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A few other agents-who-blog are ranting on this same subject. I feel sorry for Kim, but it's hard for a reader not to be skeptical at this point. So many memoirs are complete fiction.

And although the story is broken the punishment hasn't been public enough to keep people from trying this avenue to publishing.

I adored Kim's memoir - it was great. But you might want to change the picture... when I opened your blog today and say "And Yet Another Memoir That Is Fiction" and a picture of "No Place Safe" I though no!!!!! how could it be???

Of course hopefully people are reading your blog and not just looking at the pictures! ;)

And as an author of published fiction, I'm pretty disgusted, too. It hurts all of us.

I wanted to strongly second what the other comment said about being very clear that your blog headline and the book image do not go together. I knew Love & Consequences was a recent scandal, but thought you might have uncovered yet another!

I too have read both John & Kim's. I also have no idea why this wasn't written as fiction. No offense meant to any of the agents or editors out there, but don't they have some responsibility to verify a potential client's claims?

I've always thought it was rather simple: If your story is made up, you write fiction. If your story is true, you write non-fiction. If your story is true AND it happened to you, then and only then is it a memoir.

I'm am throughly dissapointed in any author who would mess things up for other people in the writing buisness for what I imagine can be only personal gains.

OooOooo, No Safe Place! I heard about this book. Kinda what life was like for families during the Atlanta Child murders. I've heard this is a definate have-to-read book!
I'll buy!

Regarding memoirs; How does an agent know if its the truth or not? Aren't they mostly memories?

I'm not surprised you're mad. I would be, too, if I hadn't given up on the entire memoir field several scandals back.

But if you vouch for your client, that's good enough for me :).

Kim's book is fantastic. But Kristin, I also think you should separate the book cover from the heading! I, too, glanced at it and though, "oh no, it can't be!"

And John's book is beyond fantastic... he's amazing. He's also super nice.

This is the second memoir scandal in the last week I've heard about. The first was the woman who said she lived with wolves for 4 years. The woman is now 71. Who is supposed to do the fact checking?

sadly, if selzer (or frey) had tried publishing their fiction as fiction, it would have never sold. it's the reality tv effect, the oprah effect -- we all want uplifting stories of renewal and hope from the depths, and if they're true, well, all the better.

i wondered about who was supposed to do the fact-checking as well.

Wow! Kim's book looks amazing--it's on my list! And what a fabulous write-up from PW, too! I hate that these faux-memoirs get so much power behind them. Thanks for sharing a couple of good, truly powerful books.

If publishers really want to publish memoirs, then they need to invest in fact checkers. And the worse part is that there aren't long-term consequences for this- James Frey has a novel coming out this year.

Okay, I ordered Kim's book. I've been planning to do it for a while. Just sorry it took so long.

I am really curious, where are the fact checkers?? A post on how agents/publishers/editors go about confirming the truth of a memoir would be helpful.

Surely an author has to provide some evidence that their story is true. Am I wrong?

Kim's book was so moving and honest that I found it hard to put down. I didn't read this latest scandal- but when I read Frey's book my internal "no f-ing way" meter went off. It didn't read true- it read much too larger than life.

I sincerely hope that great memoirs such as Kim's, and great fiction that admits it is fiction- gets the attention it deserves.

I wonder if editors would reject the exact same mss if it's presented as fiction instead of memoir. Or do writers just fear that?

Thanks all for supporting my book! It's sad that memoirs will be even more difficult for writers and agents to sell. Worse, the fallout will turn some memoir readers into skeptics.

Kim

Good luck to Kim and her book. This whole hoax thing burns me up too. It feel very exploitive of a real problem in this country.
I also think it's awful that perfectly good fiction has trouble being places because everyone is looking for "the hook" with marketing.

And that's why unpublished authors who are writing memoirs, try to submit them as fiction! Because agents are afraid to represent them. In my case, I'm writing a memoir, all facts true, happened to me! I have documents to support the book, but... Maybe I should submit it as fiction!

I say it's high time someone fact checked "Marley and Me." Sure, he said the dog was unruly, a slobberpuss, and overexuberant - but how do we it's the truth? Maybe he made the whole thing up! But of course the dog has since passed on. How convenient. How utterly convenient...

I really worried about a backlash when my agent was submitting my memoir to editors last year. I just turned in the last pass to my publisher. Since I wasn't asked for any fact check stuff, I wrote in the acknowledgements:

"With all the controversy surrounding memoir these days, if doubt ever arises about the veracity of what is contained in these pages, rest assured I can provide appropriate documentation, including but not limited to: emergency room charts, police records and AAA bills."

