Good question! I do read "real books" not manuscripts! Sometimes I read to keep up with what is new in the industry or because someone recommends a wonderful book and also because I naturally get a lot of free books from publishers that are tempting. I read more nonfiction than I represent sometimes in areas of interest like gardening (staring at flowers in seed catalogs lately and looking longingly at the buds on the forsythia). I read suspense novels and women's fiction or popular bestsellers like The Secret Life of Bees or Eat, Love, Pray, Snowflower and the Secret Fan and new talent in romance, etc. I have this theory that when I am on planes it isn't 'real time" so I can take that as time off for reading for fun.

Hey everyone,
I realize that blogging means you write things and then I respond. :-) But this shows how interrupt driven my life is. On Thursday just after I answered the first question, a film deal for a TV pilot (and series to follow) came through requiring immediate connection with my co-agent in Hollywood; two six figure offers for a client materialized with others in the works for a developing auction; an editor wanted to discuss her house's plans for a huge launch for one of my first time authors and talk about which cities would be right for a tour, ARCs, an ad budget and dozen other details; and another client was struggling to finish a book under a very tight deadline due a few weeks ago that is already scheduled for summer and being pre-sold. And, oh yes, 1099s had to go out and W-2s and my accountant needed to talk to me asap. Guess what? The blog went out the window! Sorry about that. But it turned out to be a whirlwind week for me which isn't unusual and is just the nature of the biz. I asked Sam to pitch in and help me out and I'm thankful she did. I appreciate all the great questions and your gracious welcome to your blog.

Karen, the answer is yes and no. Yes, of course I have had ms by first time writers that when to auction-- several in the past year alone. And yes I KNOW a book can be big when I read the ms. The truth is there are real pros and cons on this much too complex to go into here and a big reason why agents are indispensible. Getting a big advance is one thing. Earning out is another. What happens when that first contract isn't earned out? How do you get thousands of readers to buy a book (especially a hardcover book) by an unknown writer-- or get booksellers to stock it for that matter? You would be surprised how many writers can be dropped after that initial enthusiasm. A deal is one thing. A career is quite another. And this gets into rights and their allocation and how foreign sales can help to signal a big book or earn out a big advance and dozens of other things. an agent has to work with the in-house team to do everything possible to pull this off.

Regarding vampires, no they are not dead although yes there are a lot of these books out there. This is a normal, typical publishing cycle. Something gets popular-- regency romances, computer books, chick lit whatever and then everyone jumps in and the niche is overpublished so the cream of writers remain with their readerships but new writers have to write something that IS a WOW to get bought and noticed. You are continually seeing books come out that were bought 18-24 months ago. Paranormal isn't going to go away though and there will always be room for new talent. I am representing a new paranormal I'll be sending out this spring.

Natasha

An ideal client is one who participates in a mutually respectful business relationship, is clear about needs and goals and communicates about career planning, and educates herself about the industry. A dream client has a gift for language and storytelling, a commitment to a writing career, a desire to learn and grow, and a passion for excellence. This client understands that many people have to work together for a book to succeed and that everything in publishing takes far longer than one imagines. Trust, communication and teamwork are truly essential.

Natasha

This is an interesting question! I've never had that happen in all these years agenting i.e. accepting a client and finding I don't like her face to face. I have worked with quite a few clients for a long time without meeting them (I'm thinking of a couple of new clients I have now). Yes, it is good to have face to face contact because, hey, I like spending time with my clients who are amazing and wonderful people! But, I've never changed my opinion or view or relationship with anyone after meeting them that I can recall. I certainly don't refuse to meet them either! That seems pretty odd since you are going to be working with one another for years. I believe in personal connections and mutual respect. I think in writing in particular it is very hard to separate out the personal from the professional-- for one thing writers work from their creative subconscious and who they are and their life experiences inform the work-- the more I understand about that, the better especially in assessing which direction are likely to be fruitful for them. Also, the personal intrudes-- issues that come up affect writing schedules, deadlines and so on so a writer inevitably must trust her agent with personal information another professional (say her accountant) might not know. I sometimes think I know more about some clients than their spouses (LOL) because I not only know what they earn but also their fears and inner voices that emerge as characters. I don't think it is essential to be close friends with an agent but personal elements are an integral part of this business relationship. One problem I have with the egregious speed dating conference interviews is precisely that the focus is not on anything written so easy to judge the person on whether you like their hairstyle or clothing and how nervous they are etc. I suppose it is possible to misjudge someone whether you have met them or not or even if there is a commitment which is why divorce happens. Realistically with clients all over the country or even in other countries who don't attend conferences face to face can't always happen!

Natasha

Carrie, my advice is to realize that A) yes this can be done and I have certainly gotten single title deals for category authors-- one this month in fact B) it REALLY is a different kind of book so some skills transfer but quite a lot must be re-learned. C) you can't do this alone but need an agent and D) you need a wonderful mainstream novel first before considering this.

