Guide to Literary Agents - Marketing and Sales

6 Tips on How to Build a Platform and Sell Books
Posted by Chuck

For nonfiction writers, the most significant development of the past decade has been the insistence by the publishers that authors have national platforms. For fiction writers, authors’ platforms matter less. However, it never hurts for a fiction writer to be charismatic, articulate, a vigorous promoter, and media savvy. Children’s book writers and illustrators also benefit from being willing to travel, visit bookstores, network with educators, and promote.

This column excerpted from
Author 101: Bestselling Secrets From Top Agents

Agents gravitate to writers with visibility and “reach” because publishers are convinced they will generate more book sales. With that in mind, here are some basic ways to build a platform:

GIVE TALKS AROUND THE COUNTRY

Start locally by approaching civic, community, and religious organizations. Develop a series of talks for your church or the rotary club and then move up to larger groups and venues. Ask everyone you know to help find bookings. Speak often and work your way up. Make your initial mistakes locally and build a devoted fanbase close to home.
Hone your craft by taking speaking, voice, or acting lessons. Or you could hire a professional media coach. Then practice, practice, practice.
Ask your audiences and your friends to critique your performances and to give you their suggestions. Ruthlessly critique yourself.

GAIN MEDIA PRESENCE

Inform members of the media about your appearance(s) and invite them to attend as your guest.
Maintain a file of press clippings about you and your presentations that you can use to get more media coverage.
Write a regularly published column, newsletter or blog. Again, start small and then try to build your exposure.

MAKE USE OF THE INTERNET

Starting and leading an online community can position you as an expert. Expand your following, and stay informed of problems, issues and developments in your field.

FIND PARTNERS

Compile a names list. Create a list of individuals who would be interested in buying your book. At your appearances or on your website, offer free giveaways to people who pass on their contact information or sign up for a newsletter.

PLATFORM ALTERNATIVE #1: JOIN FORCES

When some agents receive submissions that they like from writers who don’t have platforms, they try to pair them with people who do. Pairing seems to work best when authors are matched before the actual writing begins. They can plan the book together, divide responsibilities, and decide how they will work.

PLATFORM ALTERNATIVE #2: PLUG INTO AN ESTABLISHED BOOK SERIES

Good examples are the Dummies, Chicken Soup, Everything and Streetwise series of books. With a series like this, the brand and reputation are what sells, and are more important than the writer's platform.

Want more on this topic?

Footnotes: 6 articles on building a platform.
Buy Christina Katz's book on platform, Get Known Before the Book Deal.
Platform and the debut of your book.
Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2011 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Excerpts | Marketing and Sales | Platform

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 7:00:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

7 Tips on Book Publicity
Posted by Chuck

I recently attended “Publishing Books, Memoirs, and Other Creative Nonfiction,” at Harvard Medical School. Rusty Shelton, managing director of Phenix and Phenix Literary Publicists, gave a great talk on book publicity. Here are seven of my favorite tips.

Guest column by Livia Blackburne, an MIT
neuroscientist by day and a YA writer by night.
In her blog, A Brain Scientist's Take on Writing,
she studies writing from a neuroscientist's
analytical perspective.

1. Media is changing. Before the Internet era, the media landscape was like a classroom. The teacher (i.e., The New York Times or the Washington Post) stood at the podium and disseminated information. Now, with social media, the students are passing notes amongst themselves. Plus, if a note gets very popular, the teacher picks it up and reads it to the class.

2. Your website is not about selling your book. Many authors mistakenly think their website is about selling their book. But in that case, people would have no reason to visit your website except to buy your book. Instead, make your website useful to people so they keep coming back. Keep a blog so there’s always fresh information. Then, you start building up a base of followers who may not only buy this book, but future books as well.

3. It’s more important than ever to write a good book. With the old media landscape, you might have been able to trick people into buying a bad book with advertising or a high-profile review. But now with social media, people are sharing information, and people trust their friends more than they trust professional book reviewers.

4. Don’t be a media snob. There is an urban legend about an author who went to New York City for a book signing. He couldn't book many venues, but he was offered an interview in a small upstate New York radio station. A NY Times reporter was driving through, heard his story, and write a feature story on him. The moral of the story? You never know who’s watching or listening.

