Category Archives: authors

August 23, 2011   Stephanie   authors, inspiration, opinion, questions, Stephanie  
2

Move it!

Vacation can be a cruel thing. At this time last week, I was en route to a beachy locale and temporary reprieve from general adult responsibility. Now that I’m back at my desk and back to the routine, my energy levels are admittedly a bit weak. Depending on circumstance, motivation can sometimes be a hard thing to come by. When we have it, nothing can stop us—our accomplishments are the product of the effort and determination we put in, and when we are successful in something, we can almost always tie that success directly back to the motivation that got us going in the first place. Sure, things can get done without motivation, but I think it’s that sense of drive and passion that is really at the heart of true success.

So, this piece on CopyBlogger really made me think about motivation in everyday life—where it comes from, how to utilize it, and what to do when we feel it slipping away. I wonder how this might apply to our writer crowd. How do you keep yourself motivated?

August 18, 2011   Michael   advice, authors, Michael  
3

Your devotion is irrational (and I don’t mean to writing)

As my authors can attest, I love to talk. About everything. But I especially like to talk about building and maintaining a career, and how authors can get from where they are to where they want to go. My approach to that is to talk about building a brand, which to me simply means figuring out who you are, what you write, and how to communicate that to your audience. I’ve spoken about this at conferences, and I know it’s made some people uncomfortable. They want to be artists, not a product. But I argue that in a very crowded marketplace, you need to clearly differentiate who you are to stand out and attract fans.

Which brings me to this fascinating/disturbing article from Ars Technica about a recent study from the Journal of Consumer Psychology. Apparently, consumers have such strong attachments that their own self-image is impacted by the brand’s performance. While I find this frightening–if this isn’t a sign that consumer culture is the only culture, I’m not sure what is–I do think it’s an important lesson for authors. To have readers who are that invested can be very important to a long-running career. Think about the biggest authors; each of them is their own brand, with readers knowing what to expect.

What’s important to remember is that being a brand doesn’t mean you need to write crappy books, condescend to the market, or consider what you do “product.” What it means is thinking strategically, with your agent and publisher, about the best ways to position, market and publish your books. As far as I’m concerned, even artists need to think things through and have a plan, and we agents are here to help you do just that.

August 01, 2011   Jim   agents, authors, Jim  
25

Hate On Me, Hater

It’s so easy as an agent who blogs to delve into horror stories or just list things we hate it when authors do. I hate when authors send really mean responses to rejections. I hate people who address me as Dear Sir/Ma’am. I hate when every single piece of slush I receive in a day seems to be describing the exact same book. I could go on. But I won’t! Why?

Well, first of all, I love getting lots of comments on my blog entries, and asking people to name books they hated really seemed to capture your attention. Also, someone responded to a “Dear Author,” letter this morning to tell me I’m an asshole. So clearly, there’s some hate on the other side of the fence.

So without naming names (especially if they’re ours!), go ahead and exorcise those demons: what do you hate about agents? Share your horror stories. I KNOW you have them.

July 14, 2011   Michael   advice, authors, Michael, suggestions, writing  
6

Vacations

I’m just back from my vacation, spent in Italy (I’ll give you a moment to be jealous), but I’ve still got vacation on the brain. I’m very much back at work, busier than ever–Jim wasn’t kidding about that publishing summer–it’s not that my brain is still on vacation. Rather, I was realizing just how much I needed that vacation, and how recharged and refreshed I feel coming back. I’ve been pestering (nicely!) editors left and right, and I’ve been having a bunch of creative calls with authors, and I feel like I’m really firing on all cylinders.

In setting up a time to talk about his manuscript, an author mentioned that the time it took for me to read and formulate my thoughts was time he needed off. And while authors are often eager to hear what their editors think about their latest draft, I know that many of them relish the time off while they wait.In our constantly-connected world, and in a business where work and personal time tend to run together, I think all of us could benefit from some real vacation time. For agents and editors, that means time spent not answering calls and emails or editing manuscripts or copy, and for authors that means not just stepping away from a manuscript (something everyone needs to do sometimes!), but also from Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads and Amazon and blogging and worrying and comparing and kvetching. Taking a break from both the craft and the business helps us gain perspective, which we often sorely lack. That perspective can lead to new insights on a plot, character or scene, and it can also lead to new personal insight. And if nothing else, a break often leaves one excited to return to the work, more energized than before.

Do you employ breaks, big or small? Or do you feel yourself suffering from the 24/7, always on culture? How do you find time to get away?

