writing a lot of books about people’s daughters lately. Michael Cairns at PersonaNonData analyzed e-book pricing. The author behind Belle de Jour, blog-turned-book-turned-TV-show about a prostitute in London, turned out to be a research scientist. And Nathan Bransford made a pretty compelling argument for the eventual supremacy of e-books because people gravitate toward efficiency (on the one hand, I dream about one day having a home library with rolling ladders to reach the higher shelves; on the other, I’m kind of an efficiency nerd).
And now I’m off to figure out how to efficiently fit a library large enough to require rolling ladders in a New York City apartment.
2 Comments on Where has the week gone?, last added: 11/20/2009
# of queries read this week: 112 # of partials/manuscripts requested: 2 genre of partials/manuscripts requested: fantasy (1), YA (1)
Unless you were hiding under a rock these last couple days in the publishing world, you will have heard of Harlequin's new venture Horizons. There are plenty of comment threads about it: Absolute Write, Dear Author, etc.
RWA responded by revoking Harlequin's approved publisher status (text on Kristin Nelson's blog). Then MWA got into the mix (text of their statement on Lee Goldberg's site). Harlequin responded by.... changing the name of the venture, which, imo, doesn't address the points that RWA and MWA were raising. Or, as SFWA put it in their statement: "does not believe that changing the name of the imprint, or in some other way attempting to disguise the relationship to Harlequin, changes the intention."
Self-publishing -- Writer as publisher. The writer undertakes to arrange editing, printing, distribution, etc. without a third party holding any rights or share of the proceeds.
Vanity/subsidy publisher -- A company that publishes books at the author's expense. A vanity press derives its profits from authors. Sometimes provides additional services -- for a fee -- for design, publicity, etc. These fees can generate many thousands of dollars for the press. It's pay-to-play.
Traditional publisher -- Pays an advance/royalty share to authors on the sale of their books. Money flows towards the author. Profits are based on sales. The publishing company's overhead covers editorial, production, distribution, etc.
What these things mean in a query....
If the query mentions a book that has been published, but does NOT mention the publisher, the tendency is to assume that it's either self-published or from a vanity publisher. On some occasions, a google search might turn up the information, but that depends on whether one has the time or inclination to look.
As far as I'm concerned, a book that has been self-published rarely has much impact in a query. I'm not against self-publishing. There are times when it makes sense for the author (see this interview with Wil Wheaton, for example). And, indeed, there are books like The Shack or Eragon, which show it can sometimes lead to more opportunities. And this isn't a new thing either: The Joy of Cooking was originally self-published in 1931 (3,000 copies by a company that printed fancy labels but had never printed a book before). Those success stories are still a decided minority. Then, again, it depends on the author's definition of success and what the author is looking for in the experience. But the same holds true for an agent looking for new clients.
A book that is published by a vanity or subsidy press.... this can be a bit more complex. Many say it's a negative mark on the writer's reputation to have been involved in this approach. Why moreso than self-publishing? Perhaps it's just the sour taste it leaves behind as these types of publishers tend to prey on an author's hopes and use them to their own advantage. In this scenario, it feels like the publishers are making the writers pay for their dreams, often with little hope of any return due to lack of distribution and poor design quality. On top of that, many of them will often take a cut of the profits (sometimes most of it), so the author is not only footing the bill but then paying the publisher a share of the proceeds too. In this case, what motivation does the publisher have to help the author succeed? As for an agent's feelings on this -- well, see those links above, but in most cases it provides a sheen of unprofessionalism, shows a lack of understanding the workings of publishing, and would put the author in the position of starting with a poor hand on a publishing field that is already anything but level.
Would I tell an author not to self-publish? Not necessarily. But I would tell them to employ due diligence and research what it entails and what they are likely to see in return for all their hard work. The author really needs to understand publishing and reaching their readers in order to decide if this is the right path for them to take.
In an interview in today’s Wall Street Journal, Alice Munro talks about why she’s attracted to writing short fiction. “I used to write novels and I didn’t get anywhere,” she says. She then goes on to say that she’s now writing “some halfway in between sort of thing.”
Well, I love those halfway in between sort of things Munro writes. I’ve always been enthusiastic about reading short fiction because the author has to get down to business right away in developing the story, there’s no time to waffle on about unnecessary things and spend pages setting up elaborate scenes. I remember taking a short story class in college and finishing the course being amazed at how much effort actually goes into writing short fiction. So, short story writers are kind of like heroes to me. I always like to keep a collection of short stories on the side while I’m reading a novel--I have to keep my reading options open!
So, having said that, any suggestions for Thanksgiving short story reading?
0 Comments on For the love of short stories as of 1/1/1900
Over the years I’ve received a lot of questions about pseudonyms, mostly related to query letters or at what point in an author’s career a pseudonym should be chosen. One of the things I’m not sure many authors understand is that a pseudonym isn’t always a choice you get to make yourself. Many times when an author makes a book deal or decides to use a pseudonym, there are discussions with her editor on name choices and what they can agree on would be a strong pseudonym and suit the genre and audience you are targeting.
Recently a reader asked the following question: I'm considering writing under a pseudonym, of sorts, because my name is orally very similar to that of a wildly popular author. I'm thinking of just adding an initial somewhere, but I'm wondering what the legal ramifications of that are. I know that with normal pseudonyms, the contracts all have to be signed under normal names, but would it be requisite to legally change a name for just an initial? Is adding an initial even the best route to go? Or does it even matter if my name sounds similar but maybe it really doesn't sound like it?
