No Secrets – Tips from Literary Agents

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Going through a couple of literary agent’s blogs, they generally all write the same:

“The problem is that most publishers will not review unsolicited proposals or manuscripts. They receive thousands every year and simply don’t have the resources to review all of them. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

As an author, what can you do? In a nutshell, here are some agents advises:

1. Read blogs written by literary agents. You can get some incredibly helpful advice and straight-talk from people who pitch proposals for a living. Read their useful blogs: Terry Whalin, Rachelle Gardner, Meredith Barnes or Andy Ross.
2. Educate yourself. If you want to publish with a general market publisher, read 2012 Writer’s Market by Robert Lee Brewer for writer’s guidelines and submission procedures for publishing houses.
3. Write a killer book proposal. If you want to write (or have written) a book, get these e-books to find out what publishers want in a proposal:
   - Writing a Winning Non-Fiction Book Proposal
   - Writing a Winning Fiction Book Proposal.
4. Let someone professional review your proposal, such a friend who teaches English or is a professional editor, ask them to review your proposal.
5. Find a literary agent to represent you. This is usually the only way to get in the door with a publishing company – at least in the USA. Canada and Europe are different stories. Literary agents do the filtering. If you want a list of general market agents, get the 2013 Guide to Literary Agents, and study carefully their requirements.
6. Get a professional avatar, a good photo is only a tiny investment – and you need it for your book / website / social media presence etc. anyway.
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Must-Read Blog to learn more about agents and how to approach them
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents

How Agents work and How to work with Agents
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/how-agents-work-how-to-work-with-agents/

What Literary Agents Want to Know From You
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/what-literary-agents-want-to-know-from-you/

100′s of Links to Publishers and Agents
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/100s-of-links-to-publishers-and-agents/

Which Literary Agent is Right for You?
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/which-literary-agent-is-right-for-you/

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I am just wondering if all these time and money investments are paying off, as it can take years until your work is published – if at all. Judging a book is not always an objective process. Read more about this in my next post: 77 Reasons why your book was rejected…
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Investing in a good editor, hiring a professional book designer / e-book formatting company, spending time to market your work and selling it as an e-book or print POD might well be as profitable (if not better) than to go through all the hassle and time waste with commercial publishing houses.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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77 Reasons Why Your Book Was Rejected

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77 Reasons Why Your Book Was Rejected

Written by Mike Nappa, available as e-book and print book at Amazon. The author’s experiences as acquisitions editor, marketing copywriter, and literary agent uniquely qualify him to write on this topic. He is also the author of more than 40 books and received more than 2,000 book rejections during his writing career!
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The book is divided into three sections: Editorial, Marketing and Sales Reasons for Rejection.  Starting with: “It takes less than a minute to reject your book” (by big publishers that is) Mike Nappa goes on with all the legitimate and also the silliest reasons your manuscript or book idea might be rejected.

As an author you might be able to work on many, such as marketing and your platform and following, however some of the reasons have nothing to do with the quality of your writing. 

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An editor is going to look at your proposal – and if it doesn’t meet certain editorial standards, it will go no farther. If it passes basic editorial scrutiny, an editor will then consider whether you have done your “marketing” homework — analyzed and defined your audience, established a platform, shown that you know how and why this book will sell. From there, the editor will need to convince the publisher that they can sell this book, and sell enough to merit the investment in its publication.
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Perhaps the clearest message that emerges from this book is that getting published is a lot of work. The job doesn’t end when you finish writing the last chapter. Publishers are in the business of selling a product, and it’s your job to convince them that your book will sell.
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Or maybe you will decide to author publish. After all you have to do your book marketing anyway, even if your book is accepted by a commercial publisher. “Success is the best revenge”  .

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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What Publishers Won’t Tell You

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Book Pile

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Eager looking forward to get a publishing contract or happy your received one?  Finding a publisher who will consider your book idea and getting your manuscript published is time-consuming and can often be a frustrating experience. Going with a big publisher is not easier than author-publishing. You will be surprised to learn about the following facts, sometimes the hard way:

