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Yay!

I finally remembered to save all my budget for charitable contributions this year for this auction.

Last year I forgot and was one sad puppy.

If I win, you can bypass the lipstick. I haven't worn any since 1997. I will care too much about what you are saying to notice much else. Hope the fundraiser exceeds it's goal.

Such exciting and awesome prizes!

I hope it's more than a success!

Seriously fabulous.

Wow, this is awesome. I never heard of this before.

But then an actual phone call would scare me senseless. As a writer from Austria/Europe, I read and write English better than I speak and catch. LOL

Thank you for this. I have juvenile diabetes and it warms my heart to see such generosity. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'm surprised by the Paranormal YA, as I've been hearing a lot of agents are quite picky with accepting a book in that genre, but I'm sure it's really good and that never goes out of style. But other than that, I'm not really surprised. Fantasy always seems to be hot. And I'm not complaining about that.

Thanks for the information! It's always nice to hear what's getting accepted.

You recently sent me a form rejection. It was one of only two I got. I had an offer by the end of the week.

So I forgive you :).

I like how anonymous is...well, anonymous. ;) Why bother leaving a comment if you're not going to sign your name?! :D

Anyway...it's interesting to see the breakdown, thanks for sharing!

Unfortunately, the volume on my computer wouldn't go high enough to hear you, but you did look spiffy. :)

I noticed none of those fulls were YA apocalyptic, so I'm hoping that's still an area of interest for editors. Thanks for the list--it's always interesting to see what agents are signing.

It is nice to see whats being accepted right now. I'm at the beginning of starting my second novel which is adult science fiction.

Thanks for the knowledge!

The signing of a sci-fi makes me happy. The one I've got making the query rounds is a YA sci-fi. :-)

Great information, as always. And, yes, "spiffy!"

You know what? Every day when I launch my Google Reader, I can't wait to see if there's a brand spankin new post from PubRants! I'm totally hooked!

Just sayin.

You do look extremely spiffy!

Thanks for sharing this. It's helpful to see. I'm working on a MG fantasy that I hope you or Sarah will like. You or Sarah gave me great help on my query letter as part of your Web class.

So it looks like fantasies are in, but I hope you remain interested in YA contemporary and paranormal. My two stories are in that genre. I just hope I can get my revisions done in time. Even if I don't, your blog is a definite encouragement to all us aspiring writers. Thanks.

I agree with Debra and Marie...definately "Spiffy". And maybe a second career here for audible books with that feeling in the read! (grin)

Just wondering what the middle-school title that sparked some interest was about...

Like several others, I'm glad to see SF getting requested. I know some people who would feel threatened by that, as if one of their "slots" was taken, but it makes me happy to know it's being repped, because then it might still be saleable!

I must be somewhat naïve; I did not find the question about what type of manuscripts were in your queue to be that important, curious yes, important no. Does it really matter what is being read right now? Write what is in your heart, what you feel, what is natural to you. Why worry about what everyone else is writing, what agents are reading. Worry about your own words, not the subject matter of someone else’s. A great book is simply that, a great book. It does not matter what genre it is if your story demands attention it will be read. Yes in reality, it may not be published this year or next, but time has a way of identifying the truly wonderful works.

More years ago than I would like to admit, when I was a freshman in college, every paper I wrote was returned with a magnitude of red lines. There was never any positive feedback written, only negative. Nothing I wrote met with my professor’s approval. Her constant complaint, I wrote ‘like I spoke’. Searching to find some redeeming qualities in my writing, I would allow my compositions to be read by other professors, they loved my papers. After receiving a C on my midterm, I called my grandmother to vent my frustrations. I have always remembered her words of wisdom; never change your own voice, it’s what makes every writer unique. The words and style in which you write should always reflect who you are, not who someone would like you to be. I survived freshman English composition with a B. My sophomore year, I laughed when I read the comments written across the top of my first paper, “What a wonderful breath of fresh air in a sea of mediocrity.” Unlike my freshman professor, my new professor loved my writing style.

What we write may not be loved or appreciated by every agent we submit it to but eventually great writing finds an audience. Beautiful words, a well written story will always find a home.

FYI what's playing on my iPod right now, "Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen.

Nice article, thanks for the information.

Very helpful to know what's "hot" in your corner of the world...helps us writers cater to the market.

And you said no to this? Haha :) That is hilariously awful. I'm often confused by people and whats going on in their heads. This kind of stuff shows why evolution is only a theory.

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

I will not make inappropriate jokes on the nice agent's blog... I will not make inappropriate jokes on the nice agent's blog...I will not make inappropriate jokes on the nice agent's blog...

Did the um... query (euphemisms are wonderful; they truly are) ... at least have decent grammar and a unique voice?


Ugh... I will not make inappropriate jokes on the nice agent's blog...

*forces self to hit send before it's too late*

You should forward it to queryshark.

Do it.

Do. It.

Heh, maybe he'd have better luck turning it into a screenplay and billing it as the male equivalent of The Vagina Monologues -- A Man and his Johnson.

Query Shark would be a good idea on this one, I think.

But it reminds me of that musical by StarKidPotter...that musical I wish I could block out of my mind.

I'm such a naive person at heart. When you used the word "good," I thought you referred to the literal definition. As in Golden Sumatra, Marriage Freres and L'Ancienne chocolate are all really good.

That query is just ... the right words elude me.

Was a trilogy required because one book just couldn't contain it?

A trilogy? Wow. Well, at least he doesn't suffer from feelings of inadequacy.

But the answer to your final question...yeah, that'd be a no. I mean NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PleaseGodhelpusall. No. Not ready.

Yikes.

Okay, I can't resist. A few stabs at the title of his manuscript.

"Pride and Prejudice:Below the Belt"

"A Farewell to Arms and Other Body Appendages"

"The Naked and the Dead: Part Two"

"The Sun Also Rises"

And I will stop there while I am ahead....something about a seafarer chasing a white whale comes to mind.

It's official. I've been blacklisted from Kristin's agency. Sigh. Another one bites the dust.

I think I've dated that guy . . .

...Excuse me while I curl into a fetal position and weep for humanity because someone, somewhere, thought this was a good idea.

The Tale of Two... nevermind.

I'm taking Josin's stance and backing off before this gets a little out of hand.

Okay can't help it!

Theme song for the book trailer: "Detachable Penis"- By King Missle

The sad thing is I know too many who would read this, and for that reason it will probably get published.

Was he angling for a full-color, coffee-table edition?

I wasn't aware my husband had sent you a query. :D (just kidding)

Was that guy by any chance named Sheen?

Can't help it:

"Ding-Dong: Who's There"

"Chronicles of the One Eyed Monster"

"The Dingaling Diaries"

"Me and My Little Friend"

"What Willy Knows"

Maybe he's just ahead of his time.

Another aspiring author gets the shaft.

Did he have stiff competition?

Imagine if it had been a bestseller -- wouldn't he have gotten a bit cocky?

This gives all new meaning to writing to the bone.

I can only imagine what psychiatry would look like today if Freud had done a case study on that one.

Wait, maybe he.... Nevermind.

It wasn't Charlie Sheen, was it?

Sounds like John Cheever:
http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/howto.html
(just search on his name.)

So would each book of the trilogy cover one of the three aspects 'ahem' of the item in question?

Forward it to me. I'll publish it and make a million. And perhaps the next two books are about Mr. Johnson's closest companions.

A trilogy??? WoW. lol

I bet there is LOTS of fun stuff in that "best of" folder ;)

I was really hoping for a legit, good query, but that was pretty funny.

Oh my gosh, and I thought I had heard it all when I heard the story of the guy who came into the ER because he was stuck in a duck. True story.

Oh come on, you could have called it THE CHRONICLES OF PETER. I'm so feeling that. Um wait. No I'm not. I mean, the title, not the...Oh never mind.

This was so unbelievable I had to read it outloud to my husband. Thanks for the good laugh!

Amy

Oh, this made me laugh. Also, this has to be the first time you used the word "johnson" in a post--go Kristin!

The sad part is, if this was told in the right way, I just might read it!

Maybe he can sell the story to the South Park guys. They had J-Lo as a hand, one time, you know. Insanity...

~Tara

He submitted to my agency too. I asked to see the full.

It was thin and needed a better arc. I told him if he cut some of it, I'd take another look.

But that made him crabby, so I told him to put on his big-boy pants.

Things came to a head, and he gave me the shaft before withdrawing his submission.

Could you talk him into making it a pop-up book?

You never know - it could work. It's notoriously difficult to judge the size of these things, especially this one. Subject matters like these tend to be growers, and the bigger it gets the deeper into the market it'll penetrate.

OK, the opinions might be a little one-eyed, but that's because it's a purely male perspective. Though I suspect the hard-cover will be more useful than the soft.

And of course, if it does take-off with the female readership, it could spawn a whole genre of prefab copies, probably bigger in text but without any real body accompanying it, that'll fill up a few hundred thousand nightstands and give women something to enjoy during a quiet night in alone.

Having said that - I guarantee the two sequels will be Balls

Word verification - Ephypt: The noise someone makes when ready a query from the POV of a Penis whilst taking a swig of coffee

Brilliant.

Playing Boswell to his own Johnson.

It's probably a novella, but when you polish it becomes a trilogy.

dylan

Have to post anonymously since I don't want to embarrass anybody...but we once got a query letter about a man who was transgendered and wrote the book from both his male and female counterparts.

Now, there's nothing wrong with being transgendered. But since the book was about something else entirely, I wasn't sure why s/he was sharing. S/he opted to use ellipses instead of periods, too. Every time.

sounds like a fun book to me. perhaps if he marketed it as YA instead of memoir he'd have a hit on his hands.

Of course it would have to be a trilogy...one book wouldn't be big enough to cover all of it.

This idea was already done - over twenty years ago: the movie Marquis
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097839/

o_O

That's really all I have to say...

It was rejected because the writing was flaccid.

LOL! I think that just made my day!

I wonder if he had the nerve to send it to Query Shark?

(Chomp)

I had just posted on my blog that all first-time authors truly believe in their projects, but this guy takes that idea to new lengths.

Reminds me of the young woman in my Comp 101 class whose first essay was a detailed account of having sex. Her writing skills weren't very good, but she caught readers' attention ... and she did become quite a popular classmate.

LOL, someone beat him to the punch. Did you see this?

THE BIG PENIS BOOK - IN 3D
http://bit.ly/ebaD4e

The price tag is the only thing that puts me off buying a copy of my very own. XD

<3,
-J

too funny! you totally made my stressful day at the office better! as did all the comments thanks.

It occurs to me that one could frame "Portnoy's Complaint" as dealing with similar subject matter. But if this dude was Philip Roth, he would have written an impressive query.

Don't believe you. It's a phallusy.

Since so many women responded to this post, I guess this must be "ladies night out".

Apologizing in advance for the sacrilege I'm about to commit with the title I'm about to suggest.

The Penis: Mightier Than The Sword.

Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

Hmmm...I wonder if it will have any fold-outs? It needs titles:

My Urologist is a Sherpa.

The Handworms of Dune.

Free Willy Wanker

Came here to mention the StarKid musical, saw that elfarmy17 covered it in the fourth comment. This has been done, and well.

THE LOVELY BONE, by Rod O'Toole

In the tradition of THE DARK TOWER, THE FIRM, and MOBY DICK.

Coming Soon!

... in hardcover.

...but you didn't mention if you asked for a partial...

(and, yes, a partial only because you can't handle the full... oh, forgive me, I just couldn't help it).

So how did it not stand up, erm out, er apart?

Didn't Robin Williams do a bit about how he would be your best friend? Perfect character witness?

"Tell me, Mr. Phallus. Can you describe to me the events of the night in question?"

"Well. It was light, it was dark, it was light, it was dark, it was light, it was dark. "

Kristin...

57 comments...an all time record? See we are reading your blog.

Your euphemistic handling of this topic was in and of itself quite hilarious!!

I'm still laughing out loud.

I just came back from a grueling "date" with the dentist and needed a good chuckle.

thanks!
LaylaF

I'm still laughing.

Sounds like someone spent a little too much time with his hands.

Oh, did I get the expression wrong? No, wait, I really didn't.

"Anonymous said...
Of course it would have to be a trilogy...one book wouldn't be big enough to cover all of it."

And, boy, oh, boy, do we want it all covered! :> As in, quite possibly, buried?

Hi There! I'm sure you will be astonished, but actually such a book does exist: it's called "The Two of Us", by the Italian author Alberto Moravia, a very cultivated writer with an extremely established reputation in Europe. It was published in 1971 and shortly after a film was released based on it. There's a English translation, if you are interested. It's a quite funny and witty book, sometimes, if you are a good storyteller, you can make something even of a very banal story!
Cheers,
Louisa

There was a film of "The Two of Us?" I'm almost afraid to ask if there's a director's "cut" of it.

If "Mr Johnson" had written his book in ancient Greece I wonder how long the scroll would've been?



My captcha is "derspag?" So close to "dirtbag!"

Gotta love it. I just tuned in to your blog for the first time yesterday and when I read today's title I just HAD to click over. I'm impressed and encouraged that you kept reading. I like that.

~Olivia Herrell

I made a blog post today about yesterday's topic and realized that in order to jump on the trendy-train, you probably have to have a manuscript ready before it becomes a trend. It just seems to me that the agents are quick to exclude popular genres to start a new hype.

But then maybe I'm just getting it all wrong.

I didn't notice this trend among books, but maybe it's an upcoming trend? I've only read one book where the main character dies in the first chapter, but I didn't find it interesting enough to actually finish.

Anyway, at least the person knows you didn't turn it down without actually finishing the sample pages. I think that should be somewhat comforting.

Thanks for the post.

I found your blog post interesting, as this happens in my book (though it is not YA). I'm not surprised it's a popular theme, since the afterlife affords limitless opportunities for creativity.

I am glad you kept reading, even if you did ultimately pass. Since there aren't a lot of popular books out now with this theme, it sounds like it might be 'the new vampire'. Tee-hee!

Cyndi
ctefft.blogspot.com

LOL! I could just imagine you saying out loud, "Not again!"

Love the irony, first of all. Too bad that you had to pass.

I would love to hear more about what "grabs" agents when it comes to characters. It seems very vague sometimes.

Remilda, I've seen a few books in the teen section over the last couple years in which the main character is already dead, or dies right off the bat. No titles stick with me. Possibly because I wasn't that interested-- it's hard to get past the protag's being dead.

I can see where the idea comes from. It's an adolescent fantasy. "They'll all be sorry when I'm dead!" But that's followed by the thought that one wouldn't be around to appreciate how sorry everyone was. Unless...

It's a trend I didn't know about, but I'm sick of vampires so maybe that has something to do with it.

You could read the first chapter of my YA fantasy novel and think that my protagonist dies at the end of it, but hey, you have to give the reader a few surprises, right?

At the begining of ch 2, she's still there. It was a false alarm. Just thought I'd let you know in case you were interested in reading ch1 at http://publishersearch.wordpress.com/lethal-inheritance/

I'd love to know what you think.

After reading your blog, I've told myself that if I ever tried to write a book... I'll keep this thing in mind befoe contacting an agent...

Thanks for the post.

The only book I can think of off the top of my head that tells the story from dead MC pov is Lovely Bones. I've never read it (I'm not one for sappy, sad stories) but I've heard it's a real tear jerker.

The Luxe series starts off with a dead heroine... but! (Won't spoil it for those who haven't read the books!). I guess if the writing's good, you push on regardless of the premise...

I once read a novel by Nathan Aldyne (Michael McDowell) where 3/4 through the book the protagonist is killed off and his brother picks up the rest of the story!!coloti

Sorry---"coloti" was the capcha I accidentally put in the text. Ignore it---I'm distracted by listening to Joan Jett.

I read a Christopher Pike book called "Remember Me," where the character is murdered and helps solve her death---this was WAY before the lovely bones, and I think a lot more fun and satisfying, too!

2003 and Stewart O'Nan's book "The Night Country" was the first book I remember with "dead" teenagers that important to the plot. O'Nan is an excellent writer and perhaps he was the tipping point that triggered this current wave of protagonist killing.

With the film of Lovely Bones coming out, I expect a trend of copycat dead protagonists will continue for a while.

Thank you! I was able to share this with my editing class students. We've discussed how *not to start a novel (sleeping, dreams, weather, etc.). Killing your character wasn't on the list but should be. Obviously in a paranormal you can bring the person back from the dead, but I can see that even that is cliche now.
Regards, the Editor Devil

I'm sorry that happened. If this happened to me, I'd be ranting too. Time definitely is something you can't ever get back. I hope in the future this doesn't happen again. :)

I think your request as to when other agents show interest is valid. Surely the author could have told your agency at least that much information. I thought it was standard business procedure to inform all interested agencies as to mutual interest. Maybe I'm wrong though.

"In this case, we only had the submission for 3 weeks."

And yet you want the author to respond immediately when the MS goes off the market?

Maybe the author was busy, you know, with all those things that are obviously not as important as whatever you're doing?!

How inconsiderate of them.

I wonder if the author thought everything through? Maybe they were pressured by the other agent? Like, "I need an answer asap." Still doesn't excuse it, but perhaps explains what happened. Most of us are not old hands at the publishing business and it might not have occurred to the author to offer you a chance to offer representation. They might have thought, "I have to take this now, because the other agency that has it hasn't responded yet, and for all I know, they're going to turn it down anyway."

I'm just speculating here. I don't know any of the parties involved, just trying to take my mind off my own frustrating querying exerience.

Anon 7:24,

Even if you don't have sympathy for the agents, have some for your fellow writers (if you are a writer). An agent reading an off-the-market ms. just took 6 hours reading time from writers who are still looking. There may have been several other agents besides Kristin reading unnecessarily.

It's great that the writer has found an agent, but don't clog the pipeline. How much time does it take to send an e-mail saying -- I have an offer of representation. Are you interested? The agent will either pass and congratulate you, or ask for a specific amount of time to read your ms. If they don't meet the deadline, move on.

That is so true, Anon just above me. I just got rejected yesterday and maybe...nah, but can't help wondering.

Hopefully I will someday be in a position to have multiple offers from agents, but first I must finish my WIP!

I do have a question regarding notifying agents that you've submitted to. I understand that it's common courtesy to notify other agents who have the full that you've received an offer. Does that also go for agents that you have queried but have received no response, even if they have not requested a full or partial?

Thanks for all the hard work that you put into this blog!

I've never had that happen to me but I've heard of writers receiving rejections after a year or two, and yeah, that makes you wonder why the agent is still accepting queries for possible new clients and asking for full manuscripts if they're THAT busy. :-/

Yes, I too wish I could completely eliminate unnecessary/futile work and wasted time in my job.

Don't all of you?

Now, how many of you have jobs where this is the case? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Ah, that's what I thought.

@Shelley I don't think Kristin usually responds to comments, so I thought I'd jump in and answer your question.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's customary to only notify the agents who have fulls or partials. Outstanding queries don't really matter because they're not a big time-suck to read.

Kristin, trust me, if you ever had my full and I received another offer, you'd be the first to know:)

Shelley, in the situation you describe (notifying agents who have just your query), I'd probably contact the ones I was really interested in working with, and the ones who'd only had the query for a short time.

One of the hardest lessons of my life is that not everyone is as considerate as I was brought up to be. As a writer, I try to keep agents and editors in the loop as far as multiple submissions.

Coincidentally, yesterday I received a rejection from a publisher (not an agent) for work I sent out over two years ago. That was a requested manuscript following a query, not an unsolicited manuscript. That kind of treatment makes it hard for us as writers to not view editors as impersonal corporate entities.

You have every right to be grumpy. To do that to anyone is rude, especially in a business situation. They should have at least held off on accepting the offer until notifying you.

Rude people make me angry. Rant away, Kristin, you have every right.

Not disagreeing with your point at all. To give the benefit of the doubt for the author, perhaps it was simply a matter of time zone. If an agent from New York they wanted to work with offered representation Monday morning and they are on the east coast and received it Monday morning, your office wouldn't be open for two hours still. It's quite possible you received as early a notice as could be had.

...now, whether that was likely or not. :)

As for me, the longest I've waited for a query that got answered was four months. I had begun querying on a new manuscript when this letter showed up in the mail. I had forgotten all about it. I had assumed it was just a no reply.

Those happen way too frequently in my opinion. I debated this with Anna Genoese, formerly of Tor. We did the math and with what has become an average query rate (say 1000) multiplied for the year and then divided by time required for a form reply, an agent spends a full week's worth of time sending out form rejections. Not reading the query, just sending out the rejections. She was of the opinion that the agency was better not sending anything. I strongly disagree. I think it's professional courtesy to notify the thousands of people that want to work with you that you received and reviewed their queries and are going to pass.

Of the queries I still have out with agents right now, I expect at least half of them (25% of my total query list so far) will never reply to my query.

I can understand the disappointment of not getting an opportunity at an offer, and the aggravation at lost time.

It appears that writers are not the only ones to experience manuscript frustrations.

Good luck with the rest of your week. Hope you get a little relaxation, even with the extended work hours.

I think it comes down to professionalism. Also, it doesn't pay to burn bridges as I've seen cases where a writer's agent leaves the business and the writer has to start the process all over again. Hope the rest of your week goes more smoothly. :)

I do understand feeling like you've wasted those hours.

But what if the author got her first offer from her number one choice? It's a kindness not to make the other agents do a song and dance when her mind is made up.

In this case the author did email the other agents to inform them that she'd accepted representation. I don't think it's fair to assume that she withheld information. As the other poster said, there is a time difference from EST. She did email. It just happened to be the weekend that you read the ms.

It is common practice in most job areas to pitch against other agencies or companies. Yes, it is annoying to lose a pitch. But please put the blame where it belongs! YOU lost the pitch, not the author. Clearly, it took you too long to reply. Yes, I know, only three weeks. But the other agent managed to get the deal, right? They turned the project around a lot faster. How annoying that you missed by maybe just a day. But did you? Would you have actually signed the author on? How long would the process have taken?