One difference is that category inherently is concept-based which is why lines exist like NEXT or Presents or Blaze. They have specified levels of steaminess, length, when cute meet must happen, how soon or how often there are sex scenes, happily ever after and so on. Which is why they are referred to as being formulaic. This isn't something to be denigrated--although it might sound like it. It is the difference between craft and art. Being a great craftsman whether a boat builder or furniture maker requires skill, discipline, talent and an artisanal sense. it is worthy of being paid to produce it. My home has wonderfully crafted items in it. But it isn't art. Art emerges not from the requirement of needing say, ten more coffee tables or five matching vases but out of the psyche, talent and heart of the creator. It has an 'indwelling spirit" which in fiction we refer to as a premise (and which is invisible in category) or in a painting or piece of music can be an emotion or thought. There is some piece of the author on the page, something uniquely theirs. That is why if we consider books by Charlaine Harris or Christine Feehan or Debbie Macomber or whomever, literary to commercial, there is the sense of voice i.e. the writer behind the work and of something they are trying to convey to us about the world from their point of view. Jennifer Cruisie is a master of premise as her titles suggest-- we know what her novels are about and what she is trying to tell us and then she tells us in her own unique way, funny and insightful. Mainstream novels are more character based although plot can be very strong too and where they intersect becomes the point of story. Genre loosely provides the concept, but most writers find a way as Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jayne Ann Krentz say in their conference presentations to express what THEY want --that they didn't write breakout novels but just kept writing what they wrote well and eventually they got very good at it and it caught on.

This may be easiest to see in terms of structure in Christian fiction because there is, of necessity, a faith plot that defines and expresses that 'indwelling spirit' and character and plot are clearly tied to that, which doesn't mean there aren't surprises. A Christian writer might express this: God calls you to write, gives you a story to tell, but how you express it is the offering you give back of your own talent, your service, your devotion. Creating art is a sacred endeavor throughout history and across cultures in all media. This is no less present in secular fiction; it just takes a more trained eye to see it. You can't keep writing category as a means to getting to mainstream because mainstream isn't just bigger, longer, better category any more than a sonnet is just a bigger haiku or a novel is a longer short story. Writers who are destined to write mainstream often have trouble fitting into the Procrustian bed of category and feel frustrated by it from the beginning. When you understand what story is your own (rather than trying to fit into something defined by someone else) then you will begin to shine. Allison Brennan describes this process quite well in the current issue of RWR. She wrote four novels that didn't sell and then a NYT bestseller because she began to recognize her own voice, style and yes indwelling spirit. A lot of readers recognized it right away too.

Here is a hint: Think about what stories you loved as a child. I mean REALLY loved and read over and over. why did you love that story? What are the elements in it and what resonated with you? What themes, characters, plot? If you can get at where your uniqueness and storytelling come together, you will write your best work. And every agent and editor and reader will recognize it right away! And this is why a line can't dictate that. And this is what we are all longing to find.

Natasha

I've looked at self-published material. In general, though, the problem with e-books is that they are typically shorter novella length. I have accepted a client who was e-published. I don't require that those querying the agent are previously published so this is mostly irrelevant. I just want brilliant writing!

Natasha

The chasm here is so vast I can't really respond to it in this format. For one thing nonfiction is sold based on a proposal which is nothing like a fiction proposal and the criteria are completely different. Only memoir and narrative nonfiction have some reasonable commonalities in storytelling.

Natasha

PS: Sorry, this was supposed to go down below -- hit the wrong link. :)

It depends on what kind of rejections and from whom. This is like the questions about contest wins. You can contact an agent at any time but make sure you are sending out the very best you can write. Have the reasons for rejection been addressed? Does this really have dramatic tension? Is it emotionally involving?

Natasha

There is absolutely no impact at all unless maybe you wrote a huge bestseller that was narrative. You still have to complete a first novel. All of this background suggests you have some writing skills but this is like asking whether the fact that you wrote a stage play will help you to get a job writing advertising jingles or qualify you to write epic poems. Not a lot of cross over. And this isn't a good idea anyway.

Natasha

Yes, absolutely. But you know I have a firm belief that what is meant for me will be for me. In a couple of cases I have been interested in writers who decided to work with other agents-- they wanted an agent in NY or the experience of being with a larger agency, whatever. And a year or two later I would hear from them and their book had not sold, they were unhappy, things weren't working out and so on. In one case the novel had been sent out prematurely and she chose the other agent because I had told her they had to do revisions and she wanted immediate success. When the rejections came back mentioning exactly the same problems I had told her about, the author contacted me and said OK you were right-- if I do exactly what you tell me will you take me on? It took her six months to get it right and I had to go back to some editors and tell them what had happened (so we wouldn't run into having them as second reads in house) and to give them a second chance-- NOT EASY-- but in the end a multibook deal for hardcover publication. So I don't worry about something "getting away." If I'm the right agent, the author will figure that out.

Natasha

Yes. definitely. This is so individual I can only respond based on the particular work. It is a judgement call. I have an author who has a multibook contract with one publisher and she wrote a book in an unusual and not yet popular niche but I loved the book and her editor did too. When it was published, the numbers were not great. We all agreed she would write other genres while we all waited to see if this niche became more viable and every six months or so we all reassess it because we all want it to work-- and still believe at some point this will happen! Do we want her to change those books. NO! But meanwhile she needs to have a career . . . I strongly believe in writing the book of your heart unless you are writing for a category line.

Natasha

I usually put time into developing a writer until she IS ready and sometimes this does take years. This, too, is very individual and depends on her direction and what I love about her writing.

Natasha