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Mary Rosenblum
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Hello all.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I hope you're enjoying the
holiday season.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Got all your shopping done?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I hope so. I had to go do a
couple of errands today and the roads were AWFUL.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Mistake!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Amazon.com is doing last
minute gift certificates. Books are a good gift. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum , your web editor and we're talking about agents
tonight. I've published eight novels, more than 60 short stories, and will
do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble'
next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a
question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and
type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..
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Mary Rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about agents
since many people have finished novel drafts in the annual Nanowrimo
contest and are thinking about sending those novels out to publishers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It helps to know when you
really do need an agent, when you do not, and how to avoid the scammers out
there.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So what does an agent do?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Let's begin with that.
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Mary Rosenblum
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An agent protects your
economic interests.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When you make money, he makes
money.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The agent takes care of all
contracts, accepts money from the publisher and pays you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's up to the agent to retain
as many of your rights as possible and to negotiate the best deal possible
for your book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The agent will keep an eye out
for future markets for you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They have...or should
have...close contacts in the publishing world so they hear the gossip first
about new trends and new markets.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The agent is ONLY paid when
you make money.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They receive 15% of your
gross.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They do not charge you for
services before you sell your novel.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Or book. Or screenplay.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When do you need an agent?
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Mary Rosenblum
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You really must have an agent
when you deal with the big NY publishers or Hollywood.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Those contracts are huge,
convoluted, and cover issues such as how royalties are computed and how
returns are counted that
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Mary Rosenblum
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will make no sense to you but
could cost you a lot of money.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You do not need an agent to
sell short fiction or nonfiction.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You do not need an agent to
publish with small press publishers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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(their contracts are much
simpler, generally)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Of course you don't need an
agent to self publish. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now a very few NY publishers,
mostly in the speculative fiction genre, still accept unagented
manuscripts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you can send off a
manuscript to the publisher without an agent do it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If the editor buys your book,
THEN you can start calling agents.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You will find it much easier
to acquire a good agent if you have an offer in hand, believe me. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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It is very very hard to get an
agent as an unpublished writer.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The reason is this....you have
no name to sell yet, so the book alone will have to wow the editor. So it's
probably going to take the agent a lot of time to sell.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And that is unpaid time unless
it DOES sell!
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Mary Rosenblum
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So most agents will accept
only a very limited number of unpublished writers. My own agent will not
handle more than one unpublished writer at a time.
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illegible
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Won't that irritate the
publisher and possibly sour the deal?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Getting an agent after you get
the contract, illeg? Not at all.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's normal business
procedure.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Often contract negotiations go
on long after the editor says 'I'll buy it'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In the case of one of my books,
I think we were about 4 months into the editing process before my agent
finally sent me the contracts to sign.
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Mary Rosenblum
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She and my publisher had been
sending them back and forth all that time.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Any publisher who pressures
you to sign a contract immediately should be suspect. Why the speed?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Could it be because there's
something in there you might notice?
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illegible
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I was wrong to think the numbers
were locked in.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Usually the offer is locked
in, illeg.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That gets settled when the
publisher says 'we'll take it'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The contract doesn't go out
until publisher and agent have agreed to a fee.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The back and forth is all
about sentences in the contract.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum , your web editor and we're talking about agents
tonight. I've published eight novels, more than 60 short stories, and will
do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble'
next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a
question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and
type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..
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geezer
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How difficult was it for you to
get your first agent?
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Mary Rosenblum
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It was easier than for many
because I had published a lot of short fiction and had been getting very
nice critical attention from big reviewers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I got a lot of referrals from
other writers and got an agent with minimal querying.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But a young friend of mine
with NO name recognition at all, about 22 at the time, needed an agent for
her children's book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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She queried 50, got three or
four requests to see the book, and finally signed with one of the three or
four.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's about par for the
course for an unknown with no track record.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You just have to realize from
the get go that LOTS of rejection slips are going to happen.
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Mary Rosenblum
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BUT...and this is the silver
lining.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That agent that says 'send it'
is 99% sure he/she can sell that book to a particular editor.
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geezer
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Doesn't sound like agents are
too hungry.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Good ones are not, geeze. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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But junior agents leave big
agencies all the time to set up on their own.
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Mary Rosenblum
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THEY are hungry.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And they have NY contacts and
they'll work hard. They are often where you will find your agent.
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speckledorf
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The author at the con in Nov.
said she queried 50 agents for her first book and got 5 requests for fulls.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes, that's very close to what
Lichen experienced. And that's about right.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Figure one in ten.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You do not want a busy agent
to take your book and let it sit on her desk, folks.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So it's not always that the
agent isn't happy with the book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sometimes their client string
is simply full.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Once you sign with an agent it
is the agent's responsibility to market your book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you meet an editor at a
conference and that editor says 'send it to me' after you describe your
book
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Mary Rosenblum
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YOU need to call your agent
and ask her to send it to you. You do not do it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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She may have that book out
with someone else or she may say to you 'this is not a good editor, you do
not want to work with him'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now most of the time, the
agent will be thrilled and happily send the manuscript off to the editor
who asked for it...
