For those hardcore readers of this blog (bless your hearts), you may remember a post months ago saying how I submitted a book proposal to an agent.  Well that submission paid off.  This week, I signed with my new literary agent: Sorche Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Representation.

Sorche is top notch; she's based just outside of Boston and handles a variety of fiction and nonfiction subjects. 

I want to write more about this, but it's late and I have to get to sleep.  Hope you enjoyed all the late night posting tonight.

2/20/2008 Update: Thanks for all the kind comments.  It's exciting.  Without going into too much detail, I can say that the book is nonfiction with a focus in film/theater.  If Sorche can sell it, that would be awesome, because I was recently named the founding editor/writer of Screenwriter's and Playwright's Market, a new screenwriting/playwriting directory at F+W Publications due out at the end of 2008.  They tie in together nicely. 

So how did this happen?  Like a lot of things: kinda by accident.  Up to this point, I've done a lot of magazine writing, business writing, playwriting and nonfiction book writing that's fairly small in scope - meaning that I didn't write anything that truly required an agent.  In the future, I'd like to write both juvenile books (picture books, YA, etc) and screenplays, so I figured an agent was down the line, hopefully.  I met Sorche at the Midwest Literary Festival in Oct. 2006, where I was moderating a panel of agents, and she was one such agent.  One audience member asked if book ideas ever came from book publishers themselves?  (Good question, by the way.)  An agent said yes, and that publishers often had ideas for books and would contact agents who would then try to find a writer they rep to pen the commissioned book.  Sorche spoke up, saying that not only did publishers have ideas, but agents also come up with ideas as well and try to find the best writer for the project. 

Later, Sorche and I were talking and she mentioned that she had a book idea in mind in the film/theater category.  After the conference, I e-mailed her saying that I would be a good candidate for the film/theater book she had in mind because of what I've written and my passions, etc.  Three months later, she replied, saying "Let's talk."  We had several phone conversations throughout the following months fleshing out what exactly needed to be in the book proposal.  That took a while, but I finished the proposal last summer and submitted it.

Because of Sorche's workload, it took a while for her to get back to me, but she was happy with everything and asked me if I wanted to move forward.  We crossed paths at the San Francisco Writers' Conference and talked about a plan for the book.  She passed along a contract.  And that's basically it. Nothing too exciting, but once again, it shows the value of writers' conferences.  I've heard more success stories about people finding agents at conferences that I can remember.

I will blog now and then about the agent process as we go along and share any helpful tips.

Elegant Erotica: Not romance.
Not Penthouse. But a gentle blend
between the two.

We haven't had a new genre on the blog since "Cyberbilly" back in July, so I was excited to make this post, even if it is 1 a.m.

This genre was coined by Verna Dreisbach at a speakers' dinner. (Verna is a new agent at Andrea Hurst Literary Management, and I posted about her not long ago.)

As far as what constitutes the genre, I can't give you much more than the short explanation above.  Evidently, it's material that has more juicy bits than romance, but isn't pornography.  For some reason, I think of British erotica or something like that - naughty writing, but proper at the same time. 

Q. What's the difference between memoir and narrative nonfiction? Aren't they the same thing?

A. Memoir is when someone writes about their own life.  Narrative nonfiction is when someone writes about the lives of others.
      Both of these categories are notable because they blur the line between fiction and nonfiction.  Narrative nonfiction is unique (and in high demand) because it tells a true story - hence the word nonfiction - but it's told like a novel.  If you want to write about horse racing, you would probably come up with an average book on horse racing.  But Seabiscuit is narrative nonfiction.  Same thing with the space program.  There's a huge amount of difference between a book on NASA's programs and The Right Stuff.

Q. How do you pitch memoir and narrative nonfiction if they bridge the gap?

A. Memoir is tricky because it's the only nonfiction subject that must be treated as fiction.  That means you have to write the entire manuscript (and revise it) before submitting.  You would eventually write a synopsis - not a book proposal.   
      Narrative nonfiction, however, is still nonfiction and you would submit a proposal, most likely.  Writers with a track record and platform would do just fine submitting a book proposal and writing very little of the actual text.  But - for writers without a track record, it wouldn't hurt to write a lot (or all) of the manuscript.  Narrative nonfiction is tricky, and you have to show that you know what you're doing.

Q. Are publishers jittery about memoirs these days because of James Frey and A Million Little Pieces?

A. From what I'm hearing, oh yeah. I talked with literary agent and lawyer Paul S. Levine over the weekend and he said that memoirs should be vetted before being sent to publishers.  The purpose of this is to eliminate any libel or invasions of privacy in the text itself.  Though vetting a manuscript will not ensure that you never get sued, it should prevent anyone who sues you from winning.