Category Archives: submissions

March 22, 2010   DG&B   about us, advice, Jane, publishers, submissions  
14

The submission process

by Jane

In the comments last week, Joan Swan asked us to review how submissions are done. I raised my hand to offer this explanation:

I submit proposals and manuscripts on a multiple basis nearly all the time. While the proposal or the manuscript is being completed, I am talking about the project with various editors who I think might be interested. If they are, I add their names to a submission list, and when we deem the proposal or manuscript ready to submit, I set a date and tell the author when I am planning to send it out.

All of our proposals and manuscripts are now being submitted electronically as opposed to only a short while ago when they were sent in the mail. We find this is far more efficient and it has helped us streamline the process. With nonfiction proposals, we generally go to at least 20 publishers at a time. With fiction, we submit to 5 or 10. On the day of the submission, I sometimes call editors to say the material is coming to give them a heads up–editors receive so much material from agents and authors, I don’t want our submissions to get “lost” in a crowded inbox.

With nonfiction I usually begin following up, if I haven’t heard back from editors, about a week to 10 days later. With fiction I will wait for two weeks as reading an entire manuscript is bound to take longer than just a proposal. I ascertain the editor’s level of interest (and, yes, I collect their rejections) and then I gently try to press for when we will have an offer. If more than one publisher makes an offer, I usually try to have an auction.

Sometimes this process takes only a couple of days; sometimes it can take months depending upon how many interested parties I have and how many rounds of publishers I have to go to.

If I feel after the first round that more work needs to be done to improve the proposal or manuscript, based on feedback from the editors, I will suggest that to my client and share the comments that I have received from publishers. It is up to the author to decide whether he or she wants to make any changes.

Depending on the project and the comments I receive back from publishers, I decide just how far I will go in terms of submitting to more and smaller publishers. Sometimes we go to a number of rounds and sometimes we don’t. I do find though that I am persistent enough to sell a very high percentage of the projects I take on.

I am happy to answer any specific questions on this process if you have them.

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.

January 21, 2010   DG&B   advice, Jessica, queries, rejection, submissions  
27

The great chain of rejection

by Jessica

Most every writer has a raft of rejection stories, some funny, some harrowing, some downright infuriating. Without question, the worst aspect of my job is turning people down, and I’m aware that the form rejections most agencies employ are a locus of particular outrage. As Jim pointed out in his recent post, they are a necessary evil, since giving a personal response to each query—even the richly deserving—is simply too time-consuming. Like you, I must triage my inbox, and so any constructive criticism and words of encouragement I might otherwise be inclined to offer fall by the wayside.

Littered as it is with “Dear Author” responses, or dead silence (better? worse? You tell me), the agent search can be profoundly dispiriting, but it’s useful to remember that publishing is bound together by the great chain of rejection. Agents turn down writers, editors reject agent submissions, editors are shot down in their editorial meetings (“Not for us.” “Won’t sell,” “Who cares?”), and publishers, though they are ostensibly at the top of what can seem like an appallingly medieval cosmology, they too face rejection when the books they select are summarily ignored by the public. Most everyone involved in publishing is convinced, at one time or another, that the keys to the kingdom reside in others’ hands. Recently I met with an editor who waved his arm in my direction and said, “You people seem to think that houses are swimming in money. But it’s just not the case. I’m telling you it’s grim at my offices. Positively funereal.”

So what’s my point? That rejection is an immutable fact of this business, and that for all involved, developing a thick skin, a deep reservoir of stubbornness and a sense of humor are critical. I also think that we all might dispense with the illusion that books represent the optimal way to “share a story with the world.” A writer’s conviction that his is a book that “people need to read” is better served in the blogosphere, where people can do so. For free. Another not-so-helpful canard is that being an author represents a reasonable path to fame and fortune. These days, fame and fortune are a reasonable path toward being an author.

Obviously, no one is as invested in a book as its creator; it is, of course, your time, your ideas, and sometimes your very life. Memoirists are in the unfortunate position of being judged not only on their ability to write but the substance of their character, life choices, and tone of voice (“a little whiny, too chirpy, too callow”). It’s enough to make a misanthrope of anyone. Yet most everyone involved in the book world, from writers to agents to publishers to consumers, shares a core belief—one, I think that is not misplaced—that readers recognize talent. Such recognition may not come soon (why writers have drawers full of unpublished manuscripts), and it may not be with commercial success. Still, the vast majority of people toiling in the publishing business are united not only by the need to soldier on in the face of rejection, but also by the belief that a really good book is inherently valuable.