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Mary Rosenblum
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but the agent sends it.
|
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Mary Rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum , your web editor and we're talking about agents
tonight. I've published eight novels, more than 60 short stories, and will
do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble'
next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a
question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and
type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..
|
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illegible
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if an editor asks for it and you
don't have an agent, then what?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Ah, illegible, you have just
noticed the path around that 'no unagented submissions' rule that so many
publishers now use.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If the editor asks for it, and
you don't have an agent, you send it to that editor
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Mary Rosenblum
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even if the publishing house
won't officially take unagented manuscripts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is no longer an
'unsolicited manuscript'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It has just been solicited.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You send it to the attention
of that editor and you thank him for requesting it (and remind him where
and when he did so).
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illegible
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Will it behoove me to get an
agent posthaste?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not unless you have a
finished, polished novel that you could submit tomorrow, illeg.
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Mary Rosenblum
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No publisher will buy a book
on proposal from an unpublished author.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Many people start novels.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Very few people finish novels.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now if you DO have a finished
book and you're going to be submitting to a genre that requires agents --
mainstream, say, or thriller, or YA --
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Mary Rosenblum
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then yeah, you might as well
start looking.
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illegible
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No, if i've just sent it to an
editor who asked for it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can, illeg.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You'd be better off to wait
for an acceptance though. Many agents will still turn you down.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Editors ask for stuff they
don't buy all the time.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you have the contract in
hand, the only agents who will turn you down are those agents who are too
busy
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Mary Rosenblum
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or who feel they won't market
your work well. They don't know the right editors.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now, let's talk about how agenting
works.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It works via lunches,
cocktails, parties, visits, word of mouth.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Agents mingle with editors.
They drop by. They take editors to lunch.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They attend publishing
functions. They listen to gossip, they pay attention to trends.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So if the publishers live in
NYC, where do you think the agents need to live????
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Mary Rosenblum
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An agent who lives in Phoenix or Missoula can only do
one thing for you. That agent can mail your manuscript to the publisher who
only takes agented manuscripts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That agent doesn't know the
editors personally.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They don't do lunch. They
don't talk.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Each agent tends to know a
circle of editors well and those editors know that Mr. Agent usually gives
them good manuscripts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So when Mr. Agent sends one
'round, they pay attention to it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When it comes in from someone
in Timbuctoo, yeah, this person calls himself an agent, but what does that
mean?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Means he printed up the
business letterhead that's what.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The husband of a local
aspiring writer did just that...became an 'agent' so he could send his
wife's work to publishers who only accepted agented material.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You're much better off, as
long as you're going to spend that 15% of your take, to spend it on someone
who is inside the publishing world and knows what they're doing.
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tory
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Now THAT's a new twist.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Its' not all that effective.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Editors know who handles good
work and who does not.
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Mary Rosenblum
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A few very well established
scam agencies send tons of stuff to editors.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They charge their clients by
the submission so they submit every book they get to every publisher out
there
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Mary Rosenblum
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whether or not that publisher
even publishes this type of work.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So editors don't even bother.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If an agent starts submitting
poor quality work, word gets around VERY fast and editors don't look at the
submissions very hard.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is why you want to look
at an agent's clientele list.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Who does that agent represent?
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you see familiar names,
people who are on the shelves now and not just in small press, then this is
probably a good, hardworking agent.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you only see a few
recognizable names adn they all vanished from the shelves twenty years
ago...weeelll...
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Mary Rosenblum
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maybe this guy was good once
and is sort of resting on his laurels. Does he charge fees, too? Hmmm.
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Mary Rosenblum
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As new writers with limited or
no experience with the publishing universe, I highly HIGHLY recommend that
you only
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Mary Rosenblum
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deal with agents who are
members in good standing of the Association of Authors Representatives.
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Mary Rosenblum
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http://www.aar-online.org/index.html
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Mary Rosenblum
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They have a strict code of
ethics.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And they have a GREAT FAQ
(frequently asked questions) page that is an education on how to acquire an
agent.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They also have some contact
information for their members, although a lot of members don't have their
contact info up on the website.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The market indexes will
include agent info.
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tory
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Mary, do agents follow the
"rule" that writers must: submit to one editor at a time. Or do
they do multiple submissions regularly?
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Mary Rosenblum
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No, Tory, agents aren't stuck
with that rule. They'll drop mss onto several desks if they think they can
get editors bidding against each other.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But usually they have a first
choice and take it there, first.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The turnaround time is much
faster for an agent.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Where it might take you nine
months to hear back from some publishers, your agent will be calling to
query after a couple of weeks.
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Mary Rosenblum
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One of the nice things about
having an agent is that you do hear back quickly.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The agent drops by, takes the
editor out to lunch and asks about the book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Or she calls.
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katz
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Is it harder to get an agent for
Children's books than adult
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Mary Rosenblum
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I don't think so, katz.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's about equally tough to
get an agent for all genres. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Children's book agents
probably get more queries than some other genres.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Realize that most agents these
days want only a query at first.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That eliminates the many many many
people who don't bother to read the agent's guidelines about what he/she
represents and just starts sending work out to everybody.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If the book fits what that
agent likes to represent and sounds marketable, the agent will ask to see a
synopsis, usually, and chapters.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So learn how to write a
dynamite query!
