Category Archives: advice

February 23, 2010   DG&B   about us, advice, fun, Jim, our clients, queries, romance, what we're looking for, why I signed up  
6

Why I signed up….

by Jim

Story time! In January 2008, I received a query for a historical romance novel from an author who was friends with one of my clients and critique partners with another client of the agency. I do represent romance novels and have expressed that I’m open to historicals, but it’s not a subgenre I work in often. That aside, the author, Darcy Burke, had crafted an excellent query, and it didn’t hurt that she had references. So I requested and read her novel Glorious.

The novel was quite strong, but I decided to pass. For a real peek behind the curtain, here’s the letter I sent Darcy passing on the project:

Dear Darcy,

Thanks much for the opportunity to consider Glorious, which I read with great interest. Unfortunately, I’m going to be passing at this time.

This was a tough one for me. You’re obviously a talented writer, and this could very well be a marketable manuscript. That said, historical romance is a category that I really don’t know. When I venture into new genres for the first time, it has to be with a book that I’m completely blown away by. Without that driving passion, my inexperience in the category prevents me from being the best possible agent for the project. Though I did very much enjoy this read, I’m not ultimately convinced enough in my own ability to place this successfully in order to offer you representation.

Sorry not to have better news on this one. I do hope you’ll keep me in mind in the future.


All best,


Jim

Happily, Darcy did keep me in mind. Over the next year or two, she worked on a new novel, still historical romance, called The Earl’s Obsession, and she queried me anew on December 21 of last year. I requested it the day before we closed for the holidays and read it over Christmas in Colorado.

The Earl’s Obsession did exactly what it needed to do for me. It introduced me to two incredible lead characters—the arrogant Earl of Saxton, Jasper, and the orphaned seamstress Olivia—who registered so fully and naturally that I couldn’t help rooting for them, even as they often provided their own biggest obstacles. They were flawed, passionate, obstinate people, matched in the strength of their convictions, if not the convictions themselves.

But then Darcy did herself one better: rather than just give me characters that felt fresh and new, she conquered the greatest challenge of genre writing: making the outcome of the plot unpredictable while also managing to satisfy the reader. It might come as a surprise in a romance novel if the two romantic leads don’t end up together, but it wouldn’t be a happy surprise. On the flip side, if you’re slogging through 300 pages just waiting for the inevitable, you’ll be bored silly. Darcy kept me on my toes with enough flips, twists, and turns to keep me fully engaged all the way, while also knowing that I was in the most confident of hands.

I offered to represent Darcy the day we got back from the holidays. Happily, she said yes! Right now, she’s working on some light editorial feedback that I sent her way, and we’ll be taking the project out to editors shortly. Fingers will remain tightly crossed.

Now, I don’t want to give the impression that I only sign on people who were referred. Sure, Darcy knows one of my clients. Still, if I didn’t love her novel, it wouldn’t be to either of our advantage for me to offer to sign her on. Most of my clients did come straight from the slush pile. What I think this particular story illustrates, though, is that if an agent leaves a door open to resubmit in the future, they mean it. Trust me: I’m not asking everyone to send me more material. Just because the fit isn’t right yet doesn’t mean it won’t be.

I’m excited to share Darcy’s work with editors in the near future and hope to have that happiest of endings to report soon. In the meantime, you can get Darcy’s reaction to getting an agent and lots of insight into her writing process and background over at Romance Writers on the Journey.

February 23, 2010   DG&B   advice, Chasya, fun, titles  
4

Titling 101

by Chasya

You know how I love a good bad title—the more hilariously bad, the better. In fact, occasionally I come up with some myself and mutter them aloud much to the dismay of my officemates. And I was positively inspired by our own DGLM bad title contest. But alas, not everyone is like me. It was when I stumbled upon this little primer from The Rumpus’s Eric Puchner that I realized some more helpful, more constructive individuals aim to steer authors away from unfortunate titling. Among the types to avoid: The Faux Poetic but Authentically Meaningless (“Hunt the Mist Slowly”) and The Lofty Abstraction (“The Lonely Shackles of Mortality”).