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Your book has three months to fly off the shelves.
If your book does not sell in the first three months of its bookstore life, it will be remaindered and disappears from bookstores and could end up at “A Buck a Book”.  90 to 95% of books don’t pay back their advance. Royalty will only be paid if the advance is paid back. What you get upfront as an advance is usually all you will ever get.
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If you screw up on your first book, you’re out.
If you do well with it, publishers will be eager to see your next title. But if you don’t sell a lot of books, your agent or publisher will not want to read your manuscript when it comes time to offer your second book.
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Traditional publishing is very slow.
Unless you wrote a political tell-all, your book is going to ”be in the making” for two years or longer until it goes into the bookstores. You need to be sure your topic is timeless and that you will be interested in publicizing it years from now.
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Most likely your book will not be published in foreign countries.
Unless you have a savvy agent (preferably speaking several languages) who is trying to sell your book abroad, there is little chance that your publisher actively tries to find buyers in foreign markets.
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Your advance will be the only money you will see.
You can get as little as $5,000 or as much as $500,000, but either way, you’ll pay 15% of that to your agent, and the remainder will be paid in thirds or quarters over the next couple years.  So you first need to “earn out” the advance, before any royalties will be paid.
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Publishing is the slowest possible get-rich-quick scheme.
Breaking into big money publishing is like becoming a movie star - being talented definitely helps, but luck plays a big role and the odds might not be in your favor.
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Sorry, no publicity.
Until a decade or two ago, publishers did some marketing for books. Now they might send out some galleys and wait to see if anyone is interested. Then they focus all their publicity on the books they expect to be a bestseller. If you want your book to be a success, YOU will have to do all the publicity yourself!
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Books don’t sell themselves, as most writers sooner or later find out – often too late.  If you are interested in making money or selling your book for a long time, better consider e-books and self-publishing.  But in any way, marketing skills or at least the willingness to learn about marketing and PR to promote your book, are essential for an author. 

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites:  We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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How to Sell Foreign Book Rights

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It is not that easy to sell your foreign rights without an agent or a publisher, but it’s not impossible. Women’s fiction author Kay Raymer did the whole agent query routine in 2000, but nobody would look at her novel, Hannah Street. So she sent the manuscript to her attorney, who happened to know someone at Bertelsmann / Germany. Bertelsmann made an offer on the book, and her lawyer helped arrange the contract. As a result, Raymer’s first novel appeared in Germany in 2001, a paperback original called Das Rosenhaus. Read more in Gwen Ellery’s article.

Most agents charge 20% (or sometimes even 25%) on foreign sales (including British and translations).
This 20% rate is justified because normally two agents are involved (the second one being in the foreign country), and they end up splitting the commission.

You should never agree to be paying over 25% commissions for any type of sale.
Note that your foreign sales will likely be subject to a local withholding tax (10% is common), and that all of that tax burden will be borne by you (that is, the agent will take his or her commission off the pre-tax gross).

If you are not represented already, why not try to find agents or even publishers yourself in other countries, especially if you speak more than one language?
I just found a blog post from a successful writer, who did just that: searched the internet, found contact addresses of agents in other countries and contacted them. He wrote:

“How does one sell rights in the international marketplace?
My first foreign rights sales occurred as a result of Book Expo America, where for a small fee my book was displayed in a co-op booth.  Although the book didn’t take Book Expo by storm — as I somehow thought it would — it received interest from and I sold translation rights to publishers in Mexico, Poland and Nigeria.  If publishers in such diverse countries and cultures wanted the book, I was sure publishers in other countries would also want it.”   Read the whole article here: http://axiomawards.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/selling-foreign-rights-around-the-world/

Morris Rosenthal gives also great, detailed tips in his article about book contracts.
http://www.fonerbooks.com/contract.htm

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 730 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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Don’t Let it Happen to You… Literary Agents Scams

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Third in the “Scam Series”: Literary Agents Fee Scams

Don’t let it happen to you…

In Canada, only ten percent of authors / books are agent-ed. Aspiring and established authors  successfully submit the majority (10,000 plus) of the titles published every year directly to editors at publishing houses. US writers have to go through an agent – 80% of all publishing deals are made through an agency. Publishers in the USA don’t want to deal directly with authors.
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As an author trying to find a literary agent you have heard or read from, is not an easy task. And you might find an agency describing itself as “non-fee-charging” but then nevertheless wants money up-front. Most professional agents’ associations adopted policies prohibiting members from charging fees, called “reading fees” or “evaluation fees”.
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A literary agent gets his commission AFTER the book contract with a publisher is signed and the first money flows. If they charge reading or evaluation fees or any of the following fees – author beware:

• marketing fees
• submission fees
• travel fees
• legal fees
• advance fees
• or “per hour” fee

For those writers who might think they need an agent – have a look at the do’s and don’ts of both sides:

