Guide to Literary Agents

Another editor here - the wonderful Alice Pope, editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market - has recently interviewed literary agent Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. The whole interview is over on Alice's CWIM blog.

As you may have guessed, most of the interview questions deal with children's writing, especially his search for the next great middle grade work and YA memoir.

Michael Bourret

Want more on children's writing?

Examine Great High-Concept Hooks for Children's Books.

New children's agent seeking submissions.

How to write picture books for kids.

Buy the kids writers' bible: the Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market.

Interview with kids agent Joe Monti of Barry Goldblatt Literary.

Read a successful young adult query: "Wake" by Lisa McMann.

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!

Agent Advice (Agent Interviews) | Children's Writing

Friday, August 29, 2008 1:29:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

New Agent Alert: Joanna Stampfel
Posted by Chuck

UPDATE (March 2009): Joanna is now Joanna Stampfel-Volpe and she is with Nancy Coffey Literary. To see an interview with her, click on the "Agent Advice" category on the left.

-------

Joanna Stampfel is transitioning from office assistant to full-fledged powerful literary agent over at FinePrint Literary Management in NYC.

You know what that means: a new agent looking for writers.

(News of her transition was
recently announced by Colleen
Lindsay, another FinePrint agent
who's known as "The Swivet." When
you see things quoted below,
that is material from her.)

"Here's what Joanna's looking for, in her own words:

Actively seeking: Childrens: Chapter books to middle grade - covering any and all topics. If fantasy, it had better be very unique. Loves a good school story, and always looking for humorous boy reads. YA: contemporary to sci-fi and everything in between. Again, if full-out fantasy, it had better be different. Romance: historical, paranormal, multicultural. Other Adult: pop-culture, dark speculative fiction, narrative non-fiction having to do with environment, food, outdoors.

Does not want to receive: mysteries, thrillers, heavy nonfiction, self-help, how-to, hard sci-fi, hi-fantasy, memoirs, true crime, biography.

How to contact: E-queries and snail mail queries accepted. Send e-queries to [redacted]."

Children's Writing | Genre Writing | New Agency Alerts

Friday, August 29, 2008 1:11:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [0]

Thursday, August 28, 2008

10 Query Letter Tips
Posted by Chuck

In the most recent issue of Writer's Digest magazine (Sept/Oct. 2008), the big focus is on agents, so I got to write a lot of material for the issue. One smaller article I wrote that's getting a lot of attention over at writersdigest.com is a basic piece called "10 Tips You Need to Know Before Querying Agents."

Some of the material below has been addressed before on the blog; some not. I hope it helps a bit.

----------

Querying Agents:
10 Tips For Writers

1. If you write across categories (let’s say you write both picture books and adult fantasy), look for an agent who handles everything you write. She might just be your perfect fit.

2. Mass mailing (or e-mailing) agents without considering each one’s specialties is a waste of time and postage. Not every agent listed here will be a good fit for you. In fact, the fewer true matches you find, the more you’ve done your research. Agents love when you query them individually and provide a reason, such as, “Because you represented such-and-such book, I think you’d be a great agent for my work.”

3. Make sure your work is edited, revised and polished. Rewriting is a crucial step to bettering your work, so be sure to have trusted peers give you an honest critique, or consider seeking a professional freelance editor to evaluate it. And never query an agent for a novel until the work is complete.

4. Single-space your query letter, and keep it to one page. Double-space your manuscript and synopsis.

5. If you lack a good opening for your query letter, just give the facts. A simple yet effective opening line would be, “I am seeking literary representation for my 75,000-word completed thriller, titled Dead Cat Bounce.” In one sentence, you can tell the agent the length, genre, whether it’s complete and the title. After that, follow with the pitch and a little biographical information.

6. Follow submission directions to a T. If an agent requests “no attachments,” your query will likely be deleted should it arrive with an attachment. If they say “query first,” do just that. If they reply to your query and ask for an exclusive read of your manuscript for four weeks, make sure you give them that exclusive look.

7. If you have an automatic spam filter, turn it off. If you’re lucky enough to garner a reply from an agent interested in your work, the last thing they want to deal with is a spam filter requiring them to prove their existence.

8. Remember that publishing is a business and there’s much to learn. If you’ve finished a novel, make sure you know how to construct a good synopsis. If you’re pitching nonfiction, you’ll likely be asked to submit a full proposal detailing the book and how you intend to sell it. If you don’t know everything that goes into a book proposal, now’s the time to learn.

9. Realize that listings are an excellent start, but there’s still work to be done. Research the agent’s website to confirm that he is indeed still seeking “electronic queries for romance novels,” etc. Also, remember the frustratingly sad reality that the publishing industry is constantly in flux. Agents
quit; they switch agencies; they suddenly stop representing fiction and move completely to nonfiction. The best way to deal with this is to cast a wide net.

10. Be persistent. Every famous author has a story about how many agents rejected their work before they made a connection. Work hard, work smart and don’t give up.

Want more on this subject?

Should you mention your age in a book query?

20 tips on query letters, from agent Janet Reid

Check out the Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters

What should you write in the bio of your query?

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!

Queries and Synopses and Proposals

Thursday, August 28, 2008 4:54:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

Agent Barbara Poelle Wants to Hear About Your Favorite 7 Books
Posted by Chuck

Guide to Literary Agents welcomes
guest blogger Barbara Poelle, literary
agent for Irene Goodman Literary
in Manhattan.

The topic: Her favorite books on the bookshelf and why they excite her as a reader. Read on to hear more and then share your "top 7" in the comments section of this post.