Authors, do you find the list helpful? And in the spirit of being constructive, what others would you add?

February 22, 2010   DG&B   advice, Jim, Stacey, writing  
8

Elmore Leonard tells you how to write

by Jim

I’d never seen Elmore Leonard’s list of ten writing rules before today. If it so happens that you haven’t either, I direct you to the Gotham Writers’ Workshop’s website. I came across the list via Mark Sarvas’s blog The Elegant Variation where he derides Leonard’s advice as “unhinged dipshitery.” I disagree. Now, of course we all know that rules are made to be broken, but there’s an awful lot of good sense here. And beyond that, Leonard’s a far better writer than Sarvas (in my opinion!). And #1: “Never open a book with weather?” That’s just great advice.

Leonard’s real point is that anything that can be cut should be cut. No one wants to see writing just for writing’s sake. So cut out the flibber-flabber and send us a novel that’s tight!

And, of course, take these things with a grain of salt. And look again to the advice of the other authors that Stacey pointed out on Friday. No one knows how you work, so there are no perfect answers, but it’s always good to take a look at the advice of others, especially those you respect, and sort out the good from the bad for yourself. But do take EVERY piece of Margaret Atwood’s advice because she’s delightful and would never lead you astray.

February 19, 2010   DG&B   advice, Stacey, writing  
4

Advice from authors who made it

by Stacey

It’s interesting to me, although perhaps not surprising, that my entries keep skewing to the children’s market. Not intentional, but just what keeps catching my eye. I recently saw this piece that I thought offered some good take-away advice for aspiring authors, not only those those writing for children. I think that anytime you get a collection of published (and in this case bestselling) authors in the same room, it’s worth listening to what they have to say. One thing that’s worth mentioning is that none of these writers set out to become bestselling children’s book authors, and I think most of us (see all of our posts at DGLM about how we got to where we are) take a number of different paths before finding the one that’s really right.

Thinking about the way to maintain and extend a successful career once it’s been established is an interesting conversation that continued the discussion. The ability to be flexible in terms of category and ride the market waves is one important comment that’s worth paying attention to, and the TOWEL acronym created by Marilyn Singer is comprised of a clever checklist of reminders to stay the course (Talent, Optimism, Widespread Interests, Endurance, and Luck).

I’d be curious to hear from our readers what they feel are the mantras that they keep coming back to in order to stay focused and motivated during the inevitable ups and downs of a writing life.

February 16, 2010   DG&B   advice, bestsellers, Chasya, selling  
10

Don’t quit your day job

by Chasya

The Millions has a good article that delves into the myth of the rags-to-riches career novelist. It’s a well-known, albeit depressing, reality in the publishing industry that most authors don’t have the luxury of writing full-time and supporting themselves through their work. But authors–don’t worry, you’re not alone! As the article points out, and as we can’t stress enough, as much as we’re obsessed with the J.K. Rowling-esque stories of writers who came from nothing and succeeded to become the most famous (and wealthy) authors of our day, this is the exception–not the rule. And, as it turns out, keeping your day job can benefit most of us. Among the perks? Well, being in the everyday world and gleaning from your everyday experiences. And, er, eating. Yes, that’s important! Because as much as we all have that curmudgeonly chain-smoking, black coffee drinking stereotype of an author in our minds, it’s important for even the most obsessive writer to keep up their strength.

February 16, 2010   DG&B   advice, conferences, fun, Jane, writing  
5

The writers’ conference

by Jane

Over the years, I have attended many writers’ conferences, and no matter where or when they are, I have found them valuable–some more than others. I’ve always encouraged our agents to take advantage of the many invitations we receive to participate at these events and attend at least a couple of them every year.

So, it was with great pleasure that I agreed to attend The Geneva Writers’ Conference the weekend of February 4th through 7th. As the name implies, this conference is held in Geneva, Switzerland, every two years. Run by Susan M. Tiberghien and her incredible staff, all members of The Geneva Writers’Group, this conference attracts an incredibly eclectic and interesting group of participants from all over the world.