It’s difficult to answer this question without knowing exactly how similar your name is to another’s and who that other author is. It seems like adding an initial might not be a big enough change, but again, without knowing how similar your name is, what your plans are for that initial, or what you’re writing I really am not sure. All that being said, there is no need to ever legally change your name to a pseudonym whether you are using an entirely new name or just an initial. No matter what you choose your contract will be in your legal name and the pseudonym will be noted as the name you are writing under.
Since you came to me with this question I’m going to assume you’re unagented and unpublished, in which case I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. Worry about writing your book. Finding the name to write under can be something you discuss with your agent and your editor. I know many authors feel they need to choose a pseudonym now so any other writings they do can be under that name, and while that’s not a bad plan, it also doesn’t mean your publisher will want you to use that name when the time comes.
My best advice is to worry more about the writing and less about the name. If you achieve name branding success before finding an agent and a publisher they will likely want you to keep that name. If not, it’s not going to be a big deal to find another.
It is disappointing that the RWA has not recognized that publishing models have and will continue to change. As a leading publisher of women's fiction in a rapidly changing environment, Harlequin's intention is to provide authors access to all publishing opportunities, traditional or otherwise.
Ms. Hayes, I wonder if you know how AuthorSolutions, your new partner in publishing models, actually works? It's not a publisher, if by publisher you mean a company (like Harlequin) that licenses intellectual property (ie pays for), adds value in terms of editorial expertise, design and production expertise, and then offers the product to their wholesale and retail accounts.
AuthorSolutions prints books. That's pretty much all they do. They don't license intellectual property. They don't add value with editorial input, design and production expertise, and they sure as hell don't make the product available to their wholesale and retail accounts (do they have any?) Their accounts are by and large the authors- the very people who pay to produce the book. A nice tidy circle of pay-to-play.
And to add insult to injury by saying they are the new publishing model, let's just remember they AREN'T. They're employing a new form of PRODUCTION. They don't actually change anything about the publishing model for vanity presses: authors pay to get books printed. The only thing that has changed is how many books get printed at one time, and in what format.
Ms. Hayes, I think I know what happened here. A very smart sales team from AuthorSolutions showed up and said "We can get you money, and a lot of it, with no capital investment, and not much expense to you. We can make your bottom line look a whole lot better."
What puzzles me is you agreed.
I understand budgets are tight. I understand the siren song of "money for nothing" in hard times. But I also know you've run a tight ship over there for a long time, and you're making money. Are you worried that will end, and the spigot of POD can help you alleviate that pressure?
I believe, and I hope you do too, some things are more important than money. Things like being honest with people who do business with you. This new venture is the ultimate in dishonesty. It's exactly the reason I loathe AuthorSolutions and their ilk with a passion: they (and now you) present it as a publishing model, and boost writers hopes and dreams at their expense to enrich yours.
As an agent a human being, that sickens me.
I'm glad you're taking the Harlequin name off this project.
Now, how about you just take it off your corporate website and leave the vultures to prey on other people.
You're better than this Harlequin.
0 Comments on C'mon Harlequin, don't try to blow smoke up our asterisk as of 1/1/1900
This week another major publisher, Harlequin, announced their entry into the self-publishing business. The blogs have lit up over it and there's a lot of interesting reading out there. I think Victoria Strauss gave a great overview on the Writer Beware blog (here.)
I have to admit that the idea of all these major publishers opening self-pub arms is making me nervous. It makes me worry about the future of publishing, much more than other issues like e-books, the decline of reading, etc. And here's why.
The lure and the prestige of getting a book published has always been based on... what? Exclusivity. It's exciting to get a book deal because many want one, and few can get one.
Published books have always been respected because of the many gatekeepers they had to go through to get on that bookstore shelf. Numerous people had to agree that the book was worthy of publication. Large companies had to invest money and time. All of that added to the value of each book.
Writers had to endure rejection, and be persistent. They had to keep trying harder, improving their writing, to get to the point of being published. And they had to impress a lot of people.
With no more gatekeepers, no more exclusivity, no more requirement to actually write a good book, won't published books lose value? If anybody can get a book published, doesn't that diminish the perceived status of all authors?
And if we are entering this brave new world where anyone and everyone can get their book published, and the traditional industry is even going to assist and give these books the look of a regular published book, who's looking out for the consumers?
Right now, when we walk into Barnes & Noble, at least we have the assurance that most of the books there have been through a rigorous approval process. Now it appears we will no longer have that assurance.
Many of you will say that the "approval process" is meaningless—just look at all those terrible books available! Who's doing the "approving" anyway? Clearly they don't know what they're doing. They're useless.
Well, I have news for you. If you think the published books are bad now, just wait until self-pubbing becomes the norm. Holy cow. Folks, you don't see an agent's daily slush pile. Sure, some of it is good. But let me tell you. At least half of it is seriously not good. As I look at all the books I say "no" to, and then realize these books could be for sale within a matter of months, I get depressed.
If you think the overall quality of literature has already declined substantially in the last, oh, forty years or so? I shudder to think how it will be ten years into a new world of self-publishing. "Literature" as we know it could be a thing of the past.
Major publishers have always been in the business of culling through the masses to find the cream of the crop. In my mind, they've set themselves up as gatekeepers and arbiters of literary taste. They've taken on that responsibility. By entering self-publishing, they're going 180 degrees away from that. And they're doing it for the money, because otherwise they might just go out of business altogether. (I get that part.)