5. Not everyone can benefit from a publicist. If you are super niche, a publicist may not be able to help you. The same is true if you’re self-published and your book is only available online. Your book needs to be in stores if you want to benefit from a publicist.

6. On choosing a publicist: Look at their recent media bookings to see what kind of media contacts they have. Also, be wary if the publicist agrees to take you on without even looking at your book. The publicist should be interviewing you the same way an agent does so he can make an educated decision about whether he can help you.

7. The media outlet’s priority during interviews is to entertain and inform their audience, not to sell your book. Don’t be “that guy” who plugs his book every other sentence. It's annoying. Also, research the outlet beforehand so you make your responses relevant to their audience. Remember that if you give a good interview, the reporter might invite you back in the future.

“Publishing Books, Memoirs, and Other Creative Nonfiction” is a three day course covering the entire publishing process from writing to submission, publication, and publicity. For other helpful tidbits from the conference, see Livia's post about it here.

If you need some book
marketing tips, check out
Author 101: Bestselling Book Publicity

Want more on this subject?

How to publicize your book with courage.

The Knight Agency talks book marketing.

Children's agent Sarah Davies talks book marketing.

Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.

Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.

Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the most recent edition of Guide to Literary Agents today!

Guest Columns | Marketing and Sales

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 11:00:22 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Sunday, May 16, 2010

10 Tips For Marketing Your Books Online
Posted by Chuck

Times are tough. Publishers are cutting back on just about everything: coop, author tours, marketing dollars—heck, their staffs. Newspapers are jettisoning their book sections. Magazines are going bankrupt, writing programs are being restructured, conferences are being cancelled. It is undeniably rough out there. So what’s an author to do in the face of all this adversity? Take advantage of the situation at hand, of course. There’s never been a better time to create your niche. The Internet is an overwhelmingly underused resource for authors who want to market themselves. And the best part? It’s free.

JT Ellison is the bestselling author of
the Taylor Jackson series, including
All The Pretty Girls, 14, Judas Kiss and
The Cold Room. Her novels have been
published in 14 countries, and she was
named "Best Mystery/Thriller Writer of
2008" by the Nashville Scene.

We’ve all seen the authors who are simply out there screaming "Me, me me!!!" They’re a big turnoff, right? So how do you go about getting your message out there, getting your book into the hands of loyal readers, without alienating possible friends and readers? Very carefully. Don't just push yourself on people; be a value-add author. Give them something back. Give them something they didn’t know they needed in the first place, and you’ve conquered what marketing is all about. Things to remember about marketing online include:

1. Respect your lists. If you send out too many notifications, people simply tune you out. My newsletter goes out quarterly. Publishing works slowly enough that you don’t need much more than that to get your news out. Everyone’s time is precious: If you treat them with respect, you’ll get respect.

2. What works for one won’t always work for others. As frustrating as this may be, it’s the truth. You can follow in every single step I took online and still not see the benefits. The trick is to be original, be open and willing, and be flexible. You never know where that next opportunity may come from.

3. Don’t compare or compete. Professional jealousy is an occupational hazard. Don’t fall into that trap. Each book, each author, is wildly different. Jealousy causes negative energy, which will trickle out in your attitude. Remember that comparing yourself to another author is like comparing apples and oranges—they don’t measure up properly.

4. Be polite. Always. Don’t engage, don’t be mean and spiteful, don’t gang up on people. Cyber-bullying isn’t just a problem in our schools. And especially don’t put your woes and frustrations online. Limit those conversations to your trusted friends. The Internet is not a giant group psychotherapy session, nor a group hug.

5. Don’t give up. When one door closes, a window opens. Things fall through. Media doesn’t get played, articles don’t get placed, short stories get bumped. Promises, sadly, do sometimes get broken, but if you can keep a healthy perspective on the industry, you’ll do fine.

6. Be open to new experiences. This is a foreign landscape for many people. If you limit yourself from the beginning, you may miss out on things. Read the writing magazines. Pay special attention to the Writer’s Digest segment on debut authors [called "Breaking In"]. Remember that this is your job, maybe even your second, or third. Things that are hard are usually worth it, you know? Very few authors can honestly say that their road to publication is easy, but there is a universal among them—they studied the market before submitting.

7. Be careful what you say online. Everything you say, everything, is recorded in perpetuity. Websites cache their material, which means even if you’ve gone back and deleted something, a version continues to live on. So be careful what you say. Think before you comment. Follow the adage your mom always taught: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. You never know what sort of impact even the most casual negative comment can have.

