Finding True Love, Finding a Literary Agent

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November 27, 2012 | 15 books mentioned 30 7 min read

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Typing THE END on your first novel is nearly as epic as saying I DO. Similar to an exchange of vows, after the champagne has been chugged and the celebratory cheers have faded, you wake up to a reality loaded with questions. Most notably: Where do I go from here? This isn’t a paper Jenga on my desk. How do I get my book published? These were my questions, at least. My published author friends answered: find a literary agent.

This is no reinvented love story. Many of you are at this juncture now, so we can be honest with one another. When you have your first manuscript in your arms and are querying agents, you aren’t particularly picky. The focus is on the end result — getting the book to a publisher. So you rush the agent “dating” process. I was guilty of that. I viewed finding an agent as yet another hurdle on my way to the printing press.

I welcomed every agent suitor. Sure, I scanned credentials, but querying from El Paso, Texas, everyone in New York City looked flashy and impressive. Every agent had a Bestseller in his or her clientele list. All sounded enthusiastic in email and on the phone. Frankly, I didn’t want to sit around pondering if I emotionally clicked with my agent or not, so long as they took my novel to Publisher’s Row. I was holding my first “book baby” and eager to get it to the next developmental stage.

“Why not fly to New York to meet the prospective proxies?” one of my friends asked. I laughed. Like, spittle-flying laughter. I had mortgage payments, utility bills, student loans. I barely had two quarters left at the end of the month to buy gum from a candy machine. Fly to New York to meet these people? Only on Santa’s sleigh.

covercoverSo I did the best I could from afar. I gratefully signed with an agency, and we sold my first and second novels, The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico and The Baker’s Daughter, to Random House/Crown in a two-book deal. But within twelve months, the blush of first love rubbed off the bloom, and I discovered that my first agent was not my match. In fact, we were remarkably unmatched. I now empathize for the swept-off-their-feet celebrity nuptials that end in tears and divorce.

Your agent relationship is akin to a marriage. Emotions, finances, and trust are all tangled up and can be easily wounded if you aren’t careful. Similarly, that agent can be one of your most loyal and cherished people on earth. Your literary spouse of sorts. I spent nearly two years silently observing and developing friendships with a select handful of admired agencies until I was ready to “date” seriously again.

This month, I celebrate my one-year anniversary with my new agent and it still feels as if we’re in our honeymoon phase. I recently saw her at one of my book events. To use a canned metaphor: we went together like peanut butter and jelly. She’s editorially brilliant and has the business prowess of a tiger, yes. But more importantly, she gets me and my writing. She believes in my work even when I doubt myself and encourages me to set my sights past the moon to the brightest star. She pushes me, using compassion and insight to buoy me forward, never backwards. She’s someone my husband loves. Someone I will introduce to my children when I have them. Someone I can’t imagine not having in my career or my life.

This is what a good author-agent relationship should be like. Still, I am but one author with a subjective experience to share. So I polled fellow author friends on what makes a good literary agent, in their experience. I ended up with the three essential C’s.

1. The Click.
Definition: that intangible zing through your core alerting you this is no ordinary meeting; the kinetic energy between two people; the magnetic draw that makes you want to not just go into business with this person but invite them into your life.

Testimonials:

coverBeth Hoffman (author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt):

There was an immediate “click” between us. We chattered and laughed as if we’d known each other for years. She has integrity and exudes confidence and professionalism…I trust her completely.

Matthew Dicks, author of Memoirs of An Imaginary Friend:

My agent falls only below my wife in terms of important women in my life (when my mother-in-law is in the room, I assign her the #2 spot, but it’s a lie). She is one of my most honest critics and also my biggest fan… In short, my agent is my friend above all else.

coverMegan Mayhew Bergman, author of Birds of a Lesser Paradise: Stories:

I live in rural VT and [my agent] is my lifeline. I love her energy and her smarts. I trust her deeply…

Sarah Pekkanen, author of These Girls:

Like dating, authors need to find someone who feels like the right fit before taking the plunge into a committed relationship. I definitely found that in my agent. Before we even met, she cracked some very funny jokes—a sense of humor is high on my list of desirable qualities…

coverLydia Netzer, author of Shine, Shine, Shine:

Having an agent that will be honest with you is wonderful. Having an agent you can be honest with is even better.

2. Chutzpah.
Definition: the quality of being gutsy, both personally and professionally; someone who will go to the mat with you every time, as a partner, a cheerleader, a Mr. Miyagi to your Karate Kid. (I’m showing my age here.)

Testimonials:

coverChristina Haag, author of Come To The Edge:

Guidance, honesty, expertise, and chutzpah… She brings an excellent mix of instinct and business smarts to the table; she’s able to nurture a project, as well as fight for it.

Jenna Blum, author of The Stormchasers:

1. Unforced, enthusiastic love for the writer’s work. 2. Consistent and fast responsiveness. 3. Belief in the writer’s career, not just one project. I’ve been with my agent almost a decade and she is my right arm. I can’t imagine being without her. And she’s got the fiercest French accent ever.

M.J. Rose, author of The Book of Lost Fragrances:

While loving your agent is also great – this is 100% a business deal and your agent does work for you – you hired him or her – so it’s a partnership and important to have an agent who respects that and whom you feel comfortable in that role with.

