Guide to Literary Agents

Alice Pope Interviews Me on the SCBWI Blog
Posted by Chuck

Alice Pope, the former editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrators Market, interviewed me yesterday on her big SCBWI blog.

It was the former editor of CWIM talking to the new editor, and it was a fun little back-and-forth. See the interview here.

My Writing Life

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 10:13:29 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Friday, July 23, 2010

I am the New Editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market
Posted by Chuck

I just heard recently that I will be the new editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market starting with the next edition (the 2012 edition). The news is both an honor and a challenge. Long-time editor Alice Pope helmed the book for ... well, a long time, and she did a fantastic job over her two decades steering the ship. I am honored to be the new captain.

Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market has always been a fantastic and popular resource for writers, and has sold more than 500,000 copies since its inception. I realize it is beloved in the kids writing world, so I can only tell you that I will do my best to keep it great and make it the best resource possible. I'm in touch with a lot of children's writers and agents each week, so I feel like I am up to this challenge. Talleyho, dudes.

(And in response to comments, YES, I will still be editing Guide to Literary Agents and doing this blog.)

The 2011 edition of CWIM
just landed in bookstores!

My Writing Life

Friday, July 23, 2010 1:01:17 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [19]

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Molto Bene: Gnomes Gets Offer For Italian-Language Rights
Posted by Chuck

Got some exciting news last week. Italy's coolest publishing house, whose name I cannot even remember now, made an offer to buy Italian-language rights of How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack. So cool! It will be insane to see a different cover with a different language on it.

I suspect the reason Italy was the first territory (country) to make an offer is simply because of my name (thank you, Dad, for that). Perhaps your average Roman these days is much more eager to buy a book from an Italian author than a non-Italian. Score one for the Sambuchino family.

I asked my editor a few questions about all this and she said it could take 1-2 years before the book is actually in bookstores in Italy, but no matter. This is so cool it's worth the wait.

The book comes out Sept. 7, 2010.
You can pre-order it from Amazon.

Want more on this subject?

Want to pen a guest column? Write me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

My Writing Life

Wednesday, July 07, 2010 9:54:43 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [6]

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Call For Blogs/Websites/Media Interested in Reviewing or Writing About ''How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack''
Posted by Chuck

My publicist has asked me to put out a call for any websites or media or blogs that are interested in reviewing or talking about my new humor book, How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack (Sept. 2010). People I'm looking for include, but are not limited to:

Gardening or humor bloggers.
General book reviewers.
Anyone interested in an interview, whether the primary focus is on the book itself or general advice on getting published and finding an agent.
Anyone doing a holiday gift/book roundup.
Anyone who reviews or discusses quirky humor books.

If you have a website, blog, column, or radio show, please email me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and let me know about yourself and the website/media. All requests will be passed on to my Ten Speed Press publicist and she will be in charge of sending out advance review copies and such. Thanks so much, everybody! (By the way, you can tell I'm kinda new to all this pre-book promo stuff, so if you have friends or websites in mind and want to share, please comment or e-mail me. Much appreciated.)

The book comes out Sept. 7, 2010.
You can pre-order it from Amazon.

Want more on this subject?

Want to pen a guest column? Write me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

My Writing Life

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 10:07:24 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [6]

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Insane Good Fortune: First Print Run for Gnomes Jumps to 35K
Posted by Chuck

I am not exactly sure why, and my editor offered only the explanation of "specialty shop demand," but the first print run of my book recently jumped from a solid 20,000 to an amazing 35,000. (I just keep thinking to myself: "No pressure.") Because of demand, the release date also moved from Sept. 21 to Sept. 7, which, once again, I've been told this is a good thing but only makes me think of how behind I am on that book release party.

This is a very exciting time for the book, because I've been told sales and marketing are trying to squeeze it into small shops as well as large chains. Every store that wants to carry it means more pre-orders, and in the next few months, we try to sell foreign rights to places like the U.K. and the ultimate land of gnomelovers: Germany! It's all happening so fast; I will keep you posted.

