Category Archives: Stacey

April 04, 2012   Stacey   advice, debut fiction, inspiration, Stacey, writing  
6

A story with sea legs

For those of you who regularly read our blog, you probably know I’m a sucker for a good, inspirational publishing success story. With so much uncertainty in the industry that sometimes swirls into negativity, for me at least it’s like a breath of fresh air to read something wholly positive.

I loved this piece from today’s New York Times about Charlotte Rogan’s The Lifeboat, which has a fantastic premise and a great back story of finding its way to print. I’m very much looking forward to reading the book, which is generating good buzz and positive reviews.

I’m drawn to Ms. Rogan’s story personally because she has college-age triplets. As a mom of twins, parenting multiples is an area of great interest. I hear the word triplets and my ears perk up.

From a publishing perspective, I’m intrigued by her story because of how long it took her to seek a publisher, and how she came at writing from a hobbyist’s perspective – taking classes here and there, finding time when she could, working when the kids were in school. I love at the end when she says that there were times when just the writing of it was enough (with the day-to-day of parenting triplets, I’m guessing it was a pretty good escape at times). It’s wonderful to see an example of a passion that satisfies without the promise of a book deal or lucrative career as a published author. That’s refreshing.

I am also impressed with the ways in which she found and researched her topic. As idea generators it’s interesting to me to see how people come up with their ideas.  I am always looking at a story with an eye to whether it might translate to a book. For Ms. Rogan, when she saw an old case in one of her husband’s criminal law texts, it served as inspiration for the book that followed. Then she drew on research and personal experience to flesh it out.

I wonder if some of our readers might share their stories of how they came to their book idea. Every story has a story behind the story, right? Sometimes those are as interesting and enlightening as the book itself. Do tell. We’d love to hear

March 21, 2012   Stacey   cookbooks and food writing, memoir, nonfiction, parenting, Stacey, what we're looking for  
8

What I’m looking for now

It’s been a long time since I talked about what I’m looking for so I thought I’d share a few words about projects I’m working on, projects I recently sold, and projects I wish I’d sold.

If you check me out on Publisher’s Marketplace, sales categories over the last year include cookbooks, memoir, narrative nonfiction, commercial fiction, children’s fiction, and a business book (full disclosure: the author is one of my oldest friends who came to me to help him after being approached by a publisher). The last few weeks have brought several nice sales and new projects in categories that include narrative nonfiction, cookbooks, commercial fiction, and young adult fiction.

My list has always been eclectic and continues to be comprised of a mix of projects that excite and inspire me. I’ll admit the formula is unpredictable and timing and instinct have a lot to do with it. I think most of my colleagues would agree that they know a Stacey project when they see it (public thanks to Jim for the recent referral), even if that might seem hard to define.

Given the market, the size of my list, and raising 4 kids, I’ll admit I am very selective about signing up new authors, but I am doing it and I’m eager to see new submissions.

In particular I’d love to see more science-based or medical nonfiction, like the upcoming book by pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert H. Lustig about his groundbreaking research about sugar’s effect on our health. Or Dr. Dale Archer’s Better Than Normal, which talks about how key traits of human behavior can be seen as strengths rather than weaknesses.

I’d like to see more smart, original parenting – I just sold a soon-to-be announced book about a particular component of our dysfunctional parenting culture, and my most recent staff recommendation is Mind in the Making, a research-based parenting title that was widely praises as one of the best recent books in the category.

I’d also like to see more food and nutrition narrative. The latest book by Marion Nestle just out, Why Calories Count, is a great example of that, and I’d love to find a book to rival Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Bones and Butter.

For cookbooks, I’m always interested in smart, savvy food bloggers who bring a new twist to an existing topic, and can open up conversations about family and food that draw readers in. And I’m open to hearing from chefs and food writers who are doing something original and different.

As for memoir, I continue to be drawn to deep, dark psychological stories (and as previously mentioned, I seem to have found a successful niche of powerful mother/daughter stories that began long before I had my 4 daughters!) that showcase real people overcoming crushing adversity. Jennie Perillo’s in-the-works memoir about the sudden loss of her husband is an example. Soon-to-be published titles include Perfect Chaos, a mother/daughter bipolar memoir; I Am Intelligent, a mother/daughter memoir about a nonverbal autistic girl who learns to communicate; and Have Mother Will Travel, Claire and Mia Fontaine’s second memoir following the remarkable Come Back.

And for children’s, as well as adult fiction, I am drawn to strong, believable protagonists who find themselves in difficult situations that require an emotional epiphany to survive and thrive.

Thanks for listening and hope this gives you some more insight into my interests and that I’ll hear from you with new projects soon.

March 07, 2012   Stacey   opinion, reading, Stacey, technology  
16

Is technology bad for reading?