January 04, 2010   DG&B   advice, Lauren, publishers, queries, selling, submissions, what we're looking for  
9

Questions to ask yourself

by Lauren

Just came across this really handy item that SCBWI’s Kathy Temean posted on her blog: Top Ten Questions Dutton Editors Ask Themselves When Looking At A Manuscript.  Very useful for all writers, especially novelists, whichever market they write for and whether or not Dutton would be interested.  I recommend you consider these points about your own manuscript before you share it, because most of these are questions that’ll be asked down the line throughout the publishing process, in many cases all the way up to readers buying your book.

(via Janet Reid)

December 15, 2009   DG&B   advice, Chasya, Chasya's Questions Corner, etiquette, submissions  
5

Chasya’s Questions Corner on Submission Etiquette

by Chasya

Question:

As a follow up to your post on December 1, is it considered good form to let agents who have your full manuscript know when you receive another request for a full (assuming they have not asked for an exclusive)? I want to be above-board and professional, but I don’t want to needlessly pressure (or annoy!) agents who have my work.

Answer:

The short answer to this is no, you generally shoudn’t inform an agent who is reading your manuscript that you have received another such request. It can be difficult discerning what can be considered a faux-pas when it comes to submitting your work, but where updating agents on who else is reviewing your material is concerned, this isn’t something we request or expect. We do always appreciate a writer’s desire to cross their Ts and dot their Is, but there’s no need to worry about this one!

Keep sending in your questions to news@dystel.com!

December 03, 2009   DG&B   advice, Jessica, submissions, what we're looking for  
10

What Jessica Papin wants

by Jessica

 

In light of Miriam’s post on good holiday gifts, and Stacey’s elaboration on what she’s looking for, I figured I’d post my own holiday wish list, the projects that I’d love to discover in my virtual stocking, the visions of submissions/sugarplums that dance in my head.

  • Popular science or history of science, in particular, neuroscience, medicine, natural history and biology, but if the writing is good, I’m open to most any discipline. I’m looking for today’s answer to Lewis Thomas.
  • Plot-driven literary fiction, books that contain both gorgeous writing and a well-constructed, dramatic narrative arc.
  • Literate, John LeCarre-style spy thrillers
  • Novelistic/narrative retellings of pivotal chapters in world history—modern or ancient—with strong contemporary resonance.
  • A modern gothic novel, like Donna Tartt’s The Secret History
  • Polemic/muckraking narrative, a la Barbara Ehrenreich
  • Psychology and sociology growing out of original research, with either a “big think” or prescriptive orientation.
  • A surprise
December 02, 2009   DG&B   advice, our blog, Stacey, submissions, what we're looking for  
10

What Stacey Glick wants

by Stacey

As some of you might know, I had identical twin girls 10 months ago, and have 2 “older” girls at home (3 and 4 1/2). So, while I have continued to work throughout my entire pregnancies and maternity leaves, my life has had a lot to do with topics like dirty diapers, play dates, and nursery schools lately. Listening to some of the respondents from Lauren’s earlier post, I wanted to give a little insight into what I’m looking for right now. For obvious reasons, I’d like to see more smart, unique, well-told parenting titles. The category is really overcrowded, so it’s important that the authors have a strong platform, a fresh message, and a voice that resonates with today’s overstressed, exhausted parents. It doesn’t have to be practical either. There are some great narrative books out there that aren’t in the parenting category per se, but appeal to that market, books like the one I just recommended on our site, One and the Same by Abigail Pogrebin. I’m also always looking for more narrative nonfiction, like a project I represent, The Widow Clicquot, which tells the little known story of the dynamic French woman who created the champagne brand. Another category I’m very fond of both personally and professionally is memoir. Also overcrowded but when it works, it’s so satisfying , like Come Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine, which I’ve blogged about before, and which I sold after sending the proposal to 54 publishers before finding the right one! It helps for memoir to have a platform already in place, like Shreve Stockton’s The Daily Coyote, based on her very popular blog. In the practical area, I am always interested in working with how-to authors on craft books and cookbooks. And finally, I’ve had some good success recently with young adult fiction, and I’d love to see more smart, quality work in that area. I hope to hear from you soon with new submissions!

(Now seems a good time to point your attention to our relatively new sidebar:  “I wish I saw more…”  We’ll use it as a way to keep you all up to date on the “Why can’t someone just send me a query for X?” conversations that go on ’round the DGLM offices.  Check it out to the right!  UPDATE:  Sorry, I meant to thank Susan at Stony River for the excellent idea!!  -Lauren)

November 24, 2009   DG&B   Chasya, Chasya's Questions Corner, queries, submissions, word count  
0

Chasya’s Questions Corner: On Word Count

by Chasya

Question:

Does your agency set a limit on how long a work of fiction should be? Does it make a difference whether it’s science fiction or historical fiction?