Reputable agents will NOT charge you a fee up front to represent your book. They earn their living by selling your book to a publisher and gaining a commission. That commission is a percentage of the proceeds your book earns. For one thing, this gives the agent an incentive to actually market your book around to various publishers likely to buy it for publication. This is another reason why many agents pick submissions carefully. They know what publishers are looking for and they will not accept anything which is not ready for submission or close enough that a few days of editing will make the difference.
Most agents these days charge 15% commission on domestic sales (North America).
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Never under any circumstances should you pay expenses or any fees up front: the agent only receives money by deducting his or her 15% commission from your eventual earnings. An agent telling new writers that she/he was charging 15% commission plus expenses — that’s a rip-off; don’t agree to it. The Association of Authors Representatives (professional organization of literary agents) also forbids the charging of “reading fees.” If an agent asks you to pay a fee for his or her “evaluation” of your manuscript, refuse!
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So, what could you encounter?
Some agencies pressure authors into various additional services and charge fees for websites, sample cover mock-ups or illustrations or social media listings.
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AgentQuery wrote on their website: Industry Red Flags:

Be wary of any literary agent that contacts you out of the blue, especially if you have not queried that specific agent and do not have a public platform or presence. Fiction writers should be particularly cautious unless the agent has a logical reason to contact you, like you’ve recently won a prestigious writing contest, or they’ve seen your blog or read your published stories, etc.

Beware of agents that offer representation for a fixed fee, offer representation only if you pay them money to edit your manuscript, or charge you up-front fees in the range of thousands of dollars to off-set the cost of submitting your manuscript to publishers. These are all warning signs—unethical behavior from an unprofessional scammer. Scammers will tempt you, especially if you are desperate and inundated with rejections. They will tell you how fabulous your manuscript is and you will want to believe them.

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WRITER BEWARE notes:
“Not all agents who charge marketing fees are dishonest. Some are simply inexperienced or inept. But scam or amateur, the bottom line for the writer is the same: a lighter wallet and no book contract.”

Remember, that many of these publishers operate under more than one name and as “in-house” referral services. This means they always find a reason to refer you to another company which they also own.
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Editors Nielsen-Hayden summed it up: “Writing may be an art or a craft (or both), but publishing is a business. It’s best to know the business before diving in.”

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More of our blog posts regarding Literary Agents:
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Visit often and get the latest alerts from WRITER BEWARE:
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/alerts/
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How Agents work and How to work with Agents
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/how-agents-work-how-to-work-with-agents/
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Must-Read Blog to learn more about agents and how to approach them
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents
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What Literary Agents Want to Know From You
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/what-literary-agents-want-to-know-from-you/
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100′s of Links to Publishers and Agents
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/100s-of-links-to-publishers-and-agents/
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Which Literary Agent is Right for You?
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/which-literary-agent-is-right-for-you/
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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous articles of this blog (there are almost 700 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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What’s Hot in Young Adult writing:

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Are you writing Young Adult Novels?

Mandy Hubbard, is a literary agent with D4EO Literary, where she represents authors of middle grade and teen fiction, and is an author under the pen name Amanda Grace of Prada & Prejudice, You Wish, But I Love Him, Ripple, and several other YA novels.
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She lists what’s hot in YA at the moment:

• Contemporary, MOST ESPECIALLY with a hook. Think: THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, anything By Ally Carter, etc. The usual “coming of age” or romance is tough, but if you can find a way to zero in on a big hook, you’re in GREAT shape.
• Epic Fantasy – I’m seeing more success stories like Pub Crawl’s own THRONE OF GLASS
• Horror/Thriller. Editors are looking for this like crazy.
• Sci-Fi, particularly if it blends Sci-fi with something else – a murder mystery, a thriller, etc.
• Crossover YA. This is hard, because you can’t write it thinking “I want to appeal to adults and YA equally!” Write a damn good YA novel and adults will love it, but it has to happen organically.

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She also mentioned topics that always work:

• Intense romance for YAs… MANY of these do really well, but the genre in general don’t go as gangbusters as some of the flashier types
• Verse novels– these are sort of “sleeper hits” when they do well. They still can be tough, but there are certainly success stories in this subset of YA.
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And her most important advise for writers:
Remember, with ANY book, it’s all going to come down to the writing.  A less timely book with knock-down writing will win people over, but a hook won’t sell if the writing can’t back it up.  

More, and also the topics that are not as “hot” right now in Mandy Hubbard’s blog post “The State of YA Market“

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 570 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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Author Brittany Geragotelis: Six-figure Publishing Deal

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Remember the blog post about Wattpad I wrote in January?  This Canadian book “forum” has experienced explosive growth since its inception and has become the world’s most popular destination to upload and read e-books.

MacLeans Magazine now wrote about Wattpad: “Could Wattpad be the ‘killer app’ for aspiring writers? On Wattpad, anyone can write and get feedback—just ask Margaret Atwood”.

