Category Archives: Stacey

February 02, 2011   Stacey   food, media, nonfiction, prescriptive, Stacey  
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Vegan Pursuits

I’m generally a big lover of meat and fish, making my views on vegetarian and vegan eating somewhat conflicted. However, I represent a lot of great books and authors in the category, including a very talented and successful vegan cookbook author whose books sell well year after year so I know there is a loyal and growing audience out there for books that appeal to this market. That was confirmed with the release of lifestyle author Kathy Freston’s Veganist, debuting yesterday with an appearance on Oprah and an interview in Vanity Fair, among other big publicity hits. Of course the book shot straight to number 1 on Amazon, and I’m guessing we’ll be seeing it high on the bestseller lists in coming weeks. It is encouraging to me that a seemingly niche topic can attract such a splashy mainstream response, following in the footsteps of Skinny Bitch, The Kind Diet, and Michael Pollen’s books, among others.

I haven’t actually seen the book yet, but from what I’ve read Freston’s book is really a straight lifestyle book, without recipes, outlining the many benefits of a vegan life. I am not someone who generally jumps on the Oprah bandwagon, but I do think there’s a lot of good to be found in this message of eating a healthier, more environmentally friendly, plant-based diet. That sounds a little more realistic to me, and one of these days I’d like to actually give it a try. I’m sure I’d miss the meat, but maybe I’d finally be able to shed those last few baby pounds that have been hanging around way too long, since the twins just turned 2 last week! And there would certainly be some great stories and lessons to share with the kids. If any of our readers are fans of vegan lifestyle or cookbooks, I’d be curious to hear what your favorites are. Now I’m off to make myself a salad for dinner.

January 27, 2011   Stacey   about us, advice, opinion, Stacey, what we're looking for  
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What I’m Looking For

As we move further into the New Year, and battle through yet another snowstorm, I thought it would be a good idea to take Jessica’s lead from Back to Blogging and let our blog readers know a little bit more about where my interests are these days as far as new projects go. I can’t quite believe it, but I’m coming up on my 12 year anniversary with DGLM and my list has changed quite a bit during that time, in many cases reflecting my personal and professional interests simultaneously.

Narrative nonfiction is an area of my list I’ve worked very hard to develop over the last few years. I like a wide range of narrative nonfiction topics (politics not being one of them), and recent titles I’ve responded to in the marketplace are The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Unbroken, two books that uncover a fascinating, little known and inspiring person or story with a strong narrative arc.

I am always interested in memoir, even though they’ve become increasingly difficult to sell. I’ve had great success with an usual hybrid — the mother-daughter memoir. And I’m especially interested in parenting memoirs, which are almost impossible to place, but with the right combination of elements, they can work big. Recent titles I would have liked to represent are Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (even if I don’t entirely agree with all of her parenting choices!), Poser by Claire Dederer, and Devotion by Dani Shapiro.

Food has always been, and continues to be, a passion of mine. Cookbooks are still a staple on my list, and I’ve also been selling a lot of books by food bloggers. It’s competitive, but authors with a big or growing website and blog can definitely find an audience. Baking books continue to work well, even though most publishers say there are too many of them. Too many great titles to name, but if you want to pitch a food book, it’s really important to have a persuasive concept, pitch, solid recipes, and the platform to back it up.

I still represent a good amount of practical nonfiction outside of food as well. The category has become increasingly difficult, and platform is really imperative for these titles to work. But I am always open to a great health or fitness title if it’s well positioned and executed. Carb Lover’s Diet was a great easy-to-digest concept, and hit a chord with readers.

Craft is another category I’ve had a lot of success with. Two of my books were on Amazon’s Top 10 list for 2010, and I am open to hearing about more fun, smart, unique how-to ideas.

I’m signing up a lot less adult fiction, because it’s so hard to sell but also because my time is limited and fiction can take a lot of work to develop. And I’m not really looking for genre fiction right now. My taste in this area tends to gravitate to contemporary mainstream fiction with a psychological backbone, like Room by Emma Donoghue or Laura Lippman’s I’d Know You Anywhere. Dark is good.

Even though I’m scaling back on adult fiction, I am actively developing and selling more young adult and middle grade fiction. It’s an exciting category, and one that feels less limiting than many areas on the adult side. Reality-based teen fiction is a hard sell, but paranormal is still working well, and I have a big middle grade fantasy series upcoming with a male protagonist, so that’s an interesting area too. There’s a lot of competition, so I think it’s just about grabbing me with a strong cover note and a perfect voice, combined with a story that offers something we haven’t seen before. High concept is definitely a plus. The Suzanne Collins trilogy worked well for me, as well as James Dashner’s The Maze Runner (represented by Michael) for great original ideas.

