Ask the Agent: Andy Zack

Re: Ask the Agent

Uncle Jim,

Thanks for your advice. I would gladly hear your opinion to my other questions too (see my posts above).

As I said, I'm just a humble newbie, and maybe my enthusiasm makes me think that some rules are for breaking. I wouldn't mind to see that my envelope sticks out from the rest (I even imagine writing "Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!" all over:rollin ), but if people cannot think out of the rules, then I guess I'll just have to do as they wish.

Shawn,

I grew up and lived half of my life in a comunist world where following rules were the norm of the day and I was in the army too... Maybe that's why I feel the need to rebel now and then.

All comments and ideas are greatly appreciated.


Best Wishes,

Pencilone

Re: Ask the Agent

I would gladly hear your opinion to my other questions too (see my posts above).

Andy is better suited to answer those than I am.

However: 5. How can a new writer persuade an agent or publisher that he is serious about building a writing career...

By writing something so amazing that they can't help themselves: They want it. Then ... do it again.

I might be wrong but...

I'm almost positive I've read posts where the big posters (the ones with thousands of posts) have stated that it is all right to submit a query with a short synopsis, even if all it asks for is the one page query.

David

Re: I might be wrong but...

David, following guidelines is as close to an inviolate rule as there is in this game.

I'm going to immodestly quote myself from an article I posted on my site.

"Study their guidelines. If you can't find them, either in print or online, write to request them.

Adhere to those guidelines. They aren't suggestions. They're there for a reason. They detail what they're looking for, how they want it presented and who to present it to. Botch one of those up and add another rejection to the collection.

You have zero chance of being published if an editor doesn't read your submission.

That's a "duh" statement but it happens to a lot of writers. And they have no clue that their manuscript/story was rejected unread. (Clue: 75% or more of your rejections are form letters with nary a hand-written scribble.)"

Substitute "agent" for "editor" in the above and it applies to this discussion.

Re: I might be wrong but...

For any gun-jumpers

15--20 years ago it was very common place to send in a
synopsis and sample chaps--even in many cases it was routine to send in an unsolicited manuscript. Now the process is so selective as to weed out any chaff that an agent or publisher will not hesitate to ignore or reject en mass
anyone who does not follow their explicit guidelines. And
here's the kicker, the owner agent sometimes has sub-agents working under him/her, so be sure you target the right agent.
Agents specialize because they have different personalities.
Why is it so difficult to get their attention?

The Internet.

We have such a glut in the industry, swamped with so many new online scribes, that agents and publishers have to do something to relieve the burden, the mountain of mail.
If you can demonstrate that you've researched the agency or publisher, they'll know it right off the bat. Next comes the letter opener. And that's your first baby-step.

I've constantly heard agents and editors say, "I only have two eyes, have mercy!"

Tri

Re: I might be wrong but...

Heh, I'm not sure it matters to me anymore. I have an agent. Whether she is effective for me, we'll see. I was only saying what I've seen on these boards from long-time posters. As for myself, I sent exactly what my agent's guidelines suggested...even had another client of hers help me write the query.


David

Re: Ask the Agent

Hapi:

I'm curious. Who are you? What do you do? You sound like you work or have worked somewhere at a science fiction/fantasy house.

Re: Ask the Agent

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>I thought it was nice of her to tell me that my writing was good, but I still have no representation. Any suggestions on what I should do? Or do you think I just haven't found the right agent yet?<hr></blockquote>

Well, I wouldn't say a form letter is a good thing, since it's not very useful. However, finding an agent is a complicated task. From having a desire for a project like yours to whether or not that bran muffin is doing its job that day, there are many factors that affect an agent's decisionmaking. You just gotta keep plugging. Find the latest book from a few authors whose work is similar to yours, locate their agents (often acknowledged in the book) and try them.

Re: thanks

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>what are some of the pitfalls of the job? what do you do with a manuscript you can't unload?<hr></blockquote>

I'd say the biggest pitfall is that you lose the joy of reading. All too often, you read drek all day. Then you are too tired to read something for fun. Most editors and agents I know have lost the fun of reading. It becomes pure homework, unfortunately. Many of the book people I know are television addicts. May of the television people I know are voracious readers of books. Interesting, no?

