Guide to Literary Agents - My Writing Life

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

Chuck — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:38:41 GMT

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.

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?

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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. >

I Caved and Joined Twitter

Chuck — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:24:51 GMT

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!

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

Chuck — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:01:28 GMT

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: Middle Grade Novel Almost Finished; Search For Second Agent to Commence

Chuck — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:00:12 GMT

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.

Interview with Writer Unboxed!

Chuck — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 01:18:28 GMT

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!

Book Proposals: One More Down

Chuck — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:04:42 GMT

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.