The book comes out Sept. 7, 2010.
You can pre-order it from Amazon.

Want more on this subject?

Want to pen a guest column? Write me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

My Writing Life

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:50:09 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [11]

Friday, May 07, 2010

The Blog Reaches 1,000 Posts -- And I Offer 4 Good Reasons For You to Keep Reading It
Posted by Chuck

I passed 1,000 posts yesterday. Rock on. This blog is approaching its three-year anniversary and keeps growing. After a record-setting March in terms of page views, April's final number was 10,000 higher. Thank you to my regulars, and my commenters, and my many amazing guest bloggers. And to celebrate (at the suggestion of a wonderful commenter), I will give away 5 year-long subscriptions to WritersMarket.com (value: $50 a pop). All you have to do is comment on this post and say something nice about any book or product you've used from WD. It can be a book or webinar or magazine issue or article or whatever. Simply point out something that helped you and say one nice thing about it. I'll pick 5 winners at random one week from today.

And if you're new to this blog, let me give you four good reasons why you should add it to your usual reading. Here are four people who recently contacted me to say they signed with agents because of my blogging and links:

1. Writer Gwen Hayes, who says: "I found Jessica (Sinsheimer) through your GLA interview last August. She signed me in September and we sold Falling Under, in December. Quite the whirlwind!"

2. Writer Jess Haines, who says: "I found my agent through a GLA article. My first book, Hunted by the Others, came out in May 2010."

3. Writer Jen Corkill Hunt, who says: "After you posted Kimberley Shumate as a new agent, I contacted her and was signed. You're awesome and I send as many authors to you as I can. Thanks!"

4. Writer Joanna Haugen, who says: "I've been reading your blog for awhile, and when this post about Bree Ogden came through my RSS feed, I decided to try querying her with my picture book. Within a week I had signed on as a new client with Martin Literary Management. Thank you for featuring new agents ~ I never would have found Bree without this column!"

That's my version of "Show, don't tell." Hope you like it!

My Writing Life

Friday, May 07, 2010 10:42:16 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [37]

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Question: What's Expected at a Book Release Party?
Posted by Chuck

I've never been to a book release party, which is probably why I have no idea what to do concerning the upcoming celebration of the release for my Gnomes book. I don't know whether to do a nicer, classier event, or something more wild like having my cover band play somewhere and have a garden gnome smashing contest.

So, if you have a moment, tell me: Ever been to a book release party? Did you enjoy it? Why? Any tips?

The book comes out
Sept. 21, 2010!

Want more on this subject?

Want to pen a guest column? Write me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

My Writing Life

Tuesday, May 04, 2010 10:07:05 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [18]

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript: The Awesome Third Edition
Posted by Chuck

This is so cool. Very soon after holding a copy of the new 2010 Guide to Literary Agents in my hand last summer, I got some more good news: my other new book, Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed. is out and available now. Awesomeness.

When asked if I would helm the third edition of Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed., I said yes immediately. After all, I kept the second edition right next to my desk at work and consulted it all the time—it would be an honor to update it. My only worry was: How can I make this good book better?

My solution: New query examples and new article examples—and lots of ‘em, baby. (See a review of Formatting & Submitting on The Writing Bug
website.)

There’s a reason that this book warranted a third edition. It has more than 100 examples of queries and articles and everything else writing-related. It doesn’t just tell you how to format something, it shows you—with sample queries and submissions that are well constructed, while also showing what to do and what not to do when contacting publishing professionals.

Making submissions look pristine is not an easy task, no matter what you’re writing. Are you confused as to how to format a magazine query or sidebar? I'll show you how to do it. What about formatting a screenplay or a film treatment? I've got examples of those, too. Or what about stage plays, picture books, graphic novels, fiction, book proposals and everything else? Yep—it’s all in here. On top of the examples, this book has hundreds of pages of general submissions tips and info—the dos and don’ts when sending your work to editors and agents.

It all adds up to giving writers the best shot of getting their work read and published—whether you want to call it getting ahead of the curve, to the head of the class, or just to the front of line.