8. Don’t ever, ever engage a reviewer over a negative review. Yes, it sucks that you got a one-star on Amazon. That’s one person’s very subjective opinion. Unless the comments are slanderous or libelous (which is rarely the case) you need to let them go.

9. I know some authors feel that being a lightning rod gains them readers. I don’t agree. I think the way you gain a readership is by doing two things: one, writing the absolute best book you can possibly write, and two, being a value-add author.

10. Build momentum (and your platform) by joining organizations. My first manuscript didn’t sell, and my agent suggested I try writing a new book, which I did. During that time, though, I didn’t abandon my online efforts. I kept up with my group crime blog (Murderati), as well as DorothyL, and several other listserves. I continued my weekly book picks on Publishers Marketplace. I started writing short stories and placing them in e-zines, raising my profile even more. And I volunteered to be a book reviewer for an online site, which enabled me to read everything I could get my hands on, knowing that reading is the key to better writing. All of that paid off. When my agent took the second book out onto submission, I now had a solid online platform. I was a crime blogger, a reviewer, a participant. The editors at the houses knew I was plugged in to the crime fiction network, that I had built myself a base of followers even before I sold my first book. And it worked. My first deal was for three books. So was my second. And my third.
Momentum. In this industry, it means a lot.

Now go forth, and conquer!

If you need some book
marketing tips, check out
Author 101: Bestselling Book Publicity

Want more on this subject?

How to publicize your book with courage.

The Knight Agency talks book marketing.

Children's agent Sarah Davies talks book marketing.

Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.

Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.

Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for?

Guest Columns | Marketing and Sales | Social Networking and the Internet

Sunday, May 16, 2010 11:18:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

Thursday, April 29, 2010

How To Publicize Your Book With Courage
Posted by Chuck

When it comes to first-time, do-it-yourself publicity for your book, jumping into the unknown can seem a lot easier said than done. You may find, though, that simply having a great respect and adoration for the book(s) you seek to publicize will enable you to sprout the wings that you need to soar, right off the steep cliff walls of doubt.

Eleanor D. Van Natta founded her own book
publicity service. She is a freelance writer, and
brings to each client and each job over 15
years of sales and marketing experience.
See her website here.

LEAPS OF FAITH

Last fall, an author friend of mine offered me a wonderful opportunity to be her publicist. She was taking a giant leap of faith since I had no publicity experience, no media contacts, and not one clue how to begin. I was just recovering from a string of rejected query letters and didn’t even have a published book of my own. But who says you need to publish your book before learning about the publicity end of things?

What I did have, and I suppose what she saw in me, was an extensive sales background, a love of books, and a powerful drive to promote others. When I accepted her offer and leaped into the great unknown myself, I found that I had wings as well! In two weeks I had this author booked on a show that was her #1 goal as well as the #1 show in her niche. I didn’t have as much at stake or as much invested in her books as she did personally; they were her life’s work. However, I felt so privileged by her faith in me that from the very beginning I treated her books like adopted children of mine, mothering them, nurturing them, and gently raising them up and into the world. I would leave no child behind.

BOOK PUBLICITY TIPS FOR AUTHORS

Getting your book onto a show is like getting that child of yours into the right college and beyond. I have learned a few things over the last several months about sending your babes out into the world:

Target, target, target your shows. Your book must be a good fit to even be considered by the host or the producer.
Hook them quickly. The most important part of your pitch most likely will be your e-mail’s subject line—spend some time and thought on these very few words (“the hook”) that will determine whether the rest of your e-mail/pitch is even read.
Follow up. If you don’t, you may never know if no reply means “no” or simply “didn’t read the e-mail.”
Reveal details about yourself. Don't forget to put somewhere in the pitch where you are located, what time zone you are in, and your availability for interviews (e.g., need advance notice, same-day interviews possible, etc.).
Read, read, read what other people have written about publicity—specifically book publicity, on blogs and in books; you will be amazed at how many great tips and examples are out there—even example pitch letters—mostly free via your local library or the web.
Believe in yourself! The media needs information and guests; why not you?
Start early. its never too early to start learning about publicity and formulating a plan for your book.