July 06, 2011   Miriam   authors, competition, feuds, fun, Miriam, our clients  
10

Jealousy is all the fun you think they had*

Personally, I think jealousy is a great motivator.  Who hasn’t experienced a moment of jealous rage so virulent that it’s propelled them  to action?  Whether it’s romantic or professional, this base and vile emotion can force you to get off your keester and make things happen.  Okay, sometimes, it lands you in jail—not so good.  But, when we are jealous of someone’s accomplishments and able to see the effort and talent behind them, we can parse the elements of their success and try to apply them to our own circumstances.  Also, there have been some epic feuds born of jealousy that make for great entertainment—Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer; Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck….

The kind of jealousy we encounter on an almost daily basis is creative and professional.  Why is so and so getting bigger advances than me?  Why did she get a better review from the Times when everyone knows she’s a hack?  Why did [fill in the publisher’s name] give him an eight-city tour when they can’t even get my books in stores?  And so on.

Our response, in soothing, zen-like tones is something along the lines of “Be patient, grasshopper.  Unimaginable success will be yours.”

Uh…yes…well…more often it’s “Stop whining and stay focused on your own work.  No one can write your book better than you and being jealous of other people’s success is just distracting you from doing your best work, not to mention meeting your deadlines.”

So, this piece in Writer’s Relief made me think about the uses and misuses of jealousy and wonder whether it is, indeed, a motivator?  Can you keep it in check and make it work for you? Or is it just a corrosive, soul destroying thing you wish you could banish from your creative life?  Who are you most jealous of?

*Erica Jong

UPDATE:  I love the link Tamara posted in the comments so much, that I thought I’d share it with you here:

http://therumpus.net/2011/03/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-69-we-are-all-savages-inside/

June 23, 2011   DG&B   authors, feedback, Jessica, relationships, writing  
14

First Readers

 

Yesterday I was doing some research on an author whose scholarly works I find interesting, and my online search landed me on the acknowledgments page of her book, where she thanked her husband, whom she described as her first and most careful reader.

I’m not a writer per se, but this line of work calls for a good deal of writing–pitch letters, edit memos, correspondence that attempts to strike that fine balance between “authoritative and rude” (see Jim’s very funny post)–and if I can prevail upon him, my husband is my go-to reader, and vice versa. This is not always the case. In fact, I know plenty of writers who believe that romantic partners, married or otherwise, ought not be part of the process. That talking shop, evaluating drafts, and giving candid feedback is best done by a person with whom there exists some emotional distance. 

How about you? Who is your first reader? If you have a significant other or a family member who reads your work in progress, is her role as a booster or a critique partner? There’s no shame in the former. Frankly, I think all writers could use at least one of each.

June 22, 2011   Miriam   Amazon, audience, author events, authors, Barnes and Noble, comics, culture, favorites, guilty pleasures, independent bookstores, Miriam, retailers  
14

The price of admission

There was a little used book store around the corner from my apartment complex, when I was growing up in Miami, that was my second home.  Nerdy, latch-key kid that I was, I spent hours browsing the shelves, trying to get the owner to throw in an extra dog-eared paperback in exchange for the stack of Spanish language comic books I was trading, and generally getting high on the smell of old paper and ink.  I still have treasured editions scattered throughout my many bookcases whose provenance was that little shop.

Then, when I first got to New York, I was blown away by places like Shakespeare & Co., Brentano’s, Coliseum Books, Papyrus and that promised land for bibliophiles, The Strand.   A few years later many of my favorite haunts had gone out of business or been taken over by soulless corporate giants (you know who you are) but I never lost my love of browsing aimlessly in book stores.  These days, I still occasionally wander over to the Barnes & Noble on Union Square and spend my lunch hour in the fiction stacks on the fourth floor.

Of course, book stores have also traditionally been a place for authors to do their dog and pony show in support of their work.   Book tours are going the way of the Amazon forests but certain authors are still a huge draw (just try to get anywhere near the third floor at the aforementioned Barnes & Noble when David Sedaris is doing a reading).  Some of these events can make you fall in love with a book or its author, sometimes both.   They’re also the makings of a cheap date for grown-ups and an alternative to a $30 movie outing for young kids.  Except, it seems, no more.

Check out this  Gawker piece about the new trend of book stores charging admission to author events.  I actually understand and support independents in their efforts to get people in the door.  These are trying times for book sellers and if they are to keep their doors open in the face of the online juggernauts (you know who you are, cough, Amazon) they are going to have to figure out a way to make money.  But it does make me sad.   How many times did I walk out of a book store with a title I had no intention of buying when I went in after stumbling upon an author reading from his/her book?  I wonder if the days of the accidental book buyer are numbered as a result of these new pay-for-play tactics.