I hope that reassures readers. But, it really does make you wonder if book buyers now routinely look at memoir (if they even do as much) with a very skeptical eye.

For me, if something is well written, I don't care if it's called memoir or fiction - I'll read it anyway. But if it is a memoir, it better be true.

Thank you for saying something. You raised a point that has been overlooked. There are many authentic voices trying to get their stories told, but they can't --for whatever reason.

What Margaret Peggy Seltzer did was treat South Central LA and those who have suffered real and long lasting effects of poverty, gangs, drugs and lack of opportunity as nothing more than a reality tv show. She set herself up as a defacto "go to" expert based on experiences that weren't hers and were made up. This is repugnant and it was her choice, no one else's.

One can never justify this by saying if it had been published as a novel, it wouldn't have gotten published. Judging from Michiko Kukatani's initial review, there never was an issue with Seltzer's writing. Instead, she decided to fib until she became the personification of the lie itself. A person who submits a piece of fiction as the truth is a liar.

Though she may be talented, she is morally compromised.
I have written a satirical piece over on blogcritics.com. It makes her look like an opportunistic twit.
And yes, I will gladly by No Safe Place.

Publishers ACTIVELY SEEK "fake" memoirs that were originally written as fiction, because memoirs supposedly are more marketable than first novels. I know this from experience. The first novel I wrote, TEMPLAND, (which is not autobiographical in any way, but had a first-person narrator), ran into this phenomenon. First, I was out-and-out told by several top agents that I had to "rework" this piece of total fiction into a "memoir" in order for them to rep the book. (I refused those offers of representation). Then, when I finally found an agent willing to rep the book as fiction (which, of course, it was), he kept getting told by acquiring editors that the book would only work as a memoir. Since neither my agent nor I was comfortable with that, the book never sold.

Publishing is entirely behind the fake-memoir phenomenon, and is only sorry when the industry gets caught.

(Note: I also have written a TRUE memoir).

This is one contest y'all want to enter, and fast. I just went back and re-read the "comments" I posted on my blog after getting an advanced reading copy of Private Arrangements at the national RWA conference last July. Not only do I stand by that review, I have gone back and re-read bits of this book in the months since just to make myself feel happy. It's an honest-to-goodness keeper. Good luck!

Thanks for the heads-up! I entered. :-)

I haven't read Dear Author since Jane dissed Miss Snark in November 2006. Actually, that was the only time I read it. Thanks, but no.

I just reread the post in question and I really don't see any dissing of Miss Snark. Some of the commenters on Miss Snark's blog were tweaked a bit for rushing to pile on Anne Stuart, and that was the extent of it.

But the main thing I wanted to say is that I second Michelle's comments on Private Arrangements. Wonderful, wonderful book. Beautifully written -- sumptuous, complex, absorbing, and so rich that I felt decadent reading it. Don't miss it!

You crack me up with the Valentine's love for the novels (and novelists). :)

This is both encouraging and discouraging. It's wonderful to have an example of a writer who succeeded the second time around with an entirely new novel; apparently, the writer is improving in skill and technique.

It's also incredibly discouraging, though, knowing that after all her work to find an agent for the first novel, the book not only didn't sell, but the agent was unwilling to continue working with her for new projects.

I'm glad she caught your eye this time around.

Which book is going to auction - the one that didn't sell with the previous agent or the next one that the previous agent wasn't interested in?

You are an awesome cheerleader. I mean that in a totally good way.

Anon 7:34-

Kristin wrote:

"The agent wasn�t interested in her next novel so she decided to try me again for her new stuff since it was so different from her previous novel.

Loved it. Took it on. Sent it out and it�s going to auction."

I think it's clear that it's the newer novel that is going to auction; her former agent wasn't interested, and therefore passed on it, while Kristin picked it up.

Looks like her first book isn't going to be published, but at least she now has a great agent for her more recent work.

Thanks, Kristen.

Yes, it is wonderful that she has a great agent this time around!

Oh thanks Kristin...you're wonderful.

I'm writting a novel based on a true story, my own life! That means that I will query you again in September! You are really wonderfull!

I forgot to ask, is that September a good time for a second time around?

Interesting story. If you ever feel so inclined, I'd be curious to know if you have any stats and/or comments on what percentage of agented works fail to find a home with a publisher.

