JH: Seeing multiple sides of the publishing industry can give someone a different perspective on it. Joyce Sweeney shares thoughts on making the switch from author/editor to literary agent.
Joyce Sweeney is the author of fourteen novels for young adults and two chapbooks of poetry. Her books have won many awards and honors. Joyce has recently switched to writing adult fiction and is represented by Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour agency.
Joyce has also been a writing teacher and coach for 25 years and offers online classes. In 2019, she, Jamie Morris and Tia Levings released Plotting Your Novel with The Plot Clock (Giantess Press). At this writing, 64 of Joyce’s students have successfully obtained traditional publishing contracts.
Joyce lives in Coral Springs with her husband, Jay and caffeine-addicted cat, Nitro.
JH: Finding an agent is almost as challenging (if not more so) than finding a publisher for your manuscript. Lisa Lowe Stauffer visits the lecture hall today with tips on how to make the most of your agent search.
Lisa Lowe Stauffer, author of Two By Two (Zonderkidz, 2018). She stays busy writing books for children and teens, volunteering with SCBWI as the Assistant Regional Adviser to Southern Breeze region, and traveling with her own red-headed husband.
Having a literary agent has been one of the major first steps of writers seeking publication for decades. Getting an agent was sometimes harder than getting a publisher, and writers agonized over no one ever taking them on as a client. But in today's changing publishing landscape, many writers are questioning whether pursuing an agent is necessary, or the right path for them. There's no right direction here, it's just what you want for your writing career.
If you choose to go the agent route (still the preferred method for those seeking a traditional publishing path), here is a handy-dandy guide for finding an agent.
By Joanna Volpe, @JoSVolpe Part of the How They Do It Series
Join me in giving a big welcome to literary agent Joanna Volpe, who's here today to share a few of the things that get her excited about a submission. We hear the "don'ts" so often, it's nice to hear a few "dos."
Joanna is a literary agent and the president of New Leaf Literary & Media. She represents all brands of fiction, from picture books to adult. She has an affinity for stories that have a darker, grittier element to them, whether they be horror, drama or comedy. Her recent publications include Henny by Elizabeth Rose Stanton, The Sharpest Blade by Sandy Williams, Erased by Jennifer Rush, The Lost Planet by Rachel Searles, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Tucholke, The End Games by T. Michael Martin, Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo,I’ll Be Seeing You by Loretta Nyhan, and A Darkness Strange & Lovely by Susan Dennard. In addition to her recent books, Joanna has a project by client Veronica Roth just hit the silver screen this past March: Divergent(Summit/Lionsgate) starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet and Ashley Judd.
When Joanna is not reading (which is almost never), she can be found either cooking, playing video games, or hanging out with her husband and their chihuahua Tough Guy in their NYC apartment. You can listen to her random ramblings on twitter, facebook or instagram, and check out her latest deals on Publishers Marketplace.
Please welcome literary agent Sara Megibow, who joins us today to share some advice on how not to go crazy as a writer.
Sara is a literary agent with nine years of experience in publishing. Sara specializes in working with authors in middle grade, young adult, romance, erotica, science fiction and fantasy and represents New York Times bestselling authors Roni Loren and Jason Hough and international bestselling authors Stefan Bachmann and Tiffany Reisz. Sara is LGBTQ-friendly and presents regularly at SCBWI and RWA events around the country.
I'm shaking it up today with a guest agent instead of an author, so join me in welcoming the ever delightful Sara Megibow to the blog. She's here with a different view (and thoughts) on something most of us dread--the pitch session--and some ideas on how to make it more effective.
Sara has been with Nelson Literary Agency since early 2006. Her first responsibilities included reading query letters, sample pages, and full manuscripts, and she was promoted to Associate Literary Agent in 2009. From sexy romance to epic fantasy, Sara has loved reading since picking up her first copy of The Hobbit. Sara earned a B.A. in Women’s Studies and a B.A. in American History from Northwestern University. She loves to ski, hike, kayak, and hang out with her beat-boxing husband, adorable son, and fuzzy cat. You can find her on Twitter and on Facebook.
We spend a lot of time and effort on our books, so sometimes the thought of changing a single word can be disheartening. But revisions are a part of publishing, so at some point there will be a lot of fingers in the same literary pie. This can be intimidating, and might even make you feel like you're losing control of your own work.
When an agent or editor asks you for revisions, do you have to sacrifice your vision just to get published?
When you talk to an agent, chances are you're going to be excited and terrified. This is it. This is what you've been dreaming of forever. But just breathe and try to keep in mind that this is a great chance for you to get to know that agent a little and see how you click with them. This is a person you could be working with, and you need to be able to talk to them without freaking out or feeling terribly intimidated.