This year’s attendees included people from a number of countries in Asia and Africa; people from South America, Australia, New Zealand and all over Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, England and the Scandinavian countries. Many were American ex-pats, people who were working for the United Nations and other international government organizations. For a large contingent, English was a second language.

The instructors, of which I was one, taught, gave lectures and held question and answer sessions. Many of us had read various writing samples prior to journeying to the conference and gave our feedback to those who had written them during several critique sessions.

In the end–and I find this is always true at these events–I believe we all learned things from each other.

The best writers’ conferences are those at which writers come together to learn about their craft. Usually attended by published authors, sometimes bestselling published authors, editors, publishers and agents, these meetings can prove very valuable to prospective authors. Topics include developing book ideas, how to sell your work, how to write proposals, fiction writing skills, dealing with agents and publishers, and much more. For the most part these conferences can be very, very valuable.

I have found some of my most successful authors directly or indirectly at writers’ conferences and I know a number of our other staff members have as well. It is fertile ground for discovery.

Considering all of the incredibly interesting writers I met last weekend, it is my hope and expectation that I will again find that single idea and/or manuscript that I will be able to help turn into a book. Equally as important is that I have discovered new colleagues and friends.

If you are thinking about attending one of these conferences, I suggest you check with others who have previously gone. I encourage you to find one that is within your means and that covers topics you are interested in. As I mentioned, these conferences can provide a wealth of knowledge and contacts.

If you have already been a participant, I hope your experience has been as satisfying and valuable as mine have been. I wouldn’t miss the opportunity of taking part in a good conference for the world.

February 10, 2010   DG&B   advice, marketing/publicity, social networking, Stacey, Twitter  
7

The big picture

by Stacey

Pondering blog ideas while observing the blizzard of 2010 outside my window, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a little bit about authors and their commitment to social networking, and in particular building and maintaining a loyal audience that continues to grow long before and after a book’s publication date.

For nonfiction and fiction authors alike, the importance of connecting with your audience is crucial at every stage of an author’s career. At the beginning, it’s about finding your readers — identifying who they are and where they hang out online; then it’s about building and growing that fan base, but also about maintaining fans’ interest and keeping them coming back for more. It’s not helpful to put up a website or blog, or start a Facebook page or Twitter account, and only keep them active right before and right after publication. It’s about building a long term relationship, and it has to become a part of your daily routine. Seriously, none of this is new information, but it bears repeating because the results are clear and in many cases quantifiable. A recent example worth noting is my client, Shreve Stockton, whose book the Daily Coyote stems from her popular blog. An author who is intimately connected to her fans has the ability to stay close to his or her audience, and as a fringe benefit can even sometimes generate national publicity (and not necessarily directly book related, but that’s the point) months after a book’s publication.

There are a lot of resources available for anyone’s use on the web, and a long term commitment to building your name, creating ongoing content that is fresh and engaging, and creatively thinking of new ways to connect with readers are some of the ways to ensure a successful career that has longevity. Books have become only a part of the bigger picture of an author’s platform, and staying focused on these efforts will pay off in the long run in expected and sometimes unexpected ways. If you have any stories that illustrate this point, please share.

February 04, 2010   DG&B   advice, Chasya, fun, queries, slush week, what we're looking for  
17

Slush Week is coming!

by Chasya

One of the most frequent questions we get here at DGLM from unpublished authors is about what makes a query work. What catches our attention? What turns us off? What are some common faux-pas? What should an author absolutely never do? How does one create that needle-in-the-haystack submission that will surely be plucked out of the groaning piles of slush? You get the picture.

We try to answer as best we can on our website, our blog, at conferences, pitch sessions, etc…. When one of our readers (thanks,Wanda B. Ontheshelves!) mentioned that she would love to read some of our slush, we thought that this could be a really great opportunity for writers to see what goes into the query process on the other end. So, during the week of March 1st, we will be dissecting and critiquing queries right here on the blog.