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info
|
Not sure if I understand what
you mean about the agent calling to query. Does that mean he/she talks to
editor about your book and if that editor is interested you have to query
the editor before your agent sends the submission to editor?
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Mary Rosenblum
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No info. It means that after
the agent leaves your manuscript with the editor, she will call that editor
to ask if she's read teh book yet if she doesn't hear back in a reasonable
length of time.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Reasonable being like two
weeks.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Agents are NOT patient people.
:-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is one way they earn that
15%. :-) SAving you months of waiting time.
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tory
|
Does your agent handle both your
sci fi and your mystery? And is that common? Or do folks usually need
multiple agents if they are doing different genre's or ages--like adult and
YA?
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Mary Rosenblum
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My agent does handle both my
SF and mystery, tory. She also handles romance and some mainstream and YA.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Most agents handle three or
more genres. Not all.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Some people have multiple
agents. That's not common.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Mine won't do that.
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Mary Rosenblum
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it's all or nothing.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now some agents will do a very
limited contract where they only agree to handle THIS book...
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Mary Rosenblum
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but I have found this to be
extremely rare.
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Mary Rosenblum
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At least in the fiction
universe. It might be more common in nonfiction.
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xana
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Is it the agent or the agency
that handles more than one type of book?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Usually it's the agent, xana.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But in a really big agency,
you might have one agent who handles your SF and another who handles your
romance.
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Mary Rosenblum
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My agent is a solo.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's just her.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Some agencies have three, six,
or many more agents all under one roof.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Once your agent sells a book
for you, all checks from the publisher will come to that agent. The agent
subtracts his 15% and sends you a check for the rest.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Some agents do deduct the
cost, say, of sending manuscript overseas.
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Mary Rosenblum
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My agent doesn't charge me
copy fees, but if one of my manuscripts is going overseas, she'll give me
the address and have me mail it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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She simply emails the foreign
sub-agent that it's on its way.
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tory
|
Do agents usually pursue (or
regularly pursue) posible movie/video rights for books? I've seen some WIP's
at critique group that seem perfect for movies.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It depends on your agent and
what kind of contacts that agent has.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If the agent has hollywood
contacts, that agent might push some of his authors that way. My agent has
a hollywood sub-agent.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
More often, someone queries
you about an option.
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info
|
WIP's?
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Mary Rosenblum
|
work in progress.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
I've been queried several
times about options. The queries always came to me. I passed 'em on to my
agent.
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tory
|
So when do we see the next
movie, Mary?
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Mary Rosenblum
|
There was one. :-) It was made
from a novella of mine. Did the movie competition circuit.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
It was by an indy and never
got bought up for production. Too bad.
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info
|
If you do have someone query you
about a possible movie contract, do you send them to your agent whether or
not they deal with movie contracts?
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Oh yes. Every agent has
sub-agents.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
They handle work the agent
can't handle personally.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Mine has a Hollywood sub and
several foreign subs in the UK, France, and Eastern Europe.
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geezer
|
Indy?
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Independent movie maker.
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sitton
|
How do you become an agent?
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Print up letterhead.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
No kidding.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
That's why you really need to
do a bit of research on the agent you're interested in.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
You do not want one whose only
qualification is that letterhead!
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Mary Rosenblum
|
And if an agent writes to you
and you have not had hot reviews in the magazines for the last story you
just published...be wary.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Good agents don't DO that.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
They figure you'll come to
them.
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megger
|
Hi Mary. How are sales for your
new novel? Or is it too early to tell? Does your agent give you regular
updates?
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Hopefully well, megger. :-) Lots
of the big chains seem to be out of stock, but returns won't to in until
January, so I won't hear anything until after that.
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xana
|
When you sign a contract with an
agent, typically how easy is it to get out of the contract if you are not
happy?
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Mary Rosenblum
|
That is something to check
into, xana. Either my agent or I can simply say 'I'm done' and quit.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
That is not always the case.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
If a written contract is
involved, read it!
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|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Well, this has been a fun
Forum.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
I'll have more information on
agents in next week's newsletter.
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Mary Rosenblum
|
And I'll post the transcripts
in the usual place:
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Writing Craft: Forum
Transcripts
|
|
illegible
|
is it common to put a duration
clause into your contract with an AGent?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Some agents do that, illeg.
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|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It might be for one book, or
two years, or whatever.
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geezer
|
What's this San Francisco
Chronicle about saying you are a "New Star"?
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|
Mary Rosenblum
|
ah, that's an old blurb, geeze.
:-) The one from Dozois is current. He's going to call me a new writer
until he dies. LOL
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Mary Rosenblum
|
Have a great holiday folks!
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|
ashton
|
Night, Mary! Merry Christmas and
to all a good night!
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sitton
|
Merry Christmas and a Happy New
Year All!!
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|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Merry Christmas to you all!
See you next week!
|