"Even as a wee Barbara I was a voracious reader, and my love affair with narratives and plotlines and settings and characters has only deepened and turned more maniacal the older I get. However there are only 7 dog-eared, cover worn, Doritos-stained books that I consider my dearest loves, who truly pulled off something outstanding in their genre. The kind of books I would get into a bar fight with, sing drunken karaoke for, or bat my eyes shyly at over a candlit table for two. These titles make me wish I could sustain some sort of head injury and forget their plot points after reading so I could read them for the first time all over again. As it is, I mostly rotate them through every two years so that I can lose myself in their brilliance without needing to throw myself through a plate glass window in order to etch-a-sketch their themes. And they are, in no particular order:

Watchers by Dean Koontz:
The characters in this book are phenomenal. They stray just enough into the field of archetypes so you know what you are getting into without being cookie cutter. And the idea was so unique, so captivating, that it almost didn’t matter what happened as long as you got to watch these characters do it. Who didn’t want Einstein to be their dog? And if you didn’t cry when the Other died you hate Christmas and babies and chocolate. Is it any wonder I married a guy named Travis?

Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
The narrative execution in this is so unbelievable that you will find yourself reading portions out loud even if you are being held at gunpoint during a bank heist. The phrasing and the expert use of perspective lend to a haunting, continuous read, like chewing warm taffy through the entire book. I would lend you mine but entire portions are now scotch taped in and I’m fairly certain that that is peanut butter on page 198.

The Stand by Stephen King
Multiple character plotlines are nearly impossible to pull off, yet this one does it perfectly. These kind of characterizations are unparalleled in any genre, besides perhaps something Russian and heavy. I don’t really need to say anything more about this except m-o-o-n spells brilliant.

Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott
I judge people as friends by whether or not they have read Anne Lamott and this one is my favorite. Memoir is so difficult sometimes, and the ones who keep it the most honest, the most raw are the true masters of the genre. Lamott carries off her exploration of motherhood with charm, charisma, humor, and true emotion from the first page to the last. The only reason I will have children is so I can enjoy this from a new level.

Ahab’s Wife; or the Stargazer by Sena Jeter Naslund
Historical fiction is just so tough these days unless your last name is Gregory. (She’s pretty fabulous). The market is crowded with concubines, traitors, and waltzes on foreign shores, but this evocative, multifaceted work can stand unique among the Tudors and Howards. I am a huge fan of first lines. HUGE FAN. This one leaves “Call me Ishmeal” in the dust. Do yourself a favor, call in sick tomorrow and read this book. You can thank me for it later.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
I laughed. I cried. I dangled my participle. If you love language, you’ll love this book. A must for anyone in the industry to read.

Guardian Angel by Julie Garwood
Ohh, what? You think I was too hoity-toity to get in a bar fight over a romance novel? This was the first Garwood I read and still is my favorite romance of all time. I mean, come on! The heroine is the hero! Strong women that do things they have to not because they want to, no sniveling, no cowering, women with a job to do and the biscuits to do it. That’s my kind of lady. And the love scenes are hot enough to make me clutch my pearls and yell, “Well, I do declare!”

Now, I bet if you and I were clinking mojitos at Havana Central off Union Square, you could come up with 5 or 6 more titles that I would say yeah yeah, that one too! (Time Traveler’s Wife. Staggeringly unique. The kind of rapier swift plotting that’s as edgy as it is accessible. She’s Come Undone. Are we sure Wally is a man? How can he write his female protagonist with such depth? She is a great character. White Oleander. Ingrid is burned into my mind as one of the truly great antagonists, she didn’t even have to be in the scene for me to know she was the puppetmaster behind it.)

But these 7 above are my true loves, some for decades, some for years, but all forever.

So … who would make up your magnificent 7?"

Barbara Poelle is an agent at Irene Goodman Literary Agency representing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles. She is currently accepting queries directed to her attention at queries@irenegoodman.com

Guest Columns

Thursday, August 28, 2008 1:49:40 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [13]

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Emmanuelle Alspaugh Moves to Judith Ehrlich Literary
Posted by Chuck

Literary agent Emmanuelle Alspaugh has officially left Wendy Sherman Associates and accepted a position at Judith Ehrlich Literary Management.

New contact info:

Emmanuelle Alspaugh
Judith Ehrlich Literary Management
880 Third Avenue, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10022
ealspaugh@judithehrlichliterary.com
(212)628-0214

A little about Emmanuelle, from her online profile: "She offers her clients the full breadth of her editorial experience, working closely with them to develop their manuscripts and proposals. Her interests include literary and commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction, journalism, memoir, business, history, science, popular culture, and relationships. In fiction she is looking for both contemporary and historical novels, international/multicultural voices, women’s fiction, and romance."

Random Updates

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 11:50:03 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Agent Advice: Jeffery McGraw of The August 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 Jeffery McGraw of The August Agency, LLC. Jeffery handles some fiction but specializes in nonfiction.

Jeffery McGraw

GLA: How did you become an agent?

JM: To cut a very long story short … I started out as a book buyer in Boston, moved to New York to work in soap operas for a while, and later fell - completely by accident - into book publishing at HarperCollins, working my way up the editorial ladder under the brilliant guidance and mentorship of Marjorie Braman (now Holt’s new editor-in-chief: go Marjorie!), left to explore other areas of publishing including a stint as publicity manager for Abrams, happily returned to Harper to become editor for its entertainment imprint, and later got laid off when said imprint wisely got restructured. In the months that followed, I couldn’t find a publishing job available that fit me and that I also fit in return. (You try applying for a women’s fiction editorial spot when you have tons of experience working with women’s fiction but nevertheless happen to be a guy. Damn that extra leg!)
        At that point I grew restless, but also entrepreneurial.
        Originally, I suggested to my good friend, Cricket, who had just a few years prior started her own budding literary agency, that we work together. That’s when we folded her operations into a brand new company, The August Agency, LLC. After years as an editor, becoming an agent was a natural transition for me. Finally, I could work on books for which I had enormous passion – not just titles someone else instructed me to handle. With such a liberal arts mind set, I was able to cast a very wide net and take on a diverse array of authors and projects that matched my interests.

