Category Archives: Agenting

Literary Agent Misconceptions

Posted on by

7

Picture 6New writers often think of agents as inaccessible gatekeepers.

With these perceptions come many misconceptions about what we do and don’t do:

  • Agents are fairy godmothers. It’s not our job to ‘fix’ things. Once you get an agent the work does not end, it just begins. You need to present your best work and we may help you shape it to get it ready to submit to editors, but deep editorial feedback isn’t technically our job. We aren’t fairy godmothers. We aren’t editors. We are here to sell your work and advise you on your career.
  • Agents sell everything they represent. We sign every project up with the highest hopes for it, however, sometimes we aren’t able to sell a book–for any number of reasons. It breaks our hearts when a project doesn’t sell. You see the rejections we pass along, but we see any number of rejections for all the projects we represent. Even projects that get sold have some rejections, too.
  • Agents live a very glamorous life. Most of the time we’re sending emails, making phone calls, or reading manuscripts in our pyjamas on a Friday night when everyone else is out. We do lunches and launch parties, but not as often as you think.
  • Agents like rejecting authors. In all honesty it’s one of the worst parts of the job. Crushing dreams isn’t fun. We’re actively looking for great material–not the opposite.
  • Agents chase trends. Actually, we’re looking for quality writing. From time to time we’ll see an opportunity and be first to the table with a trendy new project, but we want long-term clients producing great work. That’s where a sustainable business model lies.
  • Agents have assistants that pre-screen all queries. At some agencies, yes. But for most of the agents I know, we all look at our queries personally. We are the talent spotters so we look at each and every one.

Q: Any writers out there that have had their preconceptions changed about agents through the query or representation process? 

What are agents looking for in a writer?

Posted on by

13

contract signingOne of the most popular questions I get asked during an #askagent Twitter session or at a conference is: What are agents looking for in a writer?

All agent interests and guidelines aside here are the qualities I look for–these are my personal opinions–in a writer:

  • Professional demeanour online and via emails/phone conversations

You are a reflection of your agent. When we matchmake you with an editor we step back, let you build your author/editor relationship and talk directly with them. We have to know that you are going to conduct yourself professionally during that time. If we bring an editor an author that doesn’t conduct themselves professionally it looks poorly on us. Not to mention when an author starts promoting their book and interacting with fans there is a certain level of professionalism expected.

  • Incredible passion and persistence

I need writers to love their work, voice, and style and be ready for the long haul. There will be times when writers get down and their agent has to pick them back up, but overall they have to believe in themselves and believe in their work. Start building some thick skin and pick who you trust (i.e. carefully choose critique partner and agent). There will always be conflicting advice, but you have to know in your heart that you can make it and your agent will work with you to achieve that.

  • Mutual respect

Granted, understanding the agent/author role comes when you have that relationship in place. You’ll get to know each other. But, right away you’ll know whether that level of respect is there. I know it’s hard to hand over some control to an agent to take care of your baby, but that’s our job; it’s what we’re trained to do. Choose who you’re querying carefully and ask the right questions when an offer of representation comes. I can tell when I start to interact directly with a writer if that level of mutual respect is there.  Continue reading →

Deal News: Taylor Jenkins Reid’s FOREVER, INTERRUPTED

Posted on by

0

TaylorJenkinsReidPortuguese rights have been sold for Taylor Jenkins Reid’s debut FOREVER, INTERRUPTED (Atria/Simon & Schuster) to Record in Brazil. Rights already sold: World English, Dutch, Italian, and German.

FOREVER, INTERRUPTED is coming out in July 2013.

Find Taylor on Twitter and on her Website.

“Taylor Jenkins Reid has written a poignant and heartfelt exploration of love and commitment in the absence of shared time that asks, what does it take to be the love of someone’s life?” (Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus New York Times bestselling authors)

“Sweet, heartfelt, and surprising, Forever Interrupted is a story about a young woman struggling to find her way after losing her husband. These characters made me laugh as well as cry, and I ended up falling in love with them, too.” (Sarah Pekkanen author of The Best of Us)

Elsie and Ben are average twenty-somethings, but this is not your average love story. It begins bright and promising: the newlywed couple is head over heels in love, having eloped six months after they met. But it all shatters in an instant; Ben out riding his bike, is hit by a truck—and dies on impact.

Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, his body has already been taken to the hospital. When she arrives, Elsie is greeted by an unexpected visitor—her mother-in-law, Susan, whom she has never met and who doesn’t even know she exists.

Both are seared with grief; Susan is still mourning the death of her own husband several years earlier, and the loss of her only son is almost too much to bear. The two women immediately sour on one another, fighting over what to do with Ben’s belongings and how to fulfill his wishes. But as time goes by, Susan and Elsie both realize that despite the terrible accident that brought them together, they are now the only family they have left.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted will make you laugh, make you cry, and remind you that there’s more than one way to live happily ever after.

Pre-order on Amazon now!

‘It’s not you. It’s me’: why agents don’t connect with certain projects

Posted on by

8

It’s hard to understand why when agents say they are looking for a certain type of book, and then you query with it, that it isn’t the right fit for them.

Here’s why that happens:

We represent something similar

If we recently took on a project that has similarities to yours we cannot sign yours up too. It’s not fair to our client and it’s not fair to you. We can’t bombard editors with two projects similar to each other and risk the success of both of them individually.

The voice doesn’t grab us

It might have everything going for it, but for some reason the voice or main character doesn’t speak to us in particular so we need to pass because we’re not the best fit. Agents sign projects up when they are the whole package–in our eyes. But, every agent’s taste is different so what isn’t a fit for one agent can be the whole package in someone else’s eyes.

We like it, but aren’t head over heels for it

Sometimes we like something a lot, but love is different than like. Sometimes we want to love something, but we can’t get there for any number of reasons. Forcing a good fit doesn’t work out for anyone. Don’t settle for like, keep searching for an agent that loves it and they’ll be the right one to represent and support your project and your writing.

It requires more work than we have time to give  Continue reading →

Deal News: Jay Onrait’s ANCHORBOY to Wiley Canada

Posted on by

0

Gemini Award winning TSN SportsCentre host Jay Onrait’s ANCHORBOY, very humorous essays, personal anecdotes and insider information about sportscasting in the tradition of David Sedaris, has been sold to Karen Milner at Wiley.

Foreign and translation rights available from the Taryn Fagerness Agency.

Agents aren’t just signing your first book

Posted on by

20

Most agents aren’t looking to sign your first book, we’re looking to work with you for your career. We look to your first book (and need to love it) to fall for your writing and take that as a precursor for what’s to come.

What we expect/hope for

We want you to connect with your editor and find a home in your publishing house.

We want you to grow over the course of each book.

We want you to find a core audience.

We want you to find success.

We want you to keep writing.

How the partnership gets started

This is the ideal situation and why we invest our time. We want to be the ones to help you kick-start your career and help you navigate through it while working on some fantastic books! Now, sometimes it gets complicated (the first book doesn’t get picked up, an author takes their career into a new genre, trust starts to erode) and not every client is the success story we both hoped for when we signed on together, but getting an agent is incredibly hard because we’re looking for more than what’s on the page. Continue reading →