I just don't see how any of this ends up serving readers. It serves writers, yes, but at what cost? Will the work of all writers be devalued? Worse—will writers lose the motivation to become master craftsmen? If so, books will deserve to be devalued because they'll indeed be of lower quality than ever before.
Now, I've always thought self-pubbing can a terrific idea for non-fiction authors with expertise in a certain area, who are able to promote and sell their books through their speaking, media appearances, website, etc. But to raise self-publishing to the level it seems to be going, and to have it focused on fiction... sorry, I'm not excited about it.
Am I just saying all this because I'm worried about my job? Nope. I've done plenty of other things besides agenting in my life, and I'll be fine no matter what happens in publishing. It's more because I'm a reader and I love books, good books, and I'm not sure a flood of self-published books into the marketplace is going to serve me as a reader.
So what do you think? Am I totally off base? Does anything I've said here ring true? What are your thoughts about self-publishing becoming a much bigger business than it already is?
How might it serve you as a reader—or not?
How might it serve you as a writer—or not?
Leave your thoughts in the comments.
P.S. I reserve the right to change my mind on anything I've written here. My thoughts are nowhere near settled; rather, I'm sort of thinking out loud. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from what you have to say.
.
0 Comments on Self-Publishing: A Rant and a Q4U as of 1/1/1900
I have a question about the kind of experience, academic background, etc. required for book-length nonfiction writing. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on post-apocalyptic literature and recently wrote an article for a popular sci-fi blog on why we like the apocalypse, which got something like 20,000 views and has helped make my blog (which has other nerdy apocalypse stuff) pretty popular. A lot of commenters have been asking for my thesis and encouraging me to publish it, which is flattering, of course, but who wants to read a book by someone who only has a B.A.? As a reader, I would definitely be suspicious of the author's credibility. Obviously, if I went off for 8 years, got a PhD, and came back to the topic, anything I'd write would be much better, but I don't think what I have to say now is valueless, either - I think it's pretty cool, actually, and I know that there are some science-y writers (like Mary Roach) who've successfully built a career without an advanced degree. So my question to you is: would any publisher look twice at a proposal by someone like me who's armed with such a short (but focused) resume?
Here's how I look at a query in terms of higher education credentials:
(1) Fiction - no credentials needed if book is good
(2) Memoir, "learn from experience"-type non-fiction - no credentials needed if book is good, but probably shouldn't come out of nowhere (i.e. you should have some real-world credentials of some kind, even if they're not academic)
(3) An academic book - requires some credentials. These are not necessarily "PhD in your area." You don't need a PhD in international relations to write about international relations; you need some experience in the IR field, maybe a posting or a job or field work combined with publications in journals. If you're writing about an area of medicine and it's not your medical memoirs, you should have some kind of medical credentials, preferably an MD in your field, but we do get a lot of submissions by social workers, nurses, and medical professionals who did not attend a full course of medical school. In other words, if it's a highly technical book, you need some excuse to have the authority to write it.
If your thesis is good, and you felt compelled to turn it into a book, I would look at it if the query letter was good. I'm not clear on your field here, but I'm not even sure you can major in the apocalypse, much less get a PhD in it, but I guess my answer is yes, I would look at your query and not toss it because you don't have a master's.
One area where people generally do not have academic credentials is historical fiction. I have a BA in history but decided not to pursue a masters or PhD because of the nature of academia. Though many writers have some sort of "background" like the one I've described, the majority of their material is derived from private research, scouring libraries and interviewing experts, not sitting in a PhD program preparing a thesis that by definition has to be as boring as possible (I was once graded down for my paper being "too dramatic). If it sounds like they know what they're talking about, I don't look for historical fiction authors' credentials at all.
0 Comments on Getting a higher degree for the sake of a book as of 11/20/2009 4:39:00 AM
STATUS: Sara’s first day back in the office. Totally fun.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? SHAKE THE DISEASE by Depeche Mode
This just in (literally five seconds ago) from Donna Hayes, CEO of Harlequin.
Harlequin was very surprised and dismayed to receive notice late yesterday that the RWA has decided that Harlequin is no longer eligible for RWA-provided conference resources. We were even more surprised to discover that the RWA sent a notice to its membership announcing this decision, before allowing Harlequin to respond or engage in a discussion about it with the RWA board.
Harlequin has been a significant supporter of the RWA for many years in several ways, including:
• financial sponsorships at the annual conference • sending editors to the national and regional chapter conferences throughout the year to meet with and advise aspiring authors and participate in panel discussions on writing • celebrating our authors, most of whom are RWA members, annually with the largest publisher party at the conference.
It is disappointing that the RWA has not recognized that publishing models have and will continue to change. As a leading publisher of women's fiction in a rapidly changing environment, Harlequin's intention is to provide authors access to all publishing opportunities, traditional or otherwise.
Most importantly, however, we have heard the concerns that you, our authors, have expressed regarding the potential confusion between this venture and our traditional business. As such, we are changing the name of the self-publishing company from Harlequin Horizons to a designation that will not refer to Harlequin in any way. We will initiate this process immediately. We hope this allays the fears many of you have communicated to us.
We are committed to connecting with our authors and aspiring authors in a significant way and encourage you to continue to share your thoughts with us.
Sincerely
Donna Hayes Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Harlequin Enterprises Limited
And earlier today, Mystery Writers Of America Board of Directors weighed in:
Recently, Harlequin Enterprises launched two new business ventures aimed at aspiring writers, the Harlequin Horizons self-publishing program and the eHarlequin Manuscript Critique service (aka "Learn to Write"), both of which are widely promoted on its website and embedded in the manuscript submission guidelines for all of its imprints.
Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is deeply concerned about the troubling conflict-of-interest issues created by these ventures, particularly the potentially misleading way they are marketed to aspiring writers on the Harlequin website.
It is common for disreputable publishers to try to profit from aspiring writers by steering them to their own for-pay editorial, marketing, and publishing services. The implication is that by paying for those services, the writer is more likely to sell his manuscript to the publisher. Harlequin recommends the "eHarlequin Manuscript Critique Service" in the text of its manuscript submission guidelines for all of its imprints and include a link to "Harlequin Horizons," its new self-publishing arm, without any indication that these are advertisements.
That, coupled with the fact that these businesses share the Harlequin name, may mislead writers into believing they can enhance their chances of being published by Harlequin by paying for these services. Offering these services violates long-standing MWA rules for inclusion on our Approved Publishers List.
On November 9, Mystery Writers of America sent a letter to Harlequin about the "eHarlequin Manuscript Critique Service," notifying Harlequin that it is in violation of our rules and suggesting steps that Harlequin could take to remain on our Approved Publishers list. The steps outlined at that time included removing mention of this for-pay service entirely from its manuscript submission guidelines, clearly identifying any mention of this program as paid advertisement, and, adding prominent disclaimers that this venture was totally unaffiliated with the editorial side of Harlequin, and that paying for this service is not a factor in the consideration of manuscripts. Since that letter went out, Harlequin has launched "Harlequin Horizons," a self-publishing program.
MWA's November 9 letter asks that Harlequin respond to our concerns and recommendations by December 15. We look forward to receiving their response and working with them to protect the interests of aspiring writers. If MWA and Harlequin are unable to reach an agreement, MWA will take appropriate action which may include removing Harlequin from the list of MWA approved publishers, declining future membership applications from authors published by Harlequin and declaring that books published by Harlequin will not be eligible for the Edgar Awards.
We are taking this action because we believe it is vitally important to alert our members of unethical and predatory publishing practices that take advantage of their desire to be published. We respect Harlequin and its authors and hope the company will take the appropriate corrective measures.
This e-bulletin was prepared by Margery Flax on behalf of MWA's National Board of Directors.
The fun continues. I did speak with a Harlequin Editorial Director this morning. She couldn't say much (as you can imagine) but I was able to voice some concerns--specifically about eRoyalties at Harlequin going into the future.
2 Comments on Harlequin News Flash, last added: 11/19/2009
Two recently published biographies of Ayn Rand have been getting a good deal of attention recently. It’s unusual that two so similar books have been published more or less simultaneously, and the net effect is to make it seem as if we are in the middle of a Rand resurgence. Thomas Mallon writes in the New Yorker that “most readers make their first and last pilgrimage to Galt’s Gulch....sometime between leaving for Middle Earth and packing for college.” Another reviewer (who it was, and the precise words he used, I can not now remember) said that Rand’s books have made it on to the mysteriously constituted but broadly understood unofficial reading list of adolescence. Both observations made me laugh, in large part because they seemed spot on. I read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged in early high school; who recommended them to me, I can’t, for the life of me, recall. Certainly not my parents, though they noted my choice of reading with some bemusement. I wasn’t in search of a political philosophy, and I emerged from my sojourn in Galt Gulch with no die-hard allegiance to Objectivism or snappy habit of wearing a cape. Ditto Middle Earth. I do, now wonder, where this unofficial reading list came from: for me in addition to Rand and Tolkien, it included generous helpings of Daphne DuMaurier (where is the gothic novel today, I ask?); Gone With the Wind; The Hitchhiker’s Guide; The Princess Bride; Down and Out in Paris and in London; Look Homeward, Angel; Lost Horizon. Note that I’m leaving off the books that were part of the official curriculum, such as Hiroshima, Death be Not Proud, A Separate Peace and assorted other death-related tales that I now suspect compose the reading-list-approach to undermining the adolescent sense of invincibility.
But I wonder what made it on to your unofficial list of adolescence? Did you read Rand? And what do Howard Roark and Bilbo Baggins have in common? Also, if anyone can tell me what article I’m paraphrasing, I’d be grateful.
7 Comments on Roark and Baggins, last added: 11/19/2009
I'm completely obsessed with efficiency. I try to be as ruthlessly efficient as I possibly can, simply because I want to get as much done as possible. If there's a new system that saves me time, whether it's accepting e-queries, embracing Google docs so I can work anywhere, getting an e-reader so I can read anywhere, you name it, I'll do it.
But I'm also obsessed with efficiency in a broader sense as well, because I think it is something critically important to society and history and technology. We humans, whether we're conscious of it or not, are all obsessed with efficiency.
Nearly every single thing that has ever been invented and achieved mass adoption has one thing in common: it's an improvement in efficiency.
Whether it's speech, writing, the postal service, telephone, or e-mails, we have been moving closer and closer to efficient, instantaneous communication across vast distances.
Whether it's domesticated animals, chariots, railroads, cars, planes, we have been moving closer and closer to efficient travel across vast distances.
Whether it's fire, windmills, steam engines, or the internal combustion engine, we have been moving closer and closer to the most efficient energy production possible.
And as we decide whether to adopt or dismiss a new inventions, nearly every consideration other than efficiency (usually) dwindles in importance.
Cars aren't as safe as railroad travel or walking (or at least walking where there are no cars), but we're willing to make that sacrifice because cars are efficient. Every energy technology seems to pollute more than the last, but we make the tradeoff because the other technologies are less efficient. Nothing can compare to the experience of listening to live music or, barring that, vinyl records, but we'd much rather listen to music on mp3 players because we can listen to music whenever we want.