What do you all think about this new development?

June 14, 2011   Stephanie   about us, agents, authors, Stephanie  
0

World enough and time

The journey from concept to actual book is an interesting one, in large part because of just how long the road really is—a book sold tomorrow could be scheduled for publication as many as three years in the future. This means, for the author, that a book you are querying right now might not appear in bookstores for at least two years, but could take as many as five or more years.

There are plenty of reasons why this time gap is an important thing to consider for an author looking to find the right agent and/or editor.  Catching a genre trend early, or covering an important political or historical event requires a certain amount of foresight and predicting the unpredictable. Seems simple enough, no?

The point is, as agents we have to do the same amount of predicting when deciding what projects to take on. We can’t necessarily choose a project that is just like what’s on bestseller lists right now, but rather something that we believe will be there in two or three years from now.

So for authors, alternating between being hard at work and waiting on everyone else must become the norm. I certainly don’t envy you—I’ve said many times before that I don’t think I would have it in me to do the same work you all do.

So this is yet another reason why I have a considerable amount of respect for the process, especially the part that writers and authors must endure, and the craft to which you all devote your time.  In the end, it’s not just the writing, but also the journey from the written work to the published book that makes it all worth it.

June 08, 2011   Miriam   about us, agents, art, authors, fun, great books, Miriam  
2

What inspires us

In our line of work we hear a lot about what inspires people to write.  We also hear a lot about when inspiration takes a hike and authors are left with a bad case of writer’s block.  I’m pretty sure we all agree that the state of feeling inspired is a wondrous and energizing thing and that feeling devoid of inspiration is tantamount to sitting in a dark room on a sunny day.  What is interesting to me is that we agents are seldom asked about what inspires us.  Everyone wants to know why we pick the projects we do, sure, but I don’t think anyone has ever accosted me at a conference and asked me what I’m inspired by.

Well, even if you don’t ask, I’ll tell you.  Like our clients, we’re inspired by great writing and storytelling, of course (as well as art, music, and drama that makes you sit up and take notice).  We’re inspired by people who are able to turn personal pain and suffering into art.  By those who can lucidly and entertainingly explain scientific principles and those who write movingly and convincingly about intangibles like faith.  Personally, I can find inspiration in everything I’m curious about—from medicine to cocktails, black holes to macramé, steampunk to quiet literary fiction.  In every category, a smart, thought provoking, well elucidated book inspires me to seek out more about the subject, or read more of that author’s work, or go out and try to find something similar that will become someone else’s inspiration.

We often tell our clients to find models for their work. Whether it’s a bestselling novel or a piece of contemporary art, someone out there has undoubtedly grappled with some creative problems similar to yours with inspiring results.   As agents we take our own advice.  We sign up projects because we just saw a play we loved that dealt with a similar topic or because we’re currently wearing out the new Adele CD and want to read the literary equivalent.  We digest a newspaper piece that gets us thinking and the next thing you know we’re looking for a writer to shape it into a full-length nonfiction narrative.  And so on, ad infinitum.

Lately, I’ve been inspired by Dr. Seuss and Patti Smith.  How about you?  What’s inspiring you these days?

June 07, 2011   Stephanie   advice, authors, characters, editing, Stephanie, writing  
2

Diving right in

In this age of the Internet, social networking, BBM, Twitter pictures (ahem), and ever-shortening attention spans in general, it isn’t surprising—unfortunate, but not surprising—that the same effect has somewhat permeated the book realm.  It was only yesterday, as we met with film agents, that an admission was made that film rights to a book had been purchased by a production company based only on the title. How is that even possible? The title, and nothing else?

Anyway, this means that aside from giving books heart-stopping titles, writers need to grab the interest of readers, agents, and publishers from the very first page—even the first sentence—of their story.

So how can a writer achieve this? I’ve said before how much I love lists. Some thoughts on making your novel compelling right from the start:

  1. In the simplest sense, get right to it. Introduce your protagonist in the first paragraph and start right away with dialogue and action as opposed to long descriptions or background information.
  2. Develop the main character quickly by putting him or her in the center of conflict as soon as possible.
  3. When developing the main character, do so through interaction and dialogue with other characters rather than through inner reflection.
  4. But don’t introduce too many characters in the very beginning.
  5. Lastly, don’t forget that when drafting, you can always start the story where you feel most comfortable. Revisions will then bring the opening action to the forefront, drawing the reader in from the very beginning.

Yes, the query letter may be everything when pitching a book. But it is just as important to make sure the story itself will draw the reader in right from the start.

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