As for manuscripts I can't unload, I like to print things on the back of them, so I'm not wasting paper. Oh, that's not what you meant? Well, sometimes the author and part ways and they try another route (self-publication is number one). Othertimes, the author works on another project and we shelve the one that isn't selling. I once had a book that I couldn't sell at all. The author wrote a different book. I sold that. We then sold book number two to the editor as the option book. (We did not, however, point out to the editor that said option book was once rejected at the house prior to his purchase of the first book.)

Re: When they say...

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>So...did we fail in our query's hook? Should we work on more closely relating our book to recent sellers in this genre?

Second question: If a writer has had verifiable success on the Web ("verifiable" in the sense of audience numbers and a demonstrated ability to sustain them long-term), does this make him/her a more salable commodity to an agent or publisher? Or is Web success considered no success?<hr></blockquote>

I think your query failed on two levels. First, it obviously didn't communicate that a market exists for this kind of thing. Two, you expected agents to go to the web and read something that you reference in your query? Why would they do that? I read queries everywhere. On the train, waiting at the doctor's office, at my girlfriend's house, on the bus, sitting at a coffee place, at the diner, at a bar waiting for a date, wherever. I don't exactly have web access. So unless that query knocks my socks off, I am not going to set it aside to go to the web to read something additional.

Is web success no success? In most cases, yes. If you're writing a column for Slate, Nerve, or another frequently visited site, I'd say that counts for something. But if you have a personal site, already the numbers are going to be in question (you'd better be able to verify them) and, remember, that's basically a bit of vanity publisher. If you are published by Slate, somewhere there's an editor making a judgment on the value of putting you on the site. If it's your own site, the judgment is missing. However, if your site has been heavily reviewed on other sites, or in the news, that could be something. Patrick O'Donnell is a client of mine. His first book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0684873842/theandrewzacklitA/" target="_new">BEYOND VALOR</a>, was based on his terrific website, www.thedropzone.org. But the site had been reviewed in numerous places, many of them print. So if you have your own site and you want to write a book based on what you are doing there, get some good PR for the site, then use that to sell the book.

Re: probably a stupid question, but....

Fran:

I believe you should submit your best book to the agents you think are most appropriate for it. I would not send two different manuscripts to two different agents. Most agents represent authors, not specific projects. Find one agent to work on one project, then build.

Re: Ask the Agent

While cost is certainly a factor related to the length of books, there's also the wholesale rack factor. Many supermarkets, drugstores and newsstands use racks to sell books. If you are a new author, you will never get more than one slot or one pocket in that rack. If only two books fit, that's the order. If five fit, that's the order. Which would you rather move? Two or five copies?

This, is, of course, mostly about paperbacks. When it comes to hardcovers, length is a huge factor in cover price and the chains have made a lot of noise that they think cover prices are too high. And they are right. But the reality is that they are at fault.

Keep in mind that a $24 hardcover is sold to B&N for, at most, $12. B&N then discounts that 20% or 30%. That leaves a 30% or 20% profit margin on that one book. Not bad, eh?

When I worked in a bookstore in 1983, the average discount to an independent was about 42%. Maybe 44%. On very large orders, maybe as high as 48%. But as B&N put independent after independent out of business, and grew and grew, it demanded larger and larger discounts. And publishers, afraid of losing this important customer, conceded. So how did they make up the difference in their margin? They increased the cover price upon which the discount is granted. This does have the effect of increasing royalties to authors (if their royalty is based on retail list price), but it also reduces sales, as readers are less willing to spend $24-$35 for a hardcover, and are turned off by $7.99 paperback prices, particularly since the type in those books is so small. When the economy was booming, a lot of hardcovers were selling. In a down economy, though, even the $7.99 paperback seems a bit steep.

Also worth mentioning is that publishers have deep-discount clauses that reduce the author's royalty when the discount goes north of 48-50%. So, no matter what, the publisher is protecting its margin, either by getting more from the consumer or by paying less to the author.

If you really want to see more books published and to pay less for books, go to independent bookstores to buy your books. You can even get them online. Just go to <a href="http://www.booksense.com" target="_new">www.booksense.com</a>.

Re: Ask the Agent

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>1. Shall I tell them I have no previous writing experience or shall I just be silent about it? What if they ask for a Biography? Shall I just mention my career & studies up to date or shall I just ignore the demand for a Bio, as I have no published experience?<hr></blockquote>
A three- to four- sentence biography is fine, but really only if your experience is relevant. Otherwise, I don't see the point. Saying that you have no writing experience is like walking up to a woman and saying, "Hi. I'm a virgin. Wanna have sex?" While, in some cases that might intrigue the right woman, in publishing, I suspect it won't do a lot for you.