Human beings are always scurrying around trying to find more efficient ways of doing things and freeing up time for the things we'd rather be doing. Efficiency allows us to be more productive and relax more and spend time creating still more efficiency.
And this is why I believe e-books are going to win in the end, and probably sooner than we think. It's simply vastly more efficient to download any book you could possibly want instantaneously and read a book on a screen (even better if it's a screen you already have, hello smartphone) than to cut down a tree, make paper, print ink on it, bind it, ship it across the country in a plane or a truck or both, and make someone walk or drive to a physical store (who may or may not have the book they want) every time they want to read a book.
I think we'll look back on the print era and marvel about all those people who were responsible for delivering all these individual printed objects, kind of like how there used to be a fleet of milk men in every city rather than one guy driving a truck to a couple of supermarkets.
To be sure, no technology disappears completely - people still ride horses, go to plays, type on typewriters, listen to record players, and send handwritten letters. And printed books aren't going to disappear either. All of these technologies have advantages and and an associated nostalgia that people will always want to preserve and experience. There will still be printed books and physical bookstores, even if there are far fewer of them.
But things tend to move in one direction: toward greater efficiency and productivity. There's always a delay as people adapt to the new technology, but prices come down, the technology gets better, and the efficiency spreads.
Printed books have their advantages, but they don't win where it counts. Nature may abhor a vacuum, but human nature abhors a bottleneck.
0 Comments on Efficiency Wins in the End as of 1/1/1900
Yesterday, Harlequin announced their new Harlequin Horizons program, a joint venture with Author Solutions, “the world’s leading self-publisher.” Basically, you can now pay to have your unpublished romance novel published by Harlequin...Horizons. The reaction from authors, both aspiring and those published by Harlequin, has been fairly negative.
What seems to concern published authors the most is that this new venture actually uses the Harlequin name, and that associating Harlequin with self-publishing will hurt the brand. I’m not sure how legitimate this is, only because those self-published books aren’t going to be popping up at B&N or Borders any time soon. The Harlequin brand will still mean something to buyers. And as they’ve said, the books will have their own HH branding.
My personal concern, and one that is shared by unpublished authors, is about what seems like a conflict of interest. Are we moving to a place where authors will have to pay to play? In the follow-up FAQ to their original announcement, they say, “All standard/form/template rejection letters will include a short note about Harlequin Horizons as a self-publishing option for the aspiring author.” And in the first announcement, they describe Horizons as, “an innovative and original approach to discovering new authors to add to our traditional publishing programs.” It’s hard to say exactly how all of this will work until they start operating, but I’m very wary of this idea.
How do you feel about this? Is this just the future of publishing that we all have to deal with?
3. Why is Harlequin launching a self-publishing business?
Many aspiring authors choose self-publishing as a way to see their work in print – to give copies as gifts, to have a bound copy to help in finding an agent, or simply as a keepsake
A bound copy is close to useless for help in finding an agent.
Harlequin KNOWS that. They're not stupid. They're making it up so aspiring authors will pay for their services.
This whole thing just makes me sad.
(thanks to Susan Adrian for the linkage)
6 Comments on Further on the Harlequin dumpster dive, last added: 11/19/2009
I’m often asked what my dream client would be, I think, primarily, from those hoping that when they do get an agent they can do nothing but make the agent happy. Well, just like all of you have different visions of what your dream agent would be and do for you, I think all agents have different visions of what a dream client would be.
I think there’s no doubt that there are probably some attributes about my dream client that have changed over the years, probably even since the time I first started writing these types of posts for the blog. That will be no different for you as an author. What you envision your dream agent to be like now, as an unpublished author, will change as your career changes. Those of you who have had agents and are back in the search again probably have very different criteria for what you’re looking for than you did the first time around. Those of you still with agents probably find that the criteria you had when you first signed with your agent had none of the things that you are (hopefully) thankful she does for you now.
Before I get into what I want out of a dream client, let’s clear up a little about what I don’t care about or expect. I don’t expect a client to be perfect and I don’t expect her to be a lemming. In other words, I don’t want her to blindly follow my lead and agree to everything I say. I don’t want her to yes me to death or hide when things go wrong for fear that I might get angry. In other words, the very first thing I want from my dream client is a feeling of freedom to be as open and honest as need be. When it’s wonderful, fantastic news I want to hear you squeal over the phone; when it’s the last thing you want to hear and you’re not sure you can take another round of revisions, I want you to call and vent and scream and let your frustrations out; and when you just need to spend time talking about revisions, ideas, concerns, or career goals I really want to be as involved as you want me. In other words, I want an open line of communication.
In exchange I want you to want honesty from me. I don’t want to feel like I have to couch my opinions when you ask for them. If you want my honest thoughts on your next book I’m going to give them, whether or not you want to hear them. If you want my honest thoughts on the direction you see your career going I want you to be able to hear what I have to say and not just listen and ignore later. Most important, though, my dream client will respect my professional opinion. It doesn’t always mean we’ll see eye-to-eye of course, but hopefully you’ve hired me because you’ll trust me to guide you and tell you the truth.
The last thing that popped into my head when I thought about the dream client, and I think one of the things authors should expect from dream agents as well, is the need for flexibility. Publishing is not a straight line and it’s not a circle either. It’s a series of bumps and bruises, hills and valleys, and for an author to really succeed she needs to have flexibility. She needs to be ready to shift her goals and change directions, sometimes with the market and sometimes because publishers and readers decide it for us. I’ve seen mystery authors become romance authors and romance authors become fantasy authors. I’m sure for many it wasn’t where they saw themselves, but it was where life led them, and because of the ability to be flexible and follow a new path they’ve been able to achieve the success they wanted, just not in the way they expected.