Maybe you’re ready to submit but want to make your work perfect, or maybe you’re just starting out and don’t know whether that idea is a novel or a screenplay. Either way, this is a book that can truly assist you in your writing journey. What's so cool about this book is that no matter what you’re composing, Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed. can help you do it right. After all, it helped me; why not you, too?

Want more on this subject?

If you like what you're reading, sign up for e-mail notifications by putting your e-mail in the box on the upper left corner of this page.

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today.

Formatting | My Writing Life

Saturday, April 24, 2010 9:50:35 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [0]

Saturday, April 03, 2010

A Thank You to My Wonderful Blog Readers!
Posted by Chuck

I just got the numbers stuff for March 2010 and it was the blog's biggest month ever. Right now, the site gets more than 100,000 page views each month and continues to grow.

I just wanted to stop for a minute and say thank you for following the site. Thank you if you've added me to your blogroll. Thank you if you comment. Thank you if you've complimented my site in a blog post of your own. And thank you to those who have been brave enough to write a guest column for me. I hope this site and the entire Writer's Digest network can help you on your journey to being a successful author. Thanks again--and good luck!

My Writing Life

Saturday, April 03, 2010 9:02:16 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [9]

Monday, March 29, 2010

''Prosaic," ''Exacerbate,'' and Other Words I Tried to Squeeze Into College Newspaper Articles For My Own Amusement
Posted by Chuck

There were always the same few words that kept popping up in my college research papers. Words like "exacerbate," "maelstrom, "quagmire," "aforementioned," and the deliciously awesome "melange." Words like this were thrown in as an attempt to sound smarter than I was. But it would be senior year, when writing for the college newspaper, when I really started to have fun. As the year continued, I gathered a list of strange and unique words that I was determined to squeeze into newspaper articles somehow. By the way, if you've never tried to squeeze funky words and inside jokes into printed articles/books, you are letting the best in life pass you by.

My friend here at work just said that, in high school, all the newspaper reporters would use the word "plethora" as much as humanly possible in articles. "I'm pretty sure we were misusing it at times," said my fellow editor. In fact, best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell wrote an article where he talks about his time at the Washington Post and his many attempts to get the phrase "perverse and often baffling" in the paper. It took dozens of attempts before it snuck past the copy editor.

For me, writing for my college newspaper was when I really started to just throw crap out there and see if it stuck. I remember one time I used the word "phoenix" as some kind of verb. That was a doozy. Another time, I snuck in the word "fancypants," which I thought was a nice touch. But my greatest achievement was a piece where I managed to squeeze in not one funky word, but actually four. The first three were "caveat," "prosaic" and "doomsayer." But wait! You haven't heard my crown jewel of weird-words-that-I-got-paid-to-write. It was:

Envenomed.

Back up! You heard me right. I used the word "envenomed" in an article that had nothing to do with snakes nor any kind of animal. Beat that! If anyone else has similar amusing stories to tell, I am all ears.

Want more on this subject?

Want to pen a guest column? Write me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Guest Columns | My Writing Life

Monday, March 29, 2010 10:13:36 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [4]

Saturday, February 13, 2010

My Agent and I Sold a Book!
Posted by Chuck

I've kind of kept this news under wraps for a while but I recently got the OK from my editor to let the news out. My agent and I sold a book! In late 2009, we sold my humor book, How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack, to Ten Speed Press, which is part of Crown, which is part of Random House. Here's the cover-in-progress. It's not finished yet, but you get the gist:

Very exciting! The contract is signed and my editor and I are in the wave of first edits right now. I was very lucky to land where I did. Although it's being released by a company as huge as Random House, because the imprint Ten Speed is handling it, the book is getting love and personal attention. Bonus.

The book comes out on Sept. 21, 2010. If you know any relatives, friends or neighbors that either possess garden gnomes or live in the vicinity of gnomes, for God's sake they need this book. While garden gnomes are thought to be symbols of merriment and good will, secretly they're watching you and conspiring while pushing their little wheelbarrows. The book is a guide to assess if you're in danger, fortify (gnome-proof) your home inside and out, and, if necessary, combat a gnome in close quarters with a variety of weapons.