DON'T FORGET YOUR PARACHUTE

When you hand over your books—your life’s work, your soul’s dialogue with the world—to a radio or television show, you must believe in them at your very core. I have found that you not only need to love your books as your own children, as beings birthed from your heart and soul, but you need to love yourself even more than your books. Believe in yourself and know that you are valuable, that your books—and what you have to say—are worthy of the publicity. That is your parachute as you leap off the cliffs. No matter how much you read “don’t take it personally,” you will more than likely take it personally when you are “rejected.” If you have sprouted those wings and have a strong belief in yourself and in your book(s), then you will learn to look at those “no’s” as just bringing you closer to the next big “yes.” And the risk you took will all be worth it in the end.

If you need some book
marketing tips, check out
Author 101: Bestselling Book Publicity

Want more on this subject?

The Knight Agency talks book marketing.

Children's agent Sarah Davies talks book marketing.

Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.

Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.

Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2011 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Guest Columns | Marketing and Sales

Thursday, April 29, 2010 12:25:55 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, April 26, 2010

Agent Michael Larsen on Starting Your Career (Part 3)
Posted by Chuck

Anne Lamott begins a chapter of her wonderful book Bird by Bird like this: There’s an old New Yorker cartoon of two men sitting on a couch at a busy cocktail party, having a quiet talk. One man has a beard and looks like a writer. The other seems like a normal person. The writer type is saying to the other: “We’re still pretty far apart. I’m looking for a six-figure advance, and they’re refusing to read the manuscript.” If you find yourself pretty far apart from publishers, perhaps you need to consider using the following building blocks to construct your career as a successful author. (This is Part III of this guest column. Part I is here and Part II is here.)

Michael Larsen and his wife Elizabeth Pomada
founded Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in
San Francisco. They are AAR members
and have sold books to more than 100
publishers. Michael is the author or co-author
of How to Write a Book Proposal and
Guerrilla Marketing for Writers. He runs
a new agent blog, as well. To see the
nonfiction topics he seeks, click here.

14. Be an authorpreneur: Speaker Sam Horn’s brilliant word which, for me, means:

having the entrepreneurial ability to create something out of nothing: an idea; a book that you can sell in more forms, media and countries than ever ; an international 365/24/7 business; and a career
coming up with ideas that you can sell in as many forms, media, and countries as possible
being responsible for your success
being unique by being creative in writing and promoting your books
being resourceful in meeting challenges
looking at everything you experience and reflexively wondering if there’s a way to use it to enrich your personal or professional life
using speed, creativity and flexibility to compensate for size
embracing and taking advantage of new information, technology, and opportunities created by accelerating change

15. Have courage: Believe in yourself and the value of your books. You will overcome the obstacles that await you.

16. Take the long view: A writing career isn’t one book but ten or twenty, each better and more profitable than the last. So you have to balance and integrate your short- and long-term goals.

17. Grow yourself: You are the most important factor in your success. You have to challenge yourself to improve physically, mentally, spiritually, and professionally. You have to keep learning if you want to keep earning.

You are Needed Now: Creative, resourceful people keep proving that anything is possible, that we are limited only by our ideas and the time and resources we devote to developing them. The world needs all the information, inspiration, help and entertainment you can provide. Enjoy the journey and best of luck!

(This is part three on Michael's thoughts for writers and their career. Part I is here and Part II is here.)

Michael Larsen's book, How to Write a
Book Proposal (now in its third edition) has
sold more than 100,000 copies and
helped countless writers sell their work.

Want more on this subject?

How royalties and advances (money) work.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket with just one book.

You have a contract but no literary agent - what to do.

Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.

Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.

Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2011 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Contracts and Copyrights and Money | Guest Columns | Marketing and Sales

Monday, April 26, 2010 12:22:53 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

How to Market and Sell Your Books
Posted by Chuck

I have some exciting news regarding WD's webinars. Agent Chip MacGregor, founder of MacGregor Literary, is teaching a new, amazing class called "Marketing for Authors." Chip, who runs a popular agent blog, is very wise when it comes to marketing both fiction and nonfiction. We are fortunate to have him aboard for this course, and I, for one, will be attending this webinar and yoking his knowledge.

This is a unique business-oriented webinar for authors who have self-published books out, authors who have traditional published books out, and authors who have books coming out soon. Chip will be presenting and also answering questions from writers.