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

JM: One of the most personally intriguing projects I’ve sold in the past year is author and political scientist Dr. Jack Godwin’s latest effort, Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution, due out next year from Amacom. I have been a political junkie for as long as I can remember, plus I love books that enlighten you in ways you never would be able to imagine. Jack Godwin satisfies on both levels with Clintonomics. Just when you think you know everything you could every know about someone – in this case the forty-second president of our great and storied nation – Jack makes you think again, revealing facets of a fascinating figure you never realized existed.

GLA: You have a self-declared "enormous passion for well written melodramas." Can you expound on this? Also, concerning these "melodrama" submissions you receive, where do you see writers going wrong in their writing?

JM: My maternal grandmother, Betty, instilled in me my love for melodrama, starting when she introduced me to the film version of Gone With the Wind when I was 12. Over the years, I would view that film more than 100 times and read the novel that inspired it, which, in all its glorious descriptive wonder, is an even richer experience (Mitchell puts the “scribe” in describe) – at least six times.
        Many people mistake the meaning of the word "melodrama," wrongly attributing it to overacting or extreme sentimentality. In fact, it is what the Greek defined as a combination of music (melos) and conflict (drama). That alone defines opera, a drama set to music. Watch any great Ross Hunter production – Back Street starring Susan Hayward, or Imitation of Life starring Lana Turner, for example – and you’ll find the driving force behind these soap operatic motion paintings can be found in their sweeping musical scores. Nothing appeals to our emotions more easily than music; it serves as a drug to seduce us into feeling a certain way. Loud, pulsating drum beats might signify danger, making us feel scared. A soft and sweet piano melody may soften our hearts, while screaming violins might make those same hearts soar. Combine this spellbinding phenomenon with genuine conflict and you have a magical combination. Not many literary magicians can pull this off on the written page by employing their gifts for language in the same unique fashion as the greats used music in their films, but some have, and to masterful effect: Margaret Mitchell, Fannie Hurst, Michael Cunningham, Olive Higgins Prouty, and Lloyd C. Douglas, to name a few. At their best, these authors have underscored the emotional undercurrent that drives the actions of their characters.
        As an agent, I have yet to come across an unpublished work of fiction that appeals to my emotional core in the same way Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, Cunningham’s The Hours, and Hurst’s Back Street have. If I only find one novel in my entire career that moves me as much as these and other great authors and their stories have, then the life-long search will have proved its worth. I am sure the late Harper editor Robert Jones felt that way when he first read Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto (though, for what it’s worth, I still think Pedro Almodovar should have snatched up the film rights before Bernardo Bertolucci got his hands on them).

GLA: Your nonfiction areas are vast and varied. What are you looking for right now and not getting?

JM: I’d love to rep more psychology titles (hey, it’s therapy I can afford) … works of narrative nonfiction that take me down roads I’ve never been but am willing to travel and bring all my friends with me … economics books that appeal to the underdog in all of us (think Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed or our own author Sarah Maxwell’s The Price is Wrong) … history books that are less about the past than they are about the present and future … memoirs that are by turns honest, riveting, tongue-in-cheek, LOL-funny, witty, sardonic, and dry like a good martini should be … intriguing, highly commercial nonfiction by brilliant lawyers (unlike most people, I love the rule of law and adore the attorneys who maneuver and navigate it all, except when they try and make simple things complicated, which is probably how to define what they do best, including, but not limited to, drafting publishing agreements; notwithstanding the foregoing, I realize I digress too much) … unique studies that make you go, “Hey, why didn’t I think of that before?” such as Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us) … compelling books by intelligent writers who can turn the seemingly obvious on its head (e.g., a staunch conservative defending the right to gay marriage, or a liberal out to prove racism can serve society in a good way) … and nonfiction that appeals to both the masses and professional fields (business, medical, legal, police oriented, et al).

GLA: Because you rep so much nonfiction, you see a lot of proposals. Where do these proposals commonly fall short?

JM: There are two areas in which I find most nonfiction proposals to be delinquent. The most apparent is the concept itself. Typically, it’s been done before in some fashion or another and doesn’t stand out enough from the crowd. In the competition section, where you list those titles that are either like-minded or comparable in some way, your obligation is two-fold: First, you must prove there is a market for a book like yours, and; second, you must prove your book fills an obvious void within that market.
        The second and more common shortfall I find in proposals is that the author has little or no platform.

GLA: At a recent event, I met a writer who was also a scholar. She was writing a nonfiction book (and knew her subject inside out), but she seemed to have very little concept of platform. When you meet with someone like that - some who has superior knowledge but no marketing ideas - what are some basic helpful things you would tell them to do?

JM: Build your base. I’ve given workshops at writers’ conferences about establishing an author platform, and it all boils down to one basic concept: Develop a significant following before you go out with your nonfiction book. If you build it, they (publishers) will come. Think about that word platform. What does it mean? If you are standing on a physical platform, it gives you greater visibility. And that’s what it’s all about: visibility. How visible are you to the world? That’s what determines your level of platform. Someone with real platform is the “go to” person in their area of expertise. If a reporter from the New York Times is doing a story on what you know about most, they will want to go to you for an interview first. But if you don’t make yourself known to the world as the expert in your field, then how will the NYT know to reach out to you? RuPaul used to say, “If you don’t love yourself, how the hell else is anybody else gonna love you?” I’m not saying be egotistical. I’m just saying, know your strengths, and learn to toot your own horn. Get out there. Make as many connections as you possibly can. We live in a celebrity-driven world. Love it or hate it, either way we all have to live with it. So, celebrate what you have to offer, and if it’s genuine and enough people respond to it, then you will become a celebrity in your own right. Get out there and prove to the world that you are the be-all and end-all when it comes to what you know about most. Publishers don’t expect you to be as big as Oprah, or Martha, or the Donald, but they do expect you to be the next Oprah, or Martha, or the next Donald in your own field.

