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Katie asked:
I was wondering, what if I get an agent and she tries to sell two or three of my novels, all in the same genre, and nothing sells. What would happen in this case?
Well Katie, sounds like you and your agent will be at a crossroads and need to make some decisions.
Each agent is different, and some agents might set you free at this point, believing they’re not the right agent to help you find success. You’ll want to clarify whether your agent wishes to continue or hang it up.
Remember that you have a choice, too. You may want to consider indie publishing. If you want to continue pursuing traditional publishing, and you think another agent can serve you better, it would be a good time for you to make this decision. Be cautious not to automatically blame your agent for the lack of a sale – she’s put in many hours on your behalf and hasn’t gotten paid a thing. She probably deserves the benefit of a conversation, at least.
If you and your agent want to continue working together, you’ll probably have a meeting to discuss your options. You’ll take a hard look at what’s going on, asking questions like:
→ Why aren’t your books capturing the attention of editors? Is it the ideas? The writing?
→ Could there be something specific about your characters and plot lines aren’t resonating?
→How much of this is due to the market, and how much is it the specific books you’re pitching?
→ Is it the genre? If so, is there another genre you’re interested in writing that perhaps is more saleable?
Ideally this meeting would culminate in a strategy and action plan for moving forward to find the success you’ve been working toward.
Keep in mind that this isn’t an uncommon scenario. Once you get an agent, it could still be a long time until serendipity strikes again and you find the perfect match between a project and a publisher.
What would you do if you were the writer in this situation?
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The post When You’re Missing the Mark appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.
Agents get questions through email and in our blog comments every day. Most of us respond as we're able, either on our blogs or via email. But there is one kind of question that an agent (who isn't your agent) can’t answer for you.
That question is:
What should I do?I get this in a few variations: Should I pursue self-publishing or traditional? Should I fire my agent and find a new one?
These are questions that nobody can answer for you based on a few sentences of information in an email. It’s also the kind of thing that I can’t be advising you on if I don't know you.
I welcome questions here… I love questions and I want you to send me more! But take a good look at your question. Is it something about the industry, something that others will benefit from? Or is it more of a request for someone to make a decision for you?
The point of all these blogs—the ridiculous amount of publishing discourse spewing out over the Internet everyday—is to give you the context, the background, the general information you need…
in order to make good decisions.
As an author pursuing publishing, you have some complex decisions ahead of you, and the only way to make them is to educate yourself. At the moment of decision, you’re on your own. And honestly, you don't need an outsider to tell you what to do.
Gather information. Pick a direction. Take a leap.
There are no guarantees.
Q4U: What questions do you have that you’d like me to answer on the blog?© 2011 Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent
Last Wednesday I received an email containing three brief sentences saying that the writer was inquiring about my services, wanted help, and would not tell me anything else until I responded.
I set the email aside thinking that later when I had time, I'd respond with a link to my blog and website, and some standard information about how to query.
Three days later on Saturday, I received another email from the same writer, with the words "no response" in the subject line. The email reprimanded me for failing to acknowledge the first email, declared that I was a fraud and a liar, and that the writer would spread the word about me in "literary circles," as well as amongst the writer's friends and organizations and on blogs.
Alrighty then.
Emails from disgruntled writers aren't unusual. So please forgive agents if we appear a bit frustrated at times, on our blogs or Twitter. We know we're supposed to brush it off, but sometimes it's hard.
© 2011 Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent
Guest Blogger: James Scott Bell
Back when I started in this business, the summer of 1995, the world was a much simpler place. Bill Clinton was in Ireland talking about peace, and Monica Lewinsky was just another White House intern. Toy Story was the most popular movie in the land. Justin Bieber was only one year old.
And agents were little known oddities in the Christian book world. You could count them on the toes of one foot. Since I wore shoes most of the time, I did not consider seeking one out. At the time I didn't have to. I got published by personal contact. A year earlier I'd gone to my first CBA convention where an author whose books I knew introduced me around. A publisher asked to see my manuscript. Three weeks later I was offered a contract.
So I entered into my own deals and negotiations. But in the relatively close world of CBA, I personally knew a lot of editors because I taught at writers conferences and went to CBA each year, arranging meetings. I was doing the things an agent would do: networking with the right people and getting proposals to them.
As my career grew, so did the number of agents in CBA. I didn't feel the need to work with one because I was contracted up and working with the houses I wanted to work with. I didn't see a reason to give up 15%. Each year at CBA I'd see Janet Grant and say, "Hey, I'll give you 7.5%." And she'd say, "That's not going to work for me." And we'd laugh at our little joke and move on.