They explained that Brittany Geragotelis  was an aspiring author who had written six novels – all of them had been rejected by publishers. She worked as an editor at American Cheerleader magazine. In October of 2010, a digital venture from Toronto called Wattpad, asked her if she would promote the company in the magazine. She was a “big book nerd” and Wattpad—an interactive online forum where anyone can upload their own writing, and readers can read, comment on, and even contribute—was compelling. With nothing to lose, she wrote a novel and gave it away, one chapter at a time, for six months.

Within a week, the first chapter of “Life’s a Witch” had been read a couple of thousand times. By the time she finished writing and uploading the entire book, it had been read six million times. Half a year and 19 million reads later, Brittany Geragotelis had a new literary agent and a six-figure deal from Simon & Schuster.

Wattpad now has nine million visitors who spend about 2.2 billion minutes on the site each month 6.5 million “stories”— in 24 different languages—have been uploaded. Recently Margaret Atwood joint and published three new poems, Thriller Suite, on Wattpad.  Wattpad received more than US$17 million venture capital, some of that from Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang.
MacLean’s article

Calvin Reid from Publishers Weekly wrote: “YA Author with Huge Wattpad Fan Base Tries Self-Publishing” and “Swamped by Offers, Self-Pubbed YA Author Gets Agent and More”.

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 570 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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100′s of Links to Publishers and Agents

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Other than in Canada or the UK, where writers contact publishers directly, American writers (mostly) need an agent – if they do not prefer to self-publish.

Most of the “Big Six” American publishers don’t accept submissions from authors, which means searching for a publisher means finding an agent first. Here are some links to agent lists. However, always check the reputation of these agents first before you contact them. And read very carefully their submission rules and check if they really work in your genre.
Beware also of POD’s Publishing-On-Demand.  Rather wait and polish your manuscript ones more than to pay inflated prices for publishing, something you can do yourself.

Literary Agents

1. Agent Query Comfortably to search with dozens of genres to choose from. Hundreds of links available.
2. Publishers Global 239 Literary Agency Services Companies in several countries. Think foreign right sales!
3. http://querytracker.net/literary_agents.php Over a thousand links, sort in genres.
4. http://www.invirtuo.cc/prededitors/peala.htm Hundreds of listings, sorted by alphabet, not genre. Agents to avoid are flagged. Why do they list them in the first place?
5. AAR Online Official membership organization for literary agents. However, not all agents are members of AAR. You can search by alphabet or type in the genre.
6. http://www.pw.org/literary_agents  74 agents currently listed who are working with fiction and poetry.

Publishers

1. Global Publishers One can sort by country, language, media, genre… among thousands of publishers worldwide.
2. Duotrope.com. Search for fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Their lists include several thousand publishers and lots of literary publications for book reviews!
3. QueryTracker Currently 167 publishers listed.
4. Preditors & Editors. Alphabetically lists hundreds of publishers, often small press; Some of these (bigger ones) are infamous…
5. http://agentquery.com/publishing_mp.aspx Lists websites with embedded links to publishers’ sites.
6. Poets & Writers Hundreds of listings for smaller poetry (mostly) publishers.

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Be aware that information for agents and publishers is constantly changing. Editors move on, imprints often open and close to submissions, and even their genres of choice will change regularly.  Check their websites and submission guide lines before sending out any query letters. And now: GOOD LUCK!

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts (there are more than 550 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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Literary Agents: Are They Essential?

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Julie Ferguson

“You must get an agent!” is advice that aspiring authors hear and read everywhere. Is it really true? Not for Canadian writers!

Beacon Literary Services owner Julie Ferguson says: ”Publishing statistics in Canada demonstrate that it is simply a misconception caused by American influence.

In Canada, only ten percent of books are agented. Aspiring and established authors here successfully submit the majority (10,000) of the titles published every year directly to editors.

US writers face more worrying odds – 80% of all books sold there are agent-ed.”

Julie Ferguson wrote a great blog post for Canadian authors, explaining in detail how publishing “north of 49th parallel” works, with a link to Publishers.ca, featuring listings and contact information for several important literary agents and agencies in Canada. Read her interesting and compelling blog post if you live in Canada or want to be published there.
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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts (there are more than 520 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful.
Thanks, Doris

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2012 Writers Conferences and Why You Benefit From Attending

One of the main benefits of attending a writers retreat or conference is the opportunity to meet editors, agents, publishers and other writers.  Widening your circle of connections in the literary world can help you mark your own presence in that world, learn about the publishing industry, and how to get your book published.  Just a few of the many retreat offers:

