Category Archives: Jane

March 15, 2010   DG&B   about us, advice, contracts, Jane, negotiation, publishers, selling  
4

What does negotiating look like?

by Jane

During Slush Week this question came up and I wanted to provide a brief description of how a publishing negotiation generally works. Undoubtedly, this will raise other questions which I would be happy to address.

When a publisher makes an offer, he or she does it either on the phone or by e-mail. I prefer the latter initially so that I can see all of the terms of the offer spelled out: advance, payout, royalties (including electronic royalties now), territory covered, rights splits and any special terms.

Once I have all offers in from publishers (hopefully there will be more than one), I take them to my client, explain what they are and which I think is best and why. We come to a decision on which publisher(s) to continue to negotiate with and I then go back to the publisher(s) by phone or by e-mail and ask for changes or additional terms. Often I will ask for a different, higher advance, a more favorable payout, different royalty splits, things like that. Sometimes I suggest that different rights be in play.

Most often, we come to an agreement in a very short time–usually a matter of a day, but sometimes, depending on what the project is, these do go on over a longer period.

If we arrive at a stalemate–that is, a point that we and our client will not accept and the publisher won’t budge on–we make that very clear. We call this a “deal breaker” and if we say something is a deal breaker we have to mean it. (Between you and me, most of the time these things can be worked out before we get to that point.)

Once this basic negotiation is completed, a deal memo is done–we send one to the publisher and often they send one back just to make sure we are all on the same page in terms of the basic terms of the deal.

We then go on to the contract where additional negotiation is done on boilerplate terms.

Negotiating a deal is one of my favorite parts of agenting; the process encourages creativity on all sides and often breaks new ground.

March 08, 2010   DG&B   future of publishing, Jane, opinion, publishers  
2

The role of the editor

by Jane

It must be in the wind. Twice in the last two weeks there have been major articles about an age-old subject that is still so very important in the business of publishing: the role of the editor. Even though publishers keep cutting staff, including some key editorial people, the editor’s value hasn’t diminished; in fact, in this era of growing digital publishing the role of the editor–whether he or she is on staff inside the publishing house, functions as an outside freelancer, or is even, as in our company, an integral part of a literary agency–has remained an incredibly vital one to the author and the quality of the book.

In her piece last week in the Huffington Post, well known literary agent Jean Naggar describes this role beautifully.

The bottom line is that the editor’s role should never be taken for granted.

March 01, 2010   DG&B   advice, Jane, queries, slush week  
7

Jane’s Slush Week entry

by Jane

(For details on Slush Week, see Chasya’s introduction.)

We’ll start with the query on its own, then the response after the jump:

Dear (Agent’s name):

I am seeking representation for my romantic suspense novel, SAVAGE MOUNTAIN, complete at 100,000 words.

When Dan and Kay Logan find the body of the young woman in the woods, their lives change forever. Moving from the city to the sparsely populated Warner Mountains of California, the two are excited about their new life style and look forward to living full-time in the wild, rugged country where they have enjoyed vacationing for years. But mysterious dead bodies have a way of interfering with happy plans and memories.

The sheriff barely arrives before the killer strikes again; this time the victims are the rancher and his wife who befriended Dan and sold him his small ranch. The murdered man had told Dan weeks ago that a shiftless hunting guide, Pat Riley, was jealous of Dan, held a grudge against them both, and mentally was “not quite right.”

Riley’s known by the locals to be a nasty piece of work. Dan suspects he is the killer, and that he and Kay could be next in line, but running from trouble has never been the Logans’ style, and they are not about to change now. They prepare themselves and stay to face the threat, be it from Riley or someone else.

The authorities investigate in their slow and meticulous way, while Dan and Kay attempt a normal life, hoping the killer will be apprehended, but expecting an attack at any time. SAVAGE MOUNTAIN is the classic story of two people in love, who face adversity and danger the old-fashioned way – on their own.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
(Author’s name)



Dear (Agent’s name):

I am seeking representation for my romantic suspense novel, SAVAGE MOUNTAIN, complete at 100,000 words.

Don’t begin a letter with “I.” It suggests a certain amount of self-involvement and perhaps a bit of lazy writing. In this case I would suggest you say something about knowing from looking at the website etc that I am interested in romantic suspense and as a result you would like to interest me in your novel currently entitled….

When Dan and Kay Logan find the body of the young woman in the woods, their lives change forever. Moving from the city to the sparsely populated Warner Mountains of California, the two are excited about their new life style and look forward to living full-time in the wild, rugged country where they have enjoyed vacationing for years. But mysterious dead bodies have a way of interfering with happy plans and memories.

The sheriff barely arrives before the killer strikes again; this time the victims are the rancher and his wife who befriended Dan and sold him his small ranch. The murdered man had told Dan weeks ago that a shiftless hunting guide, Pat Riley, was jealous of Dan, held a grudge against them both, and mentally was “not quite right.”

Riley’s known by the locals to be a nasty piece of work. Dan suspects he is the killer, and that he and Kay could be next in line, but running from trouble has never been the Logans’ style, and they are not about to change now. They prepare themselves and stay to face the threat, be it from Riley or someone else.