Getting the book bought was a fun journey. I wrote the book proposal in May; I edited it in June-July with my agent, Sorche Fairbank; she sent it out in August; publishers expressed interest quickly; Ten Speed made a pre-empt offer in October, and we accepted. It was all very quick. I've already learned a lot through the process and continue to learn things, so I will pass on all sorts of cool info to you along this adventure.

So remember: Defend yourself when the garden warriors strike (and they will).
My Writing Life

Saturday, February 13, 2010 1:09:31 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [39]

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Save Money With The Writer's Digest VIP Program
Posted by Chuck

Writer's Digest has started something cool recently: a new VIP program. It's kind of discount all-in-one package where you get tons of stuff for one price. It's a great offer so check it out!

Subscribers get:

       1) One-year U.S. subscription to Writer's Digest magazine (retail value: $47.92).
       2) One-year of online access to WritersMarket.com, with updated listings for more than 8,000 book publishers, magazines, literary agents, contests, scriptwriting markets, and more (retail value: $39.99).
       3) Access to our most important webinar: The Essentials of Online Marketing & Promotion — a 1-hour tutorial on how to promote yourself as a writer, and get the attention of editors and agents (retail value: $99.00).
       4) 10% off Writer's Online Workshops course registrations: get one-on-one attention and professional, personalized critiques of your writing, all on your schedule and at home!
       5) Plus 10% off all purchases made at the Writer's Digest Shop throughout the year.

This is a total retail value of $198.80. However, when you sign up today to become a VIP, you receive everything for less than 50 clams. Not too shabby.

(The Writer's Digest VIP program is open to residents of the United States only. We still love you though, Canada.)

My Writing Life

Thursday, January 07, 2010 1:29:24 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [2]

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Unofficial Agent Appreciation Day!
Posted by Chuck

I was kind of "off the grid" Friday (planning a party - see next post blog entry), which explains why I didn't post this earlier. Friday was named "Unofficial Agent Appreciation Day," so I wanted to post a quick something recognizing my agent, Sorche Fairbank.

That's Sorche in the middle. I was
surprised to learn I have taken so
few pics of her. I took this one in NYC.

Why is Sorche cool? Three reasons immediately pop to mind.

1. She guides my projects and makes them better. She's always throwing out ideas on how to make funny ideas funnier, and make good ideas great. In fact, knowing that she was full of ideas was the reason I was impressed with her when we first met in 2006. She doesn't just bark orders - she provides suggestions, and offers helpful advice.

2. She doesn't immediately forget about a project and move on. She stays with something - giving marketing ideas, or ideas on follow-up books. She's a fan of finding a good idea and milking it for all we can.

3. She's whipsmart at contracts. Negotiating contracts is one of an agent's most key responsibilities, and Sorche is a whiz kid in making a contract better. I'm not a big fan of poring over minutiae, so thankfully, she is very good at it.

So what about you? Have you thanked your agent today?

My Writing Life

Saturday, December 12, 2009 1:01:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [1]

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

4 Awesome Ways You Can Write For the GLA Blog
Posted by Chuck

Thanks to all my awesome visitors, the GLA blog is getting pretty big. Want to get involved and boost your platform a little? Agents love platform. If you're interested in any of these ideas below, simply write to me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com, and we'll talk. Feel free to repost this post on your blog if you feel like readers want to get involved.

1. How I Got My Agent

These guest columns are stories of how writers came to sign with their agent.

2. Seven Things I've Leaned So Far

These guest columns are from writers of any skill level who can share 7 things they know now that they wish someone would have told them at the beginning of their writing odyssey.

3. Write About What You Learned at a Conference

Were you at a writers' conference recently where you sat in on a good presentation and took notes. Write up a little summary for a guest column. Three people wrote guest columns following the South Carolina Writers Workshop and those were excellent posts. (You can see them posted in late October in the Guest columns category.)