Jackson Hole, WY, June 28 – 30, 2012

http://jacksonholewritersconference.com

Program Description
Three manuscript critiques with authors & editors. Tracks for fiction, creative nonfiction, magazine, young adult, and poetry; workshops, talks & craft sessions.
Program Length 3 days
Group Size or S:T Ratio 4:1
Program Focus:  Children’s, Fiction, Journalism, Marketing, Mystery, Nature, Non-fiction, Poetry, Publishing, Travel, Young Adult
Costs:   Early bird $365

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Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, July 26 – 28, 2012

http://www.mcwc.org

Program Description
5 morning workshops with same presenter each day; large forum readings and discussions with editors, agents, & newly published authors; afternoon lecture sessions on craft.
Program Length 3 days
Group Size or S:T Ratio workshops 15:1
Program Focus:  Autobiography/Memoir, Children’s, Fiction, Journalism, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Publishing, Screenwriting, Young Adult
Faculty 13+ presenters. Includes authors, editors & literary agents.
Costs:   Earlybird $525. $60/consultation. Lodging $55-$250 & camping; hostel-like farmhouse $18-$25/night.

Squaw Valley, California  July, August 2012

http://www.squawvalleywriters.org

Program Description
Morning workshops, afternoon panel discussions, individual conferences, craft lectures, staff readings
Program Length 7 days
Group Size or S:T Ratio 20-124
Program Focus:  Autobiography/Memoir, Fiction, Mystery, Nature, Non-fiction, Poetry and Screenwriting
Faculty 28 instructors for the Fiction Workshop, 5 for the Poetry Workshop, 8 for the Screenwriting Workshop.
Costs:   $840 includes 6 dinners. Shared (single) lodging in local houses & condos arranged for $350 ($550)/week; inexpensive bunk bed available.
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Purchase, NY   June 25 – 29, 2012

http://www.mville.edu/writersweek

Program Description
Five 3-hour morning workshops in a particular genre (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry,Writing for Young Readers, Graphic Novel). Afternoons include special workshops, readings, session with editors & agents, and individual manuscript consultation.
Program Length 4-1/2 days
Group Size or S:T Ratio 80-100
Program Focus:  Autobiography/Memoir, Children’s, Fiction, Marketing, Non-fiction, Poetry, Publishing, Screenwriting, Young Adult
Costs:   $725 for the week. 2 graduate credits are also available for graduate tuition (extra fee).
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Edmonds, WA, September 30 – October 2, 2012

http://www.ci.edmonds.wa.us/ArtsCommission/wots.stm

Program Description
Focus is on the craft of writing. 4 sessions/day & a choice of 4 workshops/session; Saturday keynote, pre-conference workshops on Friday.
Program Length 2-1/2 days
Group Size or S:T Ratio Max 200
Program Focus:  Autobiography/Memoir, Business/Technical, Children’s, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Journalism, Marketing, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Publishing, Travel, Young Adult
Faculty:  30 additional presenters speaking on a variety of topics.
Costs:   $139/2 days ($116 early bird), $72/1 day. Pre-conference workshops $68, writing contest entry $10, manuscript critique $25, Keynote (open to the public) $16 adult/$10 student.

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Santa Barbara, CA, June 9 – 14, 2012

http://www.sbwritersconference.com

Program Description
Daily AM & PM concurrent workshops & plenary sessions, evening speakers, panels, Advance
Submission with agents & editors, late-night pirate workshops.
Program Length 6 days
Group Size or S:T Ratio 200
Program Focus:  Autobiography/Memoir, Fiction, Humor, Journalism, Marketing, Mystery, Nature, Non-fiction, Playwriting, Poetry, Publishing, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Screen-writing, Travel,
Faculty: 30 daily faculty plus evening speakers
Costs   $625 includes barbecue, cocktail reception, awards banquet.

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Corte Madera, CA, August 9 – 12, 2012

http://bookpassage.com/travel-food-photography-conference

(Just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco)
Conference Coordinator: Kathryn Petrocelli
Phone: (800) 999-7909 ext 239
bpconferences@bookpassage.com

Geared to Food & Travel writers and photographers this Conference has an extraordinary, international reputation among publishers, editors, and writers. This four-day Conference offers an array of writing and photography workshops in the morning, a full afternoon of panels and discussions, and evening faculty presentations.
The faculty includes publishers, magazine editors, photographers, travel essayists, food writers, guidebook writers and more.