I don’t think there’s any set list of who the dream client is or what she’s like, there’s no such thing as perfection. What we can do to make a relationship work is be honest, communicate, and be the best we can be.
Jessica
9 Comments on My Dream Client, last added: 11/19/2009
My 6-year-old daughter recently announced she was starting a neighborhood club, and sorry, no grownups were allowed. She wrote a sign that read,
Addy’s boys and girls club. Great fun and prizes.
Now, if I was a kid, that’s exactly the kind of club I would get excited about joining. Maybe it’s because I know my daughter is a sparkplug who can turn any event into a party. Or maybe it’s how Addy worded her pitch. Her sign holds out real promise. The club’s not just about fun, it’s about “great fun.” And it offers the wonderful enticement of prizes—whatever they may be. Addy knows exactly the wording that makes her audience of first graders tick.
Do you see the parallels to the book world? When I started writing books, everything was solely about self-expression. I wrote because I needed to pour out my guts on a medium that reacted. I wrote only for me, and none of those projects ever saw daylight.
But after authoring or co-authoring more than twenty books, I now stand on the premise that it’s absolutely necessary to extend—and deliver—great promise to readers. Today, I write with my readers in mind, and those projects get published.
There’s often a tension here—of imagining readers’ needs while still being true to an art form. And, to be clear, I don’t think an author should ever lose a sense of self-expression. You’ve got to feel passionate about what you publish. Yet a book must be written with both self-expression and connection in mind. The bottom line is that a book must meet readers’ needs, or it will never succeed.
Picture it this way. Imagine you walk into a bookstore. Forty thousand titles are screaming for your attention. Why do you pick up the books you do? It’s because you’ve walked into that bookstore with some kind of need—you want to be entertained, inspired, or informed—and the book you buy promises to meet that need.
Examine your Work-In-Progress through this grid.
• Is your title clear and catchy enough to prompt someone to pick up your book in a bookstore? A perfect non-fiction title is “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” A reader knows exactly who the book is for and what the content promises to deliver. For fiction titles, examine the New York Times bestseller list and ask yourself what catches your eye and why.
• Is your back cover copy written in such a way that holds a reader’s attention long enough to skim it and then make the all-important next step of opening it up to see what’s inside? It used to be that only publishers wrote back cover copy, but these days more and more authors are learning the language of sales and doing this themselves. It makes sense—authors know their work best.
• Are your first few paragraphs written so compellingly that a reader can’t stop turning pages and can't wait to take it home to finish it?
• Does your content make such an impact that, after finishing, your reader will phone a friend and convince them to read the book?
If you’re an introvert like me, it’s helpful to know that a book must scream promise, but the delivery of that scream can run the gamut of anything from subtle to overt. For instance, the book trailer for my new book, A Company of Heroes, was recently completed. The book isn’t coming out until May 2010, but if you take two minutes to watch the trailer, you'll probably spot the promise the book extends.
Using my daughter’s vocabulary, it’s all about the great fun and prizes.
How about you? Tell me about your book’s benefit. What would prompt a reader to browse through your book in a store, buy it, read to the last page, then recommend it to a friend?
Harlequin announced it was in league with Satan AuthorHouse today, and that writers can participate in a program to self-publish their books with "Harlequin Horizan" as the printer publisher.
And just to add fuel to the raging storm, let's all remember that authors are required to sign contracts that include a clause forbidding them from publishing, or arranging to publish, distribute or sell any work which will diminish the value of the work covered in the contract.
Gander, meet sauce.
In one fell swoop Harlequin just diminished the Harlequin brand name.
And worse, what they're telling unagented authors is the only way to get noticed in the slush pile is to pay $600+ to get your book printed first.
Yup, this one's going to be fun to watch.
0 Comments on Publishers reveal themselves as greedy beasts; chaos ensues as of 1/1/1900
STATUS: Who can get work done when there is so much Harlequin gossip flying around?
What’s playing on the iPod right now? EDGE OF SEVENTEEN by Stevie Nicks
Then today can’t even compare. I think Harlequin has just gotten the smack down.
I have not confirmed this rumor yet, but a fellow agent just emailed me to say that RWA revoked Harlequin’s recognized publisher status. Uh… that means no Harlequin author can enter the RITAs.
Let me tell you, the emails are flying fast and furious among the agents.
And RWA just sent out this announcement:
RWA Alert: RWA Responds to Harlequin Horizons
Dear Members: Romance Writers of America was informed of the new venture between Harlequin Enterprises and ASI Solutions to form Harlequin Horizons, a vanity/subsidy press. Many of you have asked the organization to state its position regarding this new development. As a matter of policy, we do not endorse any publisher’s business model. Our mission is the advancement of the professional interests of career-focused romance writers.
One of your member benefits is the annual National Conference. RWA allocates select conference resources to non-subsidy/non-vanity presses that meet the eligibility requirements to obtain those resources. Eligible publishers are provided free meeting space for book signings, are given the opportunity to hold editor appointments, and are allowed to offer spotlights on their programs.
With the launch of Harlequin Horizons, Harlequin Enterprises no longer meets the requirements to be eligible for RWA-provided conference resources. This does not mean that Harlequin Enterprises cannot attend the conference. Like all non-eligible publishers, they are welcome to attend. However, as a non-eligible publisher, they would fund their own conference fees and they would not be provided with conference resources by RWA to publicize or promote the company or its imprints.