DETAILS

It's a 90-minute webinar. It goes down at 1 p.m., EST Thursday, April 8. Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for 1 year. In other words, if something happens and you cannot attend it live, you can watch it later.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

These days most publishing houses expect their authors to handle the vast majority of the marketing effort for their books. Since most authors are trained writers but not trained publicists, it can be a bit daunting. The goal of this webinar will be to break the marketing process down into clear, doable steps. We'll explore how to create and begin implementing your own, personalized marketing plan to make your book stand out in a crowded marketplace. What you'll learn:

The basics of marketing in the new economy
What an author "brand" is, and how to establish and use it
Five things you can do to become your publisher's favorite author
What to expect your publisher to do (and what not to expect)
The keys to great marketing copy
How to get maximum impact out of social media

ABOUT CHIP

Chip MacGregor has been in publishing for almost three decades. He has represented hundreds of titles, his authors have won numerous awards, and the books he's represented have hit every major bestseller list, including #1 on the New York Times list.

Questions? Contact writingwebinars@fwmedia.com. Sign up here!

Marketing and Sales | Webinars

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 3:01:36 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [1]

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Conference Spotlight: Writer's Digest Conference: The Business of Getting Published (Sept. 18-20)
Posted by Chuck

This latest conference spotlight is shining some illumination on our own upcoming WD conference, which is called "The Business of Getting Published." It's all going down in the Big Apple this September.

DETAILS

This is the first-ever conference of its kind - an event in the heart of it all examining how to market, promote and sell your work. The conference lasts three days, from Friday, Sept. 18 through Sunday, Sept. 20. The event is at the New York Marriott Marquis, in Times Square, New York City.

This unique writers' conference is designed to guide any author through the new dynamics of today's publishing world. With emphasis on platform, networking and social media, this innovative event features the industry's top forward-thinking speakers, leading sessions on topics relevant to the current and future state of the publishing world.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Chris Brogan, social media guru, is the keynote speaker
Kassia Krozser, editor/publisher of BookSquare.com
David Mathison, whose online sales success is the new business model;
Mike Shatzkin, the industry's top publishing consultant
Seth Harwood and Scott Sigler, whose own podcasts and videocasts have made them super stars in the business
Christina Katz, author of Writer Mama and expert on author platform
and many more, plus the editors of Writer's Digest!

In addition, I myself will be moderating two panels of literary agents - one where agents discuss how they discover talent in the media and writing world; and one where agents discuss the transition from DIY publishers to traditional publishers.

A complete list of speakers and events can be found online.

WHAT ELSE?

Attendees of the event will take over the Bowery Poetry Club at 8 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 18, for the First Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Slam. Presented by the publisher of Poet’s Market, the evening will feature three rounds of original poetry. Participants will vie to win prizes and ultimately to be chosen as the evening’s Slam Champion.

Plus, each attendee gets a 15-minute personal appointment with an editorial professional to discuss their query letter, book proposal or self-published book.

Here are some of the topics for the weekend:

Do You Have a Meaningful Marketing Platform?
Effective Marketing and Promotion for Fiction Writers
Blog Hogs, Social Twitters and Online Tools for Authors
E-Books, Kindles and the Digitalization of the Industry
Working With an Independent Editor - Do You Really Need One?

Times Square!

Marketing and Sales | Platform | Writers' Conferences

Saturday, September 12, 2009 2:11:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [0]

Saturday, March 21, 2009

My Thoughts on Seth Godin's Piece Regarding Literary Agents
Posted by Chuck

Seth Godin, best-selling author and all-around successful business guru, recently posted a column called "Where Have All the Agents Gone?" In it, basically, he talks about how "middlemen" such as stock brokers, real estate agents and travel agents are either dying or dead. Then he wonders if literary agents are next.

The point he's trying to make is that literary agents act as "middlemen," too, and therefore, may be endangered and out of the picture in the future. But the column doesn't really give any good thoughts or observations as to why this will be. And I wanted to throw some thoughts in on this discussion because I disagree with his basic idea, and my adrenaline is still going too much from watching college basketball to fall asleep.

First of all, unless I'm really missing something here, the number of literary agents in the country is going up (whereas the number of travel agents is going down). Not in drastic, eye-popping numbers, but more literary agents are in the field than three years ago. Why is this? You already know the answer - it's because editors are too busy to act as gatekeepers and need someone to ween out all the poor work that's submitted.

