Ask Ben Salmon! Guest agent arriving August 2nd.

Thanks for your time, Ben. Thought I'd get off a question (or five) before the thread got filled:

*How seriously do agents take a newbie writer submitting a novel with absolutely no previous writing credits?

*Do those manuscripts go to the bottom of the slush pile automatically?

*Conversely, does even one pub credit in a magazine make you take a novel more seriously?

*How often have you found a publishable writer who had no previous credits?

*And what would you advise we write in our queries when it comes time for the "this is my long and distinguished list of credits" line when we have none?

Thanks in advance.

question on types of submissions

Hi, Ben! Thanks for being here. Are you at all interested in young-adult novels? Are there other genres you favor?

Hi Ben, and thanks for being here!

Just one question: what is worse in a query, no publishing credits at all, or publishing credits, but unearned advances, and subsequently dropped by big name publisher?

Hi Ben. Thanks for being here. I have two questions.

1. I am trying to survive my first manuscript request from a publisher for my novel and am not sure what I should do with regards to an agent. More specifically, as a result of the publisher's interest, I have been recommended to an agent by their client. What is the etiquette in that situation? Should I not query other agents until I hear back from this one? I don't want to seem ungrateful for the recommendation, but I need to be sure I'm doing what's best for my book too.

Of course, I would be happy to work with the agent, but they may not want me--there are no guarantees. Hence my concern. I definitely don't want to be on my own with the publisher.

2. Aside from continuing to write, what should I be doing during the waiting period between the time a publisher asks for a manuscript and makes a decision? Should I be preparing proposals for my next two fiction books?

I spent a lot of time learning about writing and focusing on finishing my book, never anticipating I would ever get this far. I'm out of my depth.

Thanks for your help.

Viola

Ben,
Further on Aruna's question. Can you ever have too many credits? Is it best to list the most recent and let it go at that? And once you're convinced I'm really a published writer--how many rungs up the slush pile does that get me?

Many of my books are long out of print (they seem to go out of print the day after they're published). Are previous sales figures from a decade or more ago something an agent will try to hunt down?

Further on popmuze's question: if those less than stellar sales were in Great Britain, can I start off as a publishing virgin in the USA?

My questions...

Hi Ben

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions. My questions are:

1. You mention on your profile that you are interested in "what’s going to be the next hot topic". In your opinion what are the future hot topics?

2. Are people still interested in the worts and all memoirs of dealing with personal demons? Has interest flagged since the James Frey debacle?

3. What is the market like for self-help and/or pop psychology books? Is there any sub-category of this genre that is likely to experience high demand in the near future? What subjects would you be interested in seeing a proposal/query on?

4. What is your opinion on the importance of a platform for non-fiction authors? Would you represent an author that has no platform in the U.S. I have a "profile" in NZ but it is a very small market. I do have speaking skills as well as media training for TV and radio but no client base in the US.

5. Does the (non fiction) manuscript have to be complete at the time of query?

6. Can you please share with us your most successful author and / or book deal and tell us what was involved in achieving this success

Thanks, Talia

Your profile on AgentQuery indicates you take humor/satire works.

Just what about those type of works draws you in and holds your interest? What features would a satirical work have to have in order to make you want to represent it?

Say you're repping someone, but you haven't sold anything for them yet.

This person wants to continue working (as they should) on their writing. Should they continue to write complete novels and hope that they turn out well and the agent likes them, or should the writer concentrate on short proposals instead?

At what point in your career does this change?

(Geez, I hope that makes sense. It's early.)

question to moderator

Good Word said:

His bio at Rights, Unlimited: http://www.rightsunlimited.com/who.htm

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Have you ever taken on a client who hasn't finished the book yet? Have you ever read a synopsis and sample chapters for a story that wasn't completed that you felt you just had to have?

Mr. Salmon,

First let me thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. I’m new to the industry and recently queried my MS to several agencies. Today of all days, I received my first two rejections. I must say it hurt. But, more importantly, something dawned on me when I looked them over carefully. Agencies and publishers all claim that they expect, nay demand, all query letters be professional, yet their rejections—form letters I might add—were sloppy and unprofessional. Why is that? To me it appears that what’s good for one isn’t the same for the other.