Sometimes the wind of change comes swiftly and unexpectedly, leaving an unsettled feeling. RWA takes its role as advocate for its members seriously. The Board is working diligently to address the impact of recent developments on all of RWA's members.
We invite you to attend the annual conference on July 28 - 31, 2010 in Nashville, TN, as we celebrate 30 years of success with keynote speaker Nora Roberts, special luncheon speaker Jayne Ann Krentz, librarian speaker Sherrilyn Kenyon, and awards ceremony emcee Sabrina Jeffries. Please refer to the RWA Web site for conference registration information in late January 2010.
Looking forward to seeing you at the Gaylord Opryland!
Michelle Monkou RWA President RWA Alert is a publication of Romance Writers of America®,
I have to wonder. Did Harlequin not think there would be a strong response? I'll keep you posted if I hear anything more!
15 Comments on And I Thought The Furor Was Bad Yesterday…., last added: 11/18/2009
Not to name any names, but I can think of at least one former pick for Oprah’s book club whose author photo is precisely as fictional as this suggests!
-Jim
1 Comments on Publishing explained, last added: 11/18/2009
Just breaking in to your regularly scheduled programming to let you know what to add to your holiday gift wish list: the LA Times Jacket Copy blog reports on an audiobook version of the Bible coming out from Thomas Nelson. Perhaps you have no interest in listening to the Bible or you’re already pretty sure you know how it ends, but can I persuade you with the news that Luke Perry will be reading the part of Judas? Judas always did seem like the Biblical figure most likely to have awesome sideburns.
I think there are some lessons to be learned from the Bill Simmons school of publishing. This recent article from the New York Times talks about how his unconventional (and relatively rapid) rise to fame might just become the most conventional approach to successful platform-building out there. And it also zeros in on at least one reason why he is so popular: he's just a fan like the rest of us, so he's very relatable. I am a big baseball fan (I don't want to mention I root for the Mets, but as a season ticket holder, I'm bound to be found out sooner or later) and represent a number of great sports writers. When it comes to selling sports books and nonfiction books in general, platform becomes a big discussion point. How Simmons has grown his in a grassroots way by blogging and using the Internet, and moving away from print, is pretty telling. And his rabid fans can't seem to get enough. It's amazing that his new book about all things basketball is a #1 NY Times bestseller (when was the last time a book about basketball hit #1, and it's over 700 pages?!), and really illustrates the power of a successful platform. This article also offers some good easy-to-know, but hard-to-follow advice on how to build your platform by blogging and how to keep people coming back once you get there.
-Stacey
0 Comments on Platform Building 101 as of 11/18/2009 11:43:00 PM
I have publicly ranted about the rudeness of "no reply means no." I have stated publicly that I answer all my email queries (the real ones.)
I intend to keep my part of that social contract with you the query letter writer.
Your part of the deal is you do NOT send me other stuff. No pictures of cute animals. No pleas about missing children.
No newsletters. No fundraisers.
It doesn't take too many people to create a problem. It's time for writers to add this to the list of things they make sure their friends, critique groups and writers' message boards know.
0 Comments on You're abrogating the social contract we have. Knock it off. as of 1/1/1900
I don't keep precise statistics on how many queries I receive each year, but it sure seems like there are more of them every week. I'm at 16,600+ e-mails sent this year, and the vast majority of those are responses to queries. Just about every stranger I meet who finds out what I do for a living has a book they want to talk about. Writers are filling chat rooms and discussion boards, discussing their work and trying to get a leg up.
Is it just me or are there more writers out there than ever before?
And if you agree with the premise that there are more people writing (me = guilty as well).... why do you suppose that is? What's behind it? I mean, it sure doesn't seem like there are vastly more people reading books than before, and it's never been more difficult to find a traditional publisher.
Is it the meteoric success of prominent authors hitting pay dirt? Is it the economy? Is it a cultural moment, kind of how everyone learned how to Swing dance in the 90s? Is it the Internet and computers and the new transparency of the publishing industry, where it's easy to figure out who to query and who publishes what? Is it the self-publishing boom?
Very curious to see the responses.
0 Comments on You Tell Me: Why Are So Many People Writing Books These Days? as of 1/1/1900
The Rappaport Agency will be closed for submissions, effective immediately, until at least the end of January 2010. Any submissions currently with us will be evaluated and will receive responses. All queries will be deleted unread during this period.
Many of the clients I've taken on this year are unpublished authors, and I want to get their books sold to good houses, before I take on any more unpublished authors.
0 Comments on Closed For Submissions, Effective Immediately as of 1/1/1900
Browsing NPR.org’s Book section, I came across this and it made me think about my own literary guilty pleasures. Given that I take pride in being an eclectic (some might say schizoid) reader, I don’t generally feel guilty about many of my choices but every once in a while I find myself sneaking around with a book that I think will raise eyebrows on the train or lead to outright taunting by my rude friends and family members. Usually, this has to do more with the cover art--certain romance novels leave very little to the imagination--or provocative title than with the actual content, but I find that I tend to feel a little guilty reading certain pop culture blockbusters such as the Twilight series. It’s positively unseemly to be swooning over vampires, along with millions of teenaged girls. Or is it? What are your guilty pleasures?
A while back on the blog one of my readers said something about critique groups that really got me thinking. Her comment was that while she loved her critique group she didn’t always trust their feedback. She had mixed feelings about that since she has learned a lot from them, but wasn’t sure they were always steering her in the right direction.