I think it is very decent of the author to let you know s/he signed elsewhere. S/he was trying to save you some work. I tend to go with business contacts who move fast. If I like the person on top of that, we have a deal. I do not wait around for other people to profess interest, neither do I follow up on business deals that seem to have gone nowhere. So, as I said, to send such a speedy e-mail is very decent and not strictly necessary.

Maybe you should turn the process around: Rather than expecting the author to tell you some other agency is interested (which would have been a good move from the author, actually, because that would certainly would have sped up your response time!), let them know you are reading their manuscript. An e-mail goes a long way here, I think.

Besides: Before signing ANY contract, surely people are entitled to think about it? I tend to make a decision and then think about it some more over the weekend and then move quickly. Which might very well be what the author has been doing.

Sorry, I like your blog, but this post comes across at whining and putting the blame where it clearly does not belong. It is a bit as if you are trying to make that poor author feel bad about the deal which is not very nice at all because I bet s/he is delighted to have closed a deal so quickly.

I decided not to go anonymous like the other people who did not agree with you.

All the best,
Barbara

God, If i were ever in a position where I had an offer but it was still out on submission with other agents, I think I'd give everyone a chance to show interest before just saying 'yes' to the first one to offer representation. Just seems like the polite and logical thing to do. Then again, if an agent did offer rep., I'd probably be so out of my mind with excitement that I would lose track of what 'polite' and 'logical' even mean....hmn.

Girl, I know that's frustrating!
I'm so sorry for that.
I can see the author, however, biting a dangling worm instead of patiently waiting...
BUT I don't understand not moving till you've seen ALL the potential offers...that was maybe a mistake on their part...you might have done pretty darn well for them.

I can certainly understand the frustration of using your time for them. You can't redeem time like you can redeem money...it's gone now.
That could have been precious time spend with friends or family.
sorry again that happened.


Also, I think it's great that you guys give two months. At least you give a deadline. Those other guys who didn't even respond?...OUCH!

I know the established mode is to ask agent “A” (the one making the offer) for some time to reflect and then to give agents B, C and D a chance to finish reading and extend offers of their own. But really, if agent A is “the” one, your dream agent and you are 100% certain you are going to accept, aren’t you just making agents B-D do a lot of reading over a short period of time to no purpose? That seems even more rude than politely withdrawing the MS.

One thing you agents could do that might help matters is when you respond to a query letter with a request for a full, *say* that if you accept an offer for the ms from elsewhere, to let you know as soon as possible.

Yes, I know to do this but not everyone does, and the requests for fulls that I've gotten so far are my own query letter sent back to me with a scrawl across the top..."Yes, please send the full! Jane." Maybe add a few more words on the expectations for the author?

Exactly what I was going to say, Anonymous! I'm assuming the writer emailed other agents as soon as she knew she was certainly going to accept the offer. So why waste more of the other agents' time?

I agree with anonymous at 7:24.

Agents are people, but so are we. No one likes to waste their time-- but that includes us. Before I got an agent, I wasted hours querying agents who never even bothered to respond. (Kristin did respond.)

One agent asked for a one month exclusive and free copies of my previously published books, and then the month stretched to two months before he finally rejected me. (Sorry, I'm supposed to say he "redirected" me.)

I agree that if the person received an offer on Friday, s/he should have contacted you on Friday... but I can see how it happened. She probably thought you were ignoring her as so many other agents had done.

Sorry, I get weary of the "agents are so busy" complaints. Writers are busy too. Most of us have day jobs (at which we too can find ourselves busy) and families and dedicate what little time we have left to writing, querying, etc. Just like some agents can't seem to take the time to even form-reject a query, or offer non-form comments on a full or partial rejection (not you Kristin, but many many others), maybe some writers don't have the time to notify every pending agent of offers.

I have to agree with Anon 7:24 and Barbara.

Writers are subjected to this all the time. It's so commonplace I feel silly for even mentioning it. But as a writer you get requests for fulls and agents NEVER respond back (happened twice with the last ms I subbed). You get requests for revisions, which you hop off excitedly to do, and then the agent doesn't read them for FOUR months (yes, this just happened to me, an A-list agent, too). You research and query and personalize and get a form reject with your name misspelled.

I'd assume that, as a writer, if you are finally in the position of having a great offer, you might just take it, rather than risk the upheaval of signing with another agent who (possibly) only wants the ms because another agent did.


(I'm anon because I don't blog to promote and therefore don't have a blogger account, not because I'm ashamed of my POV).

None of us know exactly what we would do until it happens to us. So I'll tell you how it happened to me. I had full MSs out with several agents. One offered. I let the others know I had an offer. A couple said they couldn't get to it and good luck; the rest said they'd read it over the weekend, and in the end, I had four offers. And I learned more in the ensuing email and phone conversations with those four agents than I had from months and years of research.

It is NEVER bad for an author to respond to an offer of representation with "thank you; I need a couple days to think about it." Some agents will respond with time limits ("respond by noon or the offer is withdrawn") and some will respond generously ("of course, call or email me with any questions") and that, too, is information that will help you make an informed decision.

It's not just politeness. It's the smartest move for your career. If you're ever lucky enough to be in this position, make the most of it. It's not a chance to metaphorically flip the bird to all agents who've ever ignored you; it is the most important decision you can make as a writer, so grab it with both hands.

When I was in a similar position last year, seems all the agents suddenly became interested and sped up their reading. (Though it didn't work out)

Why does a ms. suddenly become "hot" only if other agents are interested? By now, don't established agents trust their own tastes and savvy enough to take on a newcomer?

Signing with an agent is a huge decision. I expect the author took the weekend to decide if s/he wanted to take the offer, then let you know first thing monday morning that s/he did.

Ditto Anonymous 8:15. Politeness aside, it's just good business to inform other agents of an offer. Because even though you *think* you know who your number one is, all of that might change once you actually talk to him/her (and some of his/her clients).

I tend to agree with Anon at 7:24. Amy Cook also makes an excellent point.

Dear Kristin:

In my search for an agent I have noticed that some state right in their submission guidelines that if they are not interested in your work you will NOT hear back from them. I was wondering what your thoughts on this method are. A standard, yet polite, "no thank you" email is just a click away. I can't really imagine it messing with their timelines just to say no. From a writer's standpoint, ths is the worst kind of torture. Because of the length of time it can take to hear back - I don't want to be wondering what's going on forever. There is something to be said for "closure" if you will.
It's not unlike going to the doctor for an exray, but then never finding out what is wrong with you, if anything at all.

Just wondering your thoughts on this method.

Anon 8:50,

It's pretty much the same reason a manuscript becomes "hot" if it's on submission to editors and if one editor offers, other editors will suddenly become interested too. I don't think it's really because the professionals don't trust their own taste. It's because if one of their colleagues approves of it, chances are good that the manuscript has merit and the other agents become curious. It's exactly like situations in life where if you see a long line or big crowd somewhere, you feel the urge to see what the commotion is about. :)

It comes down to this.

Author's goal: get an agent.
Agent's goal: find a good client to represent.

In this scenario, the author achieved their goal. The agent did not.

Tell my why the author is in the wrong/should feel bad about this?

I was in that position. I had received interest directly from an editor and queried several agents to find representtion. I let them all know that other agents had the MS. When one made an offer of representation, I gave the others a couple of days to respond. Of those who responded I selected one, and let the others know I'd made my selections immediately. I think it's just good business.

With that said, I selected the agent who was most enthusiastic about my project. He read my MS in a VERY timely manner, took the time to call me with feedback, and even patiently waited as I waited for all other responses.

So, I think that consideration goes both ways. Understanding that agents have other clients and tons of queries, when we let you know that there's other interest, if you're really interested in that project, at that point it's time to step up the game a little bit.

Marie, you're so right! Notice on "Shark Tank" how the other sharks perk up when their competitors show interest in a biz? Suddenly they all want a piece of the pie. Maybe writers should tell agents others are interested just to get a response! J/K Very frustrating.

Re: response times: I've had requests for partials and fulls WEEKS after sending a query, so how do you know your idea is rejected when agents won't give a time frame? Worse, they refuse to respond after months of waiting and regular status queries. How do we know if an agent is "BUSY" or not interested? We're not mind readers!

It's all in a days work for the writer and the agent.

Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.

The key is to do what Kristin said, "I’ll get off it now and move on."

Nuff said.

1. Agents do not get paid until they make a sale. Current clients are the priority. Reading is fit in. Time is their commodity. They can't always predict exactly how long something will take.
2. Writers may think they've found their dream agent, and find out otherwise as a relationship unfolds. You might be sending out those queries again. Why piss off other agents you might want to work with in the future? How do you know what the agent is like unless you've had a chance to work with/know/speak to clients?
3. Publishing is a small world. If you're a jerk, in any part of the process, you will become known as a jerk.
4. The same holds true for agents. If you're a jerk - if you only become interested when others have shown interest, it gets around.

You know what? That's the risk you take.

How many times have you read a full, offered representation, been asked to wait, and then been told the author was going with someone else? Is that wasted time?

How many times have you read a full and declined representation? Is that wasted time?

If you think that any situation that doesn't end with you offering representation and the author accepting is wasted time, then I think there's a bigger issue than this one author. If you don't think that's wasted time, then I would advise you to just accept that you lost this one and move on with your life.

I feel like you only think you wasted your weekend because you didn't get a chance to ask the author to pick you. But I'm betting not all authors pick you anyway. I'm betting, in the end, at least a few authors say that they are going to pick someone else, and they tell you this after you read the full and express interest. And this was no different. You read the full, and the author picked someone else. Just because you weren't part of a competetion or the author's first choice doesn't mean that the author did anything wrong.

Besides, it's your job to read the manuscripts you request. The author is not obligated to give you weeks or months to get back to him or her. I understand wanting a heads up so you don't read a manuscript that is no longer available. But maybe it wasn't unavailable until that morning because the author was still thinking about it, or hadn't heard back until that morning. And if the other agent was his or her first choice, then there really wasn't any need to wait for other agents to respond. In this case, you just have to accept that you weren't number one for this author and that the author went with whomever they felt was the best fit, even if you don't like it.

The author waited three weeks for a response from you. I don't think that's excessively long to wait for a request for a full. It certainly wasn't anywhere near months. However, an author's time is just as valuable as an agent's. And if this author liked the agent who offered, felt they were a good match, and wanted to work with this agent, why should the author waste his or her time telling everyone who has the manuscript to read fast, and then waste more time waiting to accept an offer he or she already knows they are going to accept?

Also, ranting about it in this way is just mean-spirited. If the author queried you, he or she probably reads your blog. And if he or she sees this post... Well, it seems to me that it's meant to criticise them for making a choice that, simply put, you just don't agree with or like. And it's in a forum where he or she can't tell you that you seem a little petty without coming across negatively himself or herself.

Anon 12:32,

I don't think it was jerky of this author to make a decision without consulting all the other agents who had the full. If the agent who offered was the one he or she wanted, then I think the author was in the right.

Also, while it's true that sometimes a dream agent turns out to be a nightmare agent, sometimes the dream agent turns out to be perfect. I've read more than one story where the author accept the first offer, who also happened to be the author's number one choice, and it worked out wonderfully.

Ultimately, we really have no idea what the specific circumstances were for this author, who he or she chose, or why he or she chose them. We can say it was a bad decision, but we don't really KNOW that. For all we know, it is a perfect match.

I don't blame Kristen for ranting about this, but I don't blame the writer either.

It boils down to this: Either the writer made a stupid decision by accepting the first offer simply because it was there, or their dream agent offered and they snatched it up.

In either case, it's one of the issues that comes with being a lit agent. Sure it's frustrating, but it's going to continue to happen.

I'd say whenever you request a full, specifically ask the writer to inform you if there are others reading the full and/or other offers pending so you'll know what priority you should give the MS.

Anon 12:41 Amen.

Yeah this post really really bothers me. Agents seem to think they belong on some sort of pedestal: I get flooded with queries all day, I don't have time to respond to all of them, I can't afford to read MS's that I don't have a shot at, I need 3 months to read a MS, etc. You know what? You ask for queries. Lots of people in lots of industries get lots of emails every day, but we respond to them personally. You don't ask for exclusives on fulls, you don't GET an exclusive on a full.

Agents that are looking for new clients need to accept the rules that frankly they themselves have set forth. Sometimes you spend time on things that don't come to fruition. So does everybody else at any other job. Agents are not special.

Bemoaning something like this is like a salesman saying "Oh, but I spend so much time going over my product with this guy, and he didn't buy anything!" Or a contractor saying, "But I put a lot of time into that bid, and I didn't get the job!"

Given the amount of time wannabe writers put into getting published, it's insulting that we should feel bad for an agent for having to do her job.

Sorry, rant over.

I'm a buyer's agent who gets requests to quote/bid for jobs all day, every day.

About 10% of clients respond after I quote.

If I don't hear from them after a day, I follow up. If they tell me they already accepted another quote, that's fine. That's how business works.

If I have a possible $20,000 commission you can sure as hell bet I will be making a follow-up call ASAP.

I certainly don't expect the client/prospective client to waste their time contacting me. If I did I'd be without clients and destitute.

Thanks for the tip. Even without it, if I was ever so lucky to have your agency read my manuscript, I'd let you know if I got an offer. I love so many of the fantasy authors you represent.

A writer should ALWAYS give ALL the agents who have requested fulls the chance to finish reading and make their cases before choosing which one he is going to go with. To not do so is just rude, in my opinion.

I agree. This post bothers me, too. The agent sounds very petty and seems to think that her time is more valuable than the writers. She is mean-spirited IF her intent in positng this rant was to make the writer feel bad in any way. I believe in the need for agents, and I know Kristen is good agent, but this particular "rant" makes her seem very catty. I wish I hadn't read it.

That does seem weird. I'd be ticked off, too.

As for the long waiting time, I think it's unavoidable. I'm keeping track of number of queries and partial requests and responses on my blog: chazleydotson.blogspot.com . And every step seems to take forever, but then again, it's difficult to be patient with something like this.

On a side note, do literary agents ever have time to read for fun?

Wow . . . how do ya like them onions?

I think the case is 50/50. Kristin is entitled to be put out about the time wasted, but we can't know the writer's circumstances or situation either.

But the buyers' agent above puts it nicely: you can't afford to be piqued by clients who have negotiated elsewhere and didn't let you know. That's show biz!

Either way, this is a very good post and shows us this agent is not afraid to be honest with us. Always a good thing.

"At least give those with a full a chance to respond (and I get that this is completely self-interest on my part but it is my rant after all…). In this case, we only had the submission for 3 weeks."

I agree.

The author sent you a message telling you she had another offer. She did the polite thing. The fact that others are saying this author was inconsiderate is ridiculous. If Kristin offered representation and the author said, "Oh, sorry. I accepted an offer already," that would be incosiderate.

As someone upthread said, agents rarely notify writers when they're reading a project. They don't send messages that say, "By the way, I'm halfway through and loving it. Just thought you'd like to know." Instead, they send form rejections after six months.

The author did nothing wrong.

I've heard from other agent blogs that if an offer comes in and the writer accepts it then it is polite to let the other agents know. Isn't this what the author did? What if the author got a representation from her dream agent? What if she was just really excited? We don't know why the author accepted, but she did.

Sorry you didn't get to finish reading...but wouldn't you rather the author let you know before you finish reading?

And I don't think its rude for an author to accept the first offer they get and let the other agents know. If I was in that position I would probably do the same. Because you never know if the other agents are really interested.

This post was very interesting Kristen and really got me thinking. When I start submitting my manuscript I'll keep it in mind. Especially if more than one agent has the full.

I hope my comment didn't sound rude. It just seems weird that people are saying an author was being rude when they sent a response. I would think that makes them very considerate. Or am I missing something?

No, Tori, I agree. I don't see how the author was being rude. The author notified the other agent with the full to let them know she had accepted an offer.

I see no reason for her to delay accepting the offer so that agents who hadn't finished reading the manuscript can finish IF she felt the offering agent was 100% in love with her project and felt they could work really well together.

By emailing/contacting the other agent with the full, she did the right thing, whether or not she was giving the second agent a chance to offer representation.

The key here is that agents do what is best for their business/client list, and an author must do the same for her projects/books as well. I can't see how anyone would think that this author has burned a bridge because AGAIN she did notify the agent reading the full that she'd made her decision.

If she hadn't notified the other agent and that agent later offered to represent the book, then that's inappropriate.

Finally, there's no stats on this, but I'm sure this is not an unique case.

As far as wasting of one's time. Author and agent alike waste time as other blog comments have explained. But I think it's sad to look at the process as a waste of time because of the hard work that goes into it on both the agent's and the writer's side. I respect the work that agents do to get books into the hands of publishers, but agents need to also respect the work that authors do to write/polish books and get them into the hands of agents as well.

I know this post is a few days old now, but I just thought of something that hasn't been mentioned. Maybe because it had been only three weeks, the author figured you hadn't read her manuscript yet, and was hoping to save you the bother of reading her mss, so she notified you that she had an offer?

Think about it, we hear so many stories of agents having mss for months, I'd assume that after just three weeks, an agent hadn't gotten to it yet.

I'd probably be so out of my mind with excitement that I would lose track of what 'polite' and 'logical' even mean...
post free classified ads

This is a fabulous idea! Unfortunately I'm a little low on funds, so I can't bid. But I'm so glad you guys are doing this. I hope you raise a lot of money.

This is so cool. Any chance you post the crit online if the writer agrees?

Times like this I wish I had money. Darn student loans, interfering with my ability to spend hundreds of dollars on an awesome critique. ;)

Bummer...certainly wish my novel was edited to the point where it would be worth bidding...

D'OH! I just bought a condo. No discretionary income right now. :'(

Thanks for doing this, Kristin! I've had type 1 diabetes for 25 years and would love to see a cure during my lifetime.

Thanks for the heads up! That's very generous of you.

Would love to take advantage of an opportunity like this. My manuscript is ready to go but I am having difficulty fitting it into a neat and tidy genre package! That is to say, if I were to describe it how I feel I should describe it, it would be A ROMANTIC FANTASY ADVENTURE. So you see my dilemma. If I peg it wrong, I may get passed based on the genre I have chosen. I am reluctant to simply call it a ROMANCE or FANTASY ROMANCE or ROMANTIC FANTASY...well you see what I mean. I would love someone to speak to this issue. Can I call it a ROMANTIC FANTASY ADVENTURE without risking an auto pass?

This is an awesome opportunity for someone with some bucks. Unfortunately being unemployed for over a year, that won't be me. Still, I'm bookmarking for next year.
At least while I'm not working, I have lots of time to write!

Love Pub Rants!

I don't know how helpful it is necessarily either, but it certainly is interesting. I know I appreciate the opportunity to peak over an agent's shoulder, virtually speaking.

Thanks for the commentary. It helped me. I've gotten comments like the ones you'd written on submission 4, and I always wondered if the agent was just being nice when they said that it was just a matter of finding the right agent.

Thanks for the glimpse!

"I don’t mind sharing although I personally don’t think they help you blog readers all that much..."

Ouch!

Do literary agents take out some sort of extra insurance for their eyes?

Whether or not it helps anyone else, I love to see what goes through your mind while you're going over submissions. It helps me see what agents might be looking for when they read my stuff. More specifically, last summer I submitted sample pages to Sara and was sad that she didn't end up requesting a full manuscript, but then you posted about how crazy your week had been and the number of submissions and what you liked and didn't like about two YA submissions and it really helped me understand what I was missing in my work. I learned a lot and have kept writing because of a post just like this one.

Even if it doesn't say much for my chances either way, it encourages me to hear that you're still in a reading mood, especially since I finally sent you my query! I love that y'all are so communicative with potential clients.

We love it when you share this kind of info with us. Don't worry, we understand that ultimately, it's about the writing.

It sounds like a good day. :)

You are right, of course - this doesn't really help us since there are so many factors regarding what makes sample pages amazing, but it FEELS like this is helpful. I feel like I am getting some real insight into an agent's mind (and not just any agent's mind, an agent who I plan on querying in the coming months), so this is a real treat. Thanks, Kristen!

Thx for sharing...

It's really interesting to hear you say you can see another agent liking something. I've gotten that comment before, and I've wondered if it's part of a polite, personal sounding-yet-form rejection, or if they really meant it. Seeing that you really meant it is nice to hear; perhaps the other agents really meant it as well.

Always interesting to read what an agent thinks when reading submissions.

Really bring home the fact that agents are readers just like the rest of us...what impresses some may not impress others and vice versa.

You're right about these types of posts not really being "instructive" in any sense, but they're always interesting and enjoyable reads. :)

Thank you for this, I like the updates and seeing how the submission process works from your side. It wasn't that you hated any of the work, it's just that there wasn't enough to make you love it. And that's important for authors to know. :o)

Thanks for posting this. I know much of it rides on the writing, but it's interesting to see your thought process behind it.

I like that you told the author another agent might like the book. That probably made his/her day even though you rejected it :)

Yay. It's great to hear you getting excited about a manuscript. It's always refreshing to encounter people who actually LOVE their jobs :)

Four your fourth submission, the one by the gender-neutrally named author, if (s)he had included a website as part of his/her query, would you have investigated as part of your review process?

Do agents really mean that "I'm sure another agent will feel differently" thing? I'd always assumed that was just a nicer way of saying no.

Getting an insight of how an agent looks at submissions is not only interesting, but it can be encouraging. It just reminds us how subjective this business is (especially the comment about submission 4). Thanks for sharing this - the post is probably more helpful than you realise.

Also love the feeling of peeking over an agents shoulder..thanks for sharing..

Hi! New to your blog, but I'm enjoying the insider's look into your work as an agent.

I really like your music choices so far. Listened to any Tracy Chapman lately?

Hm. I don't hate this post. From all the agent blogs I read, you tend to pick up on that sort of thing.