Sarah Pinneo, author of Julia’s Child:

Not merely a lover of books, but a true business woman. She represents dozens of authors, yet still encourages me to copy her on every communication with my publisher, and she’s always on top of the flow… She knows how to talk to authors at those vulnerable moments when their insecurities are sticking out like porcupine quills.

coverLaura Harrington, author of Alice Bliss:

Key to a great relationship: Respect, honesty, loyalty… I want someone romantic enough to be in this crazy book world and hard-nosed enough to help me survive it.

3.  Character.
Definition: moral and ethical quality. (That came straight from Webster’s Dictionary. No expounding necessary.)

Testimonials:

Marie Myung-Ok Lee, author of Somebody’s Daughter:

A need for mutual respect and ETHICS as well as a sharp literary sense helped me to the right person.

coverKristina McMorris, author of Bridge of Scarlet Leaves:

An agent who: expresses passion for the author’s voice versus a single book, which sets the stage for a long-term relationship; treats the client like a partner, welcoming ideas and input in all areas; reads a client’s manuscript within days or weeks; communicates clearly and promptly, and above all, is a genuinely good person.

Marilyn Brant, author of A Summer in Europe:

Find someone you can trust professionally, communicate with effectively, and feel confident loves and respects your writing style. You want an agent who knows how to steer you well in both strengthening your manuscripts without changing your voice and in matching each of your novels with an editor who will also appreciate it and champion it within the publishing house.

There you have it. Like matrimony, your literary representation must be your better half in the publishing community. Never settle for mediocre. Take a cue from the love gurus and matchmakers: look in the mirror and tell yourself, “I’m worthy of a respectful relationship. I’m worthy of my one, true agent and nothing less.”

Image: Shelley Panzarella/Flickr

is the author of the international bestseller and 2012 Goodreads Choice Award nominee The Baker's Daughter (Crown) and The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico (Random House). Her novella The Branch of Hazel will be a part of Grand Central anthology (Penguin, July 2014). She is currently working on her third novel, to be published by Crown in 2014. You can learn more about Sarah at www.sarahmccoy.com or follow her on Twitter or Facebook.  Married to an Army doc, she currently lives in El Paso, Texas, but calls Virginia home.

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Born from Books: Six Authors on Their Childhood Reading