I can’t stop thinking about how technology is making me crazy. While riding the bus to NYC recently and thinking about my large, overwhelming reading list on my Kindle, it occurred to me I had to first check email, then look something up online, where I found an article I’d been meaning to read, which led to a twitter and Facebook check, and so on. Before long the tunnel is approaching and I’ve reached my destination without opening my Kindle. Sound familiar?

I know I’m not the only one who suffers from Technostress, a word coined by my client Dr. Larry Rosen in his 1997 book by the same name. Even back then, he writes “The constant stream of incoming and outgoing messages means that businesspeople end up spending more time trying to communicate than actually doing.” In his upcoming book iDisorder he looks into how technology really can dramatically increase the likelihood of exhibiting sometimes severe psychological symptoms related to the stress brought on by technology in our lives. Sure it makes a lot of things better, easier, more efficient and all that, but it also makes us distracted, disengaged, and often unable or unwilling to take a real break which is bad for our bodies and our brains. A piece by Nicholas Carr from The Atlantic a few years back called Is Google Making Us Stupid? talks more about what technology has done to our reading culture, and it’s not good and certainly hasn’t gotten better with time.

So, I’m wondering where your thoughts are as the reading public. Do you think people are reading fewer books because they are more distracted by technology, or are they reading more books because of the ease that technology brings to reading by offering books anywhere, anytime with the click of a button? Do you read more books now than you did 5 years ago? And if you do, is that because of the easier access technology brings to reading? Have your reading habits stayed the same and you still go out to a bookstore or library every time you want to get a new book just as you did before? Or do you read fewer books because, well, there’s just so much else to do? And what about book length? Has a compromised attention span made shorter books more appealing?

Personally, I struggle with it. I read a lot and have to for work, and instead of printing out manuscripts, I now read them on my e-reader, which is great. But, if there’s a new book I want to buy (and I do buy books, often), I usually order a hard copy to have on my shelf or my bedside table.

As far as actually reading the books, and how that’s changed, I am definitely more splintered in my attention and have to be disciplined in planning my reading time—a lot more than before. I think this is in part due to technology trying to draw me back in to the vortex of my digital devices, and in part because I have 4 little kids who demand my time and attention (unless, of course, we give them our iPad which keeps them quiet for hours!). I do my best reading after hours in the comfort of my bed when I’ve put my phone and computer to sleep and can focus on a book or a manuscript, or usually several at once.

I’ll sign off and go grab my Kindle. Manuscripts and proposals beckon; there are books to be read!

February 15, 2012   Stacey   advice, agents, conferences, cookbooks and food writing, relationships, Stacey  
6

A few words about cookbooks and agents

I participated in a cookbook conference last Friday and sat on a panel with four other agents who also represent practical nonfiction, including cookbooks. The discussion centered around the agent’s role in the current market and how that role has changed with the shift into electronic publishing.

It was a really thoughtful and informative conversation that lasted almost an hour and a half. We had a lengthy talk about the cookbook as object and whether that is something that will continue into the future or go the way of the VHS tape. We all agreed moving away from the book is a long way away, if it ever happens at all, and that there is still a great benefit to holding a book in your hands, cooking from a book rather than a computer screen, and sharing books as gifts with friends and family.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the discussion centered on the agent and author relationship, and the question of how important is it to have an agent in a market where so many writers, bloggers especially, are going it on their own. I strongly believe that (and I think, based on feedback, made a persuasive argument for) authors need agents now more than ever. A savvy agent who understands the nuances of the market’s language and culture is critical as they oversee every aspect of an author’s entire career, focusing on the big picture, as well as the smaller details that can go astray at any point in the process.

What really jumped out at me, though, was the concept of how much book negotiations have changed in the recent past. Each and every negotiation now, even with publishers we’ve dealt with for many years and have boilerplate contracts with the best negotiated terms possible, is fraught with challenges that include new and changing digital royalty rates, author deliverables that previously didn’t exist (one agent mentioned a major publisher had asked that the author deliver along with their manuscript 20 minutes of the author on tape), and which rights will be retained by the author versus the publisher.

This might sound simple, but believe me when I say it is not. The landscape has been described as The Wild West, and we are using our collective years of experience to secure the best deal and contract terms that are possible in a market where publishers are pushing so hard in one direction to keep rights in their control and agents are pushing so hard in the other.

The good news is we are making progress with every deal. Each new contract offers an opportunity to renegotiate contract language we aren’t happy with, or get an author an improved digital royalty, or at least the ability to renegotiate the royalty in the future. We are always striving to protect our clients and maintain a positive working relationship with all the publishers we do business with. I’ll admit it can be precarious, but we have leverage because publishers know the value of our long, successful client list.