I think a lot of us writers are like that too. You write so much for so long, at some point you want to throw your manuscript across the room and run screaming out of your house. Then you eventually come back and get to work again.

Though I am sad that I'm stuck doing revisions when you're itching for some new material. :)

Go me. I sent mine this morning.

As for the weather back east(as I'm in the Central Time Zone), things seem to be running pretty slow all around as people fight to get to work... or do what you're doing: curling up with a good manuscript.

Great news for those looking for an agent. I tweeted it. ;-)

Perfect timing!

For argument sake, let's say we submit a query letter. We being a male author and we politely get a nice thank you, but no thank you letter. Should we ever resubmit to said agent or is that project dead with said agent?

Shain

Snow days can be the best. The snow here melted and I am already missing it. I enjoyed this post. This is good to hear, especially since I just submitted.

This is actually more related to yesterday's post but anyway I am a guy and I'm busy revising my YA novel. (for about the third time mind you) You are going to have one killer manuscript heading your way soon!

P.S. It's not a fantasy or thriller! :-)

Oh, how exciting! I wish you the best of luck in finding that newbie author that brings a smile to your face and reminds you what you first found so alluring about the job!

-Lindsey Edwards
Witch Way To You
“Lorelei and Hayden are thrust into an investigation of magic
and intrigue, where nothing, not even each other, are what
they seem.”

Wish I had something ready! Hopefully, you'll be in this mode when I do have something to submit:)

And, I'm guessing, five minutes later: the workload is so overwhelming. >:)

Ah, now if only I had something worth writing a query for. One day, one day...

I submitted back in November, and 24 hrs after I hit SEND, you did a blog post about how you were swamped and recently did something you almost never do--a complete query dump. Ugh!

So although it's sort of taboo to resubmit the same query, I'm SO going to submit this time! Watch for my name, Ms. Nelson!

I had a sneaking suspicion agents had various modes. After all, you are human.

Except for the random shark.

I'm glad to hear you're open to new talent!

It's nice to see the snow elsewhere for a change. :)

I signed up this week to pitch to Sara at a conference -- but that's not until April and chances are you won't be as slow then. Now I'm working like mad to finish revisions - hence why I'm up at midnight!

Phew - for a second there I thought this would be the reverse. Guess I was right to send in that query this week!

So, Kristin,
How can I interest you in a fast moving story about a boy who thwarts the intentions of small town stranger with kidnapping on his mind? Just knocking on the door! Kate Lacy

Yep, and that's why we got to query widely and not wait around. Odds are better our query letters will land on the desk or in the inbox of the right agent at the right time.

Still got a couple months until mine's ready and you'll probably be swamped by then, but you ain't the only fish in the sea!

You may regret telling us this.

The only thing I don't like about this post is that I am no where near ready to submit! :)

I sent mine yesterday. I must be psychic.

I concur. Ten days ago, I snail mailed 6 queries/partials. Got an email request for a full last night.

It was a good day.

I agree with Helena but I'm sending my query anyway! Thanks for telling us this.

Good to know. I'm amazed that your blog is thriving on blogger. I tried blogger and had a difficult time gaining readers so I switched to wordpress and have done well.
I'll probably add you to my blogroll, because unlike some agents-your blog doesn't seem rude. I really hate the word snark (popular with agents these days)--and all of its variations. Perhaps it offends my southern sensibilities?

Query sent. Thanks for the opportunity!

I do believe I'll send mine in... nothing like giving you what you asked for!

Can you re-query an agent with the same project you've already approached him with before if you've revamped the book?

This cycle sounds very realistic. Almost everything runs with an ebb and flow. It must be very difficult to be "on" when you're overwhelmed with other stuff. Also I think about how hard it would be to be open to something new when you have a lot going on. Right now I'm so tired of reading I just want to put my head down and sleep :)

Thanks for sharing the info. I'm almost ready to send mine, so hope I hit the good part of the cycle. And if not, I understand. I work too and sometime can't get to non urgent things as quick as I'd like.

So close! I'm in my last revision pass before its ready to submit. It's only a few more weeks of work, but who wants to take that risk if the submission list is really that light?

I will tweet it, too! It would be so great if every agent told us when they are in submission mode!

Anon, unless the agent invited you to resubmit after a revision, don't waste your time. Better to hit up agents who haven't already rejected the project.

If I don't hear from you about a query I probably won't follow up. I've probably forgotten I queried you. You've been deleted from the list and I've moved on.

But for a full or partial? I'd keep querying and sending things out, but I'll be counting down the days until your "max turn around". I'm a bit obsessive like that. If I hadn't heard by then I'd probably drop the agent and line and make sure everything had arrived on schedule and that the agent was still alive.

forgive my ignorance but why would an agency not just answer "no" rather than ignore the poor bastard?

"You really are owed one." Thank you for saying this! I needed some reassurance.

One of the agents with my full has a reputation for not responding unless there's another offer on the table. (I didn't discover this until after I queried and he requested the full.) He's had it for months now.

I've had other agent interest and I'm pretty sure if it came down to a choice between him and one of the agents who has been prompt and professional I'd go with the other agent just on principle.

No response for months just doesn't seem like a good way to start a working relationship.

In that situation, would you want to be informed, in the query, if the author has partials and fulls out with other agents?

What about agents who don't advertise their response times (there are plenty who do, as well as a lot who don't)? Some let the writer know when they ask for a partial or full, and some don't. Is there an average industry response time, or is this simply a stand-up-and-ask kind of thing?

Most excellent information to have in the arsenal. Thank you.

Kristin, Thanks for this important post. I'm amazed at how long some writers wait to follow up on a partial or even a full that's out there. If you're afraid to contact an agent to check on sample pages, either they're not the right agent for you or you're not persistent enough to survive this business. IMHO.

I hope to be one of those poor schmucks one day, hanging by a thread waiting....lol.

I once had a requested full manuscript out at a publisher for 6 full months without a response. Finally sent a follow up letter. Got my manuscript - mangled up bad - back two days later. No note, nothing. Just my mangled book returned.

Would it be kosher then when replying to an agent who requests exclusives on partials and fulls but does not advertise turnaround time to grant the exclusive with an end date, after which the exclusive would expire (politely worded, of course)?

Kristin's quote: "...Because some agents are like a few editors that I know and avoid, they won’t start reading until they get a heads up that there is other interest..."


Thanks for your honesty. This kills me. You finally get an agent, agent sends out the ms to editors. NO one replies for five months. It seems to me they are ALL waiting to see if someone else is going to offer before they bother reading it.

Nothing like working your ass off for a year to write a book, another six months to get an agent, another three months of revision and waiting for whatever holiday season to pass so the agent can finally send to editors, only to have editors ignore it for five months.

(rant over)

BUT, this is why I think agents and editors don't like their jobs very much. Sure, plot matters, but for YA lots of it is if you like the voice and concept. How time consuming is it really, to flip open a ms and scan five/ten pages? Most rejections don't tell you any sort of in depth reason why they didn't want something anyway.

(another rant over).

Ah, I feel better now :)

Anon 9:55 -- please don't think just because an agent or editor asks for an exclusive you have to give them one. You don't. It's the same as saying, here, hold my work hostage for two months so you can sit on your ass and not read it.

If you do agree to an exclusive (and again, please don't) and no time is stated, then YOU state it -- you can have this as an exclusive but only for a week.

I used to think exclusives meant I was doing something right -- that an agent was so interested in my ms that they wanted it to themselves so they could mastermind a plan for a major book deal. Usually, what has happened though, is the agent is just lazy and wants to know how long they can keep something before they *sigh* HAVE to read it.

Great post. I just sent out queries and got a request for a full. I was thinking I'd give the agent three months, so I'm happy to see three weeks is more standard.

I haven't heard back from some of the agents I queried yet. Should I let them know that a full has been requested? I figured I needed to only let them know if I had an offer of representation. As you said, a request for a full might still mean a wait.

Thanks so much for the information. And for the quick turn-around your office gives.

Excellent advice.

Is the summer really as slow in the publishing industry as people say it is?

for your entertainment, a song I wrote......
...................................

"That's when daddy's got the blues"

I went outside and it's raining
the streets are wet
the sky is grey
I can still hear you saying
that you have to go away..

how can you leave me here baby
I've done all I can do
when you see me cryin baby
you'll know..
that's when daddy's got the blues

and I'll feel crushed forever
all used up and all done in
I just want to love her
and feel the touch of her skin

I went outside and it's raining....
...................................

[email protected]
(lake)

Anon 6.54
Thanks for the guidance!

I heard Miss Snark went silent because she has HIV

This is great advice, Kristen. While a query letter can be compared to a resume, a request for a manuscript is like an interview. Even if the "interviewer" (agent) doesn't like your manuscript you still deserve an answer after going through the effort of sending your manuscript.

Good advice.
I never expect a reply on a query. If the agent responds that's super but if not I just move on. When I get a full request i expect a timely response because that's something they requested of me. I think it's always best to read the website so you know how long it will take. However I'd hate to interupt their reading or let them think I'm a pest so I'd wait it out.

Holy helvetica! Thank you for letting us know that some folks sit on something "good" until they know there is other interest.

That shocked me, although I'm not sure why :P. I agree with some of the folks here, that it doesn't seem like the most respectful way to start a business relationship.

If they can't trust their own taste/judgement, then isn't there a problem?

Of course, I haven't been in their shoes, so there could be a number of reasons why that makes good business sense.

But thank you for the explanation and the head's up, Kristin :). You are fabulous, as always!

-Becca
http://rebeccaknightbooks.blogspot.com/

I know this is totally irrelevant, but why has the line-up in the "agents who blog" section of the sidebar been re-arranged?

I don't wait around for a response and I don't followup either. If I don't get a response within the stated or average time, I consider it a 'no' and cross the agent or editor off my 'To Query' list for future projects.

Thanks for posting this, Ms. Nelson. It's great that you are so willing to give all of us such great advice :)

Gilbert,
I thought it might be easier to find stuff if I put them in alphabetical order.

One agent has had my full for more than a year and a half. Yeah... she WAS my dream agent. Ha ha ha. Way to crush a dream. Anyhow, she's been written off. I sent her a rejection after sixteen months. It went something like this.

Dear agent,

Thanks so much for requesting my full MS sixteen months ago. Since you haven't had time to read my manuscript in all of those months, or even to respond to my nudges... " (I was VERY patient, only sending nudges every four months or so) "...I can only assume that you too busy to be my agent, thus, not the right agent for me..."

Now, I can proudly sat that I have rejected an agent. It hurts, but hey--it feels a lot better than checking my email for a message from her every day.

Thank you for this post, Kristin, and for bravely telling what no agent has told before. ;)

Way to go, Wiggy!

Tabitha, while many agents don't publish response times, there is a free website that collects data on this so it is easy to see how long agents *really* take to respond:

http://querytracker.net

Hilarious article by John Scalzi on why "new" novelists are "kinda old."

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/06/24/why-new-novelists-are-kinda-old/

I had a request for a full and never heard & never heard. So I wrote a follow-up e-mail, polite but firm w/o being pushy. No reply. So I wrote to the head of the agency, said that Agent D asked for a full, which I sent on this date, that he never replied and that my follow-up was unanswered. She wrote back telling me that he'd "left the agency" and she offered to look at the first 10k as an apology. So you never know why there's no reply.

I don't think a reply is too much to ask for. On a query? Maybe not but when you have a full out with him/her? Yeah.

I am glad the Kristen confirmed that some agents sit on full manuscripts waiting to see if any other agents bite. I had two instances (so far) where highly recommended agents requested a full or the first 50 pages and then never responded.

In both cases I sent a very polite "just checking in" notice and was promptly rewarded with an apology and a "not interested, but I am sure another agent will be" note. It made me wonder if my follow-up query was the kiss of death.

I assume most writers, like me, start by querying their top choices for representation. That said, I wonder if it is better to not follow up too soon and leave the door open should some other buzz get generated around your manuscript.

Certainly, I have decided that in the future all my follow-up notes will mention either a blog, website, or some other activity that I am pursuing to help support the publication of my manuscript.

One thing I would like to get is simply better responses. I have no ego about being rejected, and actually listen to critique, but it would be nice to actually get rejections in the first place. In many cases I never hear back. I'd really like to hear "why".
If my writing lacks any element, has some error, or simply isn't "it" I would really love to know. Not just to identify the demands of the agent or publisher, but to absorb that critique and ensure that the works I produce increase in quality.

None of the adult novels sound interesting at all.

Numbers 5 and 9 in the children's section perked me up a little.

Why do these lists resemble the lists of "stories we've seen a thousand times"? A thriller with a dark and damaged heroine, how innovative! A retelling of an out-of-copyright classic by a secondary character? NEVER SEEN THAT BEFORE.

I'm sorry, something about this list just provokes me to bile. I don't think there's an item here for which I can't pull out a title that's already published (except the Nigerian one, maybe the Darwin). Maybe it's in the descriptions; maybe I'd like the sharp and funny crime caper if you mentioned any details. Maybe these are just the kind of things people are writing and it's a question of volume. But why is this stuff all so familiar? Why are the twists that make these different so small?

I feel better. Just had to have a pub rant of my own, I guess.

"... 3. A YA done in free verse where the narrator has to save her older sister..."

You mean Ellen Hopkins has abandoned drug verse books for a new topic? Sorry, that's the first thing I thought.

Okay, done now. :) I sort of agree with bilmin, but that's the kind of mood I'm in without coffee yet this morning.

Knitting, cooking, motherhood, a woman in a coma and a woman who can't get pregnant.
Thank goodness for the ballerina!

"A literary satire on a main character who becomes a famous novelist."

Maybe this sounds interesting to me because I'm a writer, but I'm happy to see it on the list. I've seen so many advice posts on various blogs that advise writers not to write fiction about becoming a famous novelist that I'd probably never have the guts to do it myself. But I'm damn glad someone else did.

The knitting book is interesting too. I'm seeing it all over lately.

I just gave my 14 year old Nephew "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde" by Jeff Guinn and did a little sales job about how B&C were really awful, stupid, clumsy criminals and he loves it.

So the lists don't seem so strange, considering.

Kristen, Thanks so much for this post! I think it's refreshing to know that women's fiction is still selling, as are mysteries and thrillers (since I write in two of those genres!). I really appreciate your keeping us abreast of what's going on "out there"!!

I had a question about #6 on the children's side. I didn't know that protagonists that were in college (or in this case dropped out of it) were considered YA. Is a protagonist too old for YA once s/he gets out of the high school range? Or is this a misconception and anything goes?

Sorry, random questions. :) Thanks for answering.

bilmin, here's the reason why, I believe-

http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2009/06/stepping-up-your-game.html

This is good news for ePublishers, Small Presses, and self-published authors though.

7. Historical novel set in Russia and featuring a Ballerina.

That's a little on the random side...:P I guess I can't place what book(s) out there have this (if any).

I liked the YA list better, especially #9. I'm working on something similar only it's not a YA.

Anyway thanks for posting this--it's interesting to see what editors are looking for, even if it's nothing I'm writing. It makes me want to work harder at making my book stand out :)

Ah, retellings.

Yikes! #8 in the adult side and #7 on the children's side sounds exactly like the book I'm just about to start writing. I need to get my booty in gear and write this thing!

Unfortunately, none of my books sound like any of these.

Is there a need or want for anything on the darker side of YA?

Every time I see lists like this, I get a bit depressed because none of them sound interesting to me. But when the time comes to grab another book to read, I somehow always find a novel that looks interesting.

Perhaps the problem here is that most of these descriptions say little about what makes the novel unique but instead focus on the clichés/categories they fit in..i.e. what books they're like.

With the specificity of some of these ideas, I get the feeling that what these editors really want is to write books.

5. A thriller with a nasty vampire FBI agent as hero (and this was not to an SF&F house)

Particularly interests me, though admittedly 4 and 12 also caught my attention. *wonders how she'd track down this #5 when it reaches publication*

Thanks, Anon 9:16; that's interesting.

Interesting.

But I'm a little bummed because my novel isn't any of those things. It's a chick lit sort of in the style of those Shopaholic novels.

I agree with bilmin. This is very vague. "A YA horror novel" or "essays about motherhood" tell us absolutely nothing. The Nigerian one at least had some details.

Not helpful. At all.

People, may I suggest you not read the blog if you think some post is unhelpful? Why would you want to spend the time to comment here?

Thank you, Kristin, for taking the time to write up this info. I believe most of your readers appreciate it. I do.

Kristen, I love your blog - been reading it for years! And boy I never expected to see me in it...yet anyway! I wrote children's #2 - a MG Kite Runner. I didn't know there was buzz about it, though it was acquired after multiple editor bids. Thanks again for sharing you valuable insights about the industry.

N.H. Senzai

"A literary satire on a main character who becomes a famous novelist"

I should try that. I have the dream/nightmare three times a week.

Great list, Kristin! I think most all of these, from both the adult and children's side, sound wonderful. It offers an overall feel for what's deemed marketable right now, particularly in women's fiction. I notice a lack of romance on the adult side. Very interesting since it sells the best. I guess no one needs to look for it because romance submissions are a constant.

Neither of the two adult projects my agent is submitting right now are anything like what's on the list. Well, my alternate history steampunk is, but it's adult and set in New York City, so it doesn't count.

I don't really know what to say except to repeat (but to you) what I thought when I read the previous entry: "Wow, I'd have thought that was fast."

But apparently there's always someone slightly faster. Must have been some amazing MS, and good luck to the author in any case.

If you were any faster you would need a time machine. Which actually, would be awesome, because you could offer representation to a writer before they had even finished their book. Plus you could bet on sport events and make lots of money.

What if a writer had a time machine? Who could resist the temptation to go uptime a few years, buy the best-sellers, and then come back and type them up with their own name on them? That could rip a hole in the space-time continuum and leave us all spinning into a temporal vortex. Or maybe not---I don't know.

Hi Kristin, I'm just wondering, what happens if some agents ask for a partial and some agents ask for a full? What happens when the agent who read the full makes you an offer?

I know most agents say, "All bets are off, let me know straight away". But does that mean you send them the full without their asking and say, "I have an offer, so here's my full- read it!"

And how long do you give them- a week? How long is too long to keep an interested agent waiting?

This may be different in the UK, but I've been asked not to submit to other agents even at the query stage. And reading times are longer here too, 4 months is not unusual for just first three chapters. I've learned to be patient. The whole sorry tale is on my blog.

Question for you Kristin: If an agent has a full and another agent requests a partial, do you still advise the agent asking for a partial? Or do you wait until (if and when) they ask for a full. I guess I worry about coming off cocky because the agent is only requesting a partial, but your post makes me wonder if I should have mentioned it. :(

'I could have spent those 8 hours on a different manuscript.'

... and there's your problem.

I'm a professional writer, I had half a dozen novels out on the shelves and selling before I looked for an agent. I'm happy with my representation now, but it was harder finding an agent than getting that first book published, and that's manifestly the wrong way round.

Read back the bit I quoted. You spent *eight hours* reading an entire manuscript by an author. The author will have spent eight *months* on it. This is someone you've pre-screened and that you're excited about? The agent who wants to represent the book demands a full manuscript, then skim reads it and makes a gutfeel decision. That's the best case scenario for an author?

And if the author goes with another agent, the agent resents losing those eight hours simply because they could have spent the time on another from the pile.

Here's what happened with the agent I went with: she liked my contact email, she emailed to ask if she could phone, she was actually only an hour away so we arranged to meet up for lunch instead, I sent her three chapters, we met up for lunch, she explained what she saw her role as being, all framed in terms of the work she would be doing, she discussed my book in a way that suggested she'd read it, we shook hands. Contact email Thursday, lunch the following Tuesday, contract with publisher the next month.

... and a month after that I got an email back from another agency I'd submitted to on the same day saying they weren't taking any submissions at that time.

I did submit to Nelson before that. After a week I got a form email telling me how to use the website to submit, a week later you asked for a full, and two weeks later sent a three line form email saying the book 'wasn't right for our agency' without any explanation why. It felt like queuing in the post office, rather than the start of a mutually beneficial working relationship.

You didn't want the book, that's fair enough, and it's possible both of you read it carefully, passionately debated its pros and cons, had very strong opinions about it ... but that's not how it came across. You read sample chapters and requested a full, so you must have had some enthusiasm, but absolutely none was transmitted to me, no sense of what you liked and disliked about it at any stage, why you liked the opening but not the rest, or even that you'd really read it.

The joke of it is that you are *way* up on the list of 'pleasant experiences trying to find an agent'. I feel a little guilty picking you out. You were quick, your site made it clear what you're interested in, you didn't leave me hanging for months before rejecting.

But that quote from you sums it up, I think - you're not seeing it from the authors' point of view, the months they've already spent on the book, you're seeing it in terms of you wasting an hour or two. Please, instead of getting defensive about your current practice, try thinking of a way to improve it. Or at least acknowledge that authors probably spent eight hours of their lives working on their *cover letter*, so don't lament that you spent eight hours reading their full manuscript.

Annonymous,
As an unpubbed writer, I really can't agree with you.
A writer devotes 8 months of the year to one book, 8 months next year to their next book i.e. a writer only needs to devote themself to approx 1 book a year.
An agent cannot make a living on 15% of 1 book a year. Agents need to devote themselves to an enormous number of manuscripts in order to add just 1 client to their list.
I'd say that 8 months of writer devotion is probably equivalent to 8 hours of agent devotion to the same piece of work

How bad is it, really? You spent eight hours reading a book you really liked. I could think of many worse ways to spend your time.

'I'd say that 8 months of writer devotion is probably equivalent to 8 hours of agent devotion to the same piece of work'

Right ... as a 'pubbed' writer, can I just say what a load of tosh. For a start, there are very few writers who can make a living just writing one novel a year.

For another thing: you just said that an agent's time is worth 750 times an author's. You missed the point of my original post - if I'd have had a whiff of the sense that Nelson had even read my manuscript (and I'll say it again, they requested a full, after chapters, after a cover letter - I was someone they *liked*), I'd have been much happier. Even if it had been a three line rejection letter with the *title* of my book in it, that would have helped.