GLA: Will you be at any writers' conferences in the future where writers can meet and pitch you?

JM: Aside from the regular media trade exhibitions such as Frankfurt (international publishing), MIPCOM (international television), and the like, I will be at the Surrey International Writers' Conference this October 24-26. I’ve attended a good number of conferences, and this one is the absolute best I’ve ever experienced. I’ve come away with a wonderful client from this very conference and even sold his book. It’s the most smoothly run operation, unlike some other conferences I’ve attended. I truly wish I could say I am attending more this year, but frankly I’m not on the conference circuit as much as I would love to be. I enjoy conferences where I can get to know and have some true blue face time with writers and editors as well as fellow agents in the industry. So, if there are any conference directors out there looking for presenters, I would love to hear from you!

GLA: Best piece of advice concerning something we haven't discussed?

JM: Have no expectations in this business (or life, for that matter) and you will not be disappointed. Write for your life! Not someone else’s. If you want to be an ordinary writer, write an ordinary book; if you want to be an extraordinary writer, prepare to go the extra mile. To be a true writer, you have to do two things more than anything else: read and write. Read as much as you can. Write as much as you can. Nothing in this world is perfect, so don’t try to write perfectly. Just write, and accept it, and then polish it until it’s as good as you can get it. And, like no wine before its time, don’t jump the gun and submit your work to agents and publishers too early. Do your homework: Workshop your writing projects through writers groups and conferences, and when you’ve done as much as you can do on your own to make it as great as you can get it, research agents and editors before submitting to them. If they don’t handle what you’ve written, don’t send your work to them. If they have specific guidelines for submitting, follow those guidelines to the letter, no matter what you think may be exceptional in your case. In many cases when people submit to our agency, writers fail to include the first chapter or 1,000 words as required in our submission guidelines. How are we to know what we’re looking at if we don’t see something substantive in the form that we’ve asked to see it? You could have a great idea that’s poorly delivered, or present a lackluster premise to us that’s ultimately marvelous in its execution. If we don’t see a true sample of it, we’ll never know.
        At the end of the day, don’t take rejection personally. You will get rejected. That is a given. Publishing is not personal; it’s a business. Think of it that way. “Not right for us” usually means “Your project is not going to contribute enough to our salaries to make ends meet.” The end. That old saying, “It’s me, it’s not you” is so true. I teach a workshop called He's Just Not That Into Your Book. Finding the right agent or editor can be like searching for one's soul mate. It can take many frogs to find your prince. If an agent or editor turns you down, know that it’s primarily about his/her business needs, not you personally. Don’t be offended. Take it in stride and move on. And try to learn from your rejections. Consider how you could improve your work before submitting it elsewhere. Also, ask yourself if you're submitting to the right places. Above all else, don’t be afraid to put yourself and your work out there. Writers often can be so timid. I see it all the time. It’s like they’re so afraid no one in this world will love them or what they’ve written. Well, let's assume that's true (even though it's not). From this standpoint, what do you have to lose? If you have no expectations, then you won't be disappointed. And, if fate is kind, you just might be pleasantly surprised! You'll never know unless you try. Just jump. The net will follow.

Agent Advice (Agent Interviews) | Nonfiction | Platform

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 10:55:06 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

GLA vs. Writer's Market
Posted by Chuck

Q. I queried an agent back in April using Writer's Market to find her. Her listing no longer exists on Writer's Market and she has requested a partial read of my manuscript. What does it mean when an agent is no longer listed with Writer's Market?
- Sonya

A. Great question. Writer's Market is filled with all kinds of markets for writers, such as magazines, newspapers, and agents. Because there are so mny listings that can be in that book, they only put portions of each section in the book. For example, you will see a thousand listings for magazines, but more exist in our database - we just couldn't fit them in the book! The same goes for agents. There is a certain page count set aside for agents in WM, and so we do our best to fill those pages with great agents open to new writers, and vary the listings from year to year. That said, we can only fit about 75 agents or so in the WM printed book, when we have many, many more agents in the database.
So - just because an agent is removed from the printed version of WM does not mean they're off the map or a potential scammer. We're just varying the listings from year to year.

Q&A from Blog Readers

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 10:28:33 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

Thursday, August 21, 2008

New Agent: Jon Sternfeld of Irene Goodman Literary
Posted by Chuck

Reminder: Newer agents/agencies are golden opportunities for new writers because they're likely building their client list; however, always make sure your work is as perfect as it can be before submitting, and only query agencies that are a great fit for your work. Otherwise, you're just wasting time and postage.

Jon Sternfeld of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency

80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1101, New York, NY 10011. E-mail:
queries@irenegoodman.com. www.irenegoodman.com/about.php. Actively seeking: intelligent literary fiction, high-end modern fiction; nonfiction and narrative nonfiction dealing with social, cultural and historical issues; an occasional memoir and current affairs book. Prior to his current position: Jon comes to the agency from the film world, where he worked both the creative and development sides. He is actively seeking new clients. "I'd be happy if people just reached out to me," he says.

How to contact: "For Unpublished Authors: If you have a manuscript that you would like to send to the agency, please first ask yourself the following questions: 1) Is this manuscript in the best possible shape? Do I believe it is ready to sell, or am I just testing the waters? 2) Have I completed the manuscript? 3) Does it fit the guidelines of the kinds of books this agency represents? If you can answer yes to all of the above, then please do the following: Send a query letter and the first 10 pages, along with a detailed synopsis of the entire book, in the body of an e-mail to queries@irenegoodman.com (Query, ATTN: Jon Sternfeld)."

Responds in 1-2 months. If interested, this agent will request more pages. E-mail queries only. No snail mail or phone queries will be accepted, nor will any queries to Jon's personal e-mail account. "Because we are receiving more than 50 queries a day, the system is getting overloaded. If your e-mail bounces back, please do not call the office. Just try again in a day or two."