So while it might be possible to get a contract without an agent—and it worked for me 15 years ago—I can't advise going solo. Sure, you could hire a lawyer to look over your contract, but it better be a lawyer who knows publishing and what's current in the business, especially with these electronic rights issues. Such lawyers aren't easy to find.
I was a lawyer but not a specialist in publishing law, and a decade ago no one had any idea there would be e-readers and the like. Publishers were scurrying to protect themselves with unclear language in contracts. Those old contracts wouldn't stand up to scrutiny today, and do not cover what we currently view as "electronic rights." Ambiguous terms do not an agreement make, and those were certainly ambiguous days. But I digress. My point is that it really isn't possible for 99.9% of the writers out there to be up on everything they need to know.
When I decided to take my work into the vast neon and concrete jungle of New York, I knew I could not go it alone. Not by a long shot. So I began working with Donald Maass. I immediately discovered the joy of working with a great agent, one who patiently works with me on proposals and whose eye for fiction is amazing. When our first deal was struck, I was so glad I had him on my side. With all the new stuff going on, e-book rights and so on, negotiations were tough and took several months. I spent that time writing, not worrying about all the minutiae.
So a good agent is essential. And they do more than negotiate a contract. They help shape your material and guide your c
(Encore presentation of a previous post.)
There comes a time in every agent's life when one of their clients needs to move on. Yep. We all get fired by an author at some point. It isn't pleasant, but it's a reality in business.
What are some reasons writers opt to terminate their agency relationship? I think four big ones top the list. (1) The writer believes they're not getting enough attention; (2) the agent has dropped the ball too many times and the writer no longer trusts them; (3) the writer and agent disagree about the best plan for the writer's career path; or (4) the writer finds out that the agent is doing something unethical or is somehow not a legitimate literary agent.
Not to Be Taken Lightly
Ending your agency relationship is a personal decision, and I think it should be preceded by a great deal of thought and a sincere effort to correct the problems that are making you unhappy.
It's a fact of life that people find it difficult to end relationships, even relationships that are making them miserable. Consequently, people often do it artlessly. It takes maturity to try and repair the relationship before ending it. There's a lot of fear involved in telling someone that we're not satisfied and asking if there's a way to fix the problems. Often, there's also hopelessness: we assume the person is not capable of change, so we don't believe there's any point in talking about it.
But I'm a believer in talking to the person with whom you're unhappy, in this case, your agent. I think the mature way of handling a situation like this is to say, "This isn't working for me. Can something be changed?"
When people get fired from jobs, it's often (not always) after one or more warnings. The employee is given a chance to recognize where they're failing and step up to the plate. If they're unable, then they're fired. I recommend taking this approach to terminating your agency relationship. Talk to your agent and give him/her a chance to fix things. Of course, this doesn't apply if the employee (or agent) is guilty of a serious error or egregious offense, in which case, you just fire them and be done with it.
Be Discreet
What I really don't like is when writers talk to a lot of friends and others in the business about their unhapppiness with their agent—before officially terminating their agency relationship. That's just rude. If you're looking for another agent before getting rid of your current one, have those conversations confidentially. Don't gossip.
Try To Address the Problem
If you're unhappy with your agent because you're having a hard time getting them to respond to you, and it has gone on for awhile and you're really frustrated, launch an all-out effort to reach them. Send several emails and leave a couple of voicemails, all within a few days. Be brief but clear, saying something like: "I've been having a hard time reaching you and I'm at the point of reconsidering our agency relationship. Would you please respond to me so we can discuss where to go from here?" If a week goes by and you don't hear anything, it's time to terminate the relationship. Do what you need to do, according to your agency agreement (if you have one).
How To Do It?
You may wonder about specific protocol—do you sever your agency relationship on the phone, in email, in a letter? Your answer depends on the length and depth of the relationship, the way you a
I'm trying to gather information about what works for writers in the agent/client relationship. So here's a question for all you agented authors out there:
What do you appreciate most about your agent?
Writers are a diverse bunch, so I'm interested in hearing all kinds of opinions. Some areas you may consider addressing:
-The working relationship
-Your agent's style (i.e. more businesslike; more relational, etc.)
-General career guidance
-Honesty and objective opinion
Overall, how does your agent add value to your publishing life?
For those of you seeking an agent: What do you think will be the most valuable thing an agent can offer you?