Answer:

The short answer to this is no, there’s no limit. The number of pages it takes to tell your story is the number of pages the manuscript should be. In fact, a while back I did a blog post on this very question, and to paraphrase myself, which is kind of a weird thing to do but I’m going to do it anyway, what we’re looking for is material that we fall in love with, and that’s a pretty intangible thing that wouldn’t be limited by the length of a manuscript. That said, it’s also important to know your genre as well. Most commercial fiction runs between 80-100K, whereas epic fantasy, for instance, is 250K. I’m not going to lie, if you send in a query for your hard-boiled mystery and tell us your manuscript is 250,000 words, we will be taken aback since it’s unusual for us to see a word length that high for that type of manuscript. But at the end of the day, if the word count is higher than average and we like the query, we won’t balk at the length.

Please continue to send us questions at news@dystel.com!

November 17, 2009   DG&B   advice, Chasya, Chasya's Questions Corner, credentials, debut fiction, Michael, queries, submissions, what we're looking for  
3

Chasya’s Questions Corner: On Fiction Credentials

by Chasya

One of our readers asks: “How important are previous publication credits to an agent? Do you prefer [to] receive queries from writers who were already published in a literary magazine/journal?”

Answer:
Having really good literary credentials may get you noticed, but it’s not the only thing we’re looking for. As Michael pointed out in his post about queries, we’re looking for a great many other things. Among them a strong voice, an original idea, etc….

It certainly can’t hurt you to get your work placed in literary journals, but being published in one is by no means the deciding factor in who we choose to represent. We’re on the lookout for all sorts of fiction, and limiting queries to authors who have any specific type of credentials really restricts our ability to search for great projects in a broad range of categories.

We hope you’ll continue to send questions! Please send us an email at news@dystel.com.

November 13, 2009   DG&B   advice, Lauren, Michael, queries, submissions  
3

Query spam

Recently, Michael encouraged you not to sweat the small stuff in queries and to understand that it’s more important to write a great query than to worry about individual agents’ pet peeves or assume that one false move will get you deleted without being read.

That’s excellent advice, and I fully support it. But I’ve noticed over the last year or so that there’s been an upsurge in the number of queries that seem to come through some company or program, rather than directly from the author. And that these queries tend to be sent to every agent here (and presumably every agent in some large database) and also tend to get filtered out as spam by our junk mail program. When I check my quarantined email, nearly every query in there has formatting that suggests to me they’re coming from the same place. Lately they’ve been emails that begin with a salutation, proceed to a block of text with title/author/logline, and then begin a letter below. At one point they were emails where the logline was in the subject of the email. I’ve discussed this with other agents here and at other agencies, and we’ve all had the same experience.

Will I reject an author on principle if they use such a tactic? No, not really. A great query is a great query, and they’re not always so easy to find. But while I have no problem with authors querying multiple agents, I don’t think this is a good way to do that. For one, if it’s getting trapped in our spam filters, it’s probably getting trapped in many other agents’, and that’s not a good way to get read. Beyond that, if I sense going in that all my colleagues and the entire rest of the publishing world has the same query, I’m already less inclined to get excited about it. But mostly, it suggests to me that the author hasn’t done any research and likely doesn’t understand that certain agents and certain editors and certain publishers work with certain types of books.

I do think it’s important to know where your book fits and to figure out particular agents you feel would be right for your book. I think that part of being a successful author is understanding the market and how it works. Much like when I submit a book to editors I carefully consider to whom I’m going to send based on what they’re looking for, I expect prospective clients to do the same.

I don’t discount the possibility that some of the queries I’ve received in this way were carefully selected for me and not sent to the whole wide world since I don’t actually know how they’re being generated, but if so, why lump yourself in with those people who really are just spamming the publishing industry? As an agent who gets too many queries a day to count, I recommend you send your queries to the agents you’ve carefully selected one by one. (Not that you can’t submit queries simultaneously, because we expect that you will and I don’t know any agents who have a problem with it, but that each query should be sent in a separate email to a particular individual.) Sure it takes more time, but if your writing career is not worth investing time in, then why would you even bother? And, to be honest, why would we?

Or course, as Michael mentions in his post, I’m almost certainly preaching to the choir here! If you’re actively learning about the goings on of the publishing industry, this may well be advice you don’t need. But if you could shed any light on where these queries are actually coming from, I’m all ears!

-Lauren

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