It's important to remember that they're people, too. Every single one I've met was nice. They're scary only because of what they represent. (no pun intended) And if they're calling you, then there's something about your book they like, so you don't have to stress over that anymore.
I totally forgot it was April Fool's Day until I logged into Absolute Write and saw that it had gone all Twilight all the time. It's pretty hysterical, so go take a peek. If you're a writer and haven't found Absolute... uh...Bite...dash over right now and join in the fun.
Rachelle Gardner also talks about all the things you should look for in an agent.
I really wanted to do something clever and funny, but nothing came to me, (And the delightful lass at How Publishing Really Work does it so much better here.) so you'll have to settle for a story writers get asked all the time (at least by other writers).
What was "The Call" Like? Or, how did you find out you'd sold your novel? (I know people are curious about this stuff, so I'll try to be as candid as possible without giving away details that will make my agent put a hit out on me. Some stuff is private for a reason)
Some writers have the big "my agent called with this huge offer" moment, but mine wasn't so dramatic. My agent sent me an e-mail when she started submitting The Shifter (then still called The Pain Merchants) to editors, letting me know who and where it was going.
Did I want to see the rejections? she asked.
Sure, I replied.
She promised to forward comments to me as she got them. That was around the end of May 2008.
We got the first responses back the first week in June. One no (but just to the query), but one the editor loved it so far. The first official no after reading the fill manuscript came about a week later. Knowing that the first editor was still loving it and sending it on to her publisher to read helped take the sting out of that no. More responses came in over the next two weeks, and by mid-June, I got another rejection for my files, with an "oh, by the way..." comment. My agent had spoken to an editor and she hoped to have an offer the next day.
Hardly dramatic, I know. I was still jazzed and wanted to know details, but my agent was playing it close to the vest at this point. I danced around the house like a crazy person.
The next day a second editor came on the scene. Totally loved the book, and it looked like another offer was in the works. Nothing official yet of course, but definite interest going on for my little book. My feet hadn't touched the floor in days.
Then, I got the official "Call". My agent calls me up to discuss a solid offer, a pre-empt. (A pre-empt is where a publisher comes in with a large enough advance to chase away the competition. Now, "large enough" doesn't always mean huge money, just more than another house might be willing to pay for the same book. I'm no millionaire or anything. I still need my day job)
My agent spells out the details. I'm speechless. (Actually, I think I gasped "holy s@#t!") From everything I'd researched, the average advance for a science fiction/fantasy novel was around $5000. I figured with an agent, I'd might get two, maybe three times that as a debut author. Let's just say this offer was more than that.
Then here's the kicker. My agent recommended I turn it down. Yeah. Here's where I started hyperventilating. But the deal had some stuff in it she didn't think was best for me, and she wanted to negotiate something better. Which is the whole reason you have an agent in the first place. Trust me folks, you want someone like this in your corner at this moment. Your brain won't be able to focus on anything past "I'm gonna sell my novel, I'm gonna sell my novel!" You know nothing about rights or contracts or royalties and all the other stuff that also goes into a book deal. And those are very important things to get right.
So I did as she said, cause she knows what she's talking about. Negotiations began. The pre-empt was successful, and the other editors who were interested were chased away.
The offering editor came back with something my agent liked better. But we still had a few editors out there who hadn't responded, and just like when you're looking for an agent, you give everyone who expressed interest in your work a chance to say yay or nay. It's only polite. (And good business)
Then editor two came in with their own pre-empt. Now, as they say, we had a ball game. I was a basket case at this point, a total loon, freaking out and giggling like a madwoman. I wanted to tell everyone I knew, but of course I couldn't. I sat back and let my agent do her thing while I breathed slowly into a paper bag.
Both deals were good, so it really came down to which was better for me and my book. I got to talk to both editors and hear what they had to say. And let me tell you, hearing top-notch editors gush about your book is the most Awesome Thing Ever. Now, it was up to us to choose.
My agent and I discussed all the pros and cons, we looked at the deals and we made our decision. On June 26, 2008, this announcement went out in Publishers Weekly:
Janice Hardy's debut fantasy trilogy beginning with THE PAIN MERCHANTS, about a teen war orphan who becomes a pawn in a bigger political game when her uncanny ability to heal by drawing pain turns out to be the only weapon she has to save her sister, to Donna Bray at Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins for their their launch list in a very good deal pre-empt by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency.
When this all started, I had hoped to sell one book for enough money to re-do my master bathroom (which has the ugliest wallpaper known to man). Instead, I ended up with a three-book deal for six figures. Not too shabby. Certainly a dream come true and more than I was even willing to dream. The most astonishing thing... I still haven't re-done that master bathroom.