All this to say your agent is your friend and will be there to guide you through this sometimes messy and difficult process of being a book author. I’d love to know your thoughts on the agent-author relationship in this new market and also on cookbook as object and its future. Do you think cookbooks are going to go away, or will there always be room on your shelf to display your favorite stain-filled tomes as a badge of cooking honor?

February 01, 2012   Stacey   advice, blog chat, blog-to-book, conferences, cookbooks and food writing, Stacey  
4

Insider tips on how to successfully turn your blog or idea into a book

While this is a complex and challenging question in a complex and challenging market, a friend and editor at Chronicle Books, Kate Woodrow, gets to the heart of the matter in this insightful piece culled from a recent conference panel she was on. It gives some advice from the inside on the book development process, and more importantly from an author’s perspective, what makes a successful pitch. Chronicle is a publisher we do a lot of business with, and they are very creative when it comes to developing nonfiction books from brands or blogs, so it’s worth a read.

A number of the tips Kate shares about developing a saleable book concept apply to fiction writers as well. Like researching and reading your competition. It seems so obvious, but it bears repeating and often. Knowing your market and what’s out there is incredibly important. And no typos! In this moving-so-fast culture we all inhabit, it’s way too easy to hit send before triple checking your work. But if you’re serious about getting published, then take the time to get it right the first time.

One point that Kate doesn’t address but that’s been coming up a lot in my blog-to-book conversations with clients and editors is that the more targeted book concepts seem to be working better now given the competition in the market. Having a great idea is still imperative, even if you have a big blog to support it. That’s something that’s a bit different than it was even six months ago. There was a long stretch where publishers were snatching up books from bloggers at a rapid pace. That has slowed down considerably, and now it’s even more important to think through and develop a commercial, accessible concept that is supported by your blog, but not necessarily the topic of your blog. For example, I just sold a single subject book on avocados by a food blogger. Her blog is a lot more general, but there is a section on avocados because it’s a food she loves and writes about often, so we felt the idea of narrowing the focus of her book was a smart one.

Hope you find some takeaway here that’s helpful. And good luck if you choose to go in this direction!

January 18, 2012   Stacey   advice, bestsellers, editing, marketing/publicity, selling, Stacey  
11

An editor and publisher who gets the job done right.

Some of you might know Amy Einhorn by name, especially if you work in book publishing. But even if you don’t, you certainly know some of the books she’s helped to bring to market. Most notably and successfully The Help, a compelling but challenging first novel by Kathryn Stockett that was famously (and embarrassingly in retrospect) rejected by 60 agents and publishers. The book has gone on to sell over 10 million copies! It was the first novel ever published by Amy Einhorn Books.

This interview with Amy from a recent New York Observer gets to the heart of why she’s so good at what she does. And I think there’s something to be taken away from her approach to publishing. She doesn’t just tell her authors to market and promote their books. She does it too. She takes each of her books and pushes them gently into the market, overseeing all aspects of editorial, production, design, marketing and publicity.

While it’s an impossible business to master, and there is no question that luck and timing play a big role in an author’s success, there is definitely some strategy at work here too.

Amy’s imprint has more hits than misses, and reading about how she does it you can understand why. She has a small, eponymous imprint with the resources of a big house behind her. It’s that rare combination of little gal and big gun that has the potential turn books into bestsellers. That combined with her good instincts and loving touch makes for each book to get its share of support and attention. It’s like raising kids. You have to treat each one differently and play to their strengths. There is no one size fits all model for parenting, and that same can be said for selling books. It makes me think about how many good books are out there that don’t get the right kind of support to nurture them along and wind up selling poorly.

I love the anecdote in the piece about a manuscript full of Post-its — this is so old-school, and I also admire writer Emily Witt’s observation about Einhorn’s “commitment to thorough editing and a lot of exuberant salesmanship.” These are things that still matter. A lot.

I know Amy personally (we have 7 daughters between us!) and professionally (we had a book together when she was at Warner, and I would so love to sell her something for Amy Einhorn Books), and I like her very much. I think it would be hard to not like Amy. She’s got that kind of personality that just bubbles with positive enthusiasm and it’s infectious. She’s genuinely curious, interested, engaged, and she makes you feel like you could talk with her endlessly. Come to think of it, with her gift of the gab, she would have been a good agent too!

So, while there is a lot of talk about publishers getting things wrong, I think this piece about a really smart and savvy publisher is worth a read and offers a bit of inspiration to start the year. Good things can happen in book publishing, and with the help (just caught the pun!) of people like Amy Einhorn, sometimes they even do.

December 21, 2011   Stacey   advice, Stacey, suggestions, writing  
0

A different kind of best-of list, and a more practical one

As the holidays move in on us like a speeding train, it seems a good time to share with our loyal readers a list that might actually be useful for the end of the year, and one that will take you into next year too.