Thanks for your answers, and have a good weekend!
(c) 2010 Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent
Recently on the blog, Kelsey Sutton asked...
I'd like to know why and how you began your career as an agent. Would you change any of your choices? Best and worst aspects of your job?
Since many people express an interest in becoming an agent and ask me how to do it, I thought I'd explain my own journey. Most people work in publishing for years before they become an agent. A few people start off at a literary agency, working their way up from intern to assistant to junior agent, etc. But most start in some kind of publishing house capacity, working with authors and books either in editorial or marketing.
In 2007, I was running a freelance editing and writing business, having been in publishing for more than a dozen years, and previously working at two publishing houses in both editorial and sales roles. For whatever reason, three different literary agencies approached me about joining them. (I guess I just sent off some kind of agent-vibe that only other agents can sense.) But I kept saying "no" because I loved working directly with authors on their books, and I loved the whole editorial process. I was also cautious about making such a big career change. (I had young kids at home and my husband was also in career transition.)
Around that time I was doing a bunch of collaborative writing (a.k.a. ghostwriting) and for this, I had an agent, Greg Johnson. Greg and I talked several times about my joining him as an agent, but I wasn't ready. Until... one day I was. It was becoming clear to me that almost every writer needs a partner—a business partner who not only helps them gain access to commercial publishing, but advocates for them through the whole process. I realized that as an agent, I could continue to have editorial input on authors' books if needed, but I'd be able to partner with them in a more all-encompassing way, helping them not just with one book but multiple books, entire careers. So I told Greg: yes!
It turned out to be a great melding of my love of editorial, my nature as a “people person,” and my interest in contracts and the “business” side of things. Now I wouldn’t change anything, since I think I have the perfect job.
As for the best and worst aspects of this career… let me think.
The worst:
-Never quite being able to accomplish all I want, as fast as I want.
-Having to turn down writers with good ideas and strong writing.
-People who don’t know what it’s like to be an agent constantly judging us.
-Dealing with an uncertain and rapidly evolving publishing industry.
The best:
-Dealing with an uncertain and rapidly evolving publishing industry.
-The excitement of finding a new author & project I want to rep.
-Getting a client their first-ever book contract.
-Getting any client any book contract!
-The exhilaration of helping a client brainstorm and have “aha” moments about their own future as an author.
Actually I could go on and on with the “best” things since this is pretty close to a dream job.
But thanks for asking, Kelsey!
Any questions about being or becoming an agent?
(c) 2010 Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent
An anonymous commenter on Friday wrote: "It's hard to know if agents/editors are rejecting you because of the economy or genre or market or what. All they say now is they doubt they can sell it - well, then I don't want a lazy agent anyway."
I'm sure most agents reading that would just have to chuckle, which is what I did. I don't think anyone who's "lazy" would be an agent for long. Since we work on commission, we can't put food on the table if we don't get results. So there's no place for laziness. Not that it couldn't happen (nothing's impossible, right?). But I'd have to say, there are a lot of reasons agents don't get everything done as well or as quickly as they'd like (a problem for people in most lines of work) but laziness wouldn't be at the top of the list.
More importantly, agents don't say they doubt they can sell it because they don't want to work hard. They assess your project, assess the market, and make a calculated decision about whether this would be a good way to spend their time. The more they love the project, the more they might be willing to take a risk, even if the market isn't completely favorable. They know they might spend months trying to sell it, to no avail (and no money), but they feel that particular project is worth it.
But if it's a project they perceive as good but not great, and they don't feel the market is open to it, or they don't have any editor contacts who seem right for it, it just won't be worth their time. Like most of the things we talk about on this blog, it's a business decision. Sometimes, a project can be great in an agent's estimation and they're wildly in love with it - but they still doubt they can sell it and they say no.
Regardless of our line of work, we all have to make wise decisions about how to spend our time. So if someone says they doubt they can sell your project, take their word for it. No need to demean their character ("lazy agent"). Just move on and find someone who does think they can sell it.
Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent
Yesterday I touched briefly on the agent's need to protect both their client's and their own reputation. This reminded me that I wanted to talk about reputations in general.
As an author, you should always be aware that when an agent takes you on, and when an editor is interested in acquiring you, they're putting their reputation on the line for you and your book.
