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**Well, Ms. Katherine Tyrrell has outdone herself. She now has a special post about commissioning art featuring ~ yes, this piece ~ and Nicole and I on her blog. Its really great!***
Thanks Katherine!
Lookie here on Making a Mark to see the happy owner with her new piece! (Scroll down to the botttom of the post.)
My buttons are bursting!
All images and content herein are © Paula Pertile and may not be used or reproduced without permission.
I’ve been asked and I’ve seen many message board posts on whether or not agents pitch projects before even offering representation, and the answer is yes, sort of. As an agent I can only do my very best if I know exactly what the market wants and needs, and sometimes that means calling an editor or two to feel them out first. Does that mean I know for sure whether a project can sell or will sell? No, it only means that I know the potential for the project at one or two houses.
This is not something I do with every project, but only something I do if I have concerns about marketability. For example, if I have a cozy mystery submission that I like but question whether or not the hook has been done (meaning someone has already published this brilliant “cooking with grass” cozy mystery series), I am very likely to call one of my editor contacts to see whether or not they’ve already tried this or have this concept on their list. Why would I do this? Since there are so few publishers selling cozies right now it gives the author and me both a better chance if we know what we’re up against right away. It also gives me the edge as an agent over an unagented author. Part of why an agent can be so important is that she has the ability to feel things out before you waste your time to write the book. While this is difficult for unpublished or unagented authors, it’s definitely a plus for agented authors. More times than I can count I’ve called editors to feel them out about the market in general or a particular project before I even get the author to start writing. This way we can decide better whether or not we want to spend time on it.
Keep in mind that calling an editor to feel her out about a project does not mean I’m "pitching" the project. The editor is usually very aware that this is a conversation about a potential project and never do I give out the exact title or author name. And never, ever, ever would I actually send anything to an editor without having talked to the author first. So if an editor says no, does this automatically mean I say no as well? No. In some cases I have talked to the author and explained that the hook isn’t viable, but asked if there are other ideas or ways to spin the proposal to make it more marketable. In fact I have more than one client who became a client this very way.
More important, though, does this hurt your chances of selling the book? Not at all. It only gives me an idea of how I feel about repping it. Another agent might have other contacts that are more enthusiastic about the idea or she might be braver than I. In other words, it might not matter to her that Cozy House already has that book because she’s happy to send it to Almost Cozy House and Mysteries R Us House instead. Or she might know something about Cozy House that I don’t. Maybe they want two series on “Eating Grass.”
Being an agent means having a number of resources at my fingertips and yes, some of those resources are editors.
Jessica
Where do you see the women's fiction market heading in the next three to five years?
Ah! A prediction. A complete and utter guess, but from an industry professional. Well, I’ll do my very best, and of course if I’m right, watch me sell some really hot books in the next three to five years.
Women’s fiction isn’t a market that’s as easy to predict as, say, romance or mystery since it’s not a market that relies so heavily on hooks. For example, romances are going to continue to get steamier simply because of the success of erotica. Does it mean all romance is going to be erotic? No, it just means that a lot of romance will be sexier than it was three or four years ago. With women’s fiction, however, there isn’t a whole lot of change. The newest trend was chick lit, mom lit, and all of those other types of lit. I actually suspect those will drop off and we’ll see a return to more traditional themes—the recent divorcee, the wife of a cheating spouse, basically the woman trying to make it after tragedy, whether it’s death, divorce, or just an empty nest. And we’ll see a return to more traditional voices. I think people tired quickly of the snappy, acerbic “lits” and want the quieter, more dramatic read.
From what editors are asking me for, everyone wants the next Jodi Picoult or Debbie Macomber, and if they’re buying those now you can bet that will be the way women’s fiction is headed.
—Jessica
The single-title contemporary romance market seems to be kaput for now . . . yet authors like Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Catherine Anderson, Susan Wiggs, Susan Mallery still manage to hang on to their share of the market. What common denominators account for their continued success (other than being named "Susan")? In your opinion, do they write "high concept" contemporary romance?
In your opinion, can an author build a strong career today—like the ladies above—in straight contemp romance/romantic comedy?
Wouldn’t it be great if all you had to do was change your name to Susan? The truth is that all of these women began their careers in another time, a time when straight contemporary was an easy sell. Since then they’ve built a strong readership that buys every book they write.