I'll say it again - this isn't personal against Nelson, they were one of the better ones. But there's a better way of doing business.

Anon 6:13, if agents spent as long reading books as authors did writing them, response times would be even longer than they are now, don't you think?

If an agent makes the decision about whether or not they want to represent the author after reading the MS through once, I don't see a problem with that. The author can still have a conversation, ask the agent questions about how they see the relationship going, making sure their goals are aligned, etc -- after the agent has decided that representation is on the table. If an agent had a half-hour discussion about the agent-author relationship with evey author who submitted a query, or even a partial, they'd have no time for current clients.

And as much as everyone wants helpful feedback from the query process, current clients have to be the top priority. They just do.

@Anon -
I would be incredibly grateful to have a stellar agent like Kristin spend *eight* hours of her weekend on my manuscript. She knows there's no guarantee the MS is still available, or that the client will choose her in the end, but she still devotes the equivalent of a full business day to a single MS? To me that's dedication, and nothing to be bitter over.

Kristin, from what I've read (both her and on other sites) I think you are one of the most dedicated agents out there. Keep it up!

I just wanted to share my experience getting an agent. After more than a dozen rejections--it's hard to remember, I guess really more like 2 or 3 dozen!--an agent finally called, on a Monday, and wanted the book. Obviously, she had a full.

When I got her offer, I emailed everyone I'd queried--people with fulls, with partials, and even agents who still hadn't responded to my query. I had one more agent (who already had a full) get back to me on Wednesday, and she wanted it too. I liked both agents, the second better than the first. It was a nice problem to have.

Then a third, one of those I had queried who hadn't yet responded, had my followup email about my offers forwarded to him by his assistant. He asked for 50 pages on Thursday, then the whole thing over the weekend, and on Monday called and was ecstatic and said he'd give his eyeteeth for it! Guess who I went with?

So the moral of the story is if you get an offer, let EVERYONE know. Who knows whom else you'll flush out! And wait, if possible, till someone is jumping up and down about it.

And the second lesson is that things can go very slowly (months of rejections) and then heat up very quickly! BTW all this happened in August, when everyone, including me, was on vacation. As a matter of fact a fourth agent, who was also on vacation, wanted it too (alerted by my followup email--she also hadn't repsonded to my initial query). She had her assistant read first, and by the time she got the ms. I was committed to Mr. Enthusiastic, who is a dream come true.

Oh--and by the way: anyone who can write a novel in 8 months is a freak of nature, as far as I'm concerned! And any agent who spends 8 hours on a submission is doing her job very, very well.

Anons--very good points! But this all comes down to the inherent problem: if most people think any AGENT's time is more valuable than a writer's time, then we'll continue to have this imbalance of power. After all, we create the product--even if they don't fly off the shelves, books are the basis for TV and movies as well. Without us, agents have/do nothing.

I'd say a writer's time is MORE valuable than an agent's time since we can only focus on one book or project at a time...
Equal rights for writers, please!

You and Sara are so wonderful to take this in stride! And you're right, the match just must not have been quite there.

Can I just ask, I've seen several comments on here about people with several agents vying for their project; what about if one has asked for exclusivity? I've had multiple agents interested, but the first asked for exclusivity, so I haven't given the others the fulls. Is this not a smart move on my part? (Sorry to digress slightly).

Why the competition about whose time is more valuable, author's or agent's? Each person's time is equally valuable. We simply do different things - equally valuable things - with our time.

'if agents spent as long reading books as authors did writing them'

I'm not asking for that, I'm only asking that agents don't act like they're down on the deal when they're sent a free, complete book to read but they don't like it.

I had books published before I went looking for agents, I wrote a book that I thought was strong and commercial - and the agent I ended up with signed it up for a little more money than I hoped for, in a couple of weeks, deal done.

I understand that not all books are for agents, I just didn't appreciate the attitude that if I spent a year writing a book understanding the market, that's required a tiny amount of editing, that two publishers instantly liked ... that the agent is doing me a favor when I contact them, jump through their hoops and so on, so they can spend (so they say) a couple of hours skimming it.

As I say ... my name or the book's name on the form email would have been something. And, as I say, it's very possible these agents did all sorts of amazing stuff with the manuscript, but it certainly *looked* like they didn't.

Anon 10:28, if you've already granted the exclusivity you need to honor it, but there always needs to be a defined time limit. If there isn't one, you can set it, and say "If I haven't heard from you by X date (if they've already had it more than a month, I'd set a date one or two weeks away) I'll plan to distribute the material to other agents who have requested it." You can wordsmith it if you like, but an exclusive without a time limit is very unfair to you.

I wish there was an official manual that came along with the desire to be a published writer.

One item would read: "Do not grant exclusives unless the agent is so far and away your No. 1 choice that you would regard any other agent as sloppy seconds. If asked for an exclusive, simply say, 'I'm afraid I can't do that, but I can guarantee that if someone else offers representation, I won't say yes until I've spoken with you first.'" Which naturally leads to:

The second item: "If you receive an offer of representation while your ms is still being considered by other agents, by all means do internal somersaults, but calmly tell the offering agent that you're thrilled but it's such an important decision you need to process it first. Then advise other agents of the offering agent's offer and give interested parties a reasonable time period in which to finish up their own deliberations."

Anon 6:13 --

I understand your frustration and feel your pain, but you're missing the point. To an agent, your book is no more than a business transaction. It's a JOB for them. It's not their responsibility to tell you what they liked or didn't like. They aren't writing coaches, or friends, or crit partners.

I see your point about the balance of power, but there's another way to look at that as well. In the beginning, the agent has all the power. That changes later on, though. Once the relationship is formed, the writer has more power. The writer gets paid more than the agent. The agent works for the writer.

Try not to be so frustrated. You're an artist. The agent is a businessman. And that's really how it should be.

'It's not their responsibility to tell you what they liked or didn't like.'

It is their *job* to like or dislike, though. There's no 'pain' or 'frustration' - I found another agent. I didn't need a 'writing coach' - the book they read is three slight edits away from the book that's being published.

A swift rejection with no explanation is better than one that takes months and says something vague about 'it just didn't hook me'.

The tone of the original post, the idea that the only sacrifice involved and time lost was the agent's eight hours but it's OK because there's another one just like it on the pile ... all I'm saying is that rubs at least this author up the wrong way.

I got pretty far through the Nelson process - full manuscript. It didn't feel personal or enthusiastic, however far I progressed, it felt like ... well, a process.

Lots of pros and cons here. I agree with Nelson as much as I agree with the anonymous writer.

Plenty of this comes with how an agent is trying to get their image across. Are they trying to look all hand-holdy and comforting friend, or are they trying to come across in a strictly-business sort of way? Does the agent pick through those thousands of queries in an attempt to find someone they can cuddle with (figuratively, of course), treating all the rest with business appropriate efficiency?

Having met Ms. Nelson, I can tell you she comes across as very professional, with a very no-nonsense and business-like approach. You aren't going to get reassuring hugs as an unpublished writer, though I imagine that changes if she's in love with your book and thinks she can do something with it... as it should.

That said, I assume there are agents out there that specialize in the cuddling aspect of the biz-- keep the writer writing by making them feel calm and important. I also imagine that these are the agents with lucrative clients, a small roster of writers and a considerably smaller slush pile to get through... the ever elusive 'word-of-mouth-agent'. You don't meet this person unless it's through some arcane channel of intros; there is no billboard saying "QUERY ME!"

The anonymous writer above points out that the inequity in time spent on the parts of agent and author seems rather sinister... but it isn't. It doesn't take someone eight months to read a book, not a good one. Perhaps a weekend, for someone with the time and inclination, will be spent lost in the pages. Books take a helluva lot longer to write than to read, just like movies, and if we go by money/time spent in that model, we'd be spending two days in the theater and paying eighty grand to get a ticket! It's a volume business, not a 'time-spent-crafting' one. Period. The writer spends the time writing for the love and hopefully, for some financial gain.

If we look at this endeavor in terms of people appreciating the work we put into the product, rather than just the end product itself, perhaps we'd all be better off working for construction companies.

Incidentally, I'm not a client or even an ardent supporter of Kristin Nelson... she rejected me (as she should have) and hammered in the whole concept of "Find an agency that's a good fit for you and your work" rather than "Find any agency that will take you." An older, wiser me looks at what she represents and says, "Boy, was she right... we don't mesh well, literarily speaking."

I didn't want hand holding or writing coaching or to feel important or a pat on the head telling me I must have worked really hard. I don't want them to spend as long reading my manuscript as I spent writing it.

As I say, I was a previously-published author and since then I got representation and a deal. I'm not bitter or frustrated, although I know it must come across like I am.

I'll try to sum up my objection: I don't think Nelson simply set up their email to email me back automated responses a set time after I emailed them and never bothered reading what I sent ... but I can't be sure of that. I sent them 100,000 words, I have no proof that they even read the title.

And that's wrong, surely, when I've got as far as sending a full manuscript and agents are in the business of building a relationship with an individual author and championing their material?

Sorry ... I honestly didn't want to go on about this forever, I just want to make it clear that all I'm trying to be is constructive. Whatever Nelson's intentions or motivations, the end impression, for me, wasn't one that would have me rushing to sign up with them.

To Anon., 2.25 PM
Despite your better intentions you do come across as bitter and frustrated and like a child complaining that Kristin didn't read my book but she read some other book. The comparison between time spent writing and reading a novel is spurious at best. It is not the time spent to but the weight given to the hours/minutes that will actually allow a comparison. For example, a writer is expected to take 8 months or whatever to write. An agent simply cannot out in an equivalent amount of time. Their 8 hours of reading actually is equivalent to your writing time within the context of their business. It is entirely up to the agency to read, like, reject, or not read your submission (yes even after they request the full or partial). This is a business, whether you like it or not. The agent is a business person. Selling a book is a business transaction. Take it or leave it - that is the reality. Some agents send a form rejection others send a personalized one. Some banks have a live person, some use a phone system to respond to customers. Some stores have great salespeople, others are the pits. You make an informed choice to use the business based on your personal preferences. Please do the same in the business of writing. The Nelson Agency is a business like any other - better than many in fact. And no, I am not one of their authors.

Anon published author, I get what you're saying. Thank you for giving us another picture. This blog is a great resource and I appreciate that Kristin allows honest discussion.

I think the author was too hasty - why not wait until all interested agents have read and you have a chance to compare what they have to say. If an agent wants you enough they'll understand. I was lucky enough to hae three agents interested, I gave them all time to read, interviewed them all and went with the one who felt right. It was an incredible position to be in...and nice that my agent knows she had compettion!

Oh and I do know how to spell competition!!!!!

The way I see it,the author sent out multiple queries, an agent asked for a partial before, and the wires were crossed. This is a writers dream. It's my dream!!!!

The author should have extended Sara the opportunity to respond. Like Anon 12 AM, I also had 3 agents interested. And I am sooo glad I waited for #3 to return from travels. All 3 offered representation, but by the time I'd interviewed all 3 and talked to their authors, I knew beyond a doubt #3 was the one. She's even more fantastic than I expected. To those seeking representation, give all interested agents the courtesy of a read. You won't regret it.

You failed to mention that was ten calendar days NOT ten working days. That is an amazing turnaround. Or do you work 24/7. I really hope you dont.

That's how you know an author has something.

I guess when the writing is excellent, things can move very quickly. Congrats to the writer! And good luck, Sara, on the next one!

Gosh, sorry to read about the one that got away--maybe the author just didn't know any better, but I've always read (and personally experienced) that when an offer comes in, you alert the other agents who have requested pages about it to give them a chance to chime in. Ditto Anita--lucky author to have so much interest, but this blog post gives us a peek at how agents face disappointment, too.
Tara

Sorry to read that. Perhaps something more interesting is around her corner however. :-) Keeping good thoughts.

As for fast enough... wow! She must have approached the other agent first. That's my guess, anyway.

Blessings,
Lil

That's very fast, but them's the breaks. I suggest dark chocolate.

Dang, never thought of that kind of disappointment from Agent's POV. Maybe something good is in her inbox??? Hint, hint. Rubbing a magic lantern here...

The first Anon had a good point. The author should've emailed Sara and given her the chance to read the Full, since she was still reading the Partial. Unless, of course, the author was certain, and she probably was, that the other agent was the right one for her.

I prefer to thoroughly examine all my options before coming to such an important decision.

Sara shouldn't feel bad, that author could have been submitting for six months or longer before they sent the query to her. And if that author met up with rejection after rejection, I’m sure they were pleased to find someone to champion their work.

That writer clearly has something seriously great going on. Sorry, Sara, but we writers experience that kind of downer all the time. A great agent has our partial or full (look.in.mirror) and decides to pass. I agree with Kimber An - dark chocolate to the rescue!

I don't think the writer did anything wrong by accepting the other agent's offer. Writers query widely, and sometimes it shakes out this way. The venerable Miss Snark urged writers to continue to query even when partials/fulls were out. That's what I did, and I'm not sorry, especially when three agents wanted me all at once.

But, I'm sorry that you guys had to be on the losing end this time. Rejections are tough all around.

Are you kidding? Most writers would kill for that turn around time! Definately fast enough. Any time someone asks for a partial it's kind of time for us as writers to put the breaks on giving it out to anyone else in the same manner. If they were in that progressed of a submission state with someone else they should have mentioned it.

I have a feeling that author is going to regret not going with you guys!!

For a completely different perspective, I had an agent offer, notified the other agents, and then had a second agent offer.

I ended up taking the second agent, and was wrong. I firmly believe that some agents "jump on the bandwagon" with an offer if they know another agent is interested.

In my case the book didn't sell and the agent later dumped me. (I'm not suggesting Sara would do this) The agent I chose swooned the loudest over my book. But that dedication plummeted after one round of submits to editors with no takers. I confused flattery with commitment to selling my book. A mistake I'm trying not to make again. So difficult, these things. Live and learn.

Looking back at my first go-around with agent representation, I should have kept searching and not settled. I was green and blind to the fact that the writing had promise but needed a damn good spanking with edits. She sent it out as-was. Needless to say, she never made a sale, but I learned a lot.

As to turn around time, that's the kind of response time us authors dream of. Now that I'm on the agent hunt again, I can only hope for that swift a reply (prayerfully, a request, too ^_^)

It might have nothing to do with speed. Maybe the author just really hit it off with the other agent and just *knew.* Or maybe, as someone else said, the author had been querying for months and it just shook out that way.

This was fascinating, although a bummer for Sara. Thank you for sharing!

It's so interesting to see the agent's perspective. I never thought you'd ever be benefitted by having a faster turnaround time. I just thought you'd have to pace yourselves with everything just to keep sane ;).

Kristin, when you find something with potential, do you try to jump all over it? Or do you let Nature take its course?

To all the commenters who are saying the author should have given this agent a chance to read the full before signing with someone else: perhaps that first agent was her dream agent, or someone she really hit it off with.

Still, that's an amazing turnaround time! And I wish the author the best o fluck with ehr career.

Typically, I have to agree. Writer should notify agents who have requested pages about impending representation. Having a choice is not such a bad thing really. However, if that agent was someone I really wanted and the other agents weren't, I probably wouldn't worry so much.

I have to say I think it was a bit tacky of the author to not let Sara know that it was being considered/ that she/ he had an offer. I had multiple agents interested and even when I thought I knew who I was going with, I waited for all the responses (and am glad that I did, as I changed my mind).

Apparently it wasn't fast enough in this instance. About the only thing the author might have done was alert Sara to another agent's offer of representation and give her the opportunity to read the full and make her own offer if so inclined. Other than that, sometimes you git the b'ar and sometimes the 'bar gits you'

First of all... here we authors are waiting to hear from agents, meanwhile, agents can't get through the pile fast enough. Amazing.

I'm not sure if I did it right or not, but last October your agency requested a partial of my manuscript, within a day or two of sending it, I received an offer from another agent and took it. I immediately sent out emails to all agents with partials that I had taken an offer. It hadn't dawned on me that you might not see that email until you've already invested your time. I hope that wasn't the case, you guys are awesome. And super busy.

I did try to use proper etiquette.

If you or the other agents had the FULL manuscript, I would have allowed for reading time, of course.

Having suffered through some bad experiences in this industry... I just didn't want a really great offer to slip away. We authors are a very pessimistic bunch.

Yeah, that is a bummer.

I, too, suggest chocolate, but I'm partial to milk chocolate. :-)

That's a fast time frame. You'll get the next one, Sara. It's all good.

So from query to asking for full—10 days. Ain’t that fast enough? Ah, the old "ya snooze, ya lose." I had a query from a Los Angeles news icon. It arrived on a Friday night - 8 p.m. I read it right then and there - and immediately called his representative. We talked again over the weekend. Short story; we signed him that next weekend.

Random House called to ask if we'd really signed him (they saw the announcement in PM). Yes, indeedy, sez me. Bummer, sez they. I never felt so great in all my life.

On the flip side, an agent snared an author (totally fair and square)that we took too long to consider. I blinked, and she signed with the agent and went on to nab a gabajillion dollar deal. Way cool for her.

So I sympathize with Sara. Sometimes you blink, sometimes you don't, and it feels great. Next time, Sara!

Talking about not fast enough: a member of a writers' forum I'm on received a request for a full on Friday and wondered if it was OK to do some final polishing over the weekend before submitting it on Monday. Of course, we said, a couple of days is never an issue. Early Monday morning the agent emailed and said he was offended by her lack of response and was withdrawing his request.

I don't think I've ever been so floored. Never heard of that kind of nonsense before. We told her she'd dodged a bullet. She came to see it our way, but she was pretty shaken at first. She was only five minutes away from sending it.

And no, I don't know who the agent was, just that it was a man. He sounds like a prima donna anyway.

This is a case by case basis kind of thing. In most cases, one ought to inform the other agents of the pending offer before accepting. BUt if you know in advance that this agent is The Agent that you want to work with, then why not just take the offer?

We don't know what the situation is with this writer and the agent -- maybe they have a long history of looking for the right project together.

My agent and I went back and forth on three projects before I sent her one she thought she could sell. And when I sent it, she offered within half an hour.

It's weird how these things happen sometimes.

Hmm, I wonder if in hindsight, it was a clue that it took the author four days to send the sample pages. He/she didn't sound as radically exicted frothing at the mouth as I would have been.

Sorry Sara.

At the point when I got an offer of representation, I had two requests for partials from agents (that I had not yet responded to), one partial in an agent's hands, and one full manuscript in another agent's hands. (It was at the very beginning of my query process.)

The person I got the offer of representation from was my dream agent.

I informed the agent with the full that I had an offer of representation and got a rejection within minutes.

I scheduled a long phone conference with her; I discovered she got my book, and had good ideas for revisions before going on submissions, that she shared a philosophy with me on writing, and was someone I could work with. I accepted her offer and then informed all the other agents that I was withdrawing my materials.

I thought about doing otherwise, but ultimately it just didn't make sense. I could have gotten the other agents to read quickly, but once I felt like my dream agent "got" my book and was going to do the best she could for me, that was it. Why ask an agent to take hours and hours out of her busy day if I know I won't consider her? If I'd thought there was any chance I would consider the other handful of agents, I would have given them a shot.

It sucks for Sara, but in a case like that "faster" might not have helped.

The really good ones are going to be obvious to most agents, and will be snapped up quickly. Like a lot of things in publishing, sometimes it comes down to luck.

Maybe next time the luck will be on Sara's side.

I think you're a victim of other literary agencies that are too slow. Authors are forced to contact many agents at once; otherwise it would take years to go through them all.

That said, the author would have been wise not to accept the other agent's offer right away, and waited to hear back from you (and notified you that they've had an offer). Would you have been willing to give concenssions on your standard contract in order to land the author? Or would you drop the author for trying to wrangle a better deal?

Janet, I agree. She dodged a bullet. Sending out a manuscript within one business day of a request is incredibly fast. Most people I know respond within one week.

The guy sounds like a loon.

Wow, an unpublished writer turning the tables on an agent and bumming her out? Disappointing an agent with a small hint of rejection?

How novel.

Who is this innovator? I simply must buy his work when it comes out. Maybe I can get a signed copy...

That's okay, Sara-- you just go and reject the next thousand queries and show those unpublished weenies who's the boss! Vengeance is mine, sayeth the agent.

To me, a partial request doesn't indicate serious interest. I think the writer was right in going w/ the agent who wanted the full right away...I had an agent sit on a 20-pg partial for over two months until I nudged--at that rate, I'd be waiting forever (still am)...

Some agents request a partial with the query. Big deal. When agents constantly boast of how many tens of thousands of quotes they get a year, the numbers are against the unpublished writers; hence, they've got to query and query heavy. I know agents would like to live in that old fantasy world of "Query one agent at a time!", but the stone cold truth is not every agency has a fast turn around like Nelson Literary; anyone else ever wait six months for a form letter saying no?

Kudos for a ten day turn around, ladies. If everyone could be depended upon for such speed and consistency, we would be able to follow the old rules and go one agency at a time. And if only gas were free and carbon dioxide wasn't a pollutant...

Maggie -

How the heck was it tacky? The author found another agent and accepted representation. Then he or she notified Sara of such. The author covered his or her bases.

I'm sorry that Sara is disappointed, but at least the author didn't waste Sara's time.

Anon -- I think it's tacky because if the author was interested enough in Sara to query her, then she should've been interested enough to give her an opportunity to read and offer and give her two cents worth as well.

Just my thought on the matter -- obviously, as that's what I did. ;)

I know of another (otherwise reputable) agency who takes 6-8 months to read a query and either say no or request a partial. Come ON. Who wouldn't query multiple agencies with this going on?

There's also those web sites that say, "If we don't want it, you'll never hear anything." No, thank you. This is just poor business practice. I put all those agencies on my C list and never wound up sending them anything...I signed a year ago with the agent at the very top of my A list, who WAS into responses and businesslike things of that nature.