Key point: Someone in the literary world has to act as a judge and gatekeeper (although people hate those words). Some group of professionals - agents - must take responsibility and look at the monstrous pile of manuscripts written each year and say, "This three percent has the potential to move on and be considered, but this ninety-seven does not because it's bad or been done before." Someone must review all 100% and create a big pile and a small pile. Who's gonna do it? Writers? Can they look at their own work and say, "This is unsatisfactory. It won't be published. I shouldn't submit it." Hell no. Never in a million years. Editors? They used to do a lot of this and still do a little. But they're too busy to sift through the slush and find the rare gems. They're busy being fired and those that aren't are churning out books like mad, hoping to God they sell. Someone has to do it, and that's why we have literary agents.

They aren't going anywhere. As the years go by, more and more people are trying to sell their work, and more and more editors are not looking at unsolicited submissions - meaning they will only consider work submitted from literary agents (usually with whom they have a current relationship). Add those two simple things up, and you see not only the need for literary agents, but a reason why new ones keep popping up.

Consider this paragraph from Godin's column:

"To thrive in a world of self-service,
agents have to hyperspecialize, have
to stand for something, have to have
the guts to say no far more than they
say yes. No, you can't publish this book.
No I won't represent you. No, don't take
that flight. No, I won't sell this house,
it's overpriced, list it yourself."

Am I missing something here? This is exactly what literary agents do. They say no 97% of the time. They all specialize. (Yes, they could probably stand to specialize even further, but it will all be OK). Literary agents differ from real estate agents and stock brokers and travel agents because of their ability (the necessity) to say just that: NO. They have the power of no, and that's why it's foolish to compare all these groups to lit reps. Literary agents won't work with just anybody. In fact, it's closer to the opposite.

They are like real estate agents in that they will help you secure a better deal, act as your representative, and explain the fine print regarding contracts. Both perform these functions. And yes, in a perfect world, you could go around an agent and sell something yourself to avoid the commission charge (a literary agent takes 15% of what you make). But in the publishing world, unless you're aiming low, you have to have an agent, or else no one will even listen to you. Agents act as needed middlemen. They see a busy, coffee-guzzling editor on one side of the table, and a reclusive prima donna writer on the other end. Someone needs to be part of the equation who listens to both sides and tries to figure out an acceptable deal.

To continue on the subject of money, let's examine why middlemen are disappearing. Real estate agents take their cut of the deal - six percent or whatever. Some relatives of mine are trying to sell their house and they aren't excited at all about that big chunk they'll lose with an agent. They want to keep the cash. On the other hand, have you ever met an writer who is really upset at the 15% they will lose by having an agent? The publisher doesn't care whether an agent is involved. They pay the same amount no matter if you have no agent or six of them. Sure, we writers would like 15% more, but ultimately a lot of us are so excited to see our work in print that we just shrug and thank God the number is just 15 and not more.

Consider this paragraph by Godin:

"... anonymous agents are interchangeable
and virtually worthless. Agents that don't
do anything but help one side find the other
side in a human approximation of Google
aren't so helpful any more."

Well, yes, but that doesn't mean anything. We all know that an agent without relationships with editors is worthless. If they don't have editors who pick up the phone when they call, then they're no better than you or I as joe schmo writers. To avoid getting a bad/ineffective agent, simply take two steps: 1) protect yourself by not paying any upfront fees; 2) ask a lot of questions before signing any contracts - such as questions regarding the contract language itself, and whether the agent has sold any books recently, and to whom, and why they want to sign you as a client. If the agent has sales, then they have relationships and are not anonymous and worthless.

Now: Does Godin have a point? Will agents disappear down the road? First of all - who knows. But if I had to guess, I would say it has to do with self-publishing. In the next 10-20 years, we will see drastic shifts toward self-publishing your work - especially if bookstores go the way of the dodo. If more writers are self-publishing their poor manuscripts rather than submitting them all over Hell's half acres, then the slush pile goes down, and the need for a gatekeeper is lessened, and perhaps editors can handle the workload again. Then he may have a point down the road.

My final thought: No, I don't think agents are going anywhere and I don't get Godin's column, though, admittedly, the man is a genius and I am not.