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November 23, 2015 | 15 books mentioned 10 min read
Books are our first, and sometimes best, teachers. I inherited the books of my older brothers. While they were away at college, I went into their rooms and stacked and arranged the titles by color and letter. My two favorite relics from their childhood were Punt, Pass and Kick and The How and Why Wonder Book of Stars. The diagrams of movement across the gridiron reminded me of the constellation maps. I appreciated that athletic bodies and celestial bodies were in constant motion, and yet might be captured in a single glance. I was years away from the writing instruction of workshops and line edits, or the training of literary analysis. Those early years of reading were charged with the stuff of raw imagination. After I exhausted the books of my brothers, my parents took me to the library and used book sales. I wanted to run and play basketball, but I also wanted to read until I fell asleep, chin planted on open pages. My father had been a college football player who studied theology; my mother read history and poetry and told stories with layers and layers of detail. I was raised to appreciate words and to embrace wonder. It might be because I teach young students, but I am endlessly fascinated by the routes of our reading lives. I seek interviews with writers because I look for their origin stories. I want to pinpoint the moment reading became a life-breathing activity. I am particularly drawn to the memories of writers whose imaginations remains raw and jarring; writers who are “charged,” to borrow the language of Gerard Manley Hopkins. I contacted six writers with such imaginations, and am happy to share their memories about the books that were most formative during their childhoods. 1. Nina McConigley, author of Cowboys and East Indians: It's hard to grow up in the American West and not read Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read all the Little House on the Prairie books at a young age, and I was in love with the whole pioneer narrative. Like Laura, my parents had traveled far to make a home in the West. I also came to love the simplicity of her language and her storytelling. She had no sentimentality. She would so matter-of-factly say the worst news: Mary was blind. The crops failed. It was a sad day though when I realized Laura and I would not have been friends. Her ma hated Indians (albeit the other kind), and the books weren't that kind to others or brown people. But I marveled over her making a lot out of little -- sewing, canning, simple pleasures. But I mostly connected with how Laura loved the land—the prairies and woods, the sky and open-- which were so important to me as a little girl in Wyoming. Since my parents both grew up in colonized countries -- India and Ireland, much of what they read as children was British. So, as a little girl, I was introduced to Enid Blyton, who seemed to be the most prolific writer ever. She wrote several series from the Famous Five and Secret Seven to scores of boarding school narratives like The O'Sullivan Twins or The Naughtiest Girl. But what I loved were her fairy stories. She wrote a trilogy about a magic tree which started with The Enchanted Wood. In the book, three children found a magic tree, and climbed it -- and at the top was a series of ever-changing lands -- The Land of Birthdays, The Land of Sweets. I think as a brown kid living in Wyoming, these books were the ultimate in escapism. I was transported into a forest in England where the world was constantly shifting. I found this extremely comforting. I would often find myself climbing the big cottonwood tree in our backyard, hoping I would be taken away by something bigger than me. 2. William Giraldi, author of Hold the Dark: In the late 1980s, Time-Life Books had a popular, 33-volume series called Mysteries of the Unknown. At 11 years old, I didn’t know enough to be irked by the redundant title -- all mysteries are unknown: that’s the definition of “mystery” -- and so I grabbed the phone (Time-Life advertised on television) and soon began receiving books on UFOs and the Loch Ness Monster, poltergeists and Sasquatch, Atlantis and the Bermuda Triangle and the Great Pyramid of Giza, werewolves and vampires and witches. For a cradle Roman Catholic reared in only one acceptable species of the supernatural, these titles seemed great feats of transgression and betrayal, fonts of the extraordinary and occult, a concussion of the spiritual and the cerebral, the factual and the fantastical. The books were mostly cascades of conjecture and fatuity, of course, but they rubbed against my imagination in all the ways I needed then. Mystery is another word for hope; monsters are how we make sense of ourselves. New Jersey seemed so drab without them. In the years after the Time-Life series, I’d be found by Poe and Stoker, by Stevenson and Wells, and then it was off into the more “serious” stuff: important books, yes, but hardly ever as wondrous. 3. Sara Eliza Johnson, author of Bone Map: I remember loving Black Beauty and A Little Princess, which was my mother’s favorite book as a girl (and one reason for my name, which has no “h!”). I also read a lot of series meant for young girls -- Nancy Drew, The Babysitters Club, the Ramona Quimby books -- though my absolute favorite series was Goosebumps. R.L. Stine wrote the original series in my prime formative reading years, from 1992 (when I was eight years old) to 1997 (when I was 13), and I was always so excited when a new one came out. My early love of Goosebumps (as well as the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series) blossomed into the unapologetic affection for the horror genre I have today, a lonely affection to have in adulthood! But my favorite book as a child was probably The Giver, which, like many in my generation, I read for English class at the beginning of sixth grade. It was my first taste of dystopia, and so, in some ways, the first challenge to my world, and the first literary protagonist with whom I truly felt a kinship. When Jonas receives from the Giver the unwieldy collection of memories his monotone community has buried -- of pain, war, starvation, but also pleasure and art -- he becomes isolated and lonely in a way I think that I sometimes felt then, as a shy child without siblings. In the Receiving process, memory is a physical phenomenon literally subsumed and experienced by the body, as when Jonas receives the memory of a broken leg and feels as if his leg is broken -- an early reminder that these entities we often consider purely psychological, such as memory, language, and dream, have physical and even physiological presences. I never read the rest of the books in the series, and I’m glad I didn’t, because I think perhaps one of my favorite aspects of the book -- one of its lessons for even adult authors -- is how it ends, in that it doesn’t quite end, leaves us in the aperture of uncertainty: “Behind him, across the vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.” 4. Dimitry Elias Léger, author of God Loves Haiti: The books that absolutely rocked my world as a kid, before my 10th grade teacher introduced me to The New York Times Book Review and Great Classic Literature, were a French series dating back to the early 20th century. You see, the first novels I read were in French because I lived in Haiti from ages eight to 14. Somewhere around the age of 10 probably I met Arsene Lupin, the gentleman thief. The clever master of disguise starred in 16 novels and 36 short stories starting in 1905. The novels were thrilling. As befitting a French answer to the cerebral Sherlock Holmes, Lupin was a darkly humorous lady-killer. Come to think of it, he may well indeed be a good precursor to James Bond. I devoured Maurice Leblanc's Lupin stories, and, during summer vacations in New York City, the books that slayed my pre-teen imagination were Chris Claremont's X-Men. The Phoenix Saga may very well be the greatest, most epic comic story of all time, much as the love story of Cyclops, with his death-ray eyes, and Jean Grey, an unsuspecting world consuming telepath, was the most riveting love story. The tragic story of the brooding band of mutants and the stories of a leaping, thieving lover of Parisian rooftops and the jewels of Parisian nobles were my favorite books as a kid. These series' gentle high-low balance rewards rereads to this day. 5. Tony Ardizzone, author of The Whale Chaser: I grew up on the North Side of Chicago, the oldest boy in a large working-class Italian-American family. We lived in a basement flat, then a second-floor flat across the street from a liquor store, and finally in a brick two-flat, with tenants upstairs. I grew up in a house without books. We always had newspapers -- when I was a boy Chicago had four daily newspapers -- because my father sold newspapers. I went to Roman-Catholic schools and read the books they gave us: the Baltimore Catechism (much of which I still know by heart) and Bible stories. In school after lunch each day, the Sister of Christian Charity who taught us read to the class a chapter or so from a series of books about a boy named Tom Playfair, a rough-and-tumble kid sent off to Catholic school, who had to struggle to live up to his name. After we moved to the brick two-flat in Chicago’s Edgewater district, I discovered a mobile library van parked about six blocks away, and I got a library card and checked out as many books as I could carry. The librarian often questioned me, asking if I was sure I could read all the books I wanted in one week. I told her I could, and I did. Reading was a sort of sanctuary to me. Our flat was small and our family had a lot of kids and reading was a way for me to be by myself for a while. I read every book the mobile van had about dinosaurs. I also read what were considered the classics at the time: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Robinson Crusoe, an edited version of Moby Dick. I supplemented these books by reading every Classic Illustrated comic I could get my hands on. Treasure Island, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Time Machine were among my favorites. I often read these while standing around those circular comic book displays in a neighborhood drugstore. When the owner yelled for me to quit browsing, I’d do my best to remember my place, then pick up the comic the next time I was in the store. A middle-aged woman cashier in the grocery store where I was often sent to buy milk and eggs took a liking to me and one day gave me a big, marvelous hardback anthology of dog stories. The book had a blue cover. I wish I still had it. I read and re-read every story in the book several times. Best of all, it was my book, not one I’d have to return to the mobile library van on Saturday morning. My turning point came years later when I was in high school. On Saturdays my friends and I would go down to Chicago’s Old Town, where we’d knock around the neighborhood. I always ended up spending hours in Barbara’s Bookstore on Wells Street. It was a big, wonderful place, full of books and posters and poetry on placards and broadsides up on the walls. It was there in Barbara’s Bookstore that I saw a copy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s book of poetry, Coney Island of the Mind. It knocked me out. I never before realized that poetry could be written this way. The book made me truly want to be writer. 6. Christa Parravani, author of Her: Most every street of our Tarawa Terrace neighborhood on Camp Lejeune was named after a battle: Bougainville drive. Inchon Street. Iowa Jima Boulevard. The battle of Tarawa was for a small Pacific atoll in 1943. The battle of growing up with a Marine stepfather, was he believed that children should be seen and not heard. Marines have a way of saying things. Houses are housing. Dinner is chow. A bed is a rack. Teeth are fangs. But get lost was still get lost. I escaped silently into books. I read whatever my teachers gave me. I was 13 the summer my stepfather left. The Persian Gulf War was televised that January. I read Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried not too long after. The novel was live in my hands, my first real touch of literature’s flame. The story of Vietnam, how it haunted every military family I knew, how its lure was part of me like my family’s story was. My stepfather may not have loved me, but I had to love him, and those years on Lejeune gave me a love of country, of the fighter. O’Brien opened my heart with a story that arguably has nothing to do with a teenage girl. But I’d shut up for far too long. The war was alive in me.
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| 15 books mentioned 10 min read
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The Many Rules of Writing