Let’s start here: we're all salespeople. You have to sell your book to an agent. The agent has to sell to an editor. The editor has to sell it to the Pub Board, including the sales team. The sales team has to sell it to bookstores. Bookstores have to sell it to customers. All down the line, your book is being sold. And all salespeople rely on their good reputation to get them in the door to be able to sell in the first place.
For the editors, their credibility hangs in the balance with each proposal they bring to Pub Board. It’s the same with agents. My reputation amongst the editors is at stake every time I submit a manuscript. The last thing I want is for them to start thinking, “Oh no, another proposal from her.” It’s the same with the sales reps who sit in front of the buyers at Barnes & Noble and Sam's Club.
So that’s one of the reasons we’re so careful in choosing the books we want to champion. Each book reflects on us personally and professionally.
Of course, this applies to you as an author. Who your agent is will reflect on you. The quality of each successive manuscript will affect your reputation and ability to keep getting published. Your sales numbers will have a big impact on your reputation. And if you acquire a reputation for being a pain in the patootie to work with, that will affect you, too.
We all need to pay attention to how our actions of today will affect our ability to do business tomorrow.
Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked, and never well mended.
~Benjamin Franklin
Q4U: What are your thoughts on the importance of reputation in the publishing industry and life in general?
Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent
As you know by now, almost all agents have Submission Guidelines that they post on their websites and/or blogs. Agents who blog and Twitter always remind writers to follow guidelines, and some agents reject without responding if you don't follow guidelines.
But why are the guidelines so important? Are we just picky and anal people, obsessed with power and intoxicated by the ability to control people?
Obviously my answer to that is "no."
It's simply a numbers game. It's all about the high volume of submissions we receive, and the need to get through them as quickly as possible, while making smart yes and no decisions.
Our guidelines specify the exact information we need in order to make the best decision possible, in the shortest amount of time.
Our guidelines tell you what to include, because otherwise you may include a lot of information that we don't need, which means it takes more time to get to the heart of your query and figure out if the project is something we find interesting. Similarly, if you don't include enough information for us to make a good decision, we're not likely to spend our time asking you for more info. We're just going to pass.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote The Top Ten Query Mistakes in which I gave some protocol guidelines. I said that I'd be unlikely to reject based on any of these protocol mistakes—so of course, several people wondered why I would even mention them if they're not important.
Well, it's exactly what explained in my post: You have a very brief amount of space and time in which to convince an agent to request more of your writing. Everything you write affects my overall impression of your writing. Why not make the best impression possible?
Agents are doing their best (through blogs and Twitter) to set you up for success. We're trying to help you make the most of that small amount of space in a query letter.
Why would people object to my sharing these tips, when the upshot is that you have some simple guidelines for making the best impression possible? I wonder, would these same people object to a magazine article on 10 Things to Avoid in a Job Interview? Or 10 Ways to Make Your Resumé Shine? I doubt it. Seems to me, we all need all the help we can get.
If you're wondering why agents seem to be so picky about their submission guidelines, stop thinking in terms of yourself and your one query. Remember that yours arrives along with dozens or hundreds of others, and that's why we need the guidelines. We need your help in making our query-reading efficient and effective. By following query guidelines, you make it more likely that an agent will immediately be able to see your project accurately and determine whether it would be a good fit.
Computers and the internet have made it possible for ever-more people to write books, dream about publication, and approach agents. The submissions are increasing all the time. In order to be able to respond to queries at all, we need the process to be streamlined. Otherwise, there's going to come a time when most agents will be unable to respond to queries unless it's a yes.
And in case you think agents are just somehow inefficient, or power-hungry, or lazy... or whatever... read this post from Harvard Business Review
Last week in my post on
Word of Mouth - Who Knew? blog reader Steve commented on my either/or proposition, where I said:
If you were a publisher, which of these statements would you rather be able to say about the book you were about to publish?
“There are at least 20,000 people out there looking for this author’s next book."
“This author’s mother and his wife and kids are really excited for his book to be released.”
Steve said he'd rather a publisher say something like this:
"As a publisher we have been in this business for years, and have seen the good, the bad, and the totally absurd. All too rarely we get to see the truly exciting. This writer rocks! You've probably never heard of them, but that's about to change. Because they really are that good. We are excited and proud to present this novel by our newest debut author. Because it's our business to know quality when we see it."
I'm here to tell you, Steve, that publishers and agents are saying that very thing.
As a matter of fact, that's one of the benefits of having literary agents in the publishing mix, because agents are on the front lines searching out these new voices and submitting them to publishers and trying to convince them to take a chance on them.