Thanks again for this blog.

Hey, Famous Agent! You made Gawker:
http://gawker.com/357838/wait-is-kindle-still-destroying-publishing

Good luck on the auction.

Uh, not to get off topic, but a mamba is a snake. You were listening to a mambo.

RE: Hey, Famous Agent! You made Gawker

Hey, Famous Agent! You made Gawker, AGAIN!

You're the best!!!! Spot on, I say!!!

Another headless person book cover. I really wonder about this trend.... Am I the only one who finds it strange?

hoo boy...y'know, there is only so much room in a query letter.

I respect the idea to mention passages from the book, but what about the time I spend on one of your client's online group? What about the time I spend supporting her work on other sites and messageboards (truly, because I'm a fan)? What about other things that a prospective client does to show she's done her research?

Hm, should all of that go into the query, too?

My point is that personalizing a query will only go so far (unless you've met the agent in person or are being referred). If the story doesn't strike a chord, the personalization may just mean you get rejected faster.

I'm just trying to be realistic.

Interesting rumours in the romance grapevine..? I'm waiting for more.

How do you go about citing passages from a client's book in your query letter?

For example "I love Accidental Goddess by your client, Linnea Sinclair. The scene where Gillaine reveals who she is to Mack was brilliant." Something like that?

Yeah I'm a bit confused on how much time I need to take to actually talk about a book that the agent has already represented. Like others have said, there's only so much room in a query letter. I can understand mentioning it, but how much detail to I need to into about another book?

This post tugged at my heart strings, probably because of my personal interest here. I received a rejection late last night on my query, and I ,too, had sited two of Kristin's books in my opening paragraph. I read both books I referenced, and was going to mention how I thought my YA novel's main character was similiar to witty, fashion savvy Macey (from Ally's Carter's book), and had humorous everything goes wrong scenes like when the entire stage that had been cleared in Coupon Girl was recluttered the next day. Then I thought, am I just wasting space and Kristin will say, "Fine, but what about your book?" So I cut the analysis and went right to my pitch.

**Drops to knees with manuscript tightly clutched in hands.** Just kidding.

I tried to personalize my introduction, yet not get too wordy because I know agents are so busy. Of course, I would love to change Kristin's mind by writing a detailed five page summary on how bits of my novel are similiar to bits of both stories I referenced, with character outlines and scene contructions, but I'll let her get back to agenting. But if you ever feel inclined, I'm always up for a partial.

Seriously, despite the pass, I'll continue to be a faithful reader of your blog. And I'll be at the bookstore front and center tomorrow to pick up "Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy."

I know you don't answer these comments, but a question occurred to me while I was reading today's post. If you thinki it relevant to your readers maybe you would consider addressing this issue on a future rant.

I know you rep YA but not children's novels. You also like to rep a writer's entire body of work if possible. But I write for both children and YA. How do you handle a situation like that?

Again, I realize you don't repond to these comments. Might be interesting to hear your thoughts, though.

Bonita

Anon 5:45, I feel your pain. I too recently received a rejection when I had personalized a query.

The first two times I queried Ms. Nelson, I didn't personalize. Both times she requested a partial. So go figure.

Mine was one of the queries you stayed up late to read. My husband got to my email account before me and said "You have something from Nelson Literary, but it came in at 12:48 am(ET) and on Sunday!"

I said, "Sounds about right."

And not only did you read them, you took the time to post some feedback. Thank you.

Whoa. I know that cover looks better in person, but for a split-second I saw the fishnets and thought "that dude needs to shave his legs." Maybe it's just me.

I've come to the conclusion recently that when I see these tidbits about query writing, I just need to nod sagely and then proceed to store the bit of info into the back of my brain where I can't see it. I've reached this conclusion because really, the standard sort of query format works, but then sometimes it doesn't. All sorts of queries you might decry as being about as far from format perfect as you could get, make an agent go, "hmmm, I'd like to read this." We writers then look at these and go, "hmmm, ok. Why the hell did that work?" Of course you then take that same query to another agent, and they'll say, "What kind of crap is this?" (ok, maybe more tactful, but still). The point of course is that query writing seems to be almost as subjective as writing itself. You write it one way and an agent tosses off a rejection in five seconds flat, but then you rewrite it in a completely different way, and suddenly they may want to consider it. It may also be due to the fact that some editor just agreed to buy another author's book an hour earlier and they are just in a really great mood. Who knows! So, you write the damn thing the way you see fit, be respectful and polite, be sure to tell them what the heck it is, how long it is, and such and tell the agent what it is about your story that you love. Because that is likely what will turn them on more than anything. Ok, I'm rambling yet again, but queries are one of those subjects that never seem to die. They just keep going...and going...