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>2. I'm wondering what is best to submit first in order to save some time from the waiting stage. I know that many agents and publishers want just a query first and maybe followed (when asked) by 3 chapters and synopsis. I would like to submit the query, synopsis and 3 chapters from the start, just to make sure that I give them a chance to have a look at them before they make up their mind to reject or not. Of course, there is no warranty that my papers do not go straight in the bin anyway, but maybe there is more of a chance they read them, what do you think?<hr></blockquote>
Submit what their submission guidelines request. No more, no less. If someone sends me three chapters I didn't ask for, it's annoying and, frankly slows down my response. That query and three chapters go the bottom of the pile (all 106 currently) of chapters I have to read. If you send a query that doesn't interest me, you'll find out in a week or so. Send me the chapters, it will be months, and the odds are the same that the answer will be "no." So don't waste the paper or the postage sending something they didn't request.

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>3. What is your advice for a writer who is not a native English speaker, living in UK, but submitting to the American market? Shall I make sure that the American version of words is used instead of British, or it doesn't really matter that much as this can be solved later if the book is considered publishable?<hr></blockquote>
Actually, I'd go with British. Truth is, the Brits who write just sound so much more literate than the Americans. And I would not mentioned that you are not a native English speaker. If they can't figure it out, so much the better.

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>4. How can one overcome the catch22 where agents and publishers do not want to receive unsolicited submissions from new writers?<hr></blockquote>
As someone said, if they request it, you are no longer unsolicited.

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>5. How can a new writer persuade an agent or publisher that he is serious about building a writing career (apart from describing possible future writing projects still in the draw)?<hr></blockquote>
Just act professional. That's all it takes in any business, really, to show that you're serious about the job you're doing.

Re: ask the agent

Sorry Andy,

That's what I get for posting at 5 in the morning Central European Time... my mistake.

Thanks for the frank answer.

From your website's query letter pointers, it sounds like a fair number of agents are looking for fiction authors who have personal or professional experience in the area(s) they write about.

Is this really a selling point with publishers, too?

If so, I guess that means only scientists & astronomers should submit Sci-Fi manuscripts in today's marketplace...

Hello, Mr. Zack

Question #1: When you sign to represent a client, do you just concentrate on the one work at present, or do you go through all of their past projects and see if any of those are salable as well?

Question #2: Along the same lines as the first. As an agent, if you have an unpublished client with 4 manuscripts, and two are fantasy, two are romance, and all are vastly different, would you consider this a detriment (lack of focus) rather than a bonus?

Question #3: Do you fight harder for book rights, or for the appropriate advance for a first time author? I know someone that insisted his agent talk his advance down due to the fact that he wanted more rights and cover consultation. As a result, he got a very small advance. I've always heard that small advance = small investment on the publisher's behalf, and was curious on your stance as a literary agent. Is this author shooting himself in the foot, or playing it smart in the hopes that one day the rights will be very marketable?

Thank you for your time! It is truly appreciated.

Re: Hello, Mr. Zack

Andy,

Thanks for your answers. Here's more:

Have you ever given up on placing a book with a publisher?
How long does it take for you to stop submitting a book that no one wants?
Have you ever dropped a client because you have not managed to sell his book?

Have you had any clients from UK? Would you consider any if the book is good enough?
Do you think that face to face contact is essential or everything can also be solved by mail/email?


Best Wishes,

Pencilone

Re: Hello, Mr. Zack

Pencilone--Andy an I have never met face to face, though I'd love to. Everything is done through mail/e-mail/phone with us as I'm in Texas.

Shawn

Re: When they say...

I think your query failed on two levels. First, it obviously didn't communicate that a market exists for this kind of thing. Two, you expected agents to go to the web and read something that you reference in your query?

Click to expand...

I should have clarified that we included a URL in electronic queries to agents who indicated they accept electronic queries. Obviously, we wouldn't include a URL in a paper letter. :rollin

I understand what you're saying about our first level of failure: not communicating that a market exists for our type of writing. I'm not sure what more we can do, when our query compares our proposed book to similar titles that have been excellent sellers. Of course, our full proposal makes the case much better, but we tried to hammer the salability aspect in our query, too. Evidently, we didn't do it successfully, so we need to go back and re-work that part.