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January 18, 2008 | 15 books mentioned 4 3 min read
Many writers staring at the blank page have longed for rules to guide them in their efforts, and many such rules have been offered. Elmore Leonard made a foray into this crowded genre late last year with his new book, Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing. The book is adapted from a 2001 New York Times essay in which the master crime novelist laid out his precepts. Taken together, they read like a recipe for his tense, hard-boiled style. He would like us to get down to business: "1. Never open a book with weather."; "2. Avoid prologues." and, once we're there, don't try to show off: "7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly" and "8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters." Leonard wants us to leave nearly everything out, so that all that's left is the essence of fiction, a philosophy that goes back at least as far as Hemingway.William Safire, eminent grammarian, also tells us what not to do, though he is guided by the rules of language and grammar rather than style. The chapter headings of his book How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar form a list of 50 clever (and a little tedious) "don'ts," some of which punningly include "Don't use no double negatives." and "A writer must not shift your point of view." Safire, it should be said, was simply a compiler of what he called "The Fumblerules of Grammar," not the inventor.Though he's not in the grammar trenches, George Orwell's rules nonetheless share with both Leonard and Safire a call for direct language and unmuddled construction. In his essay "Politics and the English Language," collected in The Orwell Reader, Orwell makes the case for precision with his six rules, including: "Never use a long word where a short one will do."; "If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out."Kurt Vonnegut's eight rules of writing (from Bagombo Snuff Box), on the other hand, get out of the writer's head and ask him instead to consider the reader and the character: "Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for."; "Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water."; "Start as close to the end as possible."Mark Twain, predating all of the lists collected above, shows that a desire for simple language and a concern for the reader is more than a century old. In his essay "The Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper" (no need for subtlety), Twain offers 18 rules that range from the simple "1. A tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere." to the colorful "7. When a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a Negro minstrel at the end of it." (Twain's essay is collected in The Portable Mark Twain.)Science fiction legend Robert A. Heinlein eschewed all this talk of language and characters and boiled writing down to its essentials with his five rules of writing in his essay "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction" (collected in Of Worlds Beyond: The Science of Science Fiction Writing). Heinlein's rules begin "You must write" and end "You must keep the work on the market until it is sold."If you grow weary of all these rules, try those crafted by Matt Cheney (proprietor of The Mumpsimus). "If you use adjectives in your prose, do not use nouns. If you use nouns, you must not use verbs. If you use verbs, try to avoid verbs that specify a particular city." "Bad writing is usually caused by over-ripe fruit, but often enough there is too little rain during the season, and that isn't any good, either. More good writing is produced by rain than by drought." So true.Perhaps the best on the subject, however, is W. Somerset Maugham, who is said to have said: "There are three rules for writing a novel; unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
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| 15 books mentioned 4 3 min read
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The Amazon Alphabet: From Audio Books to Zane

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January 20, 2011 | 15 books mentioned 6 2 min read
You've probably noticed that Amazon, like many sites, employs an "auto-complete" feature on its search box. When you start typing in letters, it suggests things that begin with those letters. It's probably safe to assume that it suggests the most frequently searched words, so, if we look at Amazon's book section we can type in letters and discover, for each letter of the alphabet, the most popular searches on Amazon. Last time we did this, about a year and half ago, vampires were the dominant theme. This time around, the vampires have mostly disappeared and things are perhaps a touch more literary. As we termed it last time, you might consider this exercise, the ABCs of Amazon (a peek into the reading habits of America and, like it or not, a primer for what's popular in the world of books): Audio Books Bible Charlaine Harris (ok, some vampire books are still popular) Diary of a Wimpy Kid (the very popular children's series by Jeff Kinney) Ebooks (a sign of the times) Free Kindle Books (Ibid) Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Harry Potter (as if there was any doubt) ISBN number search (funny because ISBNs work in the search box) James Patterson Kindle (no surprise here) Lee Child Mark Twain Autobiography 2010 Nora Roberts Outliers (by Malcolm Gladwell) Pretty Little Liars (there's a TV show based on these) Quilting Room (by Emma Donoghue) Stephen King The Help (by Kathryn Stockett) Unbroken (by Laura Hillenbrand) Vince Flynn Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen X-Men Yoga Zane (Amazon has been known to personalize and regularly adjust its results, so your Amazon alphabet may vary.)
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| 15 books mentioned 6 2 min read