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Key West, FL, every January

http://www.kwls.org

Program Description
4-day seminar includes readings, conversations, lectures, panel discussions. 4-day writers’ workshops feature AM writing sessions (limit 8-12/instructor) and PM individual consultations, talks, open readings.
Program Length Seminar: 4 days / Workshops: 4 days each
Group Size or S:T Ratio Seminar: 350-400 / Workshops: 12:1
Program Focus
Autobiography/Memoir, Children’s, Fiction, Humor, Journalism, Mystery, Nature, Non-fiction, Playwriting, Poetry, Publishing, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Screenwriting, Travel, Young Adult
Costs   Seminar $495; Workshops $450.
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For a full list of writers retreats in the USA go to:  http://writing.shawguides.com

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What Literary Agents Want to Know From You

Choosing the Right Publishing Path

There are some questions agents frequently ask writers before they sign them. The problem is most writers are caught off guard by these questions and don’t always answer them the way they would’ve liked. I’ll let you in on the secret so you can prepare ahead of time.

Question: Why do you want to be published?
Seems like a simple enough question, right? Wrong. Well, sort of. The agent isn’t just interested in your answer but your attitude. Let’s take a look as how some of your answers COULD be perceived…

Answer #1: I just want to get my story on paper.
Agent’s reaction:  Then you don’t need me. If you’re not going to take this seriously and consider writing your new career, I’m not interested.

Answer #2: I want to share my stories with the world.
Agent’s reaction:  Why would anyone want to read your stories? What makes you more special than any other writer out there? If you don’t know what’s unique about you and you can’t sell yourself, how am I supposed to?

Answer #3: I want to become a bestseller and make a bundle.
Agent’s reaction: Get real.  Do you know how hard it is to become a bestseller? Do you understand how much work is involved? Why do I get the feeling you’re not interested in the writing, just the possible financial benefit.  Oh, did I mention you will make next to nothing with your first book and possibly every book after that? If you want to become a millionaire, buy a lottery ticket. Your odds are probably better.

Answer #4: I want to be famous.
Agent’s reaction:  Rolls eyes… That’s not going to happen overnight. Are you willing to put in the time and sweat?  What if you don’t amount to more than being a mid-lister?

So, what are the agents expecting to hear?
They want to know you’re committed, that you understand this journey is hard, long, and not always rewarding. They want you to dream and to set goals, but they need to believe you are willing to work to attain those goals. In reality, there is nothing wrong with the answers above as long as you explain them. Don’t give the agent a chance to react in the ways I described above.

Here’s another one—and it comes in many forms:
-What’s your next book about?
-What else are you working on?
-Where do you see this series going?

Regardless of how the agent asks the question, she’s looking for a certain answer. She wants to see that you are not a one-book-wonder. If you don’t know what you’re going to write next, that’s a red flag for her. Editors at publishing houses like to make a two or three book deal with an author if they truly believe in the writer’s ability and the marketability of her work. Knowing this, the agent will ask you to complete a plot outline or synopsis for your next TWO books. They don’t have to be a part of a series but should be in the same genre as the book the agent will pitch. She’s looking for material she can sell to the publisher, so she can convince the editor, during these very competitive times, to take a chance on you.

What’s even better is, if you can supply her with that second book and the outline for the next. This will show both the agent and publisher that you have the potential of becoming a career author. In fact, I have seen a big NY publisher have two of the three books at signing and wait for the author to finish the third so they could publish the novels one after another and heavily promote them. While it meant the author had to wait a little longer before seeing her book in print, she’s very fortunate. With three books on the line, the publisher will do everything possible to ensure these books sell well.

It’s also a good idea to have a sense of how long it takes you to write a book, including all of its editorial stages.  That way, you’ll know what kind of commitment you can make. Are you realistically able to write and edit three books a year or are you only able to produce one novel annually? It’s best to know this going in because giving the agent or publisher false expectations, by telling them what they wanted to hear, will only disappoint them in the end if you can’t deliver. Depending on how far you were from hitting your deadline, it could cost you the contract. So, start that timer now. Figure out how long it’ll take you to complete the first draft and every draft after that.

One last thing I’d like to mention is digital publishing. Before you talk to an agent, you need to have an idea where you stand on this issue. Some agents help authors self-publish. Others won’t. Some agents want you to do a combination of self-publishing and traditional publishing. Some don’t. Some agents will specifically target the big NY publishers’ digital lines because they’re more open to new authors. If you only want to see your book in print, you need to let the agent know before she starts shopping around. Plus, knowing how you feel about digital publishing will help you decide if the agent is a good fit for you. Even though the agent has to first want to take you on as a client, you are hiring her. If you don’t share the same vision for your career path, you may want to keep looking.

And be prepared when meeting for the first time with the publisher for another question that can make or brake your contract: “How are going to market your book?” or “What is your marketing platform”.

Blog post by Lynnette Labelle www.labelleseditorialservices.com

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Literary Agents That Are Actively Seeking Manuscripts

 

Literary Agents certainly will not offer you a book deal right away, even if they like your work. Collecting manuscripts and then offering them to editors at suitable publishing houses is what they do – and this can take months…

Literary Agent Paul Lucas
He joined Janklow & Nesbit Associates in 2007 and began representing authors in 2010 and is interested in a wide variety of commercial and literary fiction, as well as specific nonfiction.