A couple of years ago, however, I received an e-mail, unsolicited, from an agency I'd never heard of, to whom I'd never sent anything. It rejected "my books" and wished me luck establishing representation elsewhere.

I sent an e-mail back saying that unfortunately I could not accept unsolicited rejections at that time, and since that was true, I now considered them my agency of record, and would expect the contract very shortly.

Don't think they were amused, though.

So where did Sara go wrong? She didn't ask for the full in the first place. She took six days to read the sample pages. Never mind when the writer uploaded it, that is her perogative.

Maybe Sara was busy with other clients. But don't cry when you find out another agent didn't wait. Obviously he/she was so impressed with the query that he must have asked for the full and read it promptly.

The writer did nothing wrong (other than write a great manuscript). It was not like YOU HAD A FULL AND INVESTED THE TIME IN READING IT. And even then, she'd still have the perogative to choose the agent she felt was best to sell her manuscript.

The only time an agent can cry foul is if the writer had signed with another agent and didn't bother to email the ones she was rejecting.

Now that it doesn't cost a writer for the paper and shipping, better to ask for the whole file if the query shows such promise. You have only yourselves to blame if you miss out.

Anonymous 1:44, as a writer you should brush up on reading for meaning. Nowhere in the post did Kristen blame the author or say she had done anything wrong. She was just expressing disappointment at the one that got away, especially because it got away at such speed. And why not? Writers lament quite publicly about these kinds of frustrations all the time. Them's just the breaks.

There was no need for a snooty comeback here. You're the only one assigning blame.

Boo hoo hoo--cry me a river! When will agents realize they're not the only fish in the sea?
A smart writer knows not to wait forever (or even 10 days) on a partial request when an offer is in the works. Way to go!

Janet, you may be a pastor's wife, but I don't appreciate the preaching here.

Anyone hoping to become a published author should know about subtext. I think you may have missed it.

I offered words of advice to Sara that I hope she takes to heart. Next time, she'll be able to snag that great catch in time and not be, as Kristin said, "hugely bummed."

Wishing everyone, agents and writers alike, success.

Congratulations, Sara! You have one of the coolest jobs in the world. I've read and loved most of the books you listed. If you haven't read Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, I highly recommend it. I loved it just as much, if not more, than Lies of Locke Lamorra.

Again, congrats! Can't wait to query you. :-)

Congratulations! That's such good news for both of you- Sara gets a promotion and Kristin's agency is expanding!

Good luck!

Congratulations and good luck Sara!!!
Happy Reading!!
(^=

Well, there's happy news! I'm looking forward to querying you, Sara, you sound great at what you do.

Congrats Sara!

Congrats, Sara! I've actually been wondering for some time what exactly your role was at the agency and whether you took on your own clients. I hope that along with your new title, you'll be contributing to the blog as well, because more smart agent voices are always good.

Congratulations! Best of luck finding some completely awesome clients.

Call me green. A career in publishing is probably the only one that could pull me away from my babes, too.

Congratulations on your promotion!

I'm so happy for you Sara!! I know it won't be long before we hear about your first big deal! :)

MARI

Congratulations, Sara! And good luck with your first acquisitions!

Congratulations! And good luck from here on!

Congratulations, Sara!

Congratulations, Sara! You must be so excited. I'm excited; it means more room for new authors at the Nelson Literary Agency. Can't wait to read about your first deal.

Congratulations!

BTW, it sounds like you'll be repping all the stuff I love to read, so would you mind announcing the releases of everything you sign? I may not be a writer or an editor (I do finance, operations and management for publishers), but I'll definitely want to run out and buy copies!

I just wanted to say congratulations, Sara! I wish you many great sales and happy years as a literary agent.

Sara, congrats! I love the Nelson Agency because of this very blog. In fact, I have been planning on querying my love story manuscript to you guys for quite some time now (I'm just making sure that it's 100% before I submit it to you). It's great to know that sometime in the near future your fresh pair of eyes might be looking down at my query letter!

Regards,
Matthew Lorenzo

Congratulations, Sara! Thanks for blogging your preferences.

Excellent, Sara. Best wishes in your new role.

Now, what is the address?
[email protected] bounced with the message:
Sorry, no mailbox here by that name.

I got that address from the website Submissions FAQ. I also see that it's the same all over the website, so something appears to be broken at the moment.

Regards,
Jan

Congrats, Sara! *applause*

Congratulations, Sara! You're going to make a fabulous agent!

Congrats on the promotion! I love your enthusiasm for your job; I think it's what anyone would want in their agent. And since you mentioned your love of science fiction/fantasy, I will definitely be querying you at some point in the future.

Well when something wonderful happens the only thing to say - whether the person is Jewish or not - is MAZEL TOV! Ya know, some things just express the *right* emotion.

It's like we peek into Nelson Literary with this blog, reading the newsletter etc. And I wish you the best -- even though you didn't say you love, love, love women's fiction. :(

Best of luck!

Congratulations, Sara! I can't wait to see your first deal announcement!

Congrats, Sara! Enjoy your wonderful promotion and best of luck with the acquisitions that will surely be coming your way. ;-)

Congrats, Sara!!!!

Congratulations, Sara! I am so happy for you I could sing. It couldn't happen to a more wonderful person!

XOXOX,
P.

Congratulations, Sara! I love it when agents say they're looking for fantasy/science fiction. It's music to my ears. I hope to send a query your way soon. Good luck with all your new clients!

Congratulations, Sara. This must be a very exciting time for you.

How about fantasy with a Christian twist?

Congratulations Sara, fantastic news! And always great to find an agent who reps fantasy!

Congratulations Sara.

Congratulations, Sara! I can't believe it's been three years for you -- I actually remember when you joined Kristin.

May you acquire many many great books. And may they sell well.

congratulations, sarah!

You go Sarah. And take your time. I think part of Kristin's success comes from her choosiness (is that a word?) So take your time and I know the Force is with you.

Congratulations Sara, now watch your inbox explode with queries. Good luck.

I confess, I've sent my congratulations in the form of a a query myself. I apologize to your bloated inbox, but the chance of having you as an agent is too good to pass up. :)

Ooo, congratulations! If I were ready to be querying, I'd have sent one your way.

As things stand, you've been added to my short list of agents to query.

I look forward to hearing about your projects!

What wonderful news! Congratulations, Sara - and congrats to Kristin as well, for gaining a shiny new co-agent!

WooHoo! Way to go Sara! Congrats to both you and Kristin.

Rashda

Congratulations, Sara! What an accomplishment! Good luck with it all and I'll be sure to add you to my list of agents to query with my work! Have another exclamation point!

Congrats, Sara! Hope you have as much fun as Kristen does, every day.

And now I have more reason than ever to finish editing my story. Just gotta wait for one more beta-er to tell me what's wrong with it, as the first two agreed on three points and argued the rest.

Congrats, Sara! I had the pleasure of meeting you at a writer's conference (COFW), and totally enjoyed your presentation! So glad to hear about your promotion! I'll have my query off to you soon (A Pocketful of Ashes - gothic romance in the tradition of Jane Eyre - with better sex. Crazy woman in the tower included!) Again, many congratulations!

Congrats, Sara! I'm sure you'll be successful!

Congrats, Sara...I've been following this blog long enough to remember when you were starting.

Congrats! :) And it's okay to be a bit biased, don't worry. ;)

Congrats! If I wrote longer I would send you a query about my current WIP, but since I don't it is just a waste of time :). Maybe Rhiane's story since that would be more YAish.... Oh well. Congrats again!!

I'm curious...if I queried Kristin and was asked for a partial, but rejected, can I query Sara when I'm done with my next rewrite? (Does anyone know?) If so, I can't wait! :D It's SF...

Congrats and good luck.

Hi Sara,
Congratulations. I haven't been to this blog before I was recommended by a fellow writer. It is nice hearing success stories, I am so pleased things have turned out so well for you, although it certainly sounds like you have earned it.
I have been researching Agents, so I can query one who is actively acquiring writers, so I will have to bump you up to the top of my list.
Cheers
Margaret

congrats!!! I'm sure you'll kick some literary world ass. .

Congrats, Sara!

I know what you mean about wanting that perfect job. I've often said that my dream job would be an editorial assistant at a publishing house or somewhere similar but I live in the wrong place! Memphis, Tennessee doesn't provide many avenues for someone who loves the publishing industry and considers herself an aspiring editor. Yep, I'm right out of college with a BA in English (with a concentration in professional writing) and nothing here calls out to me. If only I lived in New York...

I keep up with a few critique groups, do some writing of my own, and get a few editing jobs here and there. But that's about as close as I'll get way down here in the South.

I've heard about you through Kristin's blog from time to time and I think it's excellent you're acquiring new projects of your own. I wish you the best of luck!!!

Ashley

Hooray! One more hungry agent in the world! And your interests coincide with my writing. I will definitely be querying you in the near future!

Congratulations, Sara! Woohoo! *smile*

I've no intention of trying for some shameless pre-querying self-promotion here but I do want to offer my congratulations to Sara.

I'm not surprised when I hear lots of excitement - agents who read and adore fantasy are scarce on the ground.

(But fellow bloggers, it's bad form and unprofessional to start hanging your linen on the line in advance of a query. It makes you look desperate. If you've got the right product, you don't need to be desperate. The agents will come to you. If you haven't, then spend time polishing.)

But Sara? You read fantasy!!! Exellent. It is truly good to know you're on the team.

Major congrats Sara!

Congratulations! I'm so excited you've joined the team!

But... The Lies of Locke Lamora? Really? Hmmm. I didn't fall in love with that one.

Sara--you're a complete rock star. If I started listing how much you've done for me, and how incredibly supportive, smart, hard-working and generous you are--well, there'd be no more room on the blog.

Congratulations. Champagne's on me. And I wish you--and your new clients--all the happiness in the world.

Congratulations! Good luck Sara.

congrats on your promotion!! :)

Sara,

Congratulations. I would love to talk with you sometime about maybe speaking & listening to pitches at the 2010 Northern Colorado Writers Conference. Kristin was there in 2008.

Kerrie
Director of NCWC

Congratulations Sara! It's incredible that you're so passionate about your job. I wish you the best!

I had to laugh - I've just recently read (and loved) two of the three science fiction and fantasy books you mentioned, and the third is on my nightstand. Sounds like I should read the other authors you mentioned as well. I'm guessing I'll like them.

Congrats on your new job!

Ms. Nelson,
Was it more beneficial (in your opinion) to the career of the writer who got you to rep something more mature after you rejected the shark-jumper, or for the writer who took that same shark-jumper to a friend of yours and got it sold?

PS - If you have seen the newest Indiana Jones, you might find it interesting to note that "Jumping the Shark" has now found a synonymous phrase: "Nuking the Fridge."

This is an interesting topic.

In my view - uneducated as it is - you are talking about two very different things - one being writing style, the other being plotting and the mechanics of story.

An author that has both talents is someone to be reckoned with.

Many scribblers don't have these two traits. Which is why editors, agents, publishers and pain-in-the-ass, know-it-all friends are worth their weight in royalty checks.

Fiction - if this is fiction we are talking about - is a complicated recipe that can be, at times, served half-baked with coincidence and the inevitable deus ex machina or overcooked resulting in unrealistic scenes and cringe-worthy melodrama.

Often a writer blasts away at the story from the get go with such force because they have a tale that 'just needs to be told'. The reader, for a moment, is taken on a great ride ... only to discover the quagmire that is 'undisciplined writing' mid-story.

All passion, no love.

In such stories the reader is left feeling that they have been taken for an entirely different ride. One that robbed them of 25 bucks.

Of course, that doesn't mean they are crap writers - they just need guidance. Good film directors are a great example of this. They re-mold a blueprint screenplay into something better ... except when they stuff it up!

My point? Did I have one?!

Authors live and breathe their fictional worlds. Often we need someone to love our style but we need advice to shape our story.

Many of us just rush right in a write without any clear destination to aim for.

One thing I learnt through my very short and very unsuccessful TV scriptwriting career was that writers should stop being so friggin' precious about words, and be far more willing to embrace plot/structure criticism.

Does any of that make sense?

Or is it just me that thinks that I know everything?! :)

I know you don't answer comments here, but perhaps one of your esteemed readers will. I'll be honest and say I'm not sure what this means. In terms of TV shows I know what jumping the shark means - but in a literary way? Not so clear to me. Anyone want to help a writer who hasn't had enough coffee this morning? :) When there is something I shouldn't do, I want to understand what it is!

I think some examples of this problem slip past both agents and editors. I can't tell you how many books I've read in which I loved almost all of it--the voice, the plot, the characters--and then the end just fell on its face, as though the author had run out of steam. I understand the difficulty, but I still regret it.

It doesn't surprise me that this sort of thing happens. I've heard fellow writers talk about getting the beginnings of their first manuscripts ready - just polishing up those first two or three chapters that go with a partial - then submitting them. I believe the thinking is that they'll be able to revise the rest of the manuscript while their partial is out.

That's a dangerous way to play the game. The agent could get to your submission faster than you're counting on, your own personal life could interrupt your writing schedule, or revisions could take longer than you anticipated. Even worse, in the midst of revising the end of your novel you could discover that you need to change something in the section the agent has already read.

Amy - For me, a book jumps the shark as soon as the story disregards the rules of its universe. For instance, the author gives you a main character who is a librarian, has only ever been a librarian, and plans to die a librarian. He has never shown interest in anything but shelves and shelves of books. Then, at the climax of the book, the author suddenly reveals that this dude is a blackbelt in karate -- which he uses to vanquish a foe -- but the author gave you no clues to these skills beforehand. The shark-jump always comes out of left field and makes you say, "What?! Since when?"

Well, this is one of those really home-hitting sort of dicussions. I'm guessing that if I committed the sin of a query at this stage in my self-education, something very like this would occur.

I, too, would like an explanation from someone on the finer meaning of "jump the shark" - but if it's anything like "nuke the fridge" I'm guessing a baldly unlikely escape out of a tight spot you've written your character into.

I sure hope someone feels like that about my manuscript one day...*sigh*

Thanks Kristen! I think I knew this was the answer when I asked, but now that you've confirmed it I realize, in retrospect, the question materialized out of anxiety. I finally started letting some friends read the first chapter of my novel and the feedback has been very good. This energized me greatly but there appears to be a backlash: "What if they think the ending sucks?" Ah, paranoia.

one example I can think of is "STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND" by Robert Heinlein. the first part of the book was awesome, sci-fi and fun.

then the 2nd part of the book went downhill, focused on sex and cults. I became angry, furious and I read the book to the very ending, hoping for a shift back to sci-fi, but nope. That was the only time a book REALLY pissed me off and broke my heart. blimey!

Ooo, I love that song.
~ Gail

Amy - one of my fantasy manuscripts jumped the shark in the last part. It was complex and (I thought) tightly plotted in the first two parts, with a tense, charged romance and everything leading up to a climactic battle.

In the third part, the peotagonists fought the climactic battle. They pounded at a medieval city with siege engines, the gates went down, they charged in and defeated their enemies. That was a linear and simplistic conclusion, and my agent pointed it out as a problem. It didn't help that the protagonists also got together in part 2, taking all the sexual tension out of the story as well. So... kind of a flat ending.

I rewrote it so that the protags had a vicious argument at the end of part 2 and therefore didn't communicate before the battle, which contributed to their losing it. They do win, eventually, but it's nowhere near easy for them. I'm waiting to see what my agent thinks.

In very general terms, Jumping the Shark is when the plot(or character) takes such a rediculous/unexpected/unbelievable/inconsistant/out of character turn, there is no going back. Everything was great, then X happened and it all fell apart.

Fonzie jumping the shark
Indy surviving a nuclear blast in a fridge
Greedo shooting first
etc.

Your blog and attitude are a ray of sunshine. Thanks Kristin.

What a nice literary agent and agency you are! It makes me want to submit the nicely polished novel I just finished editing to you knowing that you will treat it and me with respect...
May it all come back to you.

Wait, doesn't one customarily attach something personal after the agent has requested to see more?

Very helpful and hopeful. Thanks!

It's nice that you take the time to read the queries even when people goof. We all make mistakes and it takes a mature and kind person to forgive mistakes in others. Kudos.

Good luck with your slush pile :)

Fag kiss asses, every one of you.

"Good luck with your slush pile!" Gag.

"Your blog and attitude are a ray of sunshine." Puke.

"Go forth and multiply, entirely unto thyself." (Read that as 'Go f**k yourself.')

Once again, the agent as hero and martyr! Once again, the agent as the representative of good things! All of you who have been told that your idea just isn't hot right now, it's not that... you must suck! Because lo, Agent Kristin has once again had the COURAGE and the STRENGTH to reveal that anything that people buy HAS TO BE GOOD! Bestsellers are all superb, and just because it sells millions of copies doesn't automatically mean it's bad... it sells, so it IS good, see?

Let the further diarrhea of the mouth continue... tell us, Agent Kristin, we all wait in rapt attention, what is the next big thing? Maybe a book by Lindsay Lohan will be good! I seem to remember that you claimed the book Paris Hilton had ghostwritten was good, so why not? That's taste, baby.

What, did you miss me or something? Dumbass.

People buy Dodge Calibers, and they suck. Jeep Compasses, too. Chevy Aveos sell pretty good, and they are horrible, uncomfortable cars.

People buy heavy duty trucks when diesel costs $4 a gallon... that's a bright bunch, huh? Nine miles to the gallon, twenty gallon tank. Still popular sales items, manufacturers keep churning them out.

Popular sellers now in the home buying field are cookie-cutter homes produced identically, cheaply and most won't last twenty years. People buy them with ill-advised, super popular loans that end up being bad for them in the long run.

They keep buying them though. Smart folk, the public, they know their stuff.

Food. Gods above, do we sell crappy food. McDonald's makes billions selling food that tastes alright going down, and is horrible for your body. People buy it, though. Mind you, smart, healthy people avoid bad food like the plague.

But bad food sells, and continues to sell literally by the ton. Boy, I can't get over how smart consumers are!

One word... fashion. Stupidest thing on earth, almost entirely governed by market studies and the opinions of people who have leveraged themselves into the position of 'opinion-makers'. They sell clothes one piece at a time, priced beyond an ordinary family's monthly food budget, clothes that wouldn't protect your ass from a breeze.

Makes sense.

And my question to this person who clearly has way too much time and bitterness on their hands is why are you reading her blog in the first place? No one asked you to.

Most folks who claim to have brains eschew video games as the pastime of dullards and miscreants. Yet Grand Theft Auto IV, the very height of mind numbing escapism, sold 350 million dollars' worth of copies in ONE WEEK.

Somebody bought those millions of copies. Bright people would call them nitwits. I think they're the same folks who would buy Dan Brown's book because it's controversial, it's in the news, and HOLY MARY THEY"RE MAKING A MOVIE WITH TOM HANKS!!!! How many of them read it? WHo know, but I bet there are lots of copies sitting on toilet tanks or propping up and XBOX 360's power cable to keep the unit from overheating.

Fuck you, turd breath. I was all peaceable until Saint Kristin started preaching about how good her shit smells again.

Seriously, anonymous, if you're so unhappy with Kristen's blog, don't read it. I'm sorry you're going through a bitter time, but don't take it out on her.

Agent Kristin is a blessing to us all. She spends portions of her very valuable time sharing knowledge with us, and she doesn't have to do that. She brings rays of sunshine to our dreary, unpublished days, and lets us know that the business of publishing is indeed a business, and run by smart, caring people who know just what the public wants, and are very good at supplying it. Agent Kristin, and the publishers, are goodhearted professionals who have their fingers on the pulse of America and yes, the World, when it comes to what readers need. If not for Agent Kristin, I would still be wasting my time trying to break into writing, but thanks to her I have realized that I could never be a writer, not a successful one at least. It was just a dream, I guess, and not a very realistic one. The folks who've been lucky enough to have writing careers aren't just lucky, they have something innate that enables them to succeed in a dog-eat-dog industry; it must be that certain something that lets them tap into what people really want to read out there. I don't know.

All of you miserable potty mouths should go somewhere else.

It ain't Kristin, darling. My apologies for the language. It's the mindless supporters who think she's the pope. Bitter? Nope. A pursuer of truth. Opinions are indeed like assholes, and that's just what Kristin puts forth, and these lickspittles suck it up like it's the bible. It's night time and I drank too much coffee, so I'm not wasting any time, just airing my opinions.

You can't sit back and say that a mug o' rotten milk is a frosty shake, just because other people are buying. She's a business woman with a future selling rotten milk dressed up like frosty shakes, so she has to support the system, busted or not. That's the truth.

Seriously. You went weeks without controversial little flame wars. I was good, I posted like a normal person-- constructive vignettes, polite responses, the works-- and then you go and praise Paolini and Brown and their books (which are energized by the power of SUCK); worse, you knock down the people who have tried to read those zits and failed, and comment on the myriad of unpublished authors who have said, "My book's better than this crap, why can't I sell it?"

You took aim at those people and said, "Of course Brown and Paolini deserve to be best sellers, since they are bestsellers the books MUST be good... if you think your unpublished book is better than their published ones, clearly you are a foolish dreamer without an ounce of sense."

That, Kristin, was a shitty thing to do.

Better turn the moderator-approval thing back on, dear, and start deleting truthful posts. You asked for it.

Kisses,
Anonymoe!

Read Private Arrangements last night. So wanted to tell you how much I liked it. Sherry Thomas is a very good writer. Will definitely buy her next book. I really want this book to be made into a movie. Oh how I wish you become my agent too. She had so many good words for you and Sara in the acknowledgment section.

Since some anon has written really bad comments, i almost had an afterthought to not post mine here. but i really want to write about PA, so here it is.