Thanks for listening, and I hope I’ll hear from some of you with new projects, ideas, proposals, or anything else you want to bounce off of me!

January 19, 2011   Stacey   advice, fun, publishers, Q&A, Stacey  
3

Editor Q&A: Nichole Argyres of St. Martin’s Press

I know that our blog readers are always looking for good insider advice about how to get published. So I had the idea to ask an editor friend to answer some questions about what she likes, doesn’t like, and to talk a bit about the kinds of books she’s worked on to get a sense of her taste and interests. To share some background on my relationship with Nichole, I haven’t known her very long, but I connected with her right away. Our first meeting, over coffee last spring, started with me asking her what kinds of things she was looking for. She answered by telling me that she was very interested in mental health and that she’d love to find a memoir written by a young person suffering from bipolar disorder. It just so happened that on that very day I was planning to send out a proposal written by a mother and daughter about the daughter’s battle with bipolar. True story! And the best part is that she bought the book just a couple of weeks later. Perfect Chaos by Cinda and Linea Johnson will be published in 2012.

How long have you been an editor?

I’ve worked in publishing for almost twelve years.

Can you share with us a few titles you’ve worked on, both fiction and nonfiction?

Some recent fiction titles I’ve worked on are: the Denver Post bestseller Hester by Paula Reed (the story of Hester Prynne that The Scarlet Letter left out); The Pursuit of Other Interests by Jim Kokoris (the story of a man who loses his job but can’t tell his wife and son, and how he finds his way back to his family), India Edghill’s marvelous biblical historical, Delilah, and Marshall Karp’s funny an crackerjack mysteries Flipping Out and Cut, Paste, Kill starring Lomax and Biggs. Finding Jack by Gareth Crocker is coming out in February, and it is the amazing story of a soldier, his dog, and a friendship.

Recent nonfiction titles include: Goldsworthy’s memoir Piano Lessons (for anybody who has ever loved a teacher), the reissue of Paul Loeb’s classic handbook for social activism, Soul of a Citizen, Eleni Gage’s memoir of Greece and family, North of Ithaka, and both of Brigitte Gabriel’s New York Times bestsellers. Stacey Edgar’s memoir Global Girlfriends: How One Mom Made it Her Business to Help Women in Poverty Worldwide will be out in April.

What kinds of books interest you personally?

For pleasure I love memoirs of all kinds, fiction that sweeps me away to another time or place, mysteries with great characters, fairy tales, cookbooks, and medical narratives.

What kinds of books interest you professionally?

Personal stories that take the particular and make it universal; narrative science of all kinds, especially neuroscience and mental health; upmarket women’s fiction; smart nonfiction for women—parenting, mental health, current events.

Can you give our readers an idea of what draws you to a nonfiction project?

For memoir, I need a clear, strong voice telling a story with which I can identify. For science and other topic-driven nonfiction, I need a clear strong voice, a good platform, and an identifiable market to go after.

Can you give our readers an idea of what draws you to a fiction project?

I am an old-fashioned reader, so I like a strong narrative voice in the driver’s seat. I need a protagonist I can identify with and like. I have a weakness for large families and limited locations (neighborhoods, villages, islands). I like dark around the edges but not edgy. I am drawn to historical and international fiction.

Is there anything you really like and/or don’t like to see in a submission for nonfiction?

I like to see that the author has a strong sense of his or her project and has thought about the market, especially reasonable and current comparable titles. I don’t like to see unreasonable or older comp titles (The Secret, Angela’s Ashes). Memoir that relates—without perspective—a difficult childhood, horrendous divorce, fatal illness, or loss of a child is not my favorite. I think readers come to memoir for similar reasons they come to fiction—for an escape, a glimpse or an unfamiliar life, and an experience that he or she can take with them back to their own life. Memoir without perspective is just a therapy session. And other people’s therapy sessions aren’t that interesting.

Is there anything you really like and/or don’t like to see in a submission for fiction?

Plot, plot, plot. And strong characters with convincing relationships moving through the convincing plot. And plot. Did I mention plot?

What books have you read recently that you loved?

I am in the middle of Adam Gopnik’s Through the Children’s Gate and I find his mix of the everyday and our internal terrors and wonderings incredibly satisfying and smartly done. I recently finished Glenn Kurtz’s Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music, which is a marvelous wonderful tribute to music, and an honest investigation into desire, ambition, and love. The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz I found to be life changing. Louise Penny’s latest mystery Bury Your Dead, is amazing, she is a favorite. And Old Filth by Jane Gardam reminded me why I love literary fiction.

Thanks to Nichole for her time and candid answers to my questions. I look forward to hearing what our readers think about this kind of editor exchange, and if it’s popular, we can try to do it again soon. If you have any questions, let me know and I will do my best to answer them.