A market doesn’t go stagnant or dead or kaput or whatever word we’re using these days because no one, ever, anywhere isn’t reading it; it becomes that way because it gets flooded. When a market is hot, like paranormal romance is now, editors buy everything they can get their hands on and it isn’t long before there are too many books and too many authors for the readers. It’s simple supply and demand. The readers get tired of being inundated, the cream rises to the top, a few stars remain, and it suddenly becomes a market that’s called dead. It’s called dead because the numbers slow. Why do the numbers slow? There are too many books. Is it really dead? No way, it’s just more challenging. Editors are no longer needing to fill lists with contemporary romance, they already have what they need. So to break into it now you’re going to have to work a little harder than you would have had you hit it when things were hot. You’re going to have to write a better book and you’re going to have to make it different and exciting. You’re going to have to give it some kind of hook.
You also need to realize when looking at so-called dead markets that you can’t compare what editors are buying to what’s on the bestseller lists. Once authors consistently hit bestseller lists they are no longer connected with a genre or sub-genre. They are a genre onto themselves. Stephen King is a perfect example. He doesn’t write horror. He writes Stephen King.
So remember this, dear writers. Dead is never dead. The readers, they will come. Dead just means challenging.
—Jessica
Yesterday I made my trip into the City to attend BEA. And what a madhouse it was. For those of you who have never attended, imagine book insantiy. The event is being held this weekend at New York City's Javits Center. A giant, sprawling convention center. It's where car shows, boat shows and all sorts of other shows are held. It's huge and it was very, very hot.
The best thing about BEA is of course the free books. The worst? The free books and the mad rush to get to them. I wish I could give you a better visual of what BEA is really like, but I'm not that strong of a writer (which is one of the many reasons I leave it to the pros). Think booth after booth of publisher advertising and marketing. Stacks of books for giveaways, tables where meetings are being held, booksignings with everyone from Tom Perotta, L.L. Cool J., Janet Evanovich, Julianne Moore, Khaled Hosseini, and around all of this throngs of people diving for books, stopping to chat with colleagues and generally running into everyone around them.
I spent my time at BEA in meetings with our foreign sub-agents, foreign publishers and just mingling and catching up with editors. It's amazing how among the masses you manage to run into someone you know at almost turn. I was able to chat with some of my favorite editors, former bosses, current and past colleagues, and agents I haven't seen in years. Most importantly though I was able to network and see what publishers are touting for their summer and fall lists.
Giveaways leaned toward NY Times bestsellers, a lot of mysteries, and literary or women's fiction. I didn't see much in the SF or Fantasy genres, no one ever gives away cookbooks (unless you wait in line for the few signings) and children's books are nearly impossible to find. I suspect some of this has to do with production costs as well as which books make the most money for a company. BEA is primarily a convention for librarians, booksellers and publishers. While agents certainly attend to see what's hot for foreign rights, it's more of a fun trip for me and a bigger job for our foreign rights reps. In fact, during a quick stop to chat with one of our co-agents I was thrilled to see she had one of our books sitting on her table. She mentioned that she was getting a lot of interest. Excellent news!
BookEnds was also very well represented this year with giveaways, posters, marketing materials, etc. It's fun to turn a corner and see your books staring you in the face. Even more fun when you hear the publishers talking them up.
BEA is a three day convention event (although there are other activities throughout the week). I only attended Friday this year since I was able to get all of my appointments into one day. But the madness and the excitment will continue through Sunday. I look forward to watching the books publishers were touting to see how they do and to spending my summer reading my brand new stack of books.
**Well, Ms. Katherine Tyrrell has outdone herself. She now has a special post about commissioning art featuring ~ yes, this piece ~ and Nicole and I on her blog. Its really great!***.jpg?picon=418)
It's beautiful and so much fun! I happened to see it first on Making a Mark and was so surprised to see you had done it. She's a lucky woman!!!
I saw the post yesterday, it must feel so great to see Nicole with your work like that. I can wait to read all the info Katherine is preparing on it :) Well done :)
Congratulations Paula! I'm also looking forward to reading about the commission.
I just love that seat with the little feet!
For those who have arrived here first, you might like to take a look at the story of the commission on my blog and in this post "The Burrow" - a studio portrait commission with a difference
I'd like to thank Paula for kindly agreeing to work with Nicole and me on the post - I think it's been a really educational process and one well worth sharing!
What a wonderful journey into your imagination, paula. I came to congratulate you from Katherine's blog but stayed to enjoy your tutorial on the restaurant and to bookmark your excellent blog for future enjoyment.