The authorities investigate in their slow and meticulous way, while Dan and Kay attempt a normal life, hoping the killer will be apprehended, but expecting an attack at any time. SAVAGE MOUNTAIN is the classic story of two people in love, who face adversity and danger the old-fashioned way – on their own.

Rather than providing the narrow details of the story, I would prefer you describe it in more general terms. You’re summarizing too much without giving a larger sense of what this story is. You should compare your work to other bestselling suspense novels. You might also want to describe the potential audience in this letter.

You can say how excited you are about sending it and then ask if I would like to read it.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
(Author’s name)

I like this closing–it is sincere and respectful.

All of this sounds familiar, and if I were only to have this, I admit that I would turn it down. You need to work on distinguishing what is unique and exciting about your novel rather than running through the whole story.

Thanks for submitting!

February 22, 2010   DG&B   about us, fun, Jane, optimism, our clients, why we are agents  
2

Where we find ideas

by Jane

One of the things I truly love about being an agent is finding new ideas in unexpected places.

Years ago for example, I took my daughter to Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires for her birthday. I decided to do an hour-long individual session on overcoming stress; when the instructor and I began talking, however, it became clear that she had a book in her and what began as a self-help session for me ended with a book deal for her.

Then there was the visit last summer to the eye doctor where the receptionist was doing a blog and pitched his idea for a book to me.

And, just last week, I visited a comedy club in New York as a guest of columnist, client and friend, Cindy Adams, and the featured comedienne is now coming to our office to discuss a possible book.

I really love the serendipity of these situations. Who knows where I will find my next client or book idea? It could come from anywhere.

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 08, 2010   DG&B   Jane, marketing/publicity, opinion, reviews  
10

The importance of the book review

by Jane

Last week I was having lunch with the associate publisher of a major publishing house who was a bit late because he had to deal with the following situation: One of his authors had sent him a draft of a letter her husband, a lawyer, was going to send to Amazon threatening a lawsuit if they didn’t take down a negative Publisher’s Weekly review of her book.

My lunch companion managed to stop this from happening, at least for the time being. But it got me to thinking that in this age of blogging (and the internet in general), how important are reviews from the traditional consumer and trade outlets? I went online and found many, many websites and blogs that are set up specifically to “review” and recommend certain categories of books.

There is no doubt in my mind that book reviews do influence what people buy. But it seems to me that more and more readers want to know what their peers think, rather than reading the opinion of a bestselling author or an academic who might be considered more “qualified” to review a certain title.

I really believe consumers are relying less and less on the traditional review outlets, trade magazines like Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist and Kirkus (if it survives) and major market newspapers, many of which have closed their book sections–and are going to those blogs and websites established solely to review books.

I would love to know if you agree.

February 01, 2010   DG&B   advice, Jane, Jim, marketing/publicity, opinion, Rachel  
8

Promote yourself

by Jim

Since Jane already noted the high stakes, high drama standoff between Amazon and Macmillan, and Rachel already discussed the death of J.D. Salinger (anyone else think he’s totally overrated?), I wasn’t quite sure what to blog about today. Then I found this pretty fascinating article from the Denver Post about the author’s role in publicizing their own work.

Tama Kieves might be a little hyperbolic with regard to her readers (“They thank God for me and I thank God for them,”) but she makes a number of solid points about the need for authors to take on a distinct amount of the burden of publicizing their book.

Though Kieves is prepared to “walk across the desert for this book,” most people don’t have the time, energy, or financial backing to be able to make PR a full time job. That said, self-promotion is a big part of the business. And though the tone of a lot of publicity discussions is increasingly negative (my publisher didn’t send me on tour, I don’t understand why Oprah hasn’t called, etc.), I think it’s actually a really exciting time to be published.

Social networking sites make spreading the word about your work cheaper and easier than ever. And for those authors who are on the shyer end, you don’t even need to actually speak to anyone to get the job done! Sure, publicity budgets may be decreasing, and your publisher might not set you up in a fancy hotel before your Today show appearance, but there is a rabid group of readers out there almost asking to be directed towards new work.

February 01, 2010   DG&B   controversy, e-books, future of publishing, Jane, opinion, publishers, retailers  
11

What was Jeff Bezos thinking, or John Sargent is my hero

by Jane

Amazon’s recent move to remove the “buy” buttons for nearly all of Macmillan’s books including bestsellers, top releases, and Kindle editions was in my opinion incredibly short-sighted and could in the end really hurt the retailer. And now it seems it has backfired.

This move occurred during the same week that Steve Jobs and Apple launched the iPad which could compete head to head with the Kindle. Apple has met with at least five of the six major publishing giants with regard to pricing (of the Big Six, only Random House’s logo was missing from the iPad announcement, though they’re said to be in discussion with Apple). In this model, publishers will be able to set their own prices for books and pay a commission to Amazon, as opposed to the Kindle model where Amazon sets the price.