- K

Wows, Anonymous the Bitter. o_O You must be a seriously unhappy person if you feel the need to attack everyone like that. I feel sorry for you--I really do. (No, I'm not being sarcastic--I mean it. And you don't need to flame me for it because I'm not going to read the rest of the comments after I post this, so I won't even see it.)

In my personal opinion (and I'm allowed to have an opinion if I state it as such, am I not?), Kristin is the height of spiffiness. It seems to me that she spends a lot of time going out of her way to help authors and other agents along by sharing her experience and advice. I've learned a lot from this blog, and I'm really grateful for the time she puts into it. When my book's ready to go out, she's going to be first on my list of agents to send it to. ^^

I've got an agent so need to kiss up. However, I appreciate everyone in this business who gives of their time to offer advice. If you don't like someone's opinion, the beauty of it is you can ignore it- as I will the foul comments.

Egad. This is why I keep my blog set to publish upon approval only.

Kristin, you've got my e-query somewhere in yours or Sara's in-box. Regardless of your response I appreciate your attempt to treat writers like individuals as opposed to cattle with opposable thumbs.

Gagging mightily. I don't usually mind those who make polite excuses for this crap (kind of like apologizing for your gassy grandmother in a crowded elevator), but I have to admit I'm sick of know-nothings immediately labeling a pissed off person as being bitter.

Is it bitter to recognize that someone who pisses on the dreams of others is worthless? And never once did I state that the ass-kissers were doing so for an agent, so I reject your statement of "I have an agent" and call you liar. Let me guess; you have an agent, but haven't sold a book, making any imagined possession of an agent meaningless. Lots of that floating around here in the sewer. I'll share a secret, love... Kristin doesn't care if you support her here, you're still just an unpublished nit to her. Haven't you heard? If you were any good, you'd be a best seller!

Aha, a drinker of Koolade! Congrats on the rose colored glasses and woolen blindfold, Mary, they must come in handy crossing streets.

You're cattle, dear, in the slush pile with the rest, so give us all a moo. Haven't you heard about how not to waste an agent's time? Read old postings by Saint Kristin... you can't CONTACT her, silly! Are you trying to curry favor? Go around the system? Waste her valuable time!?!?

THIS WEBSITE AND BLOG ARE BOTH ADVERTISING. IT'S NOT A HELPER SITE, IT'S A WAY OF GAINING POPULARITY, AND NETWORKING LIKE A GOOD CORPORATE WORM. HELPING STUPID UNPUBLISHED WRITERS IS NOT INTERESTING TO A BUSINESS PERSON, GETTING YOUR NAME OUT AMONG SUPERIOR PUBLISHED WRITERS IS. LOOKING NICE, HAVING A GOOD PUBLIC IMAGE, THAT'S IMPORTANT TO A BUSINESS PERSON. SPITTING OUT TIDBITS OF KNOWLEDGE TAKES TEN MINUTES, AND STUPID PEOPLE LAP IT UP AND LAYER ON THE PRAISE, CREATING SOMETHING CALLED 'GOOD WORD OF MOUTH', IN THE HOPES THAT EVENTUALLY SOME ESTABLISHED AUTHOR WHO'S UNHAPPY WITH HER AGENT WILL HEAR THE WORD AND BRING SOME BUSINESS OUT TO DENVER.

UNPUBLISHED WRITERS ARE FOOLS. THEY DESERVE NO RESPECT AND SHOULD BE USED AS THEY CAN TO CREATE MORE GOOD WORD OF MOUTH.

Paprika, you are dumb. You sound dumb and as always I am surprised that people like you can type and use a computer. Do you have a helper monkey?

Ummm...actually Eileen does have an agent, and a book published, that's very funny, and another one just sold, and she's waiting to hear on her third and writing a fourth, so you may think you know everything, but it's abundantly clear that you don't. I'm just sayin'. If you had the balls you pretend to have by giving us all the truth, you'd be signing your name, now wouldn't you? Ain't anonymous grand for those of you who like to hide behind it? At least I have a reason for using it. I'm not signing mine because the last thing I want is YOU visiting my website. Have a nice day!

I wonder why the Annonymous poster isn't brave enough to post under his/her real name. Opinions mean nothing if you don't have the courage to stand behind them.

*hugs Kristin*
Ignore the silly whiner (although s/he provided nice entertainment - who on earth would take anonymous temper tantrums seriously? ;-). Go on being your nice self!

Signed,
Rejected and Refusing to Become Bitter

are you last two for real? can you spell saccharine?

by signing your names "shawn" & "emily" or some other non-identifier, does that make you brave, or correct, or valid? big deal y'all.

When I write these 'horrid things', I am not writing to nitwits giving the verbal equivalent of a handjob to Kristin, I am writing to people with brains, like anonymous 6:40. Idiots who think the web gives them identity are sad as hell. Everyone's anonymous, lickspittle.



Don't drink the Koolade!
Anonymoe!

Wow! And here I thought what the world needed was more civility.

I was wrong.

What the world needs is to rid itself of assholes - specifically anon 10:15-style assholes.

Screw you anon. I was one of the faggot-nice comments and I didn't make the comment to kiss up to Kristin. I will NEVER query her. I don't write or read what she represents.

You are a loser. You know you're a loser. You hide behind your anonymity because you're a loser coward. I'm anonymous in this comment because I don't want to hear from you - your kind scares me. You need help. But of course, your kind never recognizes that - everyone else is out of step. Right?

GET HELP!

Wow. How unfortunate.

Kristin and Sara, please carry on. We all, writers and readers alike, need your professionalism and -- yes -- judgement. It's a great wild rich vibrant explosively interesting world out there; our variety of reading choices reflects that. (After Shakespeare:) the book is the thing.

Thanks for making the effort...it really means a lot to us writers.

Kristin,
I wish you the best with your agency. Your willingness to send a brief note to point out how a submission doesn't make the grade will help many writers, and most will appreciate it. For those who don't, they are the losers, and blow them off.

Egad, what's with all the deleted comments? Were you spammed?

:::shaking head:::

My goodness, did one of the potty-mouths go a bit off the chain?

I have a question concerning the division of work in your office: does your assistant filter the queries that you look over at night, so you look at a smaller percentage? In theory, that would mean that the first person a writer is wooing with a query would be the assistant, followed by the agent. Does the assistant have to develop an eye for things the agent would like, or do they go for things that have that Everyman appeal?

I want to say thank you. Even though writers know on an intellectual/professional level that this is an incredibly subjective business, it's hard not to experience bewilderment and doubt when receiving form letters. We know how busy you are, and we're aware of the incredible volume of queries you handle, so a kind word about our efforts makes such a huge impact. Thanks again.

I was going to comment when you posted this that I think it's great how personal your agency is, but I'm glad I waited, because I got my email yesterday about my partial.

Just those few sentences telling me why you passed were fantastically useful. It's so nice to be told whether it's the writing, the characters, the premise, etc.

The confidence boost was nice, too :).

Thanks so much!

Liz

Well I hate to be snarky, and I'm not trying to. This is a tough business, and I do it because I love it. That being said, it's very disheartening when it's mentioned that you comment on every rejection- even queries. I very recently had a partial rejected, that while was addressed to my name, was very definitely a standard letter. I'm not saying that's bad- I'm just saying it's depressing to think I was the only one out of the hundreds you receive that no words of "what's wrong with this" could be given.
Just wanted to pass it on.

Speaking as someone who got the #2 answer on this list last year, actually, this _is_ rather comforting. That remains hands down the best rejection I have received to date and it is why you will be getting my next project as soon as I'm done with the edits!

Thank you for posting these things to share with us. It really makes the agenting side of the business a lot less scary, and that in turn makes it easier for us to write the queries! Or for me, at any rate. :)

This way at lest I can see where your coming from.

It's not easy is it?

Don't worry about the mistakes. At least it shows it isn't a form letter. I have received rejections on fulls that I felt were slightly personalised but had form sentences in them. Those sentences kind of ruin the rest because you doubt it all then.
I think the fact that you make the effort to write personalised rejections means you see us as people and not as commodities and we all sure appreciate that. Thank you for that.

Reminding an author that this is a subjective business is never a waste of time. Rejections are personal and subjective - yet at that moment they feel like universal truths.

At least positive, personal rejections let the writer know he/she isn't completely off track. I got a response on a partial recently that read like a love letter, "compelling--plot driven, romantic, ripe with intrigue. And I love the wry style. . ." After I got over the "huh" factor (if somebody had this much good to say I would have thought he'd want to see the rest) I realized I may be closer to representation than I think.

Thanks for being honest about honesty. ;) We all need to remember we're human, we make mistakes, we have personal tastes and opinions and sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to.

Rejection comes often in this business. I give myself one day to mourn and then get it back out in circulation. What else can I do if I want to continue to be published?

I actually once got a rejection on a full that was really helpful because of what it *didn't* say. She told me that she had nothing negative to say about the writing, characters, or story...just that it would be a 'hard sell' for a first-time novelist.

Now, many writers would be thinking...."Oh, come on! You loved everything about it, but are rejecting it? BS, there's something wrong and you aren't telling me!"

But I really found that feedback incredibly useful. It made me realize that I am really close to getting there. The writing & plotting I have down...so I don't need to be struggling with that as much anymore. Now, it's all about hitting on the right plot/book that will get me noticed.

So, sometimes exact problems don't need to be pointed out in order to find a rejection useful.

She did tell me that another agent might love it just as much as she did, but be able to sell it and that she might even regret someday rejecting me. It was the nicest rejection I'd ever received.

If an agent made a mistake in a personal response I would just snicker and be comforted with the fact they are human. I might even frame it and hang it on my wall to remind myself we all make mistakes.

As for being honest. Please do. Don't sugar coat it and lie about how great it is if it isn't. If it is so horrible you can't find anything good to say, just a polite no thank you will suffice.

A very good friend critqued a chapter of mine and had some very hard things to say. After I cried over my dissected darling, who at least bled to death quickly, I started revising. The offending passages were deleted or changed and, wonder of wonders, the writing was much, much better.

Now, if she had been anything less than a professional and amazing writer, I might have paused. However, I trusted her judgement and I would trust yours. Some, I just have to shrug and move on.

I do worry about sending out queries that might receive eviscerating responses, ending with, "Put down the keyboard and back away slowly before someone gets hurt."

I think the biggest thing in being honest with the writer is the fact that; if you aren't 'in love' with the manuscript after reading it, if it's great but just not quite your 'cup of tea', your heart isn't going to be where it should be as far as your enthusiasm for the story is concerned. And editors must be aware when an agent isn't totally in love with the story they're trying to sell.

I didn't care for the Kite Runner. It was well written, all the wonderful things you can say about the story and prose, but it just wasn't something I personally cared enough about. I wouldn't be able to sell that story, even if it was the best story ever written because I just didn't care for it that much. Obviously, someone else did and look what happened!

So, I'd rather hear that as the real reason than get a "huh?" full of praise without the substance.

nm

What a post to read when you have my full in hand, Egads!

Seriously, if an author can't take undiluted honesty then they shouldn't be subbing. I for one look at the agent querey process as a step in the journey from 'the best I can do' to 'better', and welcome any insights you could provide.

Rick

Well, its nice to know you agonize over what to say to us as much as we agonize about what we say to you. :)
You could start it in Word, use form feilds to plug in the personal part. A quick cut and paste into an email and you're done. Then most of it is already spell/grammer checked and you won't have to worry about the typos. I write most of the out going letters at work and find this is the quickest way to go.)
P.S. I've never received a personal note after a full request. So, its nice that you do that!

Eeeeehhhhhhh...

Weeeeellllll...

Aaaaahhhh...

Yuck. Blech.

It's completely understandable. I can't imagine reading something unpublished and not liking it, but I know what it's like buying a book with high expectations and then finding it boring, pedantic, annoying, poorly written, overly formulaic, cliched, predictable, with a horrible ending or with cardboard cutouts for characters. I felt that way with Terry Goodkind's first book... it was supposedly great, it sold tons, and I felt it was four hundred thousand words of complete dreck. God, was I depressed about laying out green money for a copy.

For an agent to invest the time it has to be rough to find out that they've been victimized by that most terrible of beasts... someone who can write a slambang query letter and a mediocre to bad novel. I mean, it's tough for the writers as well, and the let down is enormous, but for the most part they are doing all this in their spare time. I wonder how often agents fall prey to those folk, who can write excellent letters and learned to write novels at the Michael Bay School of Entertainment?

I think it's great that you send personal rejections after you ask for a full m.s. I'm always amazed at the number of agents who don't.

Even the dreaded "I just didn't love it enough" is better than a form letter. After all, it does tell us something—it's a tough market and an agent has to love the work to take it on. If this one doesn't, try another agent.

p.s. I figured out the "posting comments with Firefox problem." I had the fonts set too big.

I can only speak for myself. I appreciate honesty. As I've said elsewhere, I expect a rejection. Anything else comes as a wonderful surprise. After reading blogs like this one and realizing how subjective the business is, I can understand why it's difficult to articulate your reasons for turning down a manuscript. If there isn't anything specific, though, I know I'd welcome the kind of explanation you put around number 2.

I'd rather an honest personal rejection than nothing or a form letter. No, you may not be able to pinpoint why the story works for you, and I can't really justify why I've skipped out on reading classics once I didn't have a high school English teacher threatening me with a fifth year. Sometimes a books just doesn't float our boat, not when we're in a critique group, not when you're in the agents office, not when you're at the editors board, and not even if all those people love the book and it hits the shelf with great fanfare.

Reading this post at least I know if you ever send me something that says, "I didn't fall in love with it," that at least that's how you honestly feel and not a secret signal that you lost every page after 10 and are to embarrassed to tell me that you didn't read the book :o)

Yes, please do be honest, and don't worry about proofreading. I had a requested full rejected with, "Very well done, but not my kind of thing." For a while, I took comfort in the "very well done," but now I'm wondering if the agent even read it.

"Reading this post at least I know if you ever send me something that says, "I didn't fall in love with it," that at least that's how you honestly feel and not a secret signal that you lost every page after 10 and are to embarrassed to tell me that you didn't read the book :o)"

LOL! I can just picture this happening. Not, of course, because it bears any resemblance to anything that happened to ME. Ever. Nope. Not a bit.

Still laughing,
Janny

You need one of those comment programs like teachers have for report cards. There are about a hundred pre-written comments for any occasion (other than the 'you suck and what were your parents thinking procreating' kind of comments). All you do is type in the comment number and the program does the rest.

That's it! You could invent a program for agents with a list like: your characters are flat; there is no progression to your plot; your grammar is atrocious; you’re doing too much telling instead of showing, etc, etc. Agents will be overjoyed because the comments will be helpful, it will save them time, plus it will be pre-proofed.

Stick with me and we can make a mint!

I can't believe you're even heard of 'the trenches.' You must be lurking at the Childrens and Illustrators Board Kristin.

Thanks for the great insight.

Like many others are saying, I would appreciate any sort of personalized rejection, even if you couldn't articulate why you didn't love the manuscript precisely. It would show you view me as a human and at least took the time to really think about my work, and would make me want to keep you in mind for future projects.

And if you worry about being too harsh or having nothing positive to say, that's really too bad for me. If I can't handle even that, I need to get in a different business.

A few small questions your post brought up:
1) If you read a manuscript and think a certain colleague might love it, do you pass it along or recommend said colleague to the writer?

2) If the first 100 pages don't grip you, but based on the query letter you know there's something to come later in the story (beyond the initial hook, which shouldn't be happening 150 pages in) that might really catch your interest, do you ever flip through to see if it gets any better? i.e. If you think the book has potential but the beginning needs work, do you ever articulate that? Maybe something like, 'I like your idea but the beginning needs ______. Please revise and resubmit'?

Yes, please do be honest. I just received a wonderful rejection of just a few lines (via email which was totally fine since I submitted email and I'm so not hung up on the whole email thing) that said she read it twice but is passing because she felt the story told rather than showed. Now, I'll admit, when I read that I was confused, maybe a slight bit argumentative - thought I had the whole Show, don't tell thing down but then I read with a close eye for that and yup, she's right.

The point is, I'm gratefully and so freaking enthusiastically editing that all on the basis of the fact she took the time to give m a brief, very brief, honest reason.

So, sure, a brief honest answer at least gives us hopefuls something to work on if it's a no.

Please keep doing them! We all appreciate it!

It's OK, even if it stings a little. And I do recognize the yeoman's effort that goes into crafting those letters, and appreciate it very much.

I recently got my first rejection from a literary agent (rite of passage, y'all!) and I have to say, it was such a gift that it was personalized. It was really "It's not you, it's us" "We have two other books similar to this that we're trying to sell" and I felt like I may not be too far off.

That said, it was still sad, but as my freelance editor tells me, for every yes, you get 19 no's. Looking forward to putting in her changes and knocking out the other 18...or, someone could say yes sooner...that would be OK, too. :)

You're playing "Fernando" by Abba? Get some of that "Dancing Queen" on!

Mark

Thanks for the insight, Kristin! It's always appreciated.

Personally I wouldn't mind a "it doesn't work for me, but I couldn't tell you why" :P since I've often had that reaction to what I read. It may be a good story but if I don't love it, I sometimes have difficulty pinning down the "why".

So yeah. Honesty would be great. O:)

I got a great rejection for a short once; the editor said the story was too nihilistic for his tastes. B-) I loved that he gave a reason. Made my day. :D

~Merc

I have to add a second comment because I just checked Kristin's entry in the online charity auction and her read and critique is up over $900! Wow! I guess you can put a price on honesty.

No, no! Not "Dancing Queen!" We want "Chiquitita!"

One of the best rejections I ever got was from a very able agent. And very brief--shorter than a form rejection. He said, "Loved your writing style, like your plot and your characters--just not my thing."

It encouraged me to no end.

My take is: thanks to all you agents who can say "no-thanks" in a kind and helpful manner. I hope you are always able to take the time.

Actually, it is comforting. You just passed on my partial and I now feel that you really did mean that it just isn't for you, but might be for someone else. Thanks.

You're playing "Fernando" by Abba? Get some of that "Dancing Queen" on!

Nope. "Take A Chance On Me," would be much better. My theme song.

I'm going to echo Kristin Laughtin's question, and maybe you can address it in a future post.

If something is good but not right for you, do you ever recommend colleagues who might be a better fit?
And if you do, is it OK to say that you liked it but thought they might be a better match for the book?

Kristin,

You produce a great blog that is valuable to wannabe writers, and it's clear you engage in ethical practices and have a kind personality. Also I'm sure you make a good faith attempt at sending a thoughtful rejection letter, and that is more than most agents do. However, I have little sympathy for the whining agents give for not giving substantive feedback in rejections on partials and fulls. There should be a social contract between sellers and buyers. Serious people on both sides invest part of themselves in their work. In my day job, I sell and buy. My largest sale was $51 million. My largest purchase was $1.4 million. When I don't get a sale, I appreciate learning why I didn't, so I can improve. And when I don't buy from a vendor, I always tell them why, in person or on the phone. If some don't like it, tough. At least I'm giving them a chance to evaluate their work and to decide to make a change or not.

Keep up the good work in building your agency and blog, and send constructive feedback in rejections of MSs.

Kristin,

I enjoy reading your blog for exactly this kind of post -- I'd rather know the hard truth about communicating effectively with an agent than imagine a comfortable fiction.

I'm also writing to let you know that I linked to your site recently in a fun fairytale meme that I did. If you're interested, you can read about the meme here, http://snurl.com/29mi7, and you can see the fairytale here, http://snurl.com/29mie.

No expectations -- the post and the meme were intended solely to spread a little link love to the blogs that I enjoy.

Best regards,
Carolyn Bahm

Traitorous Skank
As if agentry was not ruining publishing and turning it into a haven for work with the integrity of a marshmallow in a toaster oven;
As if forward thinking trolls were not intent upon destroying the Printed Word;
As if greedy corporations were not already consumed by making publishing more profitable for themselves and less for the artist;
You support this horrible degradation in the name of your own ease. Tell us, do you own stock in this hideous technology, or are you just that lazy that anything that cuts your costs and lessens your workload garners such profuse praise?

Greatness does not come easy. Hard work is virtuous. You are a shithead.

FL

don't like the tone but don't mind the sentiment... does anyone else think that with the infinite replication capability of this kind of technology authors should get flat fees? you know, if you're a first timer you get paid 100K, then after that they judge how many downloads you got, then pay you accordingly for the next book.

I actually have a problem with "publishers" making more money than the author on this type of medium. all they are in this system is basically a bulletin board with a massive storage capacity. If they are planning on getting this garbage off the ground, authors should keep ninety percent of sales, and agents should go piss. seriously, if you think about it, the publisher no longer has any type of financial risk... they buy the book, post it on their sight, and sell downloads. what contract? every download costs ten bucks, and the author gets $8.50--- why would you want to lose 15% to some guy who basically was responsible for forwarding your e-mail?

though a weirdly poetic schmuck, the gal posting ahead of me has an excellent point... where the hell is this e-book nonsense going? nevermind the whole doomsday scenario. if the web crashes and technology takes a dump on us (for whatever reason), books will still be here, and e-books with their downloadable content won't be worth a turd. that, and the ever-present fact that not everyone has a broadband connection, a good computer or one of these silly e-book readers... many people can't afford such things, and considering the way our economy is going, not a lot of people are going to be able to afford such luxuries for a while.

agent kristen is starting to sound like a techno-snob. don't like it, but someone needed to say it.

oh, and most of you agree with agent kristen just because you are kiss-asses hoping she'll give your worthless romance novel a look-see. kisses!
sally

CM,

The doctrine of first sale should still be valid. But, when you buy a DRM'd ebook, they get the ID number of your device from you, and the file you get is specifically linked to that device. (and maybe a few others, as somebody pointed out above). It will not work in any other device. This means that you can't sell it on, no matter what the law says, because the publisher has made it so you can't.