Literary Fiction | Narrative Nonfiction | New Agency Alerts

Thursday, August 21, 2008 3:24:54 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

MORE Agent Chapter 1 Pet Peeves and Writing Cliches
Posted by Chuck

Note: This is part II of
the discussion on Chapter 1
no-no's. See part I here!

The current issue of Writer's Digest magazine (Sept/Oct 08) has a piece in it that I wrote on literary agents' chapter 1 pet peeves. For it, I basically just contacted a whole bunch of agents - new and experienced, fiction and nonfiction, Christian and not, juvenile and adult - and asked them all what they hate to see in chapter 1.

They gave a lot of great feedback - real good practical stuff touching on cliches and pet peeves and overused beginnings. Here is some of the responses that we put in the printed article:

Agents Chapter 1 Pet Peeves:

"Most agents hate prologues. Just make the first chapter relevant and well written."
       - Andrea Brown, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

"Slow writing with a lot of description puts me off very quickly. I like a first chapter that moves quickly and draws me in so I'm immediately hooked."
       - Andrea Hurst, Andrea Hurst Literary Management

"Avoid any description of the weather."
       - Denise Marcil, Denise Marcil Literary Agency

"I don't like it when the main character dies at the end of Chapter 1. Why did I just spend all this time with this character? I feel cheated."
       - Cricket Freeman, August Agency

"A cheesy hook drives me nuts. They say 'Open with a hook!' to grab the reader. That's true, but there's a fine line between an intriguing hook and one that's just silly. An example of a silly hook would be opening with a line of overtly sexual dialogue. Or opening with a hook that's just too convoluted to be truly interesting."
       - Daniel Lazar, Writers House

" 'The Weather' is always a problem - the author feels he has to set up the scene and tell us who the characters are, etc. I like starting a story in media res."
       - Elizabeth Pomada, Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents

Craft and Story Beginnings | Guest Columns

Thursday, August 21, 2008 1:13:37 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Beware the Children's Literary Agency
Posted by Chuck

Q. Hi, I have a finished manuscript that is for the age range of 7-12. Can you tell me if you are familiar with Children's Literary Agency? If so, can you tell me what you know about them? Thank you.
- Debbie

A. I am familiar with that agency and let me say unequivocally that they are not reputable. Do not submit to them unless you want to face the very probable scenario of you paying money and not seeing your book published.
Beware CLA...

Children's Writing | Scams

Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:30:56 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Agent Donald Maass = New Writer Unboxed Contributor
Posted by Chuck

Therese Walsh of Writer Unboxed recently e-mailed to tell me the exciting news that superagent Donald Maass will be joining Writer Unboxed as a contributor.

Off the top of the head, I can think of at least two amazing books on writing penned by Maass, so there is no doubt that the man is full of incredible advice. Getting his wisdom through blog work will be very helpful to writers, new and experienced.

He doesn't begin contributing till April, but Writer Unboxed is a great site that you should be checking out now anyway!

Donald Maass

Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:24:28 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

Agency News From Here and There...
Posted by Chuck

News from the agent world...

1. Ronnie Gramazio is no longer with Martin Literary Management

From Sharlene Martin, principal of MLM:
        "Please be advised that effective August 19, 2008 Ronnie Gramazio is no longer an agent with Martin Literary Management. He has decided to return to an editor position with a soon to be announced publisher. Therefore, please note that we are no longer accepting any fiction submissions. We are a nonfiction agency only. Also, please note, that effective July 1, 2008, we are a 'green agency' and only will be accepting queries letters via email (in the body of the e-mail—no attachments) and hard copy letters/submissions may not be responded to."

2. Anderson Literary Management Wants Snail Mail Submissions

From Adriann Ranta of ALM: "The listing for Anderson Literary states that we accept email queries. We strongly prefer hardcopy submissions, so if you could make the listing reflect that it would be greatly appreciated."

3. Irene Webb Literary Changes E-Mail and Mailing Address

Here's the new info:
       Irene Webb
       Irene Webb Literary
       822 Bishop's Lodge Road
       Santa Fe, NM 87501
       webblit@gmail.com

Random Updates

Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:17:49 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [4]

Pseudonyms For Authors
Posted by Chuck

Q. The October 2008 issue of Writer's Digest on literary agents was nicely done and I enjoyed the variety of your articles. Agent-related materials always intrigue me, and you gave me the opportunity to discover more about the author's representation process. On page 30, (the author) made the suggestion to look for an agent who would be able to handle all categories of an author's work. I am one of those multiple category writers. I have a nonfiction project on humanity, outlines for several science fiction novels, and an almost completed song lyric project for a rock concept album. Because my current professional career is in a field that may not associate well with my writing, I have opted to use different pseudonyms for each category. How do you think an agent or an editor would feel when learning about an author with multiple pseudonyms for each of his work's category?
        - Christophe

A. Pseudonyms may very well come into play down the stretch since you're working in different categories and you need to "brand" yourself. The fact that you have some kind of career that does not mesh will is another logical reason to use a pen name. However, there is plenty of time before any of these projects get published, so my advice to you is to simply relax and let your agent and editor work with you on this.
       When I told my literary agent that I had a children's picture book in my bag of projects, her first remark was that it will probably need to come out under a pen name, as she was concerned about my nonfiction "brand."
       So - yes - you're on to something here, but you've got what I believe The Rejecter called "Thinking Too Far Ahead Syndrome." Relax - deal with this as it comes up.

Q&A from Blog Readers

Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:06:12 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

WD Editors at The Maui Writers Conference
Posted by Chuck

Two of my fine coworkers at Writer's Digest - editor Maria Schneider and online managing editor Brian A. Klems - will be at the Maui Writers Conference in a week.

(For a great Photoshopped picture of them in Hawai'ian garb, click here.)