January 12, 2011   Stacey   in memoriam, Stacey  
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The legendary Ruth Cavin

Happy New Year to all of our blog readers!

One of the things I like most about working in book publishing is that it’s a world inhabited by wonderful people with a love of books. No one gets into the book business to get rich, so the community is comprised of interesting, articulate, intelligent individuals with a common shared interest and motivation — to produce great books. I wanted to share this lovely obituary written by Mike Shatzkin about the legendary mystery book editor Ruth Cavin, who began her life as a book editor in her 60s! She passed away on Sunday at the age of 92, still gainfully employed by Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press after over 20 years there. How refreshing to see a story about a boss and a corporation that went so far out of its way to accommodate an aging editor. I can’t imagine reading about such generosity or compassion at very many firms in the current corporate culture. I didn’t know Ruth personally, although I did submit a few projects to her over the years, but reading this piece, I wish I’d had the chance to know her better. I hope you enjoy reading about this remarkable woman as much as I did.

January 10, 2011   DG&B   about us, advice, calendar, changes at DGLM, conferences, DGLM Recommends, Facebook, feedback, fun, Jane, Jessica, Jim, John, Lauren, Michael, Miriam, opinion, our blog, our clients, our website, Rachel S., Stacey, Stephanie, technical help, Twitter, what we're looking for, What's New at DGLM  
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Welcome to the new DGLM blog and website!

Welcome to our shiny new home, blog readers!  For the new year, we bring you a new DGLM site, a merger of our website and blog.  Thanks to everyone who made suggestions a couple months ago on features and tech questions—where possible we’ve incorporated your feedback, and other things we’re keeping in mind in case we can implement them in future.

We’ll be blogging as usual over here at www.dystel.com now instead of at Blogger, and there are also some other things for you to explore over to the right (unless you’re not currently reading this on the site itself, in which case you might want to just poke your head in and take a look!).  You might be interested in learning more about us and our clients.  If you’re an author looking for representation, perhaps you’ll want to peruse our FAQ, Submission Requirements, Who We Are and What We’re Looking For, and Nonfiction Proposal Guidelines.  Need something new to read?  Check out our Staff Recommendations, Recent and Forthcoming Titles, and What We’re Reading in the column on the right. Maybe you want to know where we’ll be?  We’ve got a calendar with our upcoming conferences and events in that sidebar as well!  Of course, if you’d like, please feel free to use the links over there to Subscribe, Follow, or Like us and share our site with others!  The new blog should start feeding into our Twitter and Facebook accounts today, so if you’re already following us there, you don’t need to do anything.  If you’re reading us in a blog reader, please subscribe to the new RSS feed.

Make yourselves at home!

As always, we want to hear from you!  What do you think of the new digs?  Any suggestions for improvement?  Glitches we may not have caught?  (We hope not, but let us know if so!)  New features that you’d like us to consider?  We can’t always implement everything recommended to us, but we’re always open to hearing your ideas.

December 22, 2010   DG&B   fun, libraries, lists, reading, Stacey  
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Holiday library reading

by Stacey

Since most of us are pretty much doing everything we can to check out early before the holidays begin, I thought it would be fun and easy to share this piece from the Seattle Times literary page that lists the top 10 books taken out from The Seattle Library in 2010. It’s a chance to see what Americans, at least in Seattle, are really reading. There aren’t any big surprises on the list, but I am personally happy to see the #1 book, The Help, is a first novel. Very incredible in this market that a first time author can find the kind of success that Kathryn Stockett has found with this book. It’s also interesting to see the kind of nonfiction that makes the list. Smart, thought-provoking titles, Outliers and Food Rules, books that allow the reader see every day things in a unique and different way. And I’ll be picking up a copy of I Stink to read to my kids over the break. I’m curious to know more about this book that made the list alongside all of these adult titles. I hope you’ll find something from this list or elsewhere to read over the holidays, and take the time to relax and enjoy family, friends, and a good book. We’ll look forward to sharing a lot more publishing-related news and views in the New Year!

December 15, 2010   DG&B   advice, editing, fun, reading, Stacey, writing  
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Writers dish about editors

I enjoyed reading this piece from The Awl written by five published authors who write candidly (sometimes very candidly—check out Emily Gould’s piece) about their experiences with their editors. There’s so much great behind-the-scenes information in here about the publishing process—how agents work, how editors acquire books (or sometimes lose out to others), and how different each individual experience is. Even though it’s written from different points of view, this piece speaks to how unpredictable the publishing process can be. Each author makes some wise observations about what you can expect, what you might actually get, and how frustrating and/or refreshing that can be depending on where you fall on that curve! The idea that editors are overworked and that your book isn’t the only one on their list is something that authors and agents alike sometimes forget to take into consideration, so it’s a good point. It also illustrates to me how important perspective is, both in your publishing career and in anything else you do in life.