I think authors should be getting a bigger percentage of ebook revenue than they do from a paper book. I would expect them to get no less than they would for a paperback - maybe more. Amazon (or other stores for other devices) is doing the job of both distributor and shop, the publisher doesn't need to print a physical book, they can afford to give the author at minimum paperback revenue without shorting themselves.

To anonymous above

Disclosure: I own a Cybook (same screen as the Kindle, different device, no internet connection). I own (and have paid for) well over 1,000 ebooks, and no longer buy paper books.

Some "publishers" do pretty much what you've said - they'll take almost anything, and put it up for sale as an ebook. I generally refuse to buy from them.

If you think all a publisher does is take the authors text and print it, you need to study the subject some more. Ever heard of editing? Advertising? Writing copy text that is going to attract me to look at the book in the first place? Everything that needs to be done for a printed book except the actual printing and distribution should also be done for an ebook. If it's done right, it's not cheap.

Going off Stephen...

And cover art. Plus most of the ebook distributors also print the book between 1 month and 1 year later. Having made some profit up front, the expense is more managable for the smaller print publishers.

As to royalties. Yes, they take care of the authors. I won't say more because each contract is different but it's not the same as paperback. In fact, many eAuthors make the bulk of their money from the digital release, not the printed copy.

Also, if you download to your computer hard drive instead of directly to your Kindle or other reader then transport to your reader, the coding is not proprietary in the one eBook one unit scheme of things.

To Doomsday x2.... Shades of Terminator, much? You managed to write the blog comment. You don't require an eBook reader to read eBooks. You can use your computer screen, cell phones (some models) and other technology.

And I already have an agent. These lips need not pucker for anyone. Kristin's is an interesting forum with interesting insights like yours.

I own a Sony and love it. I can't imagine what I would use a Kindle for as I don't use wireless technology. (No, I don't normally use a cell phone either!) As for e-book vs print book. I have both but prefer the e-book because I can change the font size so I can actually read it. Also, I can carry around a library instead of just one book. It's easier on these arthritic fingers of mine (and less weight).

I download my books to my computer library and copy all of them to a back-up drive for security.

As for selling them on the internet... I'm one of those e-pubbed writers also. And I have to tell you that it realllly annoys me when my books are pirated.

To anon 12:25 pm and anon 7:17, two words: Anger Management


xoxoxo Delilah

I have a Kindle, an Ebookwise, a REB1200, and a Palm. I read ebooks on all of them. I no longer buy fiction paper books. No need to.

A misconception about the Kindle: you don't have to pay to convert and transfer files to it. There is a free option. It's just a different email address.

I agree with the downsides to it for proofing my own books but the same applies to ebookwise and other devices for proofing -- their page number doesn't correspond to my Word version. I use my Kindle (insert other reader here depending on my mood of the day) to see how it will look on the device. For editing on the go, I use a NEC 790 MobilePro (yes, I love gadgets).

I'd add a backlight and a touchscreen to the Kindle, but that'll bump up the price and lessen the product life. I don't use it to read blogs, surf the net, etc. See above (NEC 790 MobilePro with WiFi or my Palm or my Tungsten).

As to the viability of e-publishers, their motivations, pirating -- it's all been said. I know I love being with e-publishers for a lot of reasons (which I've talked about on several blogs).

Would I go with a "big New York house" if they asked me? Probably. It gives me wider distribution for my books. My backlist would benefit greatly.

I'm not pursuing that or an agent at this time because I'm happy with the amount of books I have out, the ones coming this year and next, my editors, my covers (mostly) and the whole process.

I'm also happy to be in on the beginning of what I think is a new trend. Print books are wasteful, period. The whole print publishing model is outdated and outmoded. It will have to change at some point. I'm not sure if e-publishing is what it will change to, but some form of it will probably be there. I'm glad to be on the beginnings.

If I ever see someone reading a book on a cell phone, I'm going to slap 'em in the face with a carp. Get real. There is such a thing as being 'too into technology', and just because the Verizon guy and a thousand other commercials tell you everyone's doing it doesn't mean they are.

There are techno-nerds among us (I wouldn't call them techno-snobs, necessarily); these are the folks who do everything they possibly can on some manner of electronic device. These are the people cheering for e-books- they are also the people who don't use paper calendars anymore, who have the latest iPhone that they bought for six hundred bucks, have radio-connected weather centers in their kitchen, wear watches that are updated by the atomic clock in Fort Collins, and proudly and loudly proclaim to the masses that they haven't used paper products in seven years.

I'm sorry to say that these people are not in the majority. These folks are either real wealthy (and into every time saver they can afford) or real lonely (and into anything that makes them feel like part of an elite group). There's a guy at some university in California who calls himself the first cyborg- he wears a stripped down and reconfigured laptop on a harness that distributes the components all over his body, and every day he wears a headset that keeps a miniature screen in front of his eyes. He's an uber-dweeb, and he's living in a fantasy world of his own making. My point? Just because something is technologically possible doesn't mean it's a good idea.

To those who have been e-published, please answer this question honestly-- how many real-world publishers turned down your stuff before you found an e-publisher willing to publish your book? It seems that there is a lot more leeway for e-publishers than there is for paper-publishers, costwise, and they'd be willing to take a lot more from unknown authors. I have to say I put a lot more credence in the opinion of someone who has been published in the real world of traditional publishing and then been e-published, rather than that of someone who has only seen a screen image of their work.

Mark C.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism

I love how personally some people take it when someone else explores a new technology. Personal insults aren't usually considered a hallmark of rational discussion.

Technology is changing all aspects of communications, including all forms of publishing. It's been doing so throughout recorded history. People need to decide how to use it and how to adapt to it. Some will find ways to use it to their advantage, and some will fight it and lose out. I don't know if the Kindle is the future, but if it helps people (such as Kristin) now, then it's a worthwhile investment for them. Insulting them for trying it just seems pointlessly gratuitous to me.

Yes, there are writers who are first published in print and then in ebooks. I know of at least three in my minute sphere of communication.

Some people will always prefer a 'real' book (I'm one of them) but with the demise of the small publisher, there'll be many many worthy books that just don't make it into print -- why? Because publishers can't afford to take a chance on a writer no one has heard of, when they can make big bucks publishing big names. So the eBook publishers at least let new writers get a toe in the water.

You're selling me... At least for what you use it for, it sounds so smart.

I hope Bezos' tech folks are reading your blog to develop features for Kindle 2.0

Beautifully said, Dave. I also appreciate how much more mature the non-anonymous are by not trading insults.

Must be hard harboring all that ill-will, I would think. As someone who doesn't fall in either category (rich or lonely) I reckon he's not talking to my kind. I'll keep writing, keep pubbing in my preferred medium. I will also abstain from further comment on this topic. I've said everything I need to say and have nothing to prove.

Once again you all prove that if you have a different opinion from the status quo of this board, you are wrong and harboring ill will. I think some people have a problem with e books because there's nothing to them... they are an electronic jumble of bits and bytes, walk too close to a magnet, drop your reader, lose a charge, spill some coffee on it and BANG it's gone. How many e-readers will last fifty years? How many formats? My grandkids will be able to read the books I've collected... if I leave behind a pile of chips and discs, fifty years from now they'll all be part of a dead format and unreadable.

I agree with those casting aspersions. I'm not insulting anyone. I think that the number of people using tech like this is still in the minority and shall remain so. Even if ten million people sign on for this kind of technology (a pipe dream for the makers of this thing and you know it), they are still a minority... please remember that there are nearly three hundred million of us here in the US alone.

And to the lady who signed off with the huffy, immature "I've said all I'm going to and nothing else." You've harped on throughout this entire subject, lighting into anyone with a contrary opinion no matter how well crafted. You prove my first statement as to the state of mind of the followers of this board and this agent. Congratulations on your narrow mindedness. Hope that works out for you (while you call yourself "writer").

James Nelson

Wow - who knew the kindle could light such fires?

Relax people. No one is taking your books away and no need to call Ms. Nelson names.

Many of us read her blog even after we've been rejected so grow up, calm down, mind your manners please.

Disagree is never a problem, it is the tone in which you write, as a writer you should be aware of it and if you are and still meant to come across as harsh then don't be surprised when people turn on you for your bad manners.

Wow - who knew the kindle could light such fires?

Relax people. No one is taking your books away and no need to call Ms. Nelson names.

Many of us read her blog even after we've been rejected so grow up, calm down, mind your manners please.

Not agreeing with the agent of this blog is never a problem, it is the tone in which you write, as a writer you should be aware of it and if you are and still meant to come across as harsh then don't be surprised when people turn on you for your bad manners.

:) Love you back, babe.

Dear me, until I read this blog, I never realized that there was such animosity toward technology. I wonder what writers such as Nora Roberts, Jonathon Kellerman, and Robert B. Parker think about the new revolution? I bought and read their books this past week... on my e-reader. Surely they aren't the wannabe authors someone mentioned?

As for techno-people out there, I guess I wonder if the individuals who are so anti-tech drive cars, use microwave, televisions, telephones (standard in-house phones), listen to music, or shop at their local grocery store where they use standard scanning technology. Most devices we use in everyday life run on computerized instructions. I fail to understand why my use of a gadget that makes it possible for me to read more is that upsetting.

I don't advocate getting rid of books. I have a huge library of print books that I treasure. Unfortunately, many of them are in a print font size that I can no longer read. And I'm not alone. As the baby boomers age, more and more of us will have to make the decision to use technology--or not read at all.

I am neither rich nor caught up in technology as a hobby. I simply use what I deem necessary. Some people spend money on other hobbies. Reading is my hobby.

Stephen,

Not all e-books are DRMed. I was specifically thinking of Samhain Publishing, who sells flat-HTMLed e-books and tells me I can't sell 'em (post purchase--not even a vague attempt to get some kind of click-through license).

I always wonder, well, how can they legally stop me?

And Samhain isn't alone. A lot of exclusively epublishers have non-DRMed formats.

Perhaps we should all join Anny on her slippery slope. Yes, people who like books all live as Stone Age cave people, eschewing all technology to live the simple life of the Noble Savage.

Technophiles, techno-nerds, techno-snobs; these are people who cannot exist in their day to day lives without resorting to the overuse of technology's cutting edge. We are not talking about scientists with electron microscopes or doctors using the latest MRI machine. We are talking about the guy who can't make a grocery list without wirelessly hooking up his three-week old Macbook Air to his latest palm pilot or Blackberry, all to download the words "Milk and Eggs". We're talking about the guy who couldn't imagine buying a paperback novel when he could download seven into his reader wirelessly and over the web (and there was one of those upstream in this conversation, by the by-- way too proud of never having to buy books again).

You've met these people. You've listened to them talk about how they don't even shop at stores anymore, they do it all over the web. They buy new smart phones twice a year just to keep up with what's latest. They follow fads, and it is what's wrong with the world.

This crap will prove to be a fad. Why? Because I don't care how many safeguards you put into protecting the copyright of the author, it can't be done. Tech geeks see security systems as a personal challenge leveled by The Man, and take perverse pleasure in defeating every single countermeasure a publisher might install in a software/hardware system. They will hack whatever system e-readers come up with and post pirated work without even reading it... they will do it for the thrill of giving the government and big business the bird.

Go ahead Anny, tell me it isn't true. Not everyone is an agent or an author with a vested interest in making sure the appropriate parties get paid. And if you think there isn't a majority of readers out there who wouldn't grab a pirated copy of Stephen King's recent book for a buck or two rather than dropping $27.99 for a hardcover or $12.00 for a legit download, you live in a cave on the moon and you talk to your cats.

Please keep in mind that on this particular posting area, I usually hold my tongue and keep quiet-- this because I actually value most of what Ms. Nelson says. It is when the chatter of the bobble-headed agreement monkeys becomes too loud that I feel the need to speak up and support those whose opinions are lambasted for being in opposition to Ms. Nelson's.

I usually lurk about a forum populated by published science fiction and fantasy writers, due largely to the intelligent, open discourse encouraged there. Once upon a time, after being disgusted by the choir of yes-men over here, I invited a number of folks over here to quietly listen... it was a sanity check for me, to make sure I wasn't being over-sensitive. Each and every person came back and said variations of, "Wow! Can you believe all the suck-ups? Ass-kissing on an Olympic level! I need a shower after that display." It was a big laugh.

Keep saying you aren't brown-nosing Ms. Nelson while you agree with every little opinion she formulates while listening to her Greatest Hits of the Eighties collection. Keep thinking that the needs of an agent are identical to the needs of a writer. You're all brilliant.

Mr. Anonymous,

Having read your comments to these authors in which you call them immature and "on a slippery slope"

I don't see anyone talking about the downside of agents here and I think that you are probably one of the most rude people I have seen in the way you attack each and everyone here. Regardless of whether this will be a fad or not, I think you should check carefully the glass walls in your house before throwing any more stones at the others.

Scott Lawrence

Kristin posted opinions about the usability of a piece of technology in her life. For that she's been lambasted and insulted by people who object to the existence of the technology as if she's responsible for it. Next, anyone pointing out the unfairness of that is insulted in turn.

I'm not objecting to people disagreeing, but ad hominem arguments because you don't like the technology that someone is trying out are not particularly persuasive or civilized. That's just MY opinion, of course.

Shut up, Scott.

Read every comment that is posted after someone disagrees with Ms. Nelson. Disagree with her and the bobble-heads come out of the woodwork. Come here often enough and you will find that there is a very consistent pattern of this. If you aren't a diehard fan and have a difference of opinion, you aren't welcome. From this comes the vitriol. This is the way it is here. Kristen comes up with an opinion weighted towards agents (which the publishing industry cannot live without) and everyone breaks their collective neck nodding in dumb agreement. One person speaks the opposite way and wham, they are crucified for it and called a negative wannabe. Rude? For daring the say, "People have a right to make up their own mind about an issue." Get bent, dear Scott. Or sit and listen for awhile, make up your mind and speak out if it is in opposition to the general tide... see what happens to you.

Or just agree and smile, wipe up the spittle decorating your chin and go your merry, idiotic way.

Why can't you people have an adult conversation? The name-calling is asinine.

I don't read romance. I don't write romance. I will never query Ms. Nelson, but I learn things reading her blog. And it's HER blog, so I guess she has the right to express her likes and dislikes.

The rest of you pseudointellectuals and super rude people with a limited vocabulary are the ones who need to shut your faces.

Go away. Shut up. Or be civil. Yes, you!

Where's Miss Snark when you need her?


Delilah

O, See what the kindle hath kindled. . . I haven't posted in a while, but I agree with Dave Shaw and Delilah - there's a professional and civil way to state one's opinion and debate without ripping each other's e-heads off about it.

Delilah, I differ from you in that I DO write romance, and I eventually would like to query Kristin; but again, though we share differences, respect is a universal vessel.

"Can't we all just get along?"

-Rachel Glass

anon @ 3:52

So, you want to be able to state your contrary opinion without rebuttal, you wish to be rude about it, and you feel that that's fair and a good way to persuade people to your point of view.

I have doubts about the DRM scheme and proprietary format of the Kindle myself. However, terms like 'traitorous skank' and 'techno-snob' and statements such as 'shut up' don't contribute any value to discussing them. Again, just my opinion.

As for the Kindle itself, it's a tool, and Kristin was commenting on its utility in that regard. If you wish to raise concerns about the tool, we're all listening, but we reserve the right to respond with our own opinions which may or may not agree with yours, and most of us would prefer this to be a civil discussion. Thank you.

You are all morons; the negative nellies, the rude jerks, the go-alongs, the romance writers, the non-writers, the readers, the techno-fans, the technophobes, the critics, the arbiters of reason, the agents, the editors, the writers and EVERYONE ELSE WHO READS THESE STUPID BLOGS! Goddamnit, you crowd of warbling turkeys, get off the web and write! Or read! Or jog! Or talk to a human being! I'm pretty sure that once Nelson's done writing down her little pearls of wisdom [which probably takes all of five minutes], she gets back to her chosen business, closes up the shop and goes the hell home! And I guarantee she doesn't give a good goddamn what any of you think of frigging KINDLE!

just to add mine own three centavos, I schedule my life on my Macbook, haven't bought a CD in fifteen years, still read print books and magazines but never touch a newspaper or click to a television news channel to stay informed. my cell phone is synced up with my laptop and I make backup copies of every single piece of media I get my hands on [and assume that I would do the same with any e-books I would ever buy]. I think Babylon Five is a ripoff of Star Trek Deepspace Nine, secretly enjoy the fact that the metal music of my youth took over the recording industry and is now considered mainstream rock, and do all my shopping online. peace out, homies!

anon 4:53

While I understand there is no reasoning with you, if this blog and all of us who read it and join in conversation from time to time are so stupid why are you here? Why read this blog - you have the ability to as you say do something else - do us a favor and go do it.

And spare us your own 3 cents.

WOOSH! There it went... you missed the point, Tammie. Comments were meant for the nitwits sniping back and forth at each other. Now you're a nitwit too. Get it? I'm not for getting along, I'm for shutting up, getting what you can out of these stupid things and moving on. See? I think the Kindle things are pretty cool, myself.

You are probably a Babylon Five fan. Poor Tammie.

No I didn't miss the point. The point is you enjoy being rude.

Babylon Five - never watch it.

Oh come now, those other commentators were much more rude than I ever was. I just want everyone to shut the F up and get on with their lives. They are morons because they can't let it go. You are a moron because you can't let this go. I will quite obviously continue on with you until I get the last word- in that way I'm a moron.

This is a grand carnival of stupidity. You, Tammie, are one of the carnies that brings the show to town. You know what I mean... inbred, low IQ, dirty white T-shirt, Pall Mall hanging from the corner of your mouth, hoping to one day get the cherry job of running the Tilt-a-Whirl because you get to pick up the change that falls out of the riders' pockets as they spin till nauseous. That's you. You picked on one of the visitors who just wanted to stop the madness and get a little quiet.

Now I'm having fun with you, because you are dumber than all the rest. I'm picking on the slow kid because she doesn't have the sense to shut her mouth. Who cares about all the rudeness, or Kindle, or the fighting back and forth between people with differing opinions? You are more fun.

New and unpublished writers see things like electronic publishing as a threat. You can smell their fear of it in the irrational anger that seems to pervade the air of all their posts. Why?

Because they feel like they are going to miss the boat. If a midlist novelist could make forty thousand dollars a year on his or her writing, they could make a meager living at it and essentially live the dream of being a professional writer. Win a prize, create a little buzz and your novel does well, making you more money from residuals and almost assuring you a larger advance on your next project. The imagined (perhaps imagined) terror for a currently unpublished writer is that the whole system will give in to the e-book craze. This is new and unfamiliar, an untried system, and the previous rewards of publishing a novel may take a sudden dive in profitability. Worse, the large publishing companies may decide to use the e-book technology as a proving ground for a book, and cast new novelists to the instant popularity contest of the download system and print only the winners in the traditional manner.

Can you put yourself in the shoes of a young or beginning novelist when faced with fears such as these? I think this is the reason for all the latent hostility we all hear in the voices of the anti-technology movement. Imagine having spent ten years pursuing your life's dream- you attend conferences and listen to novelists and agents and publishers, you dream of having just a taste of their successes, and then you realize that a new movement in your desired industry has the potential to yank the rug from beneath your dreams, making the continued pursuit of your goal very near to worthless.

Please give them a break and just a little understanding. Are their fears truly well-founded? I cannot tell, for anything is possible. I hope not, for many voices would be silenced before ever getting the chance to be heard, and that would be a shame.

Randy P.

You must embrace the new technologies because they will advance with or without you.
that makes some people dizzy. they like to call attention to the point that life makes them dizzy. why are things always moving, changing, and surprising you just when you were about to admit the old ways were terrible?

if you didn't want to ride the mery-go-round, why did you buy a ticket? get on or get off. either way, you're going in circles, so you know that can't be avoided. everything goes in circles, never really changes much, it's all just perception or something.

speaking of dizzy...

I like cheese.

I think Randy P. is making a point about new writers being afraid of missing the chance to succeed the way writers in the past have succeeded-- not about being afraid of technology. They are afraid of the technology taking away any of the financial benefits of being a writer. Who wants to be e-published without being traditionally published, if they post your book on a website that may or may not get heavy traffic from those willing to buy e-books? Your career could die aborning, just because your file was never looked at or browsed by the right audience. Your book is only downloaded a hundred and fifty times, you make a thousand bucks or less, and the publisher never buys anything from you again. I see his point.
DA

I like cheese too.
DA

Just a thought: Today, this blog needs some comment moderation. :-)

Interesting, this bit of techno-panic here, when I just came from presentation about the TOC conference at my day gig. There, the talk was how the new world of publishing is Web 2.0 (which will soon be superseded by future "communities"), and that "content" is no longer king...but presentation, and the consumer's ability to control all content they receive, is.

In the context of how this affects authors, I heard one of my own bosses comment that when it comes to the rights authors (or their agents) will grant, now the word on the street is that it's "ask for the moon" time, because many authors come to the table ready to effectively "give away the store" just for the privilege of having their content "out there." Publshing now is increasingly no longer producing a great book and sending it on its way; it's all about "sharing" and "customizing" and "giving the consumer what he/she wants"...but nary a whisper about the artist's compensation for being the one to create that product in the first place. And that is chilling.

In the worst case scenario, the artist/author is even presented as a backward, ignorant bit player who "just doesn't know how to adapt"--merely because he or she wants some kind of compensation for all that proliferation of his or her work. In this brave new world of gadgets and free words, no one knows what's fair for authors, apparently...or at least no one seems to care.

Witness comments here to the effect that "If you can see a downside to any of this, you're a wannabe and a whiner who lives in a cave"...and then people wonder why aspiring or midlist authors are less than enchanted with technology that seems to do little more than give publishers an excuse to shove them further and further down the food chain?

Brings to mind one of the classic lines from TOP GUN: "You still got the address of that truck drivin' school, Mav?"

:-)

Janny

Cheese is lovely. Especially partially-melted bree on table crackers.

Missed you yesterday... hope you return today :)

I thought I left a comment earlier, but now I don't see it...