30 comments:

  1. Reading this post was perfect timing for me. I am five weeks into querying agents about my debut young adult novel. I’ve been studying a few for over a year, hoping we would be a fit, only to accidentally hit send on the wrong query email message to one of my top choices! I got a no rather quickly and expectedly, my bad for sending it with a sick little one and not much sleep- but I was so excited.

    I want to find someone who loves my book and will be a champion for me and the work. I hope to be friends- that my agent will be able to handle my multiple personalities- the neurotic writer and pragmatic business person. I tell myself every no takes me one step closer to a yes. Come on yes!
    -Holly

  2. It’s clear to me after writing my second novel that I’ve got the wrong agent. He won’t touch it, and I’m afraid he doesn’t understand my work at all. The trouble is that he hasn’t sold my first novel yet. I’m halfway through a third, which is YA and may be what he considers “more commercial,” but the relationship has become painful to endure.

    As yet, I’m unpublished anywhere, and given how distinctive (read: weird, uncategorizable, “subversive”) my work is, I don’t like my chances in the slush pile. My gut tells me to hang on to this agent until I make a sale, either on his steam or my own. It seems like without a book in the world I’ve got little chance of finding my one, true agent.

    Any advice from the Millions-verse?

  3. Thanks for the post. My only comment is to the line “I welcomed every agent suitor.” This makes it sound like you put out a mating call and agents came running. Truth of the matter is, most authors have the opposite problem: even hearing back from agents, who are drowning in slush piles.

    New writers need to know how difficult it is to get any agent to even pay attention, never mind picking the right one.

    I think there’s an opportunity for you to talk more about landing an agent, which involves 1) writing something great 2) that agents think they can sell and 3) networking more than querying.

    cheers

  4. Too many new authors do think of their work as a beautiful new born and believe that everyone see their work as they do. If they would view their manuscript as something that has to be commercially viable as they are putting their words down or editing, the end result would be more favorable.

  5. Pingback: The Millions : Finding True Love, Finding a Literary Agent | Love Advice

  6. Thank you all for reading! I so appreciate you taking the time to comment and share your stories. It makes the process of finding a literary “match” feel less cumbersome to hear other writers’ experiences.

    Holly, good luck and keep at it! Finding an excellent representation match takes time. Like dating, the “no’s” are just folks moving aside so you can find the agent that fulfills all three of the Cs. Wishing you all the best!

    Stu, Just know (as I learned the hard way) that once your agent sells your book, you are committed/stuck to them for the duration of that contract. So, in my humble opinion, if you aren’t happy and are resolute that this is NOT your agent match, I’d chance requesting your manuscript back from the said agent and finding someone who you feel confident to “represent” your body of work and you as an author. Just my two cents to take or leave. Good luck, my friend!

    Todd, words of true wisdom! Thank you for commenting. Yes, there is oodles more to landing an agent than I’ve discussed here. There ought to be a course on it… a handbook or something! As a “new writer,” I learned from the school of hard knocks. I’m forever grateful to The Author’s Guild and their legal team for shepherding me through most of the legalities involved. I encourage all authors to do the same. Be wise and know all your options and rights! (http://www.authorsguild.org/) Thanks again for bringing up that it ain’t all roses and love songs, Todd.

    Great discussions. Thank you all again!

  7. Zoinks. That’s food for thought, all right. For some reason it had never occurred to me that I might be asked to sign a contract for a certain period of time.

    Since I’m basically repping my first two novels by myself at the moment, sending them to houses that don’t require agented manuscripts (like McSweeney’s, Small Beer, and other oddball small presses open to cross-genre weirdness), I suppose I could always break optimistic and plan to sell one on my own.

    Thanks so much for your input, Sarah.

  8. Absolutely my pleasure, Stu.

    If you aren’t already a member of The Authors Guild, I highly encourage you to sign up. There’s a minimal yearly fee and they are BEYOND amazing in helping authors read between the lines of agent contracts. They were instrumental in my “love story.” Once you are a member, all of their phenomenal legal services are at your beck and call. Whatever you decide to do with your manuscripts, I suggest you check in with them. They may not be able to give you an absolute solution, but they’ll give you the finest, unbiased advice in publishing. That I can guarantee… and you can quote me to them.

    Good luck, friend!

    http://www.authorsguild.org/

  9. That’s funny — I just got off the phone with them! They were wicked helpful from the first word and gave me far more confidence than I woke up with this morning. It sounds like as long as I’m in the minor leagues, I can get by just fine with a membership there, then use their advice to find the right agent.

    That’s it, then. My mind’s made up not to hand my new MS to my old agent. This has been a torturous month, but I’m feeling all sunshiney now.

    This is internet serendipity at its finest. Many thanks.

  10. Stu!

    I am clapping (literally) my hands for you. Congratulations! “Wicked helpful” = The Authors Guild. You penned it beautifully.