Contracts and Copyrights and Money | Marketing and Sales | Self-Publishing and Agents

Saturday, March 21, 2009 12:42:39 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [8]

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A Children's Agent Talks Marketing Your Work
Posted by Chuck

As a nonfiction writer myself, I know how important it is to brand yourself, and network yourself, and market yourself, and all those other things we as writers don't like to think about.

That's why I enjoyed this interview here with agent Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary. Sarah, who spends time agenting in both the US and UK, was recently interviewed by a blog called Market My Words, a blog about marketing run by a children's writer. Since Sarah and Greenhouse spend a lot of time looking for children's books, this was a logical pairing. The interview is long, and that's a good thing, because Sarah gets into some detail about what publishers will do versus what they expect.

Check out the interview now!

Agent Advice (Agent Interviews) | Marketing and Sales

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 1:17:58 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Helpful Book Marketing Q&A
Posted by Chuck

Recently of interest on the The Knight Agency's blog was a great Q&A addressing book marketing. If you want to sell a book - and especially if you want to sell a nonfiction book - you need to be a competent; nay, a zealous marketer. And you have to convince an agent of your marketing abilities when you pitch. You can't query an agent explaining your idea for a book on Incan matrimonial headmasks and say "I'll draft up a marketing and promotional plan as time goes on. Oh yeah, I'll also probably get a Web site going in six months." No. Have said plan completed before contacting an agent.

The Q&A posts are run by Julie Ramsey, marketing manager at the Knight Agency. The discussion addresses lots of relevant stuff, such as author Web sites, pen names, writer blogs, and whether scribes should invest money in an outside publicist.

Marketing and Sales

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 9:56:41 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Agent Advice: Rita Rosenkranz of the Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency
Posted by Chuck

"Agent Advice" is a series of quick interviews with literary and script agents who talk with Guide to Literary Agents about their thoughts on writing, publishing, and just about anything else.

This installment features Rita Rosenkranz, who founded the Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency in 1990.

Rita Rosenkranz

GLA: What’s the most recent thing you’ve sold?

RR: A book called Brand your Way to an MBA.

GLA: Bottom line—what attracts you to a work?

RR: A book that makes a difference—that has a distinction because there are no obvious rivals in the marketplace, either because this author has a better command of the subject than anyone else out there or because it’s a fresh subject having to do with our times. Actually the way I say it is: I look for projects that present familiar subjects freshly or lesser known subjects handled commercially.

GLA: Agents say writers should think about where their book would fit on the bookstore shelves. Is that an absolute necessity?

RR: For a certain kind of book, yes, where it is a purpose-driven book, if you will—where the author has a particular need and will be steered toward a particular Barnes and Noble shelf. You want to make sure the commute is an easy, unambiguous one. But there are other kinds of books that are perhaps more radical and revolutionary in their sensibility. Frankly, I have a book coming out next spring called Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids, which Beyond Words is publishing. And my feeling is there’s really nothing comparable. It’s totally distinctive and will be shelved in probably a couple of places. I don’t know what category they'll put on the back of the book: inspirational, illustrative, gift? It actually straddles a lot of fences. I hope it doesn’t get lost because of that, and that’s always the threat—that if you cant (classify) it expertly and precisely, it'll end up nowhere. But I think there are some books that can transcend category and catch on because of their fantastic strength and distinction in the marketplace.

GLA: What do you think is the most common mistake writers make when they give a short in-person pitch to an agent?

RR: TMI—too much information. TMI before they get the point of connection to me, such as too much background information that has nothing to do with the material at hand. The pitch has to be scripted and precise, so that I have enough time to react. If they've used all their time in telling me about the work, I can't steer the discussion to find out really if I’ve got a reason to connect to it. I do my best to interrupt if necessary because I'm aware of the passing of time and I want to make it count for them, hence make it count for me too. When I’m listening to a pitch, it’s with the hope that I'll connect with an author and represent the author.

Rita Rosenkranz founded the Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency in New York City. Her adult nonfiction stretches from the decorative (Flowers, White House Style, published by Simon & Schuster) to the dark (Saving Beauty From the Beast, published by Little, Brown). She represents health, history, parenting, music, how-to, popular science, business, biography, popular reference, cooking, spirituality and general interest titles.

Agent Advice (Agent Interviews) | Marketing and Sales | Nonfiction

Thursday, June 21, 2007 3:43:17 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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