Writersdigest.com has compiled a list of their 18 most popular writing articles for 2011. A personal favorite that could probably be a book in itself is the 25 Ways to Improve Your Writing in 30 Minutes a Day. Check it out, take a well-deserved break over the holidays, and let’s come back in 2012 refreshed, inspired (maybe a few pounds heavier), and ready to make some great books in 2012!

A big thanks to all of you for continuing to visit and read our blog. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

December 14, 2011   Stacey   favorites, fun, Stacey, words  
15

What’s your favorite line?

I’m reading a new middle grade novel from a client, and I came across a line I just love. In it, he is describing a pack of dogs on the attack: “They were a boiling wave of flailing paws and arching backs.” It’s so juicy and descriptive and intriguing. In just a few short words, it says so much about what’s to come.

Great writers amaze me with their capabilities at taking simple words or phrases and turning them into sentences that blend together seamlessly to form the books we love. But, even within a favorite novel there are always a few lines that jump out, that demand to be read again, and that are remembered when you think back to that book in the future.  Miriam talked about favorite last lines on the blog this summer, and it was a fun exercise. When I was young, I remember underlining lines I liked in books as I was reading (in pencil, of course!).

I’d love to hear what your favorite lines are. The ones you go back to or quote or think about fondly when remembering where you were and what you were doing when you were reading that great book. Sometimes it’s harder to remember lines from books than it is song lyrics or movie quotes (some days, I can barely remember my kids’ names), but see what you can come up with, and please share!

December 07, 2011   Stacey   advice, inspiration, Stacey, timing, writing  
5

What’s your favorite writing success story?

It’s funny how in this business, as in life, sometimes it takes something small to remember why we’re in it in the first place. As you all by now know, the publishing industry has been a fairly controversial place of late. I won’t go through it all again here, or get into the nitty gritty of some of the latest news headlines pitting Amazon against independent booksellers, but suffice to say there’s a lot of fear about the future.

That’s why I was happy to find this video recently that shares an unbelievable story about how  Cherie Priest got her start as an author. After having been rejected by Tor with a form letter a couple of years earlier, a young editor found Cherie’s manuscript while cleaning out the office of someone who died, and after reading it (because she says she can’t throw anything away without reading it first) and loving it, e-mailed her hoping she was still at the same address. It was a good thing the e-mail address was there because she’d long since moved and the editor’s letter had already been returned unopened. The rest, as they say, is history. A really cool publishing story, right? And one that gives faith that good things still happen and dreams really can come true. Alright, enough with the cotton candy fluff, but you get my point.

What is your favorite writing success story? It doesn’t have to be getting an agent or a publisher. I’m thinking more about what led you on a writer’s path. Could be getting an A on a grade school paper, or finding a writing teacher who inspired you to do your best work, or getting dumped and realizing the only way to survive was to write about the experience. Please share. Sometimes it’s the little things that can make the biggest difference.

November 30, 2011   Stacey   advice, rejection, Stacey, submissions, writing  
17

When is it time to give up?

In thinking of what to write about today while my computer is down and I can’t access all of my blog notes, it occurred to me that I should ask a question to our readers that I ask myself often in the line of duty, or in publishing terms, in my life as an agent.

I have been known to go to the end of the earth for an author or a project I love, and one of my first blog posts ever was about the sale of a book that took me 54 publishers to find a home. It’s since gone on to sell over 200,000 copies (if only every publishing story had such a happy ending).

In part this commitment (sometimes verging on insanity) stems from the fact that it takes a lot for me to sign something up these days and if I do, it means either I really love it or I think I’m going to be able to sell it, or hopefully both. And in part it’s because I really just don’t like giving up. It often becomes a mission for me to try to come up with a creative alternative to a book that might not be working as well as I’d hoped. We invest so much time in the development of our projects that I hate to admit failure and say I can’t sell something. Maybe that’s why I’m in the middle of vetting two contracts from publishers we’ve never done business with before!

It’s a trait that often serves me and my clients well, but sometimes backfires too and there does come a time when it really is time to give up and move on. I’m wondering what that time looks like for all of you in your writing life. I know it depends on where you are in your process, but, for example, do you try 5 agents, 10, 20, more? If you get an agent and they submit your book and it isn’t selling, would you rather rethink that book if you get consistent feedback or try something different altogether? How many projects have you stopped when you realized it just wasn’t going to work?

There’s no magic number or answer, and it’s different for each author and each project, but I am curious to hear what you all think about this topic and what your answer is to the question “When is it time to give up?”. And when I say give up, I mean on a particular project, not the dream of being published, which you should never give up on!

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