JDuncan
www.jimnduncan.com

It's true there's so much focus on the query but only so far as it gives the agent some clue what your novel is about- There's something unquantifiable about it -- some spark -- some turn of phrase that grabs the agent in the same way a reader is provoked to pick up and buy a book. If it were quantifiable and not subjective then there WOULD be a formula you could follow. As it is, you have to pick and choose what to add and what to leave out so that you give it your best shot.
My query got many requests for fulls but also got rejections. It ain't a science, guys...

anon 9:19...

well, it IS a werewolf book, so maybe not such a bad thing to think! ;-)

I don't spend that much time on personalisation, if I'm brutally honest. I do a fair amount of research on all the agents I'm querying. I'll look for interviews, clarify guidelines, dig out specific likes and dislikes, but I just don't have the time or money to read their clients' work in any great detail.

My reasoning is that if they like my work enough to represent it, then in-depth personalisation won't matter either way. Of course, it's easy for me to say that, seeing as in the UK we are generally allowed to send partials unsolicited. The letter itself holds a lot less weight when they have your work right in front of them. Still, that doesn't stop me from polishing my submission (letter included) in every other way possible.

Just to add, I do research their clients' work. I'll look on Amazon, read reviews and synopsis, familiarize with the type of work the agent represents, but it's rare that I'll actively buy and read their work just for the sake of a couple lines about it in a query. For me, that's an inefficient use of time. I can't really see it being a deal maker anyhow.

Silly me; I thought good writing was what was important, not massaging an agent's ego.

Either I've written a novel that deserves representation and publishing, or I haven't. I'm a nice person just like you, but that doesn't mean I intend to be unprofessional.

I am so frickin' tired of werewolf and vampire and paranormal books. Get over it, writers, please. There are actual human beings out there in imagination-land who have stories to tell.

I have to agree with anonymous 6:16AM.

It still boils down to whether or not we've written a novel that's good enough to compete in the marketplace.

I research agents to determine if my book fits in with their expressed preferences, not to see how best to stroke them. I was a sales and marketing executive for a number of years and I can say from experience that a quality product presented in an informative way trumps flattery any day of the week.

It's promotion. Duh.

Anonymous 6:56 -

Why would writers stop writing paranormals when that is a HUGE market right now? Paranormal is hot, and if you can write it, it would be a good place to focus your efforts.

What I'm tired of are vampire/werewolf paranormals. I'd like to see something new & different...and I'm sure the publishing world would, too.

I'll admit, I hadn't heard of Mari Mancusi -- but the description has just added the book to my shopping list.

Great advice on query letters.

kristin, to echo your logic back at you -- YOU may be tired of vampire books, but 3.5 million readers of Twilight and it's sequels aren't. That's why they keep getting published.

Anonymous 8:38 - -
You said:
"It's promotion. Duh."

Exactly. And it should be done professionally. Always.

Kristin...That is sooo evil to tell us about a good rumor and then make us wait, LOL!

I've never read Mancuso either, but loved the blurb on the blog, so will be heading out to buy it!

I think I know the rumour. Will be interesting to see if I'm right.

As one of the people you wrote late Sunday night, I will say that I definitely read "The Book of Luke" and enjoyed it immensely. I want to see more 'rough around the edges' male love interests out there! I did get a rejection, but this is a learning process. Now, I know that it is okay to cite references and tie it into my pitch. Great blog!

Someone above said:
"Why would writers stop writing paranormals when that is a HUGE market right now? Paranormal is hot, and if you can write it, it would be a good place to focus your efforts."

Yeah, it's not like you would want to write anything original. Vampires are hot! Everyone write vampires! This is what's wrong with literature today. Some people sell shoddy toys made by sweat-shop kids in China; some people sell shoddy books coughed up by unoriginal bastards in America. Both sell- but both are also, finally, proven to be toxic crap.
What's the difference?
3.5 millions readers can't be wrong! "Twilight" is going to be part of the canon, dude! All those giddy twelve-year-old girls can't be wrong. (Cough). Wow, look, another writer spewed out a vampire book!
The only thing great about a vampire is when it symbolizes the death of writer dignity.