    So glad you took my advice to call them, and that you now have a plan for moving forward! Trust me: You have saved yourself months–*years* even– of heartache.

    Lord, I know we’ve just met here, but I could pop a bottle of champagne in your honor. Happy day to you!

    Most truly,
    Sarah

  11. Great post! – As new authors, I think there is the urge to get somebody-anybody- who will offer to be our agent. My first novel had 15 rejections, and by that time I was onto novel 2 which is what I’m focusing , and coming to the end of now. So this was fantastic advice. In it for the long haul, like a marriage is a great analogy, and I shall definitely look into joining the Author’s Guild. Thanks so much :-)

  12. As a penniless country bumpkin from rural Iowa, I can relate with the hilarity of any pie in the sky thoughts of jet setting to New York. Where I fail to ‘click’ is the part where I have the ability to pick and choose an agent. I gave up some time ago submitting cold called, slush pile queries. There may be a mere five degrees of separation between any two souls, but it appears as though I am lacking degrees number three and four to ‘network’ with anyone in New York. Currently, I am working on my fourth self-published Iowa based novella. It’s a lot of work to market and distribute, etc., but I really get to know my readers and have developed a niche market that is genuinely devoted. The whole agent query process definitely soured me. Let the gatekeepers have their keys. The modern world has tarnished the sparkle of them anyhow.

  13. I never could get an agent. I got my book read by James Frey, Eric Simonoff, and Michael Signorelli (Harper/Collins).
    The book made the short list of the SFU/Anvil Press First Book Contest.
    I have pieces of it published in SubTerrain, a quarterly literary magazine.
    There is something missing in the above essay. Why did you have agents courting you when most novice or unpublished writers find it harder to retain an agent than to get a publishing contract?
    Are you really that good? Are you a journalist? Something doesn’t make sense here.
    Wait! Let me rephrase that. Why let the facts get in the way of your slick, breezy, dishonest essay?

  14. Charles Schwend wrote: “If they would view their manuscript as something that has to be commercially viable as they are putting their words down or editing…”

    I would take the “as they are putting words down” out of this sentence for a couple of reasons. Writing is hard for some, and when you’re newly working at it, inserting a self-editor at this stage might be self-defeating. Second, you’ve got to love the book you’re working on, focusing on that as you’re doing the first draft more than commercial possibilities, or no one else is going to love it.

    But for editing…definitely. If you’re serious about trying to publish, then everything you do after writing “THE END” on the first draft needs to keep “commercially viable” in mind.

  15. Pingback: WRITING ON THE ETHER: Vanity Pressed | Jane Friedman

  16. @Jesse

    “Why did you have agents courting you when most novice or unpublished writers find it harder to retain an agent than to get a publishing contract?”

    Agreed. I posted above questioning the same thing. Sarah, this is a good, inspirational article but there is indeed something missing. 99% of authors do not have agents courting them.

    What special circumstance did you find yourself in where this was the case?

    Elaborating on this would provide great context while also managing the expectations of your audience, who are probably beating themselves up because they dont have agents courting them.

    cheers

  17. 99% of authors seem to view agents as the keepers of the magical keys to the kingdom, as if the only thing standing between them and a flourishing career is representation.

    The truth is that you need an agent once your career is already rolling. The only special circumstances I’ve seen involve conspicuous excellence and/or family members who are A-list career bestsellers.

    If you’ve got a great novel, you still need to become noticeable — through short stories, awards, or networking — before you can get an agent who’ll do you any good. Your career is in your own hands; an agent usually just manages it.

    There are exceptions, of course, but they’re so rare that it’s far healthier to take a serious look at the market and acknowledge that this is a long game indeed.

  18. A.K.,
    Thanks for sharing your struggle to find an agent. Your positivity and determination is just the kind of drive that will propel you right into the hands of the excellent agent meant to represent *you*– your writing and you as an author. Good luck and never settle!

  19. For a handful of folks who are curious about the line “I welcomed every suitor.”

    This was an essay about finding your one, true match. My first match was not, so I can’t accurately write an essay about that first process as I, obviously, completely botched it. What I meant by “welcoming every suitor” was that if an agent showed interest in my work, I *flung* open my door: “Come on in!” I’m sorry I didn’t elaborate on the painful 9 months of querying for my first manuscript (The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico). It was my thesis novel, having just graduated from a three-year, in-residency creative writing MFA program. So if you add that on top of everything, I’d say I sat alone with my writing for nearly 4 years in an attempt to get my foot in the publishing door.

    For every positive suitor/response, I received two rejections. However, I didn’t let it deter my resolve to get my book published. I pushed on… sent three new queries for every rejection. I inundated NYC with my letters. A majority, I simply never heard from– lost in slush piles across Manhattan. In the end, I probably sent my work out to nearly seventy agencies from NYC to California. So yes, I had multiple “suitors” but I cast a WIDE net and wasn’t particularly picky… as this essay warns.

    That’s my hard knocks story. Again, mine is not at all unique. Every writer has been through some semblance of this tale of desperation, frustration and nail-biting hope breaking into the biz. Many have had it far harder than I did, so I can’t write a piece expounding on the trials and tribulations. Nobody wants to read a pity party and I, especially, don’t want to write it because in my case, the ending of my first literary marriage was a sad and painful one (i.e. author-agent divorce).