Here are the rules for people who want to take the chance that their query is one of the ones we post. Send us your query to dystelandgoderich@dystel.com with the subject line SLUSH WEEK SUBMISSION anytime between now and February 12th.  By submitting a query with that subject line, you’re agreeing to let us post that query, minus your name and contact info, on the blog.  Please note that these queries will not be considered submissions to DGLM, so if you were planning to query us in general, you still should. We’ll pick nine queries at random from the emails we receive (others won’t receive a response, but if it proves popular, perhaps we’ll give you another chance at a later date!) and each will be paired with one our nine staff members. During Slush Week, each agent’s daily post will be one of the letters along with the agent’s comments.  We’ll let you know what about the letter speaks to us, what we think works, what we feel doesn’t and how these can be improved if they need to be.

Our hope is that our readers will not only have a chance to see samples of other queries, but also gain some insight into a part of the process that they wouldn’t otherwise see.

So rev up your keyboards, get creative, and send us your submissions!

February 04, 2010   DG&B   advice, Jessica, opinion, publishers, submissions  
1

Publishing love

by Jessica

As Valentine’s Day approaches and retailers redecorate in shades of crimson and Pepto Bismol, I thought it fitting to look at book publishing and the language of love. As an author I know pointed out, romance–not the genre, but as metaphor–seems to govern the acquisition process. When editors pass on a project they say they “just didn’t fall in love,” or admit they were “not sufficiently passionate,” or (and this is something that I myself have been known to say) “admired but did not adore” the work in question. What’s this all about? In what ways is landing a book contract like falling in love?

I’d say two things; first, that to some degree, the metaphor is not wholly disingenuous. Publishing is driven, to a surprising degree, by gut feeling and genuine enthusiasm, and in order to pitch a project to colleagues, collect second reads (so that others will also fall in love), parry the inevitable skepticism of the sales and marketing team, and otherwise assert that this book should occupy one of the finite slots that each imprint is allocated, editors do need to be engaged. Publishing love, does not, however, exist in a vacuum, nor is it blind.

In order to summon–and sustain–the abovementioned passion, an editor must believe that a project fits in with the mandate of the house. A commercial house best known for its big name thrillers is probably not going to open its heart to a literary stream-of-consciousness narrative, no matter how brilliant. Past performance also plays a role. An editors’ capacity to love is distinctly dampened by the whiff of failure. So if your book falls into a category that has proved disappointing for the imprint (their last two travel memoirs tanked) or across the industry (for example general parenting titles), or is perceived as difficult to sell, romance may be elusive. And of course, if you are a published author, your own track record, unceremoniously retrieved from Bookscan, is taken into consideration. Downward trending numbers can cool the most ardent infatuation. Finally, published or not, who you are plays no small role in the courting ritual. Famous, well-connected, possessed of a national media platform? You grow more loveable by the minute. I don’t wish to sound cynical, because, in truth, I’m not. I don’t regard the contemporary publishing landscape as an intellectual wasteland dominated by celebrities–on the contrary, I’m haunted by all the excellent books I may never read. I also meet with editors and publishers of formidable taste and professional conviction. But for some odd reason, book publishing (again like love) is something we tend to romanticize, wish to see as “pure,” impervious from calculation, profit-motive, self-interest. Which, of course, it’s not. But however you prefer to think about love, the book industry is not best perceived through rose-colored glasses.

February 04, 2010   DG&B   advice, Facebook, marketing/publicity, Michael  
3

To profile or page?

by Michael

I’ve been waiting for the chance to sing the praises of one of my must-read blogs, The Book Publicity Blog, and I found yesterday’s post really helpful. Yen discusses the pros and cons of Facebook profiles and fan pages, helping authors (and publicists) figure out which is more beneficial, as well as pointing out that it really needs to be the author behind the profile—not a publicist or assistant. Though as she points out, the publisher can certainly help in some ways!

And if you want to learn more about book publicity, I suggest reading as much of the blog as you can. In a world where authors have to act as their own publicists in so many ways, I think this site should be on every author’s blogroll.

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