I'm sure you're tired of hearing everyone say, "Publishing is a business and we have to make good decisions that will bring a profit."
But that's only one side of the coin. The other side is, publishing needs a constant influx of new voices -
debut authors - to keep things fresh and to serve our end customer, the reader. Nobody in publishing is unaware of this. And I imagine virtually every literary agent has on their client list several success stories of debut authors that they helped launch - and they're very proud of each of these "finds." This is one of the things agents and editors
most love to do.
But we all have to balance our "new" products with the ones that already have a track record of selling. Maybe you're asking that we somehow do
more of this, but I don't think that's realistic or necessary in order to serve the reading public. I think most people who say we need more debut authors really don't spend much time browsing the shelves of their bookstore or library, picking up books and authors they've never heard of. If you did that, you'd quickly be overwhelmed. There are
thousands of debut books available in Barnes & Noble (and everywhere else).
Agents and editors live in the midst of a curious tension: The pull between the books they
love, and the books they believe the market will support. Each one of us does our best to balance this, and when we're lucky, we find books that fit both criteria. But we often find books that are well-written and valuable and we may love them, but they're a long-shot in terms of their ability to find a reading audience. We have to make hard choices.
All this to say: We hear you. We love to champion fresh new voices. We do it as much as we can
and still stay in business.Readers, I know many of you share the frustration about there not being enough room for debut authors. So let's just ask the burning question: In the last year, how many books have YOU sought out,
Many times on this blog, I've answered the question of why you, a writer (singular), might need an agent (also singular). I addressed it in posts such as 10 Things to Expect from an Agent and Earning Our Keep. Agent Nathan Bransford gave a terrific run down on what agents do, here.
But today I want to answer a slightly different question. Why do authors, collectively, need agents (plural)? How does the existence of agents in this business help all authors?
You, as an individual author, may or may not require the services of an individual agent. But whether or not you realize it, whenever you deal with a publisher, you're benefitting from the collective work of agents over the years.
For the few decades, agents have been on the front lines when it comes to advocating for authors in their relationships with publishers. It's interesting to speculate on the state of publishing contracts if agents had never been involved and authors had to fend for themselves or just take whatever the publisher was offering.
The economics of publishing are tough, and like in any business, publishers are always trying to figure ways to save money - or a least keep their money longer. Naturally, they come up with brilliant money-saving ideas that involve paying authors less. They try to lower royalty rates; they try to bump up the royalty breaks (i.e. raise the number of copies you must sell before bumping to a higher royalty rate); they may want to extend the length of time over which they pay out the author's advance (a huge bone of contention right now between agents and a couple of the largest publishers); and of course, they sometimes try to pay lower advances.
Those are the simple things. The last couple of years have seen publishers and agents battling it out over e-book royalty rates and numerous other areas related to new digital technologies. And besides the money, there are other contract points that agents constantly work to keep fair for their clients—everything from option clauses to author copies to author buy-back rates and more. It's complicated and tricky trying to negotiate all these points in such a rapidly changing publishing environment.
But over all the years and all the changes in publishing, agents collectively have had the knowledge and the clout to duke it out with publishers on a contract-by-contract basis, holding as much ground for authors as possible. For example, if you sign a contract on your own with a small independent publisher, and they offer you a 25% royalty on e-book sales, you have agents to thank for that, because at first, many publishers were trying to fold e-book sales into their regular royalty schedule, meaning you'd only be making 10% to 15% royalty. But agents have, for the most part, changed that.
An interesting nod to the importance of agents in the publishing process happened last month when Random House CEO Markus Dohle sent a detailed letter explaining the company's new policy involving e-rights (which quickly became known as RH's "retroactive rights grab"). To whom did Mr. Dohle send the letter? Literary agents.
As we continue into the confusing new world of digital publishing, authors are going to need advocates more than ever. You are going to have your hands full, trying to work your full-time job plus write your books plus market them. You won't have time to become an expert on publishing contracts, too.
Just remember, if you choose to sign with a royalty publisher and stay agent-less, you may be missing out on the latest knowledge and expertise that will protect the value of your intellectual property; but you'll probably also benefit from the work agents have already done in the last two d
I actually do have a question, Rachelle. What are the advantages and disadvantages of going with “digital imprints?” I noticed that Harlequin has one – Carina Press. And there’s Avon’s Flame? Flare? Well, something like that. I read somewhere that Amazon will have a digital imprint just for romance novels. Another large publishing house – one of the “Big Six” -- is rolling one out at the end of summer. Do authors need an agent to submit to these? Do they offer editing servings to polish up accepted novels prior to publishing? Egad … what are these exactly?