4. Sign Up for the RSS Feed

OK, this isn't technically writing for the blog, but if you sign up for my RSS feed, you will be notified daily when new blog posts go up. Simply put your e-mail into the box in the upper left-hand corner of this page. Or you could just add me to your blog roll (thanks in advance).
Or - you can add my blog to your blogroll!

My Writing Life

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 10:48:07 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [2]

Friday, November 13, 2009

Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript (My New Book!) is Out!
Posted by Chuck

This is so cool. Very soon after holding a copy of the new 2010 Guide to Literary Agents in my hand thsi summer, I got some more good news: my other new book, Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed. is out and available now. Awesomeness.

When asked if I would helm the third edition of Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed., I said yes immediately. After all, I kept the second edition right next to my desk at work and consulted it all the time – it would be an honor to update it. My only worry was: How can I make this good book better?

My solution: New query examples and new article examples – and lots of ‘em, baby. (See a review of Formatting & Submitting on The Writing Bug website.)

There’s a reason that this book warranted a third edition. It has more than 100 examples of queries and articles and everything else writing-related. It doesn’t just tell you how to format something, it shows you – with sample queries and submissions that are well constructed, while also showing what to do and what not to do when contacting publishing professionals.

Making submissions look pristine is not an easy task, no matter what you’re writing. Are you confused as to how to format a magazine query or sidebar? I'll show you how to do it. What about formatting a screenplay or a film treatment? I've got examples of those, too. Or what about stage plays, picture books, graphic novels, fiction, book proposals and everything else? Yep – it’s all in here. On top of the examples, this book has hundreds of pages of general submissions tips and info – the dos and don’ts when sending your work to editors and agents.

It all adds up to giving writers the best shot of getting their work read and published – whether you want to call it getting ahead of the curve, to the head of the class, or just to the front of line.

Want more on this subject?

If you like what you're reading, sign up for e-mail notifications by putting your e-mail in the box on the upper left corner of this page.

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today.

Excerpts | Formatting | My Writing Life

Friday, November 13, 2009 5:38:41 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [0]

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

I Caved and Joined Twitter
Posted by Chuck

So, yeah, it was bound to happen one day or another. I caved and joined. Follow me if you dare (@ChuckSambuchino), mwahahahaha.

I predict I will either quit within a month or become pretty good at Tweeting.

Want more on this topic?

A guest column: 20 Query Letter Tips.

A guest column: How to Get an Agent's Attention.

They're called Google Alerts, and yes we have them.

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

My Writing Life | Social Networking and the Internet

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 9:24:51 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [0]

Thursday, September 17, 2009

How Many Agents Should You Query? Is There a ''Right'' Number?
Posted by Chuck

How many agents should you query? This is a question I myself am facing right now, as I search for Agent #2 for my middle grade novel. This is a complicated matter, and there is no "correct" answer; however, let me tell what I'm doing right now and why—and I hope that will help you on your journey.

When I first started to query kids agents a month ago, my plan was to target very few reps—people I had met in my travels, who were awesome reps to handle the book. So that's what I did. All was well. Then three things all happened quickly that made me rethink my strategy:

        1. I got my first rejection. The rejection listed a few compliments about the book but ended with "I didn't connect with your main character as I hoped as I would."
        2. A recent guest column on this blog quoted an agent saying that securing a rep is a "numbers game." This is something that Janet Reid has said before, too.
         3. Agent Nathan Bransford announced his book sale. In his column, Nathan details the process he went through to publication. He says he had to contact 10 agents before one agreed to take him on as a writer.

What does it all mean? It means that if you're writing fiction, someone has to really fall in love with the story to take it on. Especially now in a recession, they really have to love it. I mean—come on—super-blogger Nathan Bransford with his awesome platform has to go through TEN agents to find one who will rep his middle grade book, a supposedly growing category of books? Insane.