If you're headed out to Hawai'i, you're in for a great time. Though I've never been the this particular conference, I'm told it's wonderful, and there are a boatload of agents in attendance, ready to hear pitches and find new clients. There is still time to sign up, though I cannot guarantee airfare will be anywhere near reasonable this late in the game!

Writers' Conferences

Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:16:19 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Monday, August 18, 2008

The 'Worst Storyline Ever' Contest!
Posted by Chuck

Have you got a horrible idea for a story? Well I want to hear about it. Welcome to the "Worst Storyline Ever" Contest - a competition that encourages terrible loglines.

A logline is a one-sentence line that explains what your story is about and shows the "hook" - the unique idea that makes people want to see more. You see loglines all the time in TV Guide and on the back of DVD boxes. Here are some examples:

        "Three middle-aged men defeat their midlife crises by starting a college fraternity." (Old School)
        "When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an evil prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge." (Gladiator)
        "In a future where criminals are arrested before the crime occurs, a cop struggles on the lam to prove his innocence for a murder he has not yet committed." (Minority Report)

But that's all the examples I'm going to give you, because I'm not looking for good examples of a logline; I'm looking for bad examples. Nay - terrible, stupid, "oh-my-God-that-idea-is-dumb-as-hell" examples.

Examples of Bad Loglines

1. "After the death of his goldfish, a priest renounces his faith and gets a job at the local White Castle, where he becomes addicted to special sauce and tries to dance his way to getting respect on the streets."

2. "A man's lifelong plan to dress up like Jabba the Hutt and star in a new line of workout tapes finally comes to fruition, but everything goes horribly awry when the man gets ink poisoning, lead poisoning and mercury poisoning all at once."

3. "When a woman dies and is reincarnated as a power saw, she uses a telepathic link with feral cats to help trick and trap and kill her former-lover-turned-murderer-turned-taxidermist."

Here are the rules:

1. Stick to the format, but have fun with the idea. You want your logline to be one sentence only and must be 60 words or fewer, and explain what the movie is about. It's what you put in that one sentence that will win you this competition. So the trick is to make your logline a terribly creative idea that's pitched in a professional manner.
2. The contest will go until the end of August 2008. Submissions received after that will not be considered.
3. I will judge the contest, with some possible input from other WD and WD Books staffers.
4. To participate, simply click on "Comments" at the end of this post and leave your submission as a comment with your full name and e-mail. You must include your full name and e-mail.
5. You can submit up to two (2) bad loglines. You can include both in the same comment post as you wish.
6. The contest is open to everyone of all ages, save those employees, officers and directors of GLA's publisher, F+W Media (formerly F+W Publications).
7. There are a lot more rules (most of them dealing with legal stuff) that you can find in the comments section of this post.
8. By posting a terrible logline for consideration in this contest, you are agreeing to the terms written here as well as the terms added by me at the beginning of the "Comments" section of this blog post.

The Prizes:

First prize (grand prize): 1) A query letter critique from me. 2) A follow-up phone call to discuss the query critique and a plan of action for seeing your work published (basically: you ask questions, I answer). 3) Copies of the 2009 Guide to Literary Agents and the 2009 Writer's Market. 4) Praise on this blog from yours truly.

Two runner-up prizes: 1) A free copy of either the 2009 Guide to Literary Agents or the 2009 Writer's Market. Your choice.

Good luck!!!

Contests

Monday, August 18, 2008 4:40:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [260]

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Can Foreigners Get Stamps for SASE's?
Posted by Chuck

Q. Help! Please. I am in need of an agent. I know exactly who I want. He has been recommended to me by one of his former clients, who happens to be a very established writer. However, I am not sure that I will ever be able to query this agent. His submissions guidelines state that queries that do not contain the coveted SASE [self-addressed, stamped envelope] will be recycled upon receipt. I'm not lazy or cheap. I'd gladly include one, but being Canadian that is much more difficult than you would think. USPS is no longer shipping stamps to foreign locations. Can I climb out of the slush with a sticky note saying, "recycle if rejected"? I know this agent likes to represent Canadians, but the truth is, now we'll only be able to e-query or have American friends smuggle us stamps like we once smuggled them Cuban cigars. I've been looking for answers around the blog scene, but as of yet, haven't received any. This dilemma really does extend past me missing out on my dream agent. The doors to many agents and publishing houses have now been closed to foreigners.
- Christy

A. Very interesting about the USPS and the limited availability of stamps. Anyone else have an experience with this? It's news to me. What about International Reply Coupons?
Yeah, and my first suggestion was to simply e-query. It's easier anyway. Do you just like sending in snail mail submissions or does this agent not take e-queries?
If I were you, I would send in the submission like normal. At the bottom of the query, include a note about why you have no SASE and apologize for not following his specific guidelines. Hopefully he will be pleased that you had done some research on him.

Queries and Synopses and Proposals

Sunday, August 17, 2008 10:55:21 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [7]

Sending Requested Work in Late
Posted by Chuck

Q. I attended a writer's conference where I had an opportunity to pitch an agent in hopes of getting feedback on my pitch letter, and also hopefully getting the agent interested in my novel. This agent gave me her business card and said she was interested in seeing my first three chapters - but first she wanted me to cut approximately 33,000 words off my manuscript, because it's extremely difficult for a first time novelist to sell something over 100,000 words.
I have two questions: 1) is it true that first time novelists should try to stay in that 100,000-words-or-less guideline? 2) It's taken me well over a year to trim those 33,000 words out (it hasn't helped that during that time I moved to another state and began a grueling new job search, which took time away from my editing). When I finally do finish those edits, is it too late to send my first three chapters in? Should I send a pitch letter first, reminding her of our meeting and hoping against hope that she'll remember me? Your advice is much appreciated! Keep up the great blogging!
- Erin

A. Yes, it's true that you should aim for approximately 100,000 words. I end up saying this a lot at conferences and many writers kinda shake their heads, thinking this is either untrue or unfair or both.
Second part: Send what was requested - it's not too late. Send your query letter in, and, at the beginning, mention how she requested the work at the conference, and how it has been trimmed in length as per her request. Then include the chapters.
The more agents I talk to, the more just admit that most of what they hear at conferences blends together. So the fact that you're sending it in pretty late is not exactly good, per se, but likely harmless. Good luck.