Now, John Sargent’s strategy has succeeded and Amazon has acknowledged that “ultimately, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms.” At the time of posting, they have not reinstated the “buy” buttons, but Amazon and Macmillan are in discussion. Certainly, the other publishers will follow suit here, which in my opinion is as it should be.

Hopefully, a lesson has been learned here. Amazon should not be bullying publishers. Rather we should all be working together in this electronic age to keep the publishing industry alive and healthy. There are too many people predicting the death of book publishing these days. We all need to work together to make sure this is far from the truth.

If you subscribe to Publishers Lunch Deluxe, you can see the whole story as it developed here.

January 25, 2010   DG&B   Jane, opinion, our clients, queries, slush  
20

The slush pile

by Jane

Recently the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled “The Death of the Slush Pile.” How incredibly sad, I thought.

One of my very first jobs in publishing was managing the slush pile at Bantam Books. I didn’t do much; all I was told to do was to log the manuscripts in, put them on a shelf and then two weeks later, reject them after nobody had looked at them. I hated doing it–those writers had worked so hard and yet, even all those years ago, there was nobody to read their work.

From that time on, I have had both respect and curiosity for “slush.” Even today, in a very difficult publishing market, I firmly believe that the slush pile can hold “buried treasure.”

And aside from the very public examples cited in the WSJ piece, we at DGLM have proven that there are wonderful projects to be found if one is patient and persistent enough to look.

Jim McCarthy discovered Carrie Ryan in the slush pile. She wrote The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which Jim sent out on a Friday and sold the following Monday. He also found Victoria Laurie, one of his first clients in slush. Jim has sold 18 of her books in the last six years.

Mike Bourret found three of his biggest clients in slush: Lisa McMann, author of Fade and Wake, among others; Heather Brewer whose first book among many, was Eighth Grade Bites; and Sara Zarr whose Story of a Girl was a National Book Award finalist.

Our very own Mary Doria Russell lay in a colleague’s slush pile for almost a year and when he didn’t respond, her first novel, The Sparrow, was passed along to me–and the rest is history.

So, no matter how busy I am, I have not forsaken the slush pile–and, hopefully, even in difficult times, I never will.

January 12, 2010   DG&B   about us, fun, Jane, Jim, Michael, Miriam, Stacey, why we are agents  
6

Why I Am an Agent (Stacey)

by Stacey

I think it’s so interesting to learn how people got to where they are. I guess everyone has a story to tell. It might be a stretch, but I’ll start at the beginning by saying that my agenting career, or at least the path there, began when I was a professional child actor starting back in the early 80s. I worked with an agent then and got to understand a bit about what they did, and I was also faced with an enormous amount of rejection! During college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, having spent so much of my childhood in front of the camera, so I studied film, and psychology. Upon graduation, I felt a little lost, like most post-grads do, and found a couple of internships in NY in film development, essentially looking for books to be adapted into movies. I eventually landed jobs at PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Hearst Entertainment, where I scouted for books-to-film, and got to knows agents, editors, and the book biz in general. I realized pretty quickly that trying to pursue a career in film in New York was an almost insurmountable challenge. I knew it couldn’t last because of how dispensable these New York film offices were, and so I planned to move to LA to infiltrate myself deeper into the world of film. With one foot practically out the door, I met my now-husband on a blind date and decided the west coast move was out, and I took a long look at what I wanted to do and realized that an agenting career, or at least a job at an agency, was the right direction for me to take.

When the opportunity to work with the esteemed Jane Dystel came up, my then-boss and mentor at Hearst recommended I jump on it. In February, 1999, a new and exciting chapter in my life began. I have to admit the first year or so was rocky, trying to learn my way around with no clients, lots of admin to handle (a highlight of which was hiring Jim and Michael, and I’m sticking to my story about Michael’s blue hair!), and little understanding of what this side of the business was really all about. I remember hearing Jane and Miriam talk so fast about so many things in our morning meetings and wondered if I’d ever really get the language of book publishing. But I was intrigued and up to the challenge, and before long, Jane started passing projects my way. I eventually started coming up with my own book ideas, signed up my first client, and submitted my first project to editors. The moment when I got the call that an editor was “running numbers” on a proposal I’d submitted, I thought I was having a heart attack my heart was beating so fast. I was hooked. One project led to another, and before long, I was selling lots of books in all kinds of different categories. And I was loving every minute of it. I think that being an agent is a little like being a drug or a gambling addict (in a healthy way)–you are always on the prowl for that high you get from selling books, and you never know when that big hit is going to come your way. And of course, once you start, it’s hard to stop.

Now almost eleven years later, I can say without pause that I am doing what I love, and feel rewarded in big and small ways with the work that I do. I am very grateful for the opportunities that Jane and Miriam have given me here over the years, and that they believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. I feel truly lucky that I have found a career that is satisfying and fulfilling in ways I didn’t think possible when my journey began so long ago. I have four kids at home now, and I love them enormously, but my extended publishing family of clients, colleagues, and friends is just as important to me, and I cherish each and every one of them. I am looking forward to a big and bright future for all of us in this wonderful and wacky world of words we inhabit.

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