Now, with that out of the way, I’d like to hit on a question already posed: I presently have no publishing credits, so what do I do? I have heard that I must put that in the letter, but I have also heard that I shouldn’t.

Also I am interested in the horror genre. I realize this is not your specialty, however, I hope you can answer the question of why there appears to be so few agents representing the genre? I came across loads of agents who represent thrillers and suspense, but not even a handful for horror.

Finally, can you explain to me what makes a query letter stand out to you and others you work with? I realize everyone is different, but some idea of what sets a good query letter aside from a bad one would be helpful.

Thanks again for your time.

Outlaw

Hi Mr. Salmon:

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. I'll get right to the point with mine.

Lately there has been some debate on this site as to how long is "too long" to wait when an agent has sent your manuscript out to editors. In other words, let's say there are houses who have been holding on to your manuscipt for nearly six months. My agent always tells me these houses are still considering. She also told me this could be expected because my project is somewhat outside the norm for a first-time novel. I don't mind the wait because I do understand completely what she is telling me. However, having read several posts in which this topic has been debated- "No news is bad news" vs. "No news is good news"--I was wondering if you could weigh in with your own opinion. Some people say that a long delay means the houses are giving the manuscript more serious and in-depth consideration; others say it simply means that the manuscript is probably languishing in the slush pile, and that if they considered it a "hot property" they would be right on it.

I can see the sense behind both modes of thought, but since I'm actually in this boat right now, it doesn't do much to ease my nail-biting. And I also try to adhere to the advice of not pestering my agent too much with "What news?" In all fairness, she does give me updates, but I'm just wondering. The manuscript went out in late March and it is now late July.
Most of the passes we received came relatively quickly, within a month.
Which leads me to (hopefully) believe that the eighteen or so houses "still considering" are at least giving it much more serious thought than the ones who initially passed. This is what I like to believe, anyway. However, at this stage of the game, I'm wondering if I should still hold out hope or if I should be starting to think more (as in a lot more) about my next project?

Oooh, that leads me to another great question:

When you rep a novel, how many publishers do you send it to at once? Three? Six? Twelve? Fifty? What's the method (and reasoning) behind this? I was under the mistaken impression that it went out to one publisher at a time, but do you send to multiple houses to try and generate an auction?

Thank you so much for your time!

Ben,
Another raging debate on this site is whether "all rejections are created equal."
Obviously, a rejection means you're not taking on the book. But are there different form letters you send when an author comes close?
When you write a personal note, stating that the author is a brilliant writer but you still don't want to sign him up--what is the reasoning behind that?
When you say "I'm sure another agent will take you on," are you in reality leaving out the words "in some alternate universe"????
When you say "I don't think I could sell this," what would make an author believe any other agent could sell this?
When you say "I just didn't love this as much as I'd have liked" does that mean if you really loved it you could sell it?
Thanks for helping to solve some of these age-old questions.

Hi Ben, thanks for being here.

You are reading your current batch of Query Letters.

What are your most frequent last thoughts as you hit the phrase or paragraph which makes you decide to lob the current Query into the reject tray?

It's said we have around 10 seconds to grab and keep your attention. If this is so, do you ever read on - hoping the next 10 seconds will be better?

Finally, do you always read the synopsis prior to reading the manuscript, or do you prefer the other way around?

Currently I'm waiting to hear back from an agent who's had my complete MS for several months (4 to be exact), and I'm wondering about the dreaded "nudge" from an aspiring client who hopes to get signed.

When is it appropriate to nudge an agent who's had your MS for a long time? How long is too long to wait? How much longer should I be prepared to wait on a complete MS than on a partial?

Or should I just sit on my hands, keep my mouth shut and avoid the risk of shooting myself in the foot? Does getting a nudge from a prospective client ever help his or her submission? Is it really so awful to send a brief, polite email asking for an update while you're trying hard to sit tight and not chew your own foot off?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts here.

Good morning, everyone! I wanted to put in a little introductory post before I started taking a crack at some questions. And since every little message board has its own posting quirks, I'm hoping to figure some of them out now. Consider this my test run.