Q&A from Blog Readers | Queries and Synopses and Proposals

Sunday, August 17, 2008 10:45:18 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Did Anyone See American Teen (the movie)?
Posted by Chuck

Good movie.

It's a documentary that follows around four highschoolers during their entire senior year. It's essentially a real-life Breakfast Club, with a "princess," an "artsy musician girl," a "jock," and a "band nerd."

I've been thinking about the movie all weekend. Some of it fell flat, but Hannah's storyline in particular (the girl on the left in the poster) was captivating.

Sunday, August 17, 2008 10:28:55 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Synopsis in a Query?
Posted by Chuck

Q. I'm not one of those scurrilous people in a movie theater who loudly announces the plot ending to the entire audience. But what's best for a synopsis in a query letter? Should I include my ingenious plot twist at the end? Or should I provide intrigue so a literary agent will want to read the manuscript?
- James

A. Do the latter. Provide intrigue so a literary agent will want to read more. A query is only designed to deliver the hook - the cool idea (or catch) for an idea that makes your story work. It's not meant to reveal the twist ending or the true killer. A synopsis is a long document that's something different altogether.
And regarding your movie theater demeanor ... your loss.

Queries and Synopses and Proposals

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 10:10:58 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [7]

The International Women's Fiction Festival in Italy
Posted by Chuck

I just got back from a vacation with some college buddies (a "man-cation" - my first) up in Put-in-Bay, which is an island on lake Erie not terribly far from Toledo or Detroit. Crazy place. I'm still trying to break out of vacation mode and start firing on all cylinders.

But speaking of traveling, the more exciting news is that I will be headed to teach at a writers' conference in Italy! How cool!

The conference is the International Women's Fiction Festival, held in Matera, Italy. Matera is in the middle of the country and is a very old and historic location. The conference itself is an amazing event. It gathers professionals and writers from all over the globe. When I speak on panels, I'll likely be up there with other editors from Germany, Italy, France and England, and we may all even have those cool UN headphones for translations. I'm dying to get in a heated discussion with someone and demand Adlai-Stevenson-style that they "Don't wait for the translation - answer me now!"

Other cool stuff about the conference:

The theme this year is "Books Without Borders."
Different sessions in the conference will talk about multicultural writing, as well as how to slowly build a worldwide readership.
"Memoir Writing as Therapy" will be taught. If maybe you just need to get away from it all and relax (perhaps there has just been a death in family, etc.), a session like this can do wonders.
The whole conference program, naturally, is available online. You won't see my name anywhere yet, though, because I was originally lined up as a presenter for next year's conference. They had a cancellation for this year, and I'm filling in.

If, say, you have spare time, a desire to write, and a penchant for adventure, think about going to Italy and being part of such an amazing event. Writers in attendance will be immersed in an array of perspectives about writing and publishing in the world, and you can tack on a vacation at the beginning or the end to enjoy the wonderful country. Perhaps your spouse has always talked about 1) writing a novel/memoir, and 2) going to Italy. Well here is your chance to provide the ultimate anniversary gift!

And to answer your question, yes my last name of Sambuchino is very Italian, and no, I have never visited the homeland. But I will arrive in a blaze of glory, and I'm fully expecting like six full-blooded Sicilian mafioso guys to greet me off the plane, do that kiss-on-both-cheeks thing, and make me a button man in the Sambuchino Family over there I never knew exised. Godfather style.

Writers' Conferences

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 9:52:43 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [4]

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Agents' Chapter 1 Pet Peeves!
Posted by Chuck

Note: This is part I of
the discussion on Chapter 1
no-no's. See part II here!

The forthcoming issue of Writer's Digest magazine (Sept/Oct 08) has a piece in it that I wrote on literary agents' chapter 1 pet peeves. For it, I basically just contacted a whole bunch of agents - new and experienced, fiction and nonfiction, Christian and not, juvenile and adult - and asked them all what they hate to see in chapter 1.

They gave a lot of great feedback - real good practical stuff touching on cliches and pet peeves and overused beginnings. The article will be online in several weeks, so you can see a lot of great advice soon.

Although we saved plenty of juicy parts for the WD article, in the meantime, enjoy all this great feedback that didn't make the final cut for space purposes!

Agents Chapter 1 Pet Peeves:

"Anything cliché such as ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ will turn me off. I hate when a narrator or author addresses the reader (e.g., 'Gentle reader')."
        - Jennie Dunham, Dunham Literary

"Sometimes a reasonably good writer will create an interesting character and describe him in a compelling way, but then he’ll turn out to be some unimportant bit player. Other annoying, unoriginal things I see too often: some young person going home to a small town for a funeral, someone getting a phone call about a death, a description of a psycho lurking in the shadows, or a terrorist planting a bomb."
        - Ellen Pepus, Signature Literary Agency (formerly Ellen Pepus Literary)

"I’m really turned off by a protagonist named Isabelle who goes by 'Izzy.' No. Really. I am."
        - Stephany Evans, FinePrint Literary Management

"I dislike opening scenes that you think are real (I rep adult genre fiction), then the protagonist wakes up. It makes me feel cheated. And so many writers use this hackneyed device. I dislike lengthy paragraphs of world building and scene setting up front. I usually crave action close to the beginning of the book (and so do readers)."
        - Laurie McLean, Larsen/Pomada Literary Agents