While I’ve never been in a critique group I think in some ways this is a great sign. A good critique group, like a good editor, shouldn’t always be telling you how to write or fix your book, they shouldn’t even always be able to identify what exactly is wrong. What a good critique group should do is help guide you, point out concerns, and get you thinking about your writing in different ways.
The truth about editing and edits, whether they are from an agent, an editor, a good friend or a critique group is that it’s all subjective. The dream editing partner is someone who understands you and understands your writing, but is still willing to address concerns even if she thinks you won’t be receptive to them. For example, I might tell you that the hero in your book is too manly and not sympathetic enough. Ultimately, just because I said it doesn’t make it right or doesn’t mean other agents, editors, and readers won’t feel differently. It’s just my opinion. Whether or not you make changes has to be up to you. However, if it even gets you thinking about your characterization, then I’ve done my job.
The very first step to success in this business is learning to trust yourself. Take everything you’re given from agents, editors, and critique partners and absorb it, weed through it, and decide what works for you and what doesn’t. Unfortunately, there’s never a guarantee in this business and that goes for edits too.
Okay, all of that being said, to have a good critique group I do feel you need to be getting something out of it, and that isn’t just on critiques of your own work. I honestly believe you can learn more from reading and critiquing the work of others than you can from the critiques you’re receiving.
There’s no magic answer in the arts. That goes for writing, painting, quilting, cooking, or photography. We all come to an art with our own ideas and our own baggage. Let others and their ideas help you learn, grow, and reevaluate your writing, but don’t expect someone else to tell you how to do it.
Jessica
18 Comments on The Benefit of Critique Groups, last added: 11/18/2009
Sara asked: If an author wants to help sell their own books (lectures, readings, etc), how does that work? Is there a price break for authors who want to sell directly (say for 100 books)? Is that considered helpful or what do publishers think of authors pushing their own books?
A: Yes, it's definitely a huge plus if an author is going to sell their own book! Many non-fiction authors are the driving force behind their own book sales because of their speaking engagements and back-of-room sales. The author's contract with the publisher specifies the discount at which they can buy their own book for resale, and this is something the agent usually tries to negotiate to make it a win-win if the author has the potential to sell a lot of books on their own.
Lisa Jordan asked: I've heard many people say most first-time authors don't earn out their first novels. Is this a red flag to future publishers?
A: First, I know the scuttlebutt is always that new authors don't earn out their advances, but I'm not sure if this is true and I'm not aware of any research that categorically proves it. Since publishers don't typically report this information anywhere, it's all anecdotal. But yes, it's true, some authors don't earn out their advances.
As you learned last week, the earn-out figure is just one of a multitude of factors a publisher uses to determine whether a book is a success. There is also the break-even, or the number of units they must sell to recoup their total investment (not just the advance). Additionally, there is a threshold number of copies a publisher hopes to sell of any book, which is probably around 15,000 for the lower-expectation books. The publisher puts this all together to decide if the book was a good gamble or not, and will use that to decide whether to sign future books from the author.
As far as whether it's a red flag to other publishers: the red flag is the sales figure itself. Another publisher doesn't really care (or know) whether an author earned out their advance, but they do care about how many units were sold. Low sales figures are very difficult to overcome. So if you have published three books, and they all sold fewer than 10,000 copies, yes that is a huge red flag and you will have difficulty finding a publisher.
Jody asked: I'd be curious to know how hard or easy it is to sell 6,000 books. And what is the biggest factor in helping debut authors reach their earn out level?
A: I'm afraid this is one of those questions that doesn't have a specific answer. Hard? Easy? If it were that scientific and quantifiable, we wouldn't have so much difficulty making it happen, would we? It depends on a complex interweaving of the book itself, the title, the cover, the publisher's and author's marketing efforts, whatever else is going on in the culture, the tilt of the moon, and the amount of fairy dust applied.
Besides, you don't want to shoot for the earn-out figure. You really want to shoot for something like 15,000 copies. It's a respectable number for a first-timer.
Richard said: Maybe it's time to talk about the range of copies sold for first-time authors in CBA.
A: I do not know. It varies so widely, but I imagine the range is something like 5,000 to 20,000. Don't quote me on that.
Robin asked: How many publishers expect you to use your advance to pay for your own marketing, PR and/or book tours?
A: Publishers don't expect it, exactly, but more and more, they're hoping you will consider putting at least a portion of your advance back into marketing. Obviously this helps you, not just them. And by the way, you probably won't be spending money on book tours, but other marketing and PR activities.
Finally, Tamara Hart Heiner said: What I don't get is why publishers pay advances. It doesn't make sense to me. No where else do you get paid up front (unless you're a classy lawyer).
A: In my mind, your statement doesn't make sense on any level. There are all kinds of compensation models. With a regular job, you work for two weeks and then you get paid for those two weeks; your employer doesn't make you wait until you've worked, say, a whole year and then pay you for the year. They pay you as you go. In many fields, a service provider gets paid at least a portion of their fee prior to doing the work; in other fields it's standard to charge a monthly retainer fee. So getting paid a portion of your fee "up front" when you sell your book makes total sense.
Also, consider that when you sell your novel to the publisher, you've already put in a year or more of work. If the publisher pays you an advance, that could hardly be considered getting paid "up front" since you've already completed the work. You're simply getting paid prior to the publisher making money from your book.
That's all I have for today. Let me know if you have further questions along these lines. .
0 Comments on Finances of Publishing: as of 11/18/2009 1:33:00 AM
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