Fiction:
Character and plot driven novels but it’s important to him for the storytelling to be clear and accessible.

Genre fiction:
thrillers, spy, science fiction and fantasy genre writing, as well as literary novels. He appreciates a literary bent, subverting genre and darker, conflicted characters in historical fiction and war novels.

Non-fiction:
Popular science books, new ways of exploring the major sports and narrative histories.

He does not represent romance, westerns, women’s fiction, memoir, self-help, children’s or picture books.

How to submit:
Please send an attachment with the first 3 chapters of your book, a synopsis and brief bio to your queries and send them to plucas (at) janklow (dot) com.

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Kat Salazar
She joined Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents in February 2011 as an intern for the agency working directly for agency co-founder Elizabeth Pomada. Previously she worked for University of Washington Press as a Marketing Assistant and held internships at University of California Press, HarperOne of Harper Collins, and Wales Literary Agency. Currently, she is the Publishing Assistant at Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari Press as well as the agency’s newest Associate Agent and the San Francisco Writers Conference Social Media Coordinator.

Kat is actively looking for young adult, middle grade, and children’s picture books.
For adult audiences, she is interested in literary fiction and urban fantasy.

For more about Kat you can follow her on Twitter at @KatLovesBooks or read her blog:
http://www.KatLovesBooks.blogspot.com.

How to submit:
Please query her with the first 10 pages of your manuscript and a 1-2-page synopsis copied and pasted into the body of an e-mail to QueryKatSalazar (at) gmail (dot) com.

from http://www.writersdigest.com

Sign up for their newsletter to receive regularly literary news.
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Which Literary Agent is Right for You?

Smaller, independent publishers will still accept queries and read manuscripts from new writers. But if your goal is to sell your book to one of the six big publishers, you better search for an agent. How and where do you find literary agents?

Start with the current Writers Market. Their listing contains all members of the AAR (Association of Authors Representatives), who do not charge for reading, critiquing and editing.  Authors in Canada find literary agents in an online listing of the Association of Canadian Publishers.  A listing of 239 literary agents in Europe, North America and other parts of the world can be found at Publishers Global, one of the most comprehensive resource for all things publishing.

When you check out the agent, you’ll want to contact “Writer Beware”
They explain: “Time-crunched editors, who must devote their days to administrative tasks and have to shunt their actual editing work to nights and weekends, simply have no time to sift through submissions. More and more, they rely on agents as a filtering mechanism.

Most first novel sales, at least to the larger publishers, occur through agents.  Verify that this agent has a substantial, verifiable track record of selling books to commercial publishers, or, if new, a professional background in publishing or with another reputable agency.”

Before you contact an agent, read and follow:

• Submission Guidelines
• Query Policy
• What (genre) is the agent is currently looking for
• How to submit (email, online form or snail mail)

To get to know your future literary agent better, take your time to study carefully their websites / blogs to get an idea of their personality – as you will have many consultations during your writing career with this person. You should feel comfortable with the way they approach their clients. Going through some of the websites and blogs you will realize the huge spectrum of personalities among agents.

In the meantime edit, and then self-publish your manuscript as an e-book.  Who knows, maybe through professional social media marketing and your terrific platform it is such a success that agents will contact you!

BookEnds  http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/

Nadia Cornier  http://agentobvious.livejournal.com/

DHS Literary  http://dhsliterary.blogspot.com/

Dystel & Goderich  http://www.dystel.com

Full Circle Lit  http://fullcirclelit.blogspot.com/

Barry Goldblatt  http://bgliterary.livejournal.com/

Jennifer Jackson  http://arcaedia.livejournal.com/

John Jarrold (UK agent)  http://jjarrold.livejournal.com/

Knight Agency  http://knightagency.net/blog/

Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency http://luciennediver.wordpress.com/

Colleen Lindsay: http://theswivet.blogspot.com/

Jonathan Lyons (Lyons Literary)  http://lyonsliterary.blogspot.com/

Laurie McLean (Larson Pomada Agency)  http://www.agentsavant.com/

Kristin Nelson  http://pubrants.blogspot.com/

Anna McDermid & Assoc.  http://mcdermidagency.blogspot.com/

Lori Perkins  http://agentinthemiddle.blogspot.com/

Janet Reid (of FinePrint)  http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/

Kate Schafer  http://ktliterary.com/archives.html

Agent Sydney (Australian agent)  http://callmyagent.blogspot.com/

Andrew Zack  http://www.zackcompany.blogspot.com/

Rachelle Gardner  http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/

Carolyn Swayze http://www.swayzeagency.com/aboutus.html

Gabriela Lessa  http://gabrielalessa.com/

Scott Waxman  http://waxmanagency.wordpress.com/

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents

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A Must-Have For Every Writer

 

Among other reasons, you work so hard on your manuscript to eventually get published and paid for your writing.  ”2012 Writers Market” can help you find success: Over 9,000 listings for book publishers, literary agents, magazines, online publications, contests, conferences and more!