All this made me rethink my strategy. I couldn't just contact two or three agents. So I contacted several more, but not a lot by any means. I've always said that the fewer agents you query, the more that you have done your research. Secretly, I was an advocate for contacting only a few, targeted agents. But no more. If you're writing fiction, you have to cast a medium net at least, and whether you query all at once or over several "rounds" is up to you. You have to find someone who falls in love with your story—and that ain't easy.

Want more on this subject?

To follow up or not follow up?

Should you mention your age in a query?

Protocol concerning agents and e-mail attachments.

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

My Writing Life | Queries and Synopses and Proposals

Thursday, September 17, 2009 11:01:28 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [5]

Saturday, August 15, 2009

My Writing Life: Middle Grade Novel Almost Finished; Search For Second Agent to Commence
Posted by Chuck

As I wrote about before, my agent is Sorche Fairbank of Fairbank Literary. Sorche and I are working together on three nonfiction writing projects right now, and she is shopping around two proposals, which is very exciting. One of our projects was just sent out to publishing houses, and it would awesome to share some good news in the coming months.

As cool as all that is, I am on to Big Challenge No. 2: Finding a second literary agent. See, Sorche doesn't handle kids stuff, and I am starting to write my first fiction since penning a bunch of plays back in the day. I just finished my first middle grade novel (ages 8-12), which is a boy-centric adventure/multicultural book, and I am very close to polishing this last draft. (And, let me just say, I tip my hat to all you novel writers out there. I mean - newspaper articles, magazine articles, plays, book proposals - nothing comes close to novels. They're exhausting and so time-consuming.) Sorche has encouraged me to find a rep for my juvenile stuff and I will be on the hunt here pretty soon. Kinda scary prospect!

I've joined SCBWI, gone to some local meetings, seen that guys in the group are a myth - all that stuff. Now it's on to see if my fiction does or does not suck. We shall see. Wish me luck.

The most recent MG book I
read was Wanting Mor, a
multicultural book about an
abandoned Afghani girl. Very good.

My Writing Life

Saturday, August 15, 2009 1:00:12 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [5]

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

How I Got My Agent: Chuck Sambuchino
Posted by Chuck

I want to start a new recurring feature on the blog called "How I Got My Agent." I find it fascinating to see the exact road people took that landed them with a rep. Seeing the things people did right vs. what they did wrong (highs and the lows) can help other scribes who are on the same journey.

If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com and we'll talk specifics. To start off the column, I figured I'd just recount my own route. It's not a super-exciting story, but a lot of these won't be. It's just important to see different examples of how writer & rep teamed up.

AGENT? WHY GET AN AGENT?

In 2006, I was hired as an editor for Writer's Digest Books. By that time in my life, I had written tons of newspaper articles, a few dozen magazine pieces, and even had several stage play productions of my work. Things were going pretty well, but I never really thought too much about getting an agent because I didn't have any book-length works to sell. After all, you only need an agent if you have either a novel or a nonfiction book (more specifically, a book proposal) to sell.

MEETING SORCHE AT A CONFERENCE

In October 2006, I attended the Midwest Literary Festival in Aurora, IL as a panelist. (By the way, this event was cool but no longer exists, I believe.) At the festival, I moderated an agent panel. One of the participating agents, Sorche Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Representation in Boston, was asked a question regarding whether publishers came up with book ideas and then simply "found" writers to complete the project. Sorche said "yes," and also added that agents, as well, will conjure up good ideas and seek writers for projects. She then said something along the lines of, "Right now, I'm thinking about how come no one's done a book on old movie houses still in operation." This caught my interest.

It caught my interest because I was just starting on a 10-part series for Pennsylvania Magazine on historic theaters around the state. I chatted with Sorche a little bit at the writers' conference but didn't talk business. (This is something I still think is underrated—just talking to an agent like a normal human being and making a nice impression in their mind—rather than giving yet another pitch.) A week later, after the conference was finished, I e-mailed her and said, "Thanks, nice to meet you, etc," but I added, "I'm writing this series for Pennsylvania Magazine. I'm a produced playwright and old, historic theaters is a topic that's kind of up my alley. I know it's not 'movie houses' like you mentioned, but if you were ever interested in seeing something more on this subject, just let me know. Thanks."