Thanks to "Good Word" for setting this up and to all of you for having me. I'm hoping this will be a bit fun. And maybe I'll even be able to help out a bit.

I must admit, I have a bit of a problem with verbosity. I have a tendency to over-answer, be redundant and write too much (get it?). I'm attempting to practice being concise and as to-the-point as I can, though I'm sure I'll fail. Hopefully, I'll at least entertain you.

My plan is to hop in and out of here throughout the next three days. I'll probably jump in, answer a question or two and jump out again. I doubt I'll answer a ton of questions at once; I'd rather spread them out and savor their tastiness. I'm slogging through a couple contracts right now (I really do love them, but come on, with this heat...!), though, so I'm sure I'll welcome the distraction.

If I don't answer your question well enough, feel free to clarify and ask again. But do try to reserve the tar and feathers for when I really deserve it. 'Cause I'm sure, at some point, I will.

And if you're really lucky, I'll even try to incorporate one of my favorite words into a post or two: gormandize.

Good Word said:

Ben, we look forward to gormandizing your insight and knowledge.

Now, I may have misused that word for all to see, but hey, ya gotta take a few risks now and then, right?

We're glad you're here!

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Welcome Ben. I look forward to reading your answers to the questions of the members of the forums. My question is: When you want to include someone in a book, like ask a question and quote the answer in the book, how do you approach them? For example, I have a book idea in mind. I want to go and ask a professor or someone a question and want to include the answer in my book. In order to do that, how do I approach the person to asking them about answering a question to be included in the book?

*How seriously do agents take a newbie writer submitting a novel with absolutely no previous writing credits?

As seriously as the writing is good. I'm always looking for a successful debut author that comes "out of nowhere." They're a great find and can be a bit of a challenge, but when it works, there's nothing else like it. I love it, the editor loves it, the house loves it... it just feels so darn good. Sure, I look at credits and connections and MFAs and the like, but I'm really looking at the story and the writing. Do something new and exciting and do it better than you ever thought you could, and I'll take notice. And so will the editors I know. A manuscript that keeps me up at night will trump all. Besides, there's always a pitch. If it's not about writing credits, it's about the 21-year-old gas station clerk that wrote, between shifts, the most jaw-dropping novel of the century. If I love a book, I'll make the pitch work.

*Do those manuscripts go to the bottom of the slush pile automatically?

Yes, an editor from the New Yorker who was referred to me by a client of mine goes to the top of the pile. But that doesn't really mean that an unknown, debut author with no writing credits goes to the bottom. I don't really think like that.

*Conversely, does even one pub credit in a magazine make you take a novel more seriously?

Eh, it doesn’t hurt, but it still makes you look just as fledgling, I'd think. Get a solid handful of them and I'll know that a lot of other people have taken your writing seriously.

*How often have you found a publishable writer who had no previous credits?

What an obsession we have with credits! Filter that energy into making the story and writing so amazing that credits won't matter.

*And what would you advise we write in our queries when it comes time for the "this is my long and distinguished list of credits" line when we have none?

Do you see how I deflected the above question? (For the record, I only did it because I could. I take on writers without credits, I just don't really feel like quantifying it.) Deflect it in your query letter. Write something witty about yourself. Draw attention away from a lack of credits. Make me not even think about your credits, or lack thereof. Mention a career you have that is relevant to the story you wrote (roman a clef, anyone?). But please, don't, under ANY circumstances, say, "I'm a unpublished writer, I have no credits, so I'm sure you won't give a flying crap about me, but I hope you find the time to at least reject me on real letterhead within the next century or so." There's always a positive spin you can take. Negativity kills a query for me. (But be warned, so does inflated arrogance. I'm so tired of hearing that a book will be the "next big bestseller.")

I'm working on a query letter. I put it here on AW query site(a great resource). One question just arose: How specific should my previous publishing history be? I've published children's books, business books, el-hi curricula, written a PBS special, music for children's tv. I listed publishers, titles, etc.The forum just told me it was too much. You're an agent. How do you feel about it?