    So please forgive me, kind readers, if I chose to focus on what *does* work, what I wish I would’ve known to look for, what makes a good relationship with your agent– not just from my perspective, but from all of the fabulous authors that graciously shared their own literary agent stories. My aim was simply to aid those that could use both the applicable advice and a little cheerleading in the midst of this exasperating and often very long process. Don’t give up, don’t rush, wait patiently for the one that will be your champion.

    Are we all friends again?
    Cheers!

  20. Except it’s all totally different for non-fiction. I found this interesting, and sort of wished for a minuet that I wrote fiction. But I ams what I am, as Popeye wisely said.

  21. Pingback: Finding True Love, Finding a Literary Agent « Readersforum's Blog
  22. Pingback: The Millions : Finding True Love, Finding a Literary Agent « One Way to Wonder
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  24. Sarah,

    Thank you for the information in the article and for your follow up comments.

    My questions pertains to your comment: “What I meant by “welcoming every suitor” was that if an agent showed interest in my work, I *flung* open my door: “Come on in!” I’m sorry I didn’t elaborate on the painful 9 months of querying for my first manuscript (The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico).”

    So with hindsight, would you have said, “no” to the first agent? I would like to understand what you would’ve done differently.

    I’ve signed with a small press for two novels. They specialiaze in romance. My women’s fiction manuscripts do not fit their niche, and I’m seeking representation for those works. How do I avoid the pitfall of “first agent divorce”?

    Warmest Regards,

    Linda Joyce

  25. Thanks. One of the more helpful pieces I’ve written on agents, a subject that bewilders me.

    Ms. McCoy, is there a place or a way to find agents who specialize in taking stories to film?

  26. Dear Linda,

    First off, congratulations on your upcoming two novels! Thanks for reading this essay and taking the time to reply so thoughtfully.

    To your questions: What would I have done differently? How do I avoid pitfall of agent-author divorce?

    A: I’m a woman who believes that every event has a purpose–even the ones that may be perceived as “mistakes” and “bad.” The bottom line for my Ex agent was written in dollar signs. I’m eternally grateful to her for negotiating my first two-book contract with Random House. I count myself entirely blessed to have gotten my foot into the publishing world with such a phenomenal start. However, where we failed to see eye to eye was on the personal level. She didn’t fit the three C’s for me, personally. Irreconcilable differences, to use a divorce settlement term.

    I wish I would’ve known that business deals and being a power negotiator are excellent attributes for one’s literary representation; however, if that’s the total package, you’re in for some heartache. It’s like marrying someone because they look fabulous on paper. They’ve got a good pedigree. Well off. Good credentials. Good family. Good job. They present all shiny and smiling. You say the vows, make it legal, then move in together and realize you simply do *not* click.

    Clicking, chutzpah and character are as important as being able to sell-sell-sell. Thus, this essay’s content. Doing it differently… if I couldn’t have met them in person, I would’ve had more telephone conversations with all my prospects. Chatted with them more than just a couple of times to see how they were over time. That’s what I did during my two years of “dating” to find my treasured, current agent– my match.

    I hope that helps somewhat. Good luck, Linda!

    Yours truly,
    Sarah

  27. Dear Shelley,

    To be honest, I’m not terribly familiar with literary agents who deal exclusively in book-to-film. I assume that many of those might be located in Los Angeles/California so it might help to focus on researching specific agents in that area.

    Also, it helps to simply ask. That’s another great piece of advice I wish I would’ve taken– ASK QUESTIONS. Ask the agent all the questions you like. If they are your match then they want to hear them. As your possible “representation” in the broader publishing community, they need to embody all the factors that are important to you.

    So, Shelley, if book-to-film is high up on your list, ask what book-to-film projects they’ve worked on and get the name(s) of their dramatic/film sub agents in Hollywood. A quality literary agency will be open with sharing that information. Once you have a name/company, you can Google around and decide if that suits your career vision.

    Also, you could look at the contemporary books that have been made into films already (Ex. The Help, Lincoln, Brokeback Mountain, Twilight). Find the authors and their agents. There’s a place to start!

    I hope that gives you some ideas. Happy agent dating, Shelley.

    Yours truly,
    Sarah

  28. Pingback: Friday Faves: Free Your Mind

  29. You people are pathetic if you akin your agent to a partner. They are just an ugly part of an even uglier wall of pretenses which make up publishing. I find that agents juggle you on their own terms not yours–how is that like a marriage? Sure I get along with my agent but unlike you people I actually understand that it all falls on my shoulders. It’s my book. My career and I’m only a fraction of my agent’s thoughts. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll start thinking about them in the same way.

  30. I did get a publisher for my book. I have some bitter experiences with agencies but I can’t relate them here because my publisher doesn’t want me cutting loose with the pathological stuff anymore. It alienates people.
    Early Out, published by Mountain Springs House. Nice new cover, new day, new me. Different you. Maybe.