I appreciate what you say about web publishing. Luckily for my co-writer and me, we fall into the category you mentioned of having a) verifiable numbers and b) high-profile print reviews. So, that bodes well for us.

We really saw web publishing less as an opportunity for vanity publishing than as an opportunity to prove to an agent and/or publishing house that we are excellent at marketing and promotion. I think we've achieved that (continue to achieve it, actually), which may work to our favor.

Thank you very much, Andy, for your candid responses. They're very helpful!

Savannah

Re: Ask the Agent

Andy, I'm someone who's a lot more useful to this community if I can speak freely. Thus the pseudonym. I'm not working on any of your books, nor have I done so in the past.

Re: Hello, Mr. Zack

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Question #1: When you sign to represent a client, do you just concentrate on the one work at present, or do you go through all of their past projects and see if any of those are salable as well?<hr></blockquote>
I prefer to concentrate on the best, most immediately marketable book.
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Question #2: Along the same lines as the first. As an agent, if you have an unpublished client with 4 manuscripts, and two are fantasy, two are romance, and all are vastly different, would you consider this a detriment (lack of focus) rather than a bonus?<hr></blockquote>
I think I mentioned somewhere above that this idea makes me cringe. I would be wary of making the time commitment to reading each of these if an author is unpublished. And maybe if they are published. I got into a situation with an SF client who wanted to write mysteries and thrillers. The publishers didn't care about his SF track record and he was soundly rejected at every turn. While I made some money selling his SF&F works, I often wonder if it was worth the time I wasted trying to sell his works in other genres.

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Question #3: Do you fight harder for book rights, or for the appropriate advance for a first time author? I know someone that insisted his agent talk his advance down due to the fact that he wanted more rights and cover consultation. As a result, he got a very small advance. I've always heard that small advance = small investment on the publisher's behalf, and was curious on your stance as a literary agent. Is this author shooting himself in the foot, or playing it smart in the hopes that one day the rights will be very marketable?<hr></blockquote>
Honestly sounds like an uneducated author or a bad agent. I generally state right up front what rights I'm offering and that's usually the US & Canada and the non-exclusive Open Market, excluding Audio. If the offer is too low, I might throw in UK to get the offer increased. If I'm happy with it, then we accept it.

By the way, cover consultation is USELESS in most cases and advance has nothing to do with whether or not you get it. Most publishers will not define in the contract when they will "consult" you and so it can be very late in the process (some send the SOLICITATION cover, already printed) and thus is pointless. It is often simply treated as notification that there's a printed cover. You want approval. But, again, advance has nothing to do with it. It's all about how happy the publisher wants to make you.

Re: Hello, Mr. Zack

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Have you ever given up on placing a book with a publisher?
How long does it take for you to stop submitting a book that no one wants?
Have you ever dropped a client because you have not managed to sell his book?

Have you had any clients from UK? Would you consider any if the book is good enough?
Do you think that face to face contact is essential or everything can also be solved by mail/email?<hr></blockquote>
Yes. Depends. Yes.
No clients from the UK. Canada, yes. Am happy to consider it. Do not believe face-to-face is essential.

Re: Ask the Agent

Hapi:

Well, if you don't mind ME knowing, I'm sure you can find me with an email or phone call. After all, if you aren't working on any of my books and haven't in the past, we should work on that, no?

Best,
Andy

Re: Ask the Agent

Thanks kindly, but I'm not my professional self here.

Re: Ask the Agent

>>By the way, cover consultation is USELESS in most cases and advance has nothing to do with whether or not you get it. Most publishers will not define in the contract when they will "consult" you and so it can be very late in the process (some send the SOLICITATION cover, already printed) and thus is pointless.<<

I've had a cover consult written into all my adult book contracts, because this is something my agent likes to do. As Andy says, the what and when of "consult" isn't defined, so the publisher isn't really bound to anything beyond showing me the final version. However, Eos has been extremely open, letting me see the initial sketch, the revised sketch if there is one, and the final painting. They're also good about asking for input at the concept stage--but once the concept is decided on and the artist starts working, the time for input is pretty much done, unless I want to annoy and inconvenience a lot of people. So "consult" doesn't mean anything like approval or creative control--it's really more of a courtesy.

I'm lucky in that I've never had a horrible cover (so far). Wrong covers, yes. But they've all been handsome.

- Victoria

Re: Hello, Mr. Zack

Mr. Zack,

Thank you for your responses. Gave me a lot to chew on.


Happy Holidays!