A Nice Gift

I think the best sorts of gifts are surprises: a card in the mail for no reason at all, my husband bringing home a special kind of bath goo, a stranger telling me she loves my dress.

I received a totally unexpected gift yesterday from a literary agency. I never really expected to hear from them one way or another…lots of agencies don’t answer when they mean no, especially big famous agencies like this one. I certainly didn’t expect the kind note I received in response to a query.

No, I wasn’t offered representation, but I got something almost as good…a personal note from the agent’s assistant telling me not to give up, and that my book, although it didn’t fit the agent’s portfolio, would surely find representation somewhere.

She didn’t have to do that. She didn’t even have to answer at all. But that small paragraph made my day, and more than that, fortified my resolve.

Thanks, Jenna.

Agent Update

I've been trying to get an agent for about three months or so. I've had a lot of nos, some that didn't reply back, a few nice rejections, and one agent who read my entire manuscript before, sigh, rejecting it. Then I got a couple more rejections with feedback. This is good.

What was a bit worrisome in my case was that two agents said the same thing: loved your voice, didn't like the story premise. Well, they don't actually say "don't like," they say "I can't get as excited about the premise as I need to be."

So anyway, I was thinking so I can write. Big deal. My story sucks. Then today I got another rejection from an agent I really really wanted. He had feedback. Can you guess? Wait for it...

Loved the premise, "less excited about your voice." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

That was a maniacal laugh. Seriously, that made me feel better. Once again, "good" or sellable is in the eye of the beholder.

My Favorite Things

Feel free to sing along:

Me in my pjs awaiting an answer
Could it be I have word smithing cancer
Waiting around for a note from afar
Maybe I should be alone in a bar…
When “dear author” comes
Or “not right for them”
When I’m feeling bad,
I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feeeeeel…so bad.

Sigh. Did I say getting an agent was hard? So here’s how it goes. You first get a quick slew of heartfelt notes titled “Dear Author.” The good part is it’s obvious no one read the query, so at least you know they don't think your story sucks. The bad part is… no one read the query. Then you get some “this sounds cool but not right for me.” Maybe they are lying about the cool part, but at least a human read it. But still, no agent.

Then you sit patiently for a couple of weeks before sending out another batch. That’s what I’m doing, in the hopes someone will want to read chapters. Most agents don’t write back if they don’t want it. So I’m waiting. But I don’t like it.

But back to my favorite things. Tomorrow is my birthday. I love my special day, which hasn’t diminished over the years. If anything I’m worse now than I ever was, claiming the entire month to myself. I call it Kelly’s Birthday Season.

So even though finding an agent is depressing, I still love my life. I have many things I look forward too, even though I’m at that age I imagined was near death as a kid.

I think a happy attitude is good for everyone, maybe especially for writers. It’s hard. It’s frustrating. But you can’t put your life on hold just because an agent has put your book on hold.

Yeha!!! I can’t wait for tomorrow!!!

And to anyone who's not yet gotten me a gift, a boat trip would be nice. I want the swans though.

To Agent Or Not To Agent

And that most certainly is the question most writers face at some point in their careers. There are many benefits to having an agent: access to publishers who only allow agented submissions, marketing of your work, inside knowledge of the publishing world, helpful improvement advice, and of course if you’re lucky, a sale somewhere that actually gives authors upfront cash. Something I’ve never had, sigh. Not that I’m complaining. I’m grateful for my checks every quarter. Very grateful.

But somehow an upfront wad o’ cash means I’ve really made it…a publisher is giving me money based on what he or she thinks my book could produce. Heady stuff. Not to mention helpful in bill paying.

But back to the agent question before my pitcher of milk becomes spilt and curdled. Is there a down side to having an agent? Well, agents do have to make a living just like writers. They will take a percentage of your earnings, but only AFTER they have made a sale. This is an important point. Any agent who offers representation in exchange for cash, RUN. They will and rightly should pass along some expenses incurred while they were marketing your work such as long distance phone calls, postage, etcetera, but no agent worth his or her salt should bill you BEFORE a sale.

Taking a percentage of your sale is not a bad thing. Consider this: if someone is going to make money off a sale of your book, that person is going to work really really hard to sell it. And that leads to the second bad thing about obtaining an agent…it’s hard.

I like to think of it as the old Star Trek episode, Mudd’s Women. Remember poor Norman? Mr. Spock caught him in a logic loop so heinous Norman, an android, exploded. That’s sorta like getting an agent. Most times they won’t take you unless you have a proven track record, yet without an agent it’s hard to get that long list of publishing credits.

I tried to get an agent with my very first book. After hundreds of rejections which are just as painful as publisher ones I might add, a kind soul told me that he only represented (in his literary speak not my words) really famous people. He also added that I wrote well, “now go get some experience and creds.” He meant go get myself published.

So I did. I’ve learned what is popular. I’ve improved my writing technically. My skin is hard and callused from all the rejections, ha ha. Now I’m ready to try again.

The internet makes it harder and easier to find an agent. Harder because unscrupulous agencies thrive behind slick looking sites. Easier because you can usually submit electronically.
The Writer’s Market, who I have posted about before, has lists of agents. This is a great place to start, but they do charge a fee. Editors and Predators is a fabulous free site. Many agents…and publishers…do not like this site because they have, gasp, the audacity to state Bad Things about bad people and agencies. They are rather like the You Tube of the literary world, displaying rude and dishonest behavior for the world to see. So I started there and found a useful site they recommended called Agent Query.

http://www.agentquery.com/

I’m going to start at the top and work my way down. Usually with agents you can simultaneously query, but once you send in a manuscript it’s just like a publisher…they have exclusive rights while they decide if they want it or not. That sucks for writers, but looking at it from their viewpoint I do understand. They are taking precious resources and time to read…your stuff.

Saying that, even though you may simultaneously query is NOT a good idea to write a blanket letter, cc everyone, and push send. Why? First, what kind of impression will you make if you do not even use the person’s name? People, even agents, want to feel special. Like you picked their agency over all the hundreds of others. We all know writers look at multiple agents just like agents look at multiple writers, but at least keep the semblance of politeness. Second, make sure the agency represents what you are selling. Don’t send a romance to someone who only represents mysteries. Third, every agency, like each publisher, has specific submission guidelines. Follow them. They get thousands of queries. If yours doesn’t look like what they stated, they won’t even read it. You can start with a draft and then tailor to fit.

Here I go.

Wish me luck.