I'm 15, enjoy reading and writing, and therefore read several writing blogs. I find this one to be generally helpful. Both Kristin's posts and then the comments from readers a often useful.

I am very disappointed with the comments to this post, though. As I said, I'm a teenager, and my brother and sister and I treat each other with more respect than you've been treating each other. I can't believe that intelligent, literate adults can't express their views more politely (and persuasively, for that matter - simply attacking someone else's view is not persuasive). Grow up.

As for the technology issue; my generation is very tech-savvy. I don't see this as a bad thing. I have a Kindle, a laptop, an IPOD, and a cell phone in my backpack right now.

I also have at least one paperback that I'm reading for enjoyment, and three or four textbooks. Oh, and my folder with music for jazz band practice later tonight. Technology is not replacing paper... it's simply adding to the resources we already have.

If having an ebook reader encourages people to READ, then how can that be a bad thing? Books and paper will always be around, too (until we clear-cut all the forests and no longer have the option for paper... but then we can start scavenging the landfills and recycle the materials there... so books will never disappear).

- Alexis, 15 and disappointed in the "adults"

Eloquently put, Janny. That ought to sum up the fears of the anti-technology wing quite nicely. Authors seem to be less and less of a factor in this business chess game (and their agents alongside them); one wonders that if it were possible for the publishing industry to create a software package to write personalized novels for each consumer, would they do it?

"Introducing Novel Writer 6.0! Sick of authors mangling perfectly good books with snarky endings? Tired of writers taking themselves too seriously and trying to be literary giants? Buy your copy of Novel Writer 6.0 today! Simply load in your favorite names, the number of deaths/sex scenes, level of acceptable profanity, nine of your favorite cities and choose which of seventy-five separate genres you want your book to be about! Choose what kind of ending you like! Buy the upgrade package and even enter what you want your main character/main antagonist to look like-- even better, use Cover Creator 9 for a picture! In the time it takes you to cook up a bowl of popcorn, Novel Writer 6.0 will cook YOU up a customized novel, tailored to your specific needs as a reader and downloaded to your choice of digital media... you even control the length of the novel!"

Alexis, sweetie, your generation is the one that thinks digitally ripping off songs and copying DVDs from Netflix is okay. As a person who has yet to make a living on her own, with no idea of how hard it can be to have a career (especially as a writer), you really have no idea as to the context of this conversation. In the end, it all comes down to money.

Not for nothing, but Baen Books has been doing something like this for a couple years now. There isn't a submission protocol anymore. You join Baen's Bar and you post your stories for people to look at an comment on. After it's been there a while and enough people have looked at your edits, you move it over to the Slush Bar. Stories there are chosen to go into the electronic magazine (downloadable of course, and they pay more than the print mags for the rights); if the story is novel length, they consider it for publication. Several writers have been published with Baen that way, and some of their old established writers have agreed to post their older books for free in the Free Library---- you go to Baen Books and download as many books from a few hundred however you want. I'm no expert, but isn't that what this is all about?

Tabitha Wright

Perhaps it does all come down to money. However, tolerance and literacy are goals worth striving for. Perhaps my generation can succeed in those where your generations have failed.

Thank you Anon 1:17 for managing to speak to me in a kinder tone than some of the others have addressed one another with in the comments above. If only you could have managed to speak to me without the condescension...

- Alexis

Oh, and my friends and I do not "rip off" CDs or DVDs. However, I'm pretty sure people of all generations do engage in such behavior and are in violation of the law for doing so.

- Alexis

Aha, but previous generations would have had to steal copyrighted materials in one of two ways. Shoplifting or plagiarism. Nowadays it all comes down to "cut and paste" or "click to copy". Remember Napster?

I think people are more upset by the idea of writers not getting paid enough for their work, and worse, that work being proliferated ad infinitum without them gaining anything at all. All it would take is one "book club" making copies and passing it among their members, or publishing companies deciding to license certain groups to download several copies at the same price, undercutting the artist yet again.

Doesn't anyone know what high schools go through these days just trying to use the photocopy machine?

Just got back. My comments way above look mean because I dislike Know-It-Alls, and Agent Kristin counts as a Know-It-All. Saw her live and in person, and she was rude to several people who had paid good money to see her. They had honest questions, she had smartass answers. Blow it out your collective ass.

Sally

"Aha, but previous generations would have had to steal copyrighted materials in one of two ways. Shoplifting or plagiarism."

Uh.... Xerox? Cassette tapes? Printing presses? Anything that can be manufactured once can be manufactured twice. And at any point in history, if the majority of the value add was the intellectual content, someone's probably done it.

The word "piracy" has been used to apply to copyright infringement for a really, really long time. Certainly longer than "this" generation. Copying's a lot cheaper now than it was then--but the flipside is that global enforcement is a lot more effective now than it was in the dark old days when the Brits couldn't do anything about the penny presses in America printing verbatim copies of Dickens.

The challenge the 21st century faces in dealing with copyright is to make it easier to buy the real deal then it is to pirate it. That's why iTunes works when there's bittorrent.

I guess I'll add my two cents worth here. I am published in both ebook and print and I have to say I was first published and ebook and it was and continues to be a great exoperience. My ebooks are available to people all over the world (I have emails from readers from Canada to Hong Kong) and my sales have been great. On top of that, the royalty percentage from ebook sales far exceeds those in any standard print publication contract so I am making a tidy piece of change. And whoever said it costs the publisher nothing to put an ebook out there knows nothing himself about the process of readying a book for publication and maintaing both an online store and arragements with other ebook sellers to maximize the sales of the books. So if you want to comment about the negativity of ebooks, please be sure you know what you;re talking about.

As a general principle, I do not moderate comments (as I would rather not waste the time).

And Free speech and all that. People are entitled to their opinion.

However, I've noticed that there have been several comments posted that just seem to be general attacks on other posters and don't involve an actual relevant discussion to this blog topic.

I have removed them.

Kristin

Whew, that was a lot of work. Just to get her highness off of her throne and down here among the proletariat took an awful lot of perseverance on my part, at least seven different commentator names and the unwilling but necessary participation of a few special individuals who helped me out by taking themselves way too seriously. Really, folks, these guys and gals are the true heroes here-- leaving themselves open for ridicule like that takes a lot of guts and very few brain cells.

I must admit that no less than sixty percent of my posts have been taken down, a personal record. But anyone reading this might ask a tremulous, "Why do this at all?"

Simply this. Ms. Nelson gets the ball rolling by blithely sharing with us the dull minutia of her days as an agent, which gives us a fair view of her job. Every now and again, she tosses a grenade into the mix without so much as a polite cry of "Fire in the hole!" Hot topics that are obviously near and dear to the hearts of writers, that are then fought over and chewed to pieces by scores of individuals. And then she walks away from the conflict without so much a a brief rejoinder.

When you open your blog up with one of these accessible little comment screens, you unwittingly create a forum atmosphere. No joke, it's what brings people back, this forum. You have the chance to become a part of something larger than what you set out to create, which is a mildly interesting blog about your day-to-day. When you see an issue explode the way this one did, it's almost your moral duty to step in as the progenitor and either comment on/explain your views, or at the very least address the subject in another blog entry. Way over our heads, there were people with legitimate points and concerns about a product like Kindle. One guy talks about the fears of unpublished writers... how is that not a valid topic?

Before you were a business person, you were a teacher. If there is any shred of that left in you, look at what you've created here and use it. Either that or shut the comment section down and let your number of visits dwindle.

That's it for me. No offense or anything. I see too much crap in this world these days, too many wrongs ignored. Read this and delete it if you like. Ignore me. You have unwittingly founded a platform larger than you meant to; use it for good or shut it down. If you don't you aren't that worthy of much respect, in my opinion.

Personally, having books that you pay less for forever tied to your account where you can't lose them is kind of cool.

I admit that I'm not too sad to see vampires go. I've enjoyed my share of vampire books, but it will be nice to see what takes their place, for variety's sake.

I haven't found a sushi I enjoy yet, but I do live in the Southwest, an area not typically known for seafood of any sort.

And congrats on the good news concerning both Ally Carter and Hank Ryan. That's wonderful!

Sick of hearing of vampires? Not at all but a fresh take on it is good.

Thank God there aren't any vampires in my manuscript. Phew. . . oh wait, there ARE - it's ME! Mwahahaha!^=^

Military-sprinkled books in fantasy or other genre? Forgive me, but it only works if written by someone who's actually been in the military. I'll add that to my list of novel projects. Number Five, GI Jane offs a vampire. Tick.

Now that I've had my daily bite of inspiration, back to work. Hua! I mean mwhahaha! *swishes cape and flies off.

-Rachel Glass

On a more serious note Kristin, would you mind asking one of the publishers you meet with their stance on contemporary romances?

Thank you.

-Rachel Glass

Congrats to you and the authors.

And does Hank Ryan have the coolest name or what?

Congrats to Ally Carter and Hank Ryan! I've got a 12 year-old cousin with a birthday coming up, and I'm thinking I'll get "Cross My Heart, Hope to Spy" for her.

I'm new to this, Kristin. Could you please explain what you mean by "high concept, big, up-market commercial literary fiction". A lot of words in that one description!

I just dont understand this whole 'Vampire' obsession! I dont think I've ever picked up a Vampire book and I probably wont ever. Give me traditional fantasy any day of the week! None of this modern urban whatever.

Can you explain this 'High concept' thing? It comes up quite often, but it sounds like 'management talk' to me. We need specifics and explanations, not pretty words like 'high concept' ..do you mean high in the sky as in set in the clouds? or high concept as in its a real stretch of the imagination? or such a far-out idea that no one would have ever thought of it before? or what?

Anon 2:18,

High Concept is a movie term that has been applied to books for a few years now.

At Wikipedia: "The plot of a high concept movie is easily understood by audiences, and can often be described in a sentence or two, and succinctly summarized by the movie's title."

Just substitute 'book' for 'movie' in this definition. So it's the complete opposite of all the explanations you offered.

One example given by Wikipedia: "Snakes on a Plane"
From that title, you easily surmise there's a plane with snakes on it, and pandemonium will likely ensue.

Not even JOHN HOLLY sushi? That stuff is to die for. When we lived in Lone Tree, we ate it once a week, minimum. It's at Park Meadows mall, if you haven't tried it. Highly recommend!

:-)

Yum… I could live on sushi. When it’s good, it’s so divine.

Never liked vampires. Anything that involves blood is just icky.

All the editors are open to epic fantasy, eh? That's better news than I heard last year at this time...here's hoping the trend continues, for those of us who love both to read and write it.

Better than Sushi Den on South Pearl?

Dear Kristin (and commenters)
I get high-concept, now, thanks to you and the commenters on your blog. But could you provide some examples of commercial literary fiction? I am wondering at the moment where to direct the new manuscript I am writing. Clearly, this is a good genre to be in, but I don't know whether I am even in with a chance, because I am not entirely sure what it is. Thanks! And thank you very much for this New York series. It has been sooo helpful!

All the editors are open to a large (or epic) fantasy along the lines of Patrick Rothfuss THE NAME OF THE WIND

Yay! This gives me hope.

I have a question for the commentors: In what genre would you classify a book that is mostly mainstream/commercial, but the main character has supernatural powers she rarely uses because she wants to succeed on her own?

Think Holly Golightly meets Bewitched.

Even nasty, but truthful, comments will be appreciated and taken seriously.

I think it makes sense... the thing is, I don't have time to live my life, take care of my kids, write, AND read everything that's out there to see if my story is different or not! It's time-travel, but it takes place mostly in the present... the time-travel is more of an conflict element in the story, than a structure that carries the story, if that makes any sense.

Is that typical? Is it unusual? I haven't read any like that, but does that mean anything, when there are millions of books? I don't know.

All I can do is write the stories that I'm enjoying writing, and hope that maybe they'll have an audience when I'm done.

Anonymous 7:58...if it's mainly mainstream fiction, then wouldn't it be mainstream fiction, no matter what paranormal power is involved? Lovely Bones is just literary fiction and it's paranormal in a sense, isn't it?

Anonymous, mainstream commercial fiction.

Also, CL Wilson's LADY OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS did even BETTER than the first book, hitting the NYT list.

I can't wait to see what happens with the third and the fourth. But it's important to note that Dorchester saw the potential in that book. It was not an "easy sell" for Wilson, and I bet people are kicking themselves now!

(I'm a totally unabashed Tairen Soul fan.)

Clear as mud. ; ) No, perfect sense. I'm chanting as I walk away. . . fresh and original fresh and original. . .

Not to sound like a broken record, but thanks again, your insight has helped me quite more than I would have thought possible.

Many Thanks,

Rachel Glass

ok, well i have heard that straight romance in literary fiction is dead. also stories like that in big magazines are more or less obsolete. this is depressing. is it true?

I think the most important thing is to write what you like. JK Rowling wrote boy wizard stories when nobody was reading those. Stephenie Meyer wrote a vampire romance when absolutely nobody was reading those. So the trends really change because of authors who don't write what is 'in' at the moment but write what they want, and write it very well.

Very true, Kaleb!

Hmmm, still no mention of what I write. Just curious. What do you think about Historical Westerns? Where do they stand in the industry, and would you be interested in a Historical Western?

Thanks for the input about the genre, guys. I thought M/C, too, but sometimes you're so close you can't be objective. And now that the wonderful Diana P. has confirmed it, I'm satisfied.

thanks...anon @7:58

I meant to say is, what would you say to a Historical Western Romance submission? Are you interested in this sub-genre?

Stephenie Meyer wrote a vampire romance when absolutely nobody was reading those.

Says who?

When Twilight came out (10/2005), both adult romance and YA novels wer in the middle of a huge vampire explosion. Sherrilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan were regularly making the bestseller list. JR Ward was already out. There were a ton of YA vampire stories as well. Atwater-Rhodes had been publishing for years. PEEPS was out. The list goes on and on. Vampires were ALL OVER. Meyer's became extremely popular very quickly, but lots of people were and are publishing in that genre

Would you or Sara rep a traditional fantasy for teen boys if it was strong in character and action and filled with amazing world-building?

Fantasy/Historicals are quite popular with my younger gal-pals, and I can see why. They didn't have them around when and where I grew up, so I get to enjoy them now, reviewing them.

Kristen, I just wanted to say thanks. I have really been enjoying the adventures of you and Chutney in NY. You're always so informative. Thanks so much.

Hmm, what about ghost/western time travel? I love time travels. Can't get my hands on enough of them. Though I have my urban fantasy wolf series, I want to work on a couple of time travels too!

Terry Spear
Heart of the Wolf, Don't Cry Wolf
www.terryspear.com

Sorry if this is too off-topic, but I was wondering if Kristin would like to join in with the support for the Preditors & Editors website in this time of need, when it is facing lawsuits from Barbara Bauer (on the "worst 20 agents" list) and Publish America's lawyer Vic.

Diana, I don't know what happened with Twilight. About a year ago, I was really in to YA vampire novels, and everyone thought I was a giant geek, and now everyone's reading Twilight and its sequels and insisting "No, it's DIFFERENT!" Kudos to Stephenie Meyer. I don't know who her agent it, but I'm sure he or she is, but kudos to them too.

anon @2:34...where can I get more info on this? I hadn't heard anything, and P&E has been a good site for me for a long time.

Historical fantasy, you say? I might actually be finished revising mine before editors get tired of them. *goes to work*

A quick question: Do agents ever sign on a young writer? like a teenager?

anon@10:05:

I'm sure it's a business proposition. If a teen writes something that will sell, there's an agent out there who will take him or her on. But just like with us old folks, you have to write something salable and then find that agent.

I hope that helps. :-)

I loved vampire novels when I was a "young adult" over ten years ago, lol.

Absolute Write has information on Dave and the P&E stuff.

Thanks, Kristin. I just found your agency site and your blog. What a resource for a starting-out writer.

Could you please clarify what editors mean by "historical fantasy"? Is it somethign like the 12th century with dragons, vampires, magic, etc? Or does it include an alternative universe version of the 12th century -- something like what Guy Gavriel Kay writes?

Thanks!
Vicky

I went to a writers workshop last month. Inevitably someone tells the class that they've got a marketing plan for their book and a cover and cities they'd like to do a book tour through. This happens all the time and usually the book isn't even finished yet. The whole class looks defiant or disappointed or both when the instructor tells the class that it's NOT DONE THAT WAY.

I think a lot of writers want to impress, and believe that they'll look more informed if they have this big plan ready to go. I suspect many don't want to give up creative control of their book- the covers, illustration, etc. Personally I think it's a relief. All I have to do is write. And, of course, stay informed about what this industry really wants from me.

Blogs like this one have been so good for my education.

At the last couple of conferences I attended, we were pounded with "you have to have a way to market your book." We're being told it's the author's responsiblity to sell the book. The publishing houses are not doing it anymore.

This could be the reason so many people are sending in a marketing plan with their proposals.

I have even seen the request in some submission guidelines for what kind of plan you have to help market your book.

The main thing is to read and learn the submission guidelines for each individual publishing house and follow them. They will let you know what they want.

I ditto Pam Halte's comments above. Every writer's conference I've attended had a huge number of workshops with titles like: "How to Promote Your Book Because Your Publisher Won't."

I'm glad Kristin is having a super time in NY, it's fun to read what her days are like. It seems like what a lot of the editors are telling her, though, can change on a whim. If they get a couple of books from their wish list -- like the previous post's need for huge commercial girl book with solid writing, don't they just move on to their next whim? Say, a boy book that's literary?

Hard to keep up, no?

Glad to see you're still kicking Kristin, it was an empty weekend without your blog.

Actually, it's refreshing to hear any editor at all tell us NOT to provide a marketing plan. More and more in the adult divisions, the publishers expect us to change hats, tell them how to sell our book, to whom, when, and in what manner. To which most of us say, "If I'd wanted to go into marketing, I'd have GONE into marketing."

So what is it these YA publishers know that adult trade publishers no longer know? And can we please have some cross pollination, so the rest of us can stop wasting so much energy putting together marketing plans that no publisher's going to actually use anyway?

Slightly exasperated in Indiana

Kristin, can you define what 'high concept' means? (from your previous blog)

I'm actually not surprised that editors are telling authors and agents not to spend their time (especially at that stage of the game) on marketing plans--I imagine they're much more concerned about the books.

In fact, the only people I hear talking about how "authors have to sell their own books" and "you've got to have a marketing plan if you're going to have a career" are other authors--especially at conferences--as if it's possible to self-promote your way onto the bestseller lists.

But I don't think a person can ever self-promote their way to a breakout book. I do, however, think a person can WRITE their way to that point in their career.

But I never hear THAT at conferences. I guess it's just easier to say "my publisher didn't do anything to sell my book" than it is to say "I wrote a book that didn't sell."

Question for the thread about YA marketing proposals ... I have a YA book on submission right now at a major house. It's kind of a strange situation, in that the book has already been through committee, and I've been working with the editor since October on revisions. They wanted to see a rewrite before they considered an offer. The revised draft is back at committee right now, so we're waiting on the word.

So ... I sent my agent a few ideas for marketing this book, and he called and said he wanted to forward my e-mail to the editor. He said it would show them that 1) I'm thinking of ways to help sell it, and 2) I've got a few specific markets in mind.

But now I'm reading here that YA publishers don't want marketing plans, and in fact, bristle at the notion. This is pretty much the opposite from what my agent told me, and now I'm nervous. Anybody have thoughts?

LurkerMonkey

Editor A is talking about the book -- the subject, the characters, the voice.

Editor B is talking about all the peripheral stuff, don't mention Oprah, don't include your own illustrations, etc...

So Editor B must be an editor that accepts nonagented material? Surely AGENTS aren't making those terrible "Oprah will love this" propostiions, are they?

So, my YA "Harry Potter meets the Troll beneath the bridge" yarn is not going to go over well? But he's such a nice troll, not like his internet cousins....

Kristin, are you meeting with any (epic) Fantasy editotrs this week?

Maybe the main point of this post is that we writers have to very carefully read the submission guidelines.

Hey, how about the Troll on the Internet, kind of Tron meets Shrek...wait he was an ogre wasn't he?
I too would be really interested in hearing if editors are still taking epic fantasy or anything Jordanesque these days.

Kristin:

About how long should a novel from a new writer be for the teen market? I heard an agent at a Surrey Writers' Conference a couple years ago say 60,000 words.

Mark in the Seattle area

I randomly came across your blog (via an interview) by Googling DPI. I just applied to the program and have yet to hear back. Could you spare some advice in the event that I don't get in? I really want to stay in the Houston area but I'm having a hard time finding any book publishing companies. Also, if I do get lucky and find one, I'm not sure how to get my foot in the door.

Thanks!
Lorilei Espinola
[email protected]

Lurker: I wouldn't be nervous. If you went with a reputable agent with contacts, I'm sure he knows what the particular editor in question would be interested in. Trust your agent.

Anon requesting high concept... your question was answered in the comments to Friday's blog.

Personally, I'm pleased to know that no two editors are the same. Not only does this mirror the reality of no two readers being the same, but it allows writers to pretty much tell whatever story they want.

As for the marketing issue... even if a publisher asks for your input in how to market the book, don't argue with them about the best methods. That is NOT going to go over well. And I don't think Kristin was saying not to market yourself at all; in fact, a previous post indicated that we should all have websites for soon-to-be released work.

"And the adage couldn’t be more true that no two editors are ever alike."

They are alike? Ever alike? Oh... never :) It's nice to see that even agents have the minor typo now and then. Still, I will be very careful with my query letters, since there is a far greater need for proper spelling in them :)

The number one thing guaranteed to make you in-house publicist hate you without ever having met you is to email her or call her and say "I think this book is perfect for Oprah."

Because I have made voodoo dolls of authors who have done that to me.

:-)

Colleen

@ the last "Anonymous": She had it right, you had it wrong. You can't say "no two editors are never alike." You can, however, say "no two editors are ever alike."
But nice try.