"I do in fact hate it when someone wakes up from a dream in Chapter 1, and I dislike an overly long prologue. The worst thing that you can do is let that crucial chapter be boring - that’s the chapter that has to grab my interest!"
        - Michelle Brower, Folio Literary Management (formerly Wendy Sherman Associates)

"I don't like an opening line that's 'My name is...,' introducing the narrator to the reader so blatantly. I might be prompted to groan before reading on a bit further to see if the narration gets any less stale. There are far better ways in Chapter 1 to establish an instant connection between narrator and reader. I’m also usually not a fan of prologues, preferring to find myself in the midst of a moving plot on page 1 rather than being kept outside of it, or eased into it."
        - Michelle Andelman, Lynn C. Franklin Associates (formerly Andrea Brown Literary Agency)

"I hate seeing a 'run-down list:' Names, hair color, eye color, height, even weight sometimes. Other things that bother me is over-describing the scenery or area where the story starts. Usually a manuscript can lose the first 3-5 chapters and start there. Besides the run-down list preaching to me about a subject, I don't like having a character immediately tell me how much he/she hates the world for whatever reason. In other words, tell me your issues on politics, the environment, etc. through your character. That is a real turn off to me."
        - Miriam Hees (editor), Blooming Tree Press

"Perhaps my biggest pet peeve with an opening chapter is when an author features too much exposition - when they go beyond what is necessary for simply 'setting the scene.' I want to feel as if I'm in the hands of a master storyteller, and starting a story with long, flowery, overly-descriptive sentences (kind of like this one) makes the writer seem amateurish and the story contrived. Of course, an equally jarring beginning can be nearly as off-putting, and I hesitate to read on if I'm feeling disoriented by the fifth page. I enjoy when writers can find a good balance between exposition and mystery. Too much accounting always ruins the mystery of a novel, and the unknown is what propels us to read further. It is what keeps me up at night saying 'just one more chapter, then I'll go to sleep.' If everything is explained away in the first chapter; I'm probably putting the book down and going to sleep."
       - Peter Miller, Peter Miller Literary

"1. Squinting into the sunlight with a hangover in a crime novel. Good grief -- been done a million times. 2. A sci-fi novel that spends the first two pages describing the strange landscape. 3. A trite statement ("Get with the program" or "Houston, we have a problem" or "You go girl" or "Earth to Michael" or "Are we all on the same page?"), said by a weenie sales guy, usually in the opening paragraph. 4. A rape scene in a Christian novel, especially in the first chapter. 5. 'Years later, Monica would look back and laugh...' 6. "The [adjective] [adjective] sun rose in the [adjective] [adjective] sky, shedding its [adjective] light across the [adjective] [adjective] [adjective] land."
       - Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary

"Here are things I can't stand: Cliché openings in Fantasy can include an opening scene set in a battle (and my peeve is that I don't know any of the characters yet so why should I care about this battle) or with a pastoral scene where the protagonist is gathering herbs (I didn't realize how common this is). Opening chapters where a main protagonist is in the middle of a bodily function (jerking off, vomiting, peeing, or what have you) is usually a firm NO right from the get-go. Gross. Long prologues that often don't have anything to do with the story. So common in Fantasy again. Opening scenes that our all dialogue without any context. I could probably go on..."
       - Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary

"I recently read a ms when the second line was something like, 'Let me tell you this, Dear Reader...' What do you think of that?"
        - Sheree Bykofsky, Sheree Bykofsky Literary

"I know this may sound obvious, but too much 'telling' vs. 'showing' in the first chapter is a definite warning sign for me – the first chapter should present a compelling scene, not a road map for the rest of the book. The goal is to make the reader curious about your characters, fill their heads with questions that must be answered, not fill them in on exactly where, when, who and how. Don’t ever describe eye color either..."
        - Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect Agency

"Characters that are moving around doing little things, but essentially nothing. Washing dishes & thinking, staring out the window & thinking, tying shoes, thinking ... Authors often do this to transmit information, but the result is action in a literal sense but no real energy in a narrative sense. The best rule of thumb is always to start the story where the story starts."
        - Dan Lazar, Writers House

"I hate reading purple prose, taking the time to set up-- to describe something so beautifully and that has nothing to do with the actual story. I also hate when an author starts something and then says '(the main character) would find out later.' I hate gratuitous sex and violence anywhere in the manuscript. If it is not crucial to the story then I don't want to see it in there, in any chapters."
        - Cherry Weiner, Cherry Weiner Literary

Want more on this subject?

7 reasons agents stop reading your first chapter.

Should you start with plot or character?

Word count for novels and children's books.

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

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

Agent Advice (Agent Interviews) | Craft and Story Beginnings | Guest Columns

Tuesday, August 05, 2008 2:38:06 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [20]

Kind Words From Author Brad Thor
Posted by Chuck

Author Brad Thor (His book, The Last Patriot, was a NYT #1 bestseller) had these kind words to say when meeting WD editor Maria Schneider:

"Writer’s Digest is always going to have a very special place in my heart because Writer’s Digest was there at the beginning. I read the magazine and I used the Guide to Literary Agents. As a starting writer, you folks were an incredible resource for me. I mean that. I recommend Writer’s Digest to all beginning writers; when they have a manuscript and are trying to move ahead to the next level."

Yep ... He gave GLA some mad props. Awesomeness.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008 1:16:59 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [0]

All About Children's Agents
Posted by Chuck

Alice Pope, editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrators Market, has been in the thick of things out in Beverly Hills this past week at the SCBWI Summer Conference, where the best and the brightest involved in the juvenile writing world gather to network and learn from one another. In fact, she has been blogging about her adventures nonstop. Check out her blog homepage here.

Of particular interest is this post called All About Agents, where she listens to a panel of agents talk.

Also check out a post about Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary. The post is great because Michael really has some time to talk about what he wants, what he's not getting in the slush pile, and what's selling.

Children's Writing

Tuesday, August 05, 2008 10:01:20 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [6]

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