I'd like to know what happens if you rep a client, but don't think a new book they show you is something you can sell. Do you still try, or do you leave it to the writer to figure out?
And I'd like to know that, in the event that you sell a book, do you generally offer a new work by the same author to the same editor, or does is go back on the submission rounds as fair game for all?
If a writer wants to have illustrations with his book but can't draw themselves how do unpublished authors handle this? Are we able to use an artist we choose or are we required to use the publishers choice. Heck, would we even be able to have that option? I am not talking fully illustrated but more like a few illustrations here and there. How would one handle this issue when submitting queries?
Oooo, ooo, ooo, I have a question. :-)
My manyscript is cross fiction, and I find similar items sometimes listed as epic fantasy, others sci fi, or paranormal. There is also light romance.
I see that there is a section called speculative fiction... Is it better when sending a query to call it a speculative fiction? Or should I list each genre individually? :-)
Any advice for writers writing a trilogy or series?
I am nervous about pinning myself down in the first book on things I might wish I could change in the second or third (assuming they're published).
How have your authors handled this kind if situation? Do they write all three books before publication of the first?
This is a follow-up to yesterday's post about multi-book deals.
Re: Series books -
Do you have to have book proposals (I've heard first 3 chapters, and synopsis) on all the other books in a series before the publisher will offer a multi book contract?
Or do they take it on faith that you will write them?
And who sets the timeline for those other books to be written, or can you negotiate that in the contract?
Thank you. Love your blog.
CBA publishers say they're looking for fresh, original stories. Yet in reality, they don't seem to be looking for anything too original or too fresh, because they're afraid it won't sell. They want stories similar to what they already have and mainly US settings that run from 1775 to present.
How do you balance between finding a fresh story without risking a setting that a publisher refuses to take? (Twelfth century Germany, the French Revolution, and fifth century Scotland, etc)
I would like to know if a publisher gives a standard percentage on e-books, if it's okay to ask in the contract for that rate to be higher. I've seen other publishers offer a higher royalty rate than this one, so that's why I'm wondering if it's okay? (I don't have a contract either, lol, just curious).
Thanks!
And sorry if I've used the terms in the wrong way. Hopefully I make sense...
Rachelle,
I'm curious about the weight of certain publication credits in a query letter. As we all know, it is very difficult to get published in a top literary journal such as Agni or VQR. Some people advise starting smaller, especially with online journals.
My question is do those journals carry any weight, or do they telegraph that you have actually tried to get your short fiction published, but could only do so in a lesser-tiered journal?
I guess what I'm asking is how to you view lesser lit mag credentials? Better to include or not?
Thanks!
I have written as a hobby now for a few years. It's something I really enjoy, but I'm not sure I'm good enough to turn it into a career, even a part-time one. I've been following this blog and a couple others, and I know how much time and effort it will take to complete a manuscript and go through the query process. What advice do you have for someone who is considering moving from hobby to career?
My main question is should a UK writer try UK agents before querying those in the US?
I am interested to know what the average amount of time between books is for a published author? In otherwards, aside from already having a few under their belt hopefully when they start, what is the typical expectation for a writer/author to pound out a book for publication?
A great post as it harkens to many of the issues that plague our society...that being the acceptance of accountability. If I ask an agent, and follow that advice, than "it's not really my fault" and I lay blame somewhere else, instead of bucking up and keeping my power to choose in my possession. We cringe at the thought of being wrong, or making a mistake. But so what? Knowing what doesn't work is half the battle to discovering what does work.
As for a question, I've got so many to ask, how about I send the list to you and let you pick one?
Thanks.
Do you think publishing articles in a local paper is a good way to build your platform, even if you write fiction stories?
Jody Hedlund had a post about Showing vs Telling on her blog today.
I know you've posted on this before. I would like to see a fresh post on that from an agent's point of view.
I just want to make sure that I've found that happy voice between "too wordy" and "sterile."
The facebook question quiz application was too short for me to ask! :)
My question is, when looking at agents' client lists that accept my genre, I'll either see an abundance of authors writing similar things or just a smattering. My question is, those agents that have an abundance of authors like me will they find that they are pitting their authors against each other to get in a slot with their contacts? Like publishing houses might reject a project because they contracted something similar, might an agent reject an author because that author would be directly competing with a current client?