"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 Katharine Sands, a literary agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency in New York City.

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

KS: The project I’m most excited about selling is always the most recent. A book I’m particularly excited about is The Complete Book to International Adoption: A Step by Step Guide to Finding Your Child, which is by Dawn Davenport. It’s with Broadway. I met Dawn at a writers' conference in the hallway

GLA: Speaking of meeting writers at conferences, what do you think is the most common mistake writers make when they give a short in-person pitch to an agent?

KS: One of the things I believe people do wrong is to speak to agents as they would a tax professional or lawyer – somebody for hire who is there to listen to their process and backstory and get involved with their case in that way. Agents are listening in for a reason to be interested, first and foremost, and they’re not going to be interested in the writer’s (process), the word count, what is impeding, or why the writer doesn't want to do extra work.

GLA: Let’s say an acquaintance calls you and says, “Hey, an agent wants to represent me, but she’s new and has no sales. Is that OK?” How would you answer that?

KS: An agent with little or no sales who has been an assistant in a leading agency will have just as much clout getting to an editor perhaps as an established agent, at least initially. One of the things I always advise writers to do is to ask an interested agent – that is, one who’s made an offer of representation – “Why do you want to be my agent?” They will then hear a very clear thumbnail sketch of how that agent will sound agenting. Secondly, you’re listening for strategy and prognosis: How will that agent work with you and what is their prognosis for your career?

       In terms of sales, it’s not the only indicator of the agent’s ability to agent you, because we have New York Times bestsellers that were first or second sales from newer agents. It’s much more open in that way now than it was some years ago. An important point to remember is that sometimes for newer writers - that is, one without any kind of track record, celebrity or platform - a newer agent is better for several reasons. They’re the most committed. They’re eager to build their list as the writer is to become published. And also, they don’t subject a writer to a problem I have seen with very established, even leading, agents. An editor is not going to make a low offer to a leading or big-money agent that they might make to a newer agent - and sometimes, that works to a newer writer’s advantage. Because an editor that wants to be known for big money might simply decline a project rather than make a mediocre offer and be branded in the mind of an agency as someone who can’t get big money. It will cost them the chance maybe to get bigger books. I have seen publishable authors sometimes go too high in terms of their representation.

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

KS: It might be the voice or it might be something very specific about the fresh approach to the story or the material.

Katharine Sands is an agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency in New York City. She is the author of Making the Perfect Pitch: Advice from 45 Top Book Agents (Kalmbach). Other works she's excited about include Really Cool Rhymes: The Off the Hook Vocabulary Book, by Jodi Fodor; as well as Signature Cocktails, by celebrity mixologist Alex Michael Ott.

Katharine Sands at BookExpo America.

I recently had the good fortune to instruct a playwriting workshop at a writers' conference with the aid of Ted Swindley, a very accomplished playwright and creator of musicals. Ted, who splits his time between Manhattan and Nashville, is a longtime veteran of theater - first as a director, then as a writer. Most notably, he wrote the musical, Always ... Patsy Cline, which has been produced many times at venues all across the country (and outside the country) in the last two decades. 

When we weren't teaching, Ted and I talked playwriting, and he gave plenty of great advice. Here are some of the best bits:

On self promotion: "You have to market yourself and you’ve got to get your stuff out there. There are opportunities for (staged) readings and so forth where you can go to a local theater and say, 'I would like to do a reading of my play at your theater. May I rent your theater space for a nominal fee and produce this reading myself?' I’ve done this many times. You’ll have to find a director or direct it yourself. Ask the theater if they will e-mail their patrons and (promote) your new play. You can find opportunities that way to get your play read. Normally, somebody from a theater will attend the reading and say, 'You know that guy who came in and rented the space and did that reading - it was really, really good. Maybe we should consider this for further development.' "

On networking: "Develop relationships with people. I know it sounds silly, but volunteer with theaters. Get involved in different aspects of the theater and just be around the theater. Develop relationships that will pay off later."

On writing for the stage and keeping it simple: "When you have a scene, you have to write with the practicalities of the theater in mind. Plays are not movies. You can't say, 'Scene 1: The Peer at Lake Michigan; Scene 2: A Skyscraper Penthouse; Scene 3: Central Park.' That is a nonrealistic play. Frankly, there are a lot of logistical things that producers will look at in a script. They may say, 'This is an interesting play, but it's got too many characters, it's too many costumes, it’s got too many props.' "

On getting started: "Join the Theatre Communications Group."

On why certain plays get produced: "There are two reasons that certain plays are repeatedly produced. One is that they make money and that they become popular – that’s just economics ... But there’s also a practical reason why plays are done: They're really good plays that are really simple to produce. (Playwright) David Mamet’s a prime example. Brilliant writer - simple to produce. It’s all about his language."

         Ted and I talked about teaming up again for another writers' conference - Killer Nashville - in August. That all depends on whether the conference wants me to speak on playwriting vs. other topics. More info on that when I get it.

Ted Swindley at the TWA writers' conference.

Just got back from a pair of writers' conferences in Tennessee - The Tennessee Writers' Alliance Writers' Conference in Nashville, and the Clarksville Writers' Conference in Clarksville - with some cool stories to tell. I got to speak on playwriting, agents and "what editors want." Everything went smoothly at both conferences and I met lots of nice people. I also got to interview several cool writing professionals and will publish those interviews in the coming days. Stay tuned!

That's me in the background,
at a workshop.

Awesome moment: Talking with Widow of the South author Robert Hicks after the conference. Hicks, who lives in the Nashville area, was the keynote speaker at both conferences.

Relaxing post-conference in Franklin, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville. Pictured from left: Cindy Phiffer, conference coordinator for the TWA writers' conference; me; and Robert Hicks, author of Widow of the South.