I’m Done Discussing Agents…
…and I’m on to a topic much closer to my heart.
Baseball.
My beloved New York Yankees are going to the playoffs. Again. For the 13th consecutive year. 
And, I have to admit – to anyone who follows baseball – I’d pretty much given up on my boyz in May, when they were eight games under .500 and 14 1/2 games behind the dreaded Boston Red Sox. My son kept telling me, “There’s always next year,” and I suddenly realized what fans of teams like the Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Devil Rays feel like.
But, being the good ‘ol Bronx Bombers, the team rallied from the depths and clinched the wild card with more than 90 wins. A pretty good season, considering where we started. So, it’s off to Cleveland next week. Now we just have to make it out of the first round.
Get an Agent, Part III
I’ve talked about good agents. I’ve talked about bad agents. But, how on earth does anyone find an agent?
Good question.
There’s a general feeling in the writing world that “you can’t get published without and agent, and you can’t get an agent unless you’ve been published.” Well, obviously the second part isn’t true – I was able to secure an agent without having ever been published. But I do believe it’s getting increasingly more difficult to catch the attention of a bigger publishing house – either in the Christian market or the secular market – without an agent.
I honestly believe writers’ conferences are the best place to meet agents who are willing to take on new clients. That’s where I mine. Agents go to writers’ conferences hoping to find new talent. Most conferences offer you a chance to sit down for 10 or 15 minutes with members of the faculty: agents, editors, authors, and publishers. If you do get one of these meetings, make certain you have done your research. Does this agent represent the kind of books you write? What are his submission requirements? Does she want a proposal with sample chapters or simply a query letter?
While you’re at the conference, you will also have the opportunity to speak with published authors. Ask them which agents they’d recommend, and why. And ask them which agents they’d avoid.
If you have the opportunity to attend a writers’ conference, do it. I know sometimes the cost can be prohibitive, but many offer scholarships; just contact the conference director and ask.
If you can’t make it to a writer’s conference, there’s always the Christian Writers’ Market and its secular counterpart, The Writer’s Market, depending on your personal bent. You can even check the Guide to Literary Agents. All of these are excellent resources for finding agents who are looking for new clients, and who represent writers of your genre.
Get an Agent, Part II
Agents can be wonderful, but there are many so-called "agents" out there who are neither qualified nor interested in representing writers. Some are well-intentioned amateurs. Others are maliciously trying to scam hopeful, unsuspecting authors. How can you tell the good from the bad and the ugly? Here are some tips.
- Agents should have experience. If the agent is new, he should previously have had an extensive career in publishing. And, new or experienced, he should be willing to tell you about his background: where he’s worked, how many other authors he’s placed, what his sales record is, etc.
- Never sign with an agent who charges an upfront fee. Any upfront fee. No reading fee, no evaluation fee, no marketing fee. Nothing.
- Don’t sign with an agent who wants more than 15% commission. Fifteen percent is standard in the industry.
- An agent shouldn’t refer you to outside services for which you have to pay. That includes manuscript critiques, subsidy publishers, the agent’s own "editorial services" or contests.
- Stay away from agents who make big promises. Publishing is unpredictable, and no agent can tell you she will definitely place your manuscript. But, she shouldn’t be negative, either. She wouldn’t have signed you if she didn’t think she had a good chance of selling your book. So, your agent should be one of your biggest cheerleaders, but also have realistic expectations.
For more information, read this excellent article at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Web site.
Get an Agent, Part I
My plot problem has been combated, thanks to… my agent, Bill Jensen. I have to say, if you are a writer out there trying to "go it alone," you may want to consider submitting your work to a few agents. Who knows? One of them may love your work and want to represent you.
I always had the fantasy of submitting my precious first novel to dozens of publishers, my manuscript mired in the slush pile for some low-on-the-totem-pole editor to discover as he slogged through the reams of paper on his desk. I imagined rushing to the mailbox each day, collecting my rejection letters and saving them. I figured it would take me years to, finally, be published.
Obviously, it didn’t happen that way.
I can’t say Bethany House wouldn’t have looked at my novel if it had been unsolicited. But I absolutely believe that, without Bill, I wouldn’t have the contract I have right now. He’s worth every bit of the 15% he gets from me.
What’s so great about an agent? Here are the reasons I’m blessed to have one:
- Bill does all the calling for me. I hate the telephone. I hardly like talking to people I know and love over it, so, while it sounds ridiculous, phoning anyone I don’t know is really a struggle. If I had to make every phone call necessary to facilitate my current publishing contract, I don’t want to think of where I’d be now.
- Bill does all the emailing for me. Okay, I don’t have an email phobia like the phone one, but still… It’s easier to have someone else deal with the constant communication necessary in the contracting process. And, the agent will know when to email. I’d be so worried about pestering someone, I’d wait months before sending an email, and by then they’d probably have forgotten about me.
- I can call Bill any time. In fact, he insists upon it. Now, I don’t know if all agents are like this (and we’ll discuss that issue in Part II), and, no, I don’t call Bill every day, or even once a week. But, if I have a plot problem, I know that I can contact him, and he truly wants to help me work through it.
- It’s cool to be able to say, "Well, my agent called yesterday and said…" Yes, it’s not the best reason for having an agent. But it’s still pretty neat.
- Bill has more than 35 years of experience in publishing. He’s respected and he knows what he’s talking about. That kind of input is invaluable.
- Bill handles all the business issues. I don’t have to waste time worrying about any contract-type stuff. That means, more time to write.
- Having an agent opens doors. Yes, it’s true. Simply passing from the "unsolicited" to the "solicited" world is a big step. You need to be read by someone to be published.
I’m sure Bill does much more than I realize. However, not all agents are created equal, and next post I’ll discuss some of the advice I was given about agents.
Character Intrusion and a Step of Faith
Bethany House has given me a release month for my novel – September 2008. This means it will begin arriving at stores in August. Yes, less than a year from now, I will be a published author.
Now that my contract is signed (I have to be honest: it sat on the counter for a week, unsigned, while I pondered the daunting task of writing two more books, and then it remained on the counter several more days after I signed it, until finally I had the courage to pop it into the mail box), I’m waiting for my editor to contact me so I can begin rewrites. I haven’t looked at what I’d written since I finished, though I do have a list of twenty or so typos found after I submitted my novel (by various readers in my church), plus notes on a couple places I want to tweak, and some new information I want to add at one particular spot. Otherwise, I’ve tried not to think at all about Sarah, Jack, Maggie, Memory, Beth or Doc.
Or Zuriel.
Or Ben and Rabbit.
Or Rich the Mushroom.
Okay, as much as I’ve made an effort not to think about them, my characters still come creeping back into my head. I’m wondering if this will be an ongoing issue – if characters will refuse to lie still. I wonder if, five years from now, I’ll still be thinking of better ways to have written certain places in my novel, to describe certain things. In one sense, I’m tired of dealing with Sarah and Jack, and the rest of the Jonah ensemble. But, alternately, I don’t want to let them go. They’re comfortable and familiar. I know them. I hear how they speak and feel what they feel. I don’t want to let my new characters – Abbi and Melissa, Rachel and Drew, Spoon and Patterson – start breathing, because I’m worried they won’t be as good – as alive – as my old ones.
I’ve been told the "sophomore slump" is common in writing. I suppose I’m in the throes of it now. But I’m trusting the Lord in this. Signing that contract was my step of faith, and I need to believe that, since God put this task before me, He will see me through it. He will be faithful to His part of the bargain, and He will help me be faithful to mine.
And, boy, I do need His help.