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A Brief Caribbean Reading List

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February 5, 2018 | 15 books mentioned 4 min read
These four Caribbean writers take you to the heart and soul of Caribbean living, while tackling big issues—from natural disasters and their aftermath to mental illness and the underbelly of tourism.
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| 15 books mentioned 4 min read
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To Be Eaten in Case of Emergency: Inspiration and Comfort for Writers

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February 24, 2015 | 15 books mentioned 10 6 min read
When fellow staff writer Hannah Gersen asked if I had any visuals that helped me to better understand my novel-in-progress -- a timeline, for example, or an Excel spreadsheet -- I didn't have much to offer.  Her request made me think, though, about the other visuals we writers surround ourselves with, however silly or inessential: for inspiration or company, as talismans or reminders. I currently have two favorites. The first is a note from my husband that reads, "To Be Eaten In Case of Emergency!", which last spring he attached to a chocolate bar and stowed away in the luggage I took to a writers' retreat. The chocolate bar is long gone (alas), but the note by itself makes me laugh, offering comfort in my lonely little office. Someday, when things get really dire around here, I might just rip the note off the wall and stick it into my mouth. The second is a photograph by Klaus Pichler, called "Middle Class Utopia 21." I find the image ominous and strange and beautiful, as I hope my novel-in-progress, Woman No. 17, is -- or will be.  There's also a lot of photography in my book, and I find it useful to stare at this picture and think about staging, perspective, color, and artistic intention. I asked a few writers to share what visuals they kept near them while working. Perhaps what they keep near them as they make sentences will inspire you to get writing, too. 1. Christian Kiefer, author of The Infinite Tides and, forthcoming, The Animals: As a novelist, I tend toward strict realism. Nonetheless, for five years I’ve been working on a long novel in the spirit of [Jorge Luis] Borges and [Italo] Calvino, a book detached from strict realism. I’ve taped Kayama Matazo’s “Winter” to the wall in my workspace to remind myself of the world I’m trying to create: weird, malicious, strangely beautiful, and filled with flapping animal life. That book is at 650 pages in manuscript so far but I’m beginning to see the end. 2. Catie Disabato, author of the forthcoming novel The Ghost Network: This is a picture of my mom when she was a teen; she's the second girl from the left, the one looking at the camera. I love it because she looks beautiful but also like she's the vicious enforcer in a '60s girl gang. My mom is an artist and has supported my writing since I was a tiny little girl, so looking at this picture reminds me both of the foundation she built and the creative home I grew up in. When I need writing energy, looking at this picture charges my batteries. I have a copy of this image on every single device I own. 3. Susan Straight, author, most recently, of Between Heaven and Here, and the winner of the Los Angeles Times Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement: Three things always on my desk are a photo of my three girls when they were little, a piece of fluff with a black seed inside that floated down from the tree my brother planted in the yard, a shell I found near a Sea Island in South Carolina to remind me of my first novel, I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen And Licked Out All the Pots.  Two things for the novel I'm working on now are sea glass I found on a small beach on Prince Edward Island, and a wallet covered with PEI lupines given to me by my best friend, writer Holly Robinson. 4. Marie Mutsuki Mockett, author of the novel Picking Bones from Ash and the nonfiction book Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye: A wise friend once said to me that sometimes you simply have to do things scared. I was scared the entire time I wrote Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye. No one really likes to hear about a writer's insecurities, but I had and have had them in spades and they plagued me throughout this project. There's really only one way out of fear for a writer, and that is to work. And so, I put a note on my computer that simply reads: "Work." I'd switch on Facebook, from which I had previously taken a long hiatus, and get distracted, and then look down and see my note to myself, and then I'd exit Facebook and then I'd work. And wouldn't you know -- I finished writing the manuscript. And it became a book. 5. Paula Tang, a current MFA candidate at the University of California, Riverside, at work on her first book, a novel in stories presently titled Little China House: When you asked if I look at anything interesting on my desk when I write, I didn't even know how to begin to describe this print that I have by artist Kimiaki Yaegashi. The illustration is beyond strange, and reminds me to push past the familiar in my writing, to always weird my images somehow and aim to surprise and electrify the reader. 6. Rebecca Makkai, author of two novels, The Borrower and The Hundred-Year House, and the forthcoming story collection, Music For Wartime: Okay, this is temporary, obviously, but: I'm at Yaddo now, writing from a little studio on the third floor of West House. Sylvia Plath wrote The Colossus in this room, and Patricia Highsmith wrote Strangers on a Train. You start to go a little crazy working 16-hour days alone (making friends with insects, etc.). I drew a face on this orange, a la Wilson from Castaway. And then I decided it looked like Patricia Highsmith. It helps to get work done...You can't spend too much time playing computer solitaire if Patricia Highsmith is staring at you. Of course, I'll eventually have to eat her... 7. Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You: This is a painting I made, which hangs over my desk. It's actually a passage from Annie Dillard's The Writing Life. Each color represents a different letter of the alphabet, so the colored blotches can be decoded to read as follows: Every morning you climb several flights of stairs, enter your study, open the French doors, and slide your desk and chair out into the middle of the air. The desk and chair float thirty feet from the ground, between the crowns of maple trees. The furniture is in place; you go back for your thermos of coffee. Then, wincing, you step out again through the French doors and sit down on the chair and look over the desktop. You can see clear to the river from here in winter. You pour yourself a cup of coffee. Birds fly under your chair. In spring, when the leaves open in the maples' crowns, your view stops in the treetops just beyond the desk; yellow warblers hiss and whisper on the high twigs, and catch flies. Get to work. Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair. I love this quote, and it's especially fitting as my office is on the second floor, accessed by French doors, and with maple trees right outside the window. But I wanted it to look visually beautiful too, and this is what I came up with. Whenever I look up from my computer, I see the painting and remember what it says, without getting distracted by words when I'm wordsmithing myself. What do you keep by your desk?  I'd love to hear.
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| 15 books mentioned 10 6 min read
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