I stared at my inbox and phone. Nothing happened.   week went by and I pretty much forgot about the whole thing. Three months later, I checked my work voicemail and it was her. "Sounds interesting," she said. "Give me a call and we'll talk."

DEVELOPING THE FIRST PROPOSAL

On the phone, Sorche hashed out what she wanted to see in terms of a book proposal. After that, I started educating myself with lots of books on book proposals and asked writer friends for sample proposals. It took a few months to put something together and send it to her. We crossed paths again in New York in May 2007 and she had a marked-up copy of my proposal with suggested places to revise and expand. The next part took a while (nine months—probably above average), as we passed the proposal back and forth while I was making revisions and she was explaining how to better it.

By the beginning of 2008, we were just about done. Sorche and I crossed paths at another writers' conference and she had brought a contract, just like she said she would. The contract was only for a one-book agreement (meaning we would only be tied together for that one book, legally), but we had dinner and talked about what else I had in my head. She liked my other nonfiction ideas and said she was game to rep other proposals when I finished them.

And that's pretty much it! I could go on with stories of revisions and submissions to editors, but it doesn't have a whole lot to do with how her and I got linked up.

Want more on this subject?

Want to pen a guest column? Write me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

How I Got My Agent Columns | My Writing Life

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 1:20:46 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [8]

Friday, August 17, 2007

Interview with Writer Unboxed!
Posted by Chuck

Writer Unboxed, a cool site devoted to genre fiction writing, was kind enough to interview me recently, asking plenty of questions about the new 2008 Guide to Literary Agents.

Please check out the full interview here!

Want more on this topic?

5 Signs a Literary Agent is a Good Match For You.

See examples of Successful Queries that agents liked.

Check out The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters.

How to Write a Synopsis for a Novel.

Facebook, Twitter and Literary Agents.

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 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Agent Advice (Agent Interviews) | My Writing Life

Friday, August 17, 2007 9:18:28 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [0]

Monday, July 02, 2007

Book Proposals: One More Down
Posted by Chuck

Finally...

I finally completed my latest nonfiction book proposal last week and sent it out to a literary agent. And let me tell you—composing it was no easy task in the least. Now all I need to do is sit back, relax, and wait for the ~~sweet contract~~ polite rejection letter.

After I drafted a rough version of the original proposal, an agent looked it over and gave her immediate thoughts on what needed improvement. Long story short, her feedback meant I had to go back and give the proposal a complete overhaul. With that in mind, let me pass on some things I learned this time around so I can spare you the "complete overhaul" step later.

First of all, be sure to read more than one book on book proposals. You can find several in any bookstore and many on Amazon.com. Two Writer's Digest Books titles addressing this are How to Write a Book Proposal and Bulletproof Book Proposals. Both have sample proposals for writers to review.
Stress timing, if you can. For example, if your book has to do with environmental issues or conservation, talk about how you will effectively market the book during days/months of the year devoted to celebrating conservation and Mother Earth. Has it been 25 years since a famous conservation plan was first released? Stress that. Has it been 20 years since a horrific oil spill? Say so. Know why your book will be attractive to the media when it comes out.
Write a thorough marketing plan. I can't say how important this is. Unless your book looks like a bestseller, you are the publicity department, so spend lots of time talking about all your marketing ideas for print media, TV & radio, as well as the Internet.
If you're proposing a book with a large visual component (lots of photos or illustrations), make sure you discuss the art qualities of similar/competitive books in the marketplace when listing them.
Of course, you'll want to stress your platform. Discuss, in detail, all the ways that you are an aficionado on the subject and have the means to reach people who will buy your book. But more than that, lay out plans that show how you will further enhance your platform and reach new groups of potential buyers.

Best of luck! I will keep you posted on how this proposal goes concerning its adventure into the world of agents.

My Writing Life | Queries and Synopses and Proposals

Monday, July 02, 2007 2:04:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [7]

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