What would you like to accomplish?
Find an agent for your fiction book, sell non-fiction articles to magazines or a film script to production companies, publish or make some money on the side?

In this annual “bible for writers” you will find places to sell your writing, whether you’ve got a book, manuscript, or an article idea. Make some money on the side and know how much to charge for these gigs with their popular pay rate chart. It includes topics from tackling content factories to negotiating contracts and from managing time and organization to make the most of the money writers earn. What it is not: a quality control of publishers. To be sure, go to “Writer Beware” or research for any complaints about certain publishers. Thank goodness they omitted some of the worst ones…

What’s more?

• Manage your submissions with easy-to-use record keeping tools
• Stay abreast of the latest publishing industry news
• Gain advanced publishing and marketing knowledge from Q & A’s with publishing experts
• Use information specific to your writing needs–whether you are interested in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s, script writing or agents.

What I like
Articles on freelancing, social media book marketing and the inclusion of some smaller, more genre specific markets. And a huge section of contests, grants and awards are a huge treasure trove for me. This book is a fantastic resource for every freelance writer, not matter what level. Whether you have never written anything and don’t know where to begin or if you are an experienced writer looking to sell a manuscript, you will find it here. And the valuable article “6 Ways to Protect Your Writing”. Then there are useful legal explanations, copyright and publishing contract tips.

However, nobody is perfect!  What I miss is a category index. If an author is looking for a publisher that accepts science fiction submissions she or he has literally to go through every publisher to find the handful they need. The text is sometimes hard to read due to the grey (instead of black) font. And then there are typos or grammar errors – dear editor!

How much is the “2012 Writer Market”?
Recently, I wrote an article about price comparison – and sure enough, there was a huge difference! (more than 100%) in e-book prices when I typed the title in at Luzme.com:

Google              $9.12      February 20

Amazon            $9.12      February 20

Sony                $11.99     February 20

Apple                $14.99    February 20

Kobo                 $18.59    February 20

B&N                  $19.49    February  18

The soft-cover version with over 1,000 pages is $18.25 at Amazon – one of the few books I prefer to have in paper instead of digital.
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Agent Blogs – Learn Where & How to Query

 

Are you having difficulties to find a literary agent and if – do you like him or her?  Want to get to know the person before hand?  Don’t know how to write a query and how to approach the agent?  Read their blogs to get informed about the process and find out more about how they work and what they are like.

http://www.agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html
Ask them about an agent and they will tell you if he or she has established a public record, and if we have had any negative reports on the agent’s business practices. This service is free.

http://www.agentquery.com
Agent Query offers the largest and most current searchable database of literary agents on the web—a treasure trove of reputable, established literary agents seeking writers.

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/
BookEnds, LLC, is a literary agency focusing on fiction and nonfiction books for adult audiences. In their workshop Wednesdays everyone can post queries out there and will get comments open, also to anonymous posters.

http://www.cba-ramblings.blogspot.com
Rachelle Gardner is an agent with Books and Such Literary Agency, representing both fiction and non-fiction. She offers query tips and book proposal advice.

http://www.nathanbransford.blogspot.com
Nathan Bransford knows a lot about writing and publishing, and his blog is wide in scope. He offers advice on: How to Find a Literary Agent, How to Write a Query Letter, The Basic Query Letter Formula, Examples of Good Queries, How to Format Your Query Letter …

http://www.pubrants.blogspot.com
Kristin Nelsons blog is a-must-read for every author about to send out a query. Subscribe to the Nelson Literary Agency newsletter.

http://www.queryshark.blogspot.com
Send your query in for critique. A wealth of resources and Janet Reid shares them all, she also dissects queries, posting lots of examples what writers are doing right – and wrong.

http://www. gabrielalessa.com
Gabriela Lessa, a Brazilian editor, writer, literary agent assistant and journalist helps you with your query. She has a Master’s degree in Magazine / Investigative Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and has written for several print and online publications. If you want to have your query analyzed on Query Wednesdays, please send it to gabrielalessacarvalho@gmail.com with the subject line QUERY WEDNESDAY.

For more agent blogs go to the absolutewrite forum: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37784