In this piece, you’re getting the scoop from those who have been through it. I hope you all find some good takeaway, or at the least an entertaining read, and ultimately see this a positive take on the publishing process. For me, even as an insider (or maybe because I’m an insider and know many of the players), there’s a lot of juicy stuff in here!

December 08, 2010   DG&B   cookbooks and food writing, fun, lists, reading, Stacey  
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Best cookbooks of the year

by Stacey

I wanted to share this piece in today’s New York Times about the year’s best cookbooks where I was so glad to see two of my books (Flour by Joanne Chang and Christie Matheson and Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef by Shauna James Ahern and Daniel Ahern) included, as well as one of Jane’s (Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy by Alice Medrich). It’s a really eclectic and diverse list, and I think Julia Moskin does a good job explaining why each of these books works and what they have to offer for different types of cooks or food enthusiasts. For me, it’s a peek into the cookbook marketplace, and how for all the talk of it being a dying breed, there is so much unique, innovative and interesting content being published each year. There was a time here when I thought I’d stop working on cookbooks because the market was shrinking, there were fewer publishers (and editors) producing cookbooks, and it seemed the only ones that were working well were the books written by Food Network stars. But I keep on selling them, and I think we’ve seen something of a resurgence the last couple of years, with a shift away from the glitz and back to the basics. This article highlights that trend. And there’s not one Food Network star to be found!

There’s another area to me that’s worth noting. A lot of food bloggers have been getting books deals recently, some on a very large sale, and a few represented by us, including Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef from this list. The Internet in general has become a place to share stories, recipes, and ideas and people are definitely responding to the good ones, especially those who are also savvy marketers. But one of the things that’s interesting to me about Julia Moskin’s list in this article is that there are very few bloggers on it. Many of the books she highlights are written by familiar names in the food world who have previously published books. Authors like Alice Waters, Alice Medrich, and Madhur Jaffrey are all considered authorities in their field, and new books from them are always paid attention to, for good reason. Next year will bring a lot of blogger books to the market, so I’ll be curious to see how many of them make next year’s list.

It’s also interesting, and I think a testament to the changing industry, that she discusses a self-published book: Matt Moore’s Have Her Over for Dinner. That’s not something that happens very often in this type of treatment, so good for the author for writing a book that got the attention of a critic’s eye at the Times.

Personally, I’m glad to see so many new cookbooks being well-published and well-received in the marketplace. I will continue to work on them, and have fun reading and eating my way through them! Do you have any cookbook favorites from this year not included on this list? I’d love to hear about them.

December 01, 2010   DG&B   advice, characterization, Stacey, writing, YA  
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YA character advice

by Stacey

I am a big fan of the PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association) and their annual conference, which I attended a few years back. Their website, newsletter, and blog are full of really informative advice for unpublished writers, as well as often inspirational stories of authors getting published. This recent piece from their website by book doctor Jason Black talks about a very important distinction in paranormal YA fiction between a character’s success in the story coming from ordinary human qualities versus some type of paranormal ability. Black claims Harry Potter worked so well on an emotional level that resonated so deeply with readers because many of his most important moments came from noble human qualities, like self-sacrifice, rather than his other wordly abilities. He poses the question if you are writing a YA novel, does your protagonist need to possess these paranormal qualities, or could he/she succeed without them? Black argues that having a character’s success come from a supernatural ability can send a discouraging message to readers because it makes it less inspiring for ordinary kids. An example he uses is James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series, where the characters would fail without their powers. This series has not had the kind of impact or success that Harry Potter has. He concludes, and I agree, that without his powers, Harry Potter would still be a hero. This is an important distinction to consider when drafting your character sketches and plot points.

It’s worth thinking about what he has to say, even if you choose not to follow his advice. Seeing your work from a different or new perspective is always a good way of gauging its success. For those of you writing paranormal YA or thinking about it, take a read and let us know what you think.

November 24, 2010   DG&B   fun, marketing/publicity, Stacey, Twitter  
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Even the zombies are on Twitter!

by Stacey

I know we’re all getting ready to eat lots of turkey, and that means we are also ready for a few days off. While this link to a clever marketing campaign created by Quirk Books has nothing to do with the holidays, I thought it was a good example of what publishers (and authors) are trying to do to come up with new ways to market their books. To me, it’s a bit of a stretch to have fictional characters talking about whatever, but these books are already popular, so Quirk is likely thinking this will be a way to keep them selling through the holidays. According to Bookscan, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has sold well over half a million copies already, so the audience is definitely out there to be marketed to. Enjoy, and have a great Thanksgiving. We’ll try to come up with some helpful and thoughtful content for you to sink your teeth into after the break (and before the next one)!!

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