Jessica Faust of Book Ends Literary Ask An Agent Guest

Status
Not open for further replies.

AW Admin

Administrator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
18,772
Reaction score
6,285
Jessica has agreed to participate in Absolute Write’s Ask an Agent forum during October of 2018. She will check in frequently throughout the month to answer any questions.

Jessica Faust created BookEnds Literary Agency with a love for discovering new books and her desire to bring them to readers. Nearly 20 years later she is still seeking out the best books and clients most specifically in mystery, suspense, thriller, women’s fiction, upmarket and literary fiction, and select nonfiction. In addition to building her own list, Jessica has built BookEnds into an agency for everyone. BookEnds now has 10 agents representing a range of genres in fiction and nonfiction for adult and children of all ages. If Jessica doesn’t represent it, you can almost guarantee someone else does. You can follow Jessica on Twitter as @BookEndsJessica, her blog and the new BookEnds YouTube channel.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,442
Reaction score
25,462
Location
Snow Cave
It's a pleasure to have her here. Welcome, Jessica!
 

Shoeless

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
2,308
Reaction score
295
Welcome, Jessica! I've seen your comments on social media and your videos, and my spouse is a client of one your agents. Looking forward to seeing what kind of things you have to share here.
 

muse

standing on head, typing one-handed...
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 25, 2010
Messages
9,143
Reaction score
3,021
Location
Ireland
Welcome, Jessica. :hi:

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.
 

AgentJessica

Absolute Sage
Absolute Sage
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
46
Reaction score
13
Thank you everyone. I'm excited to be here and dig into your questions. Fair warning, if the question is good enough I may do a spin-off on any one of our social media channels. Thanks for having me!
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,442
Reaction score
25,462
Location
Snow Cave
Okay, let me throw out an easy one I see asked all over the internet.

If I self-published my book but sold very few copies (only to friends and family), can I still submit it to your agency in hope of trade publication?

Maryn, pretty sure she knows what you're about to say
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
I have a question. How important do you think social media is for writers? And what level of self-promotion do you ask your author-clients to carry out?

(Welcome to AW, by the way. It's good having you here.)
 

Woollybear

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 27, 2017
Messages
9,723
Reaction score
9,703
Location
USA
Patty asks:

In YA, is 'coming of age' the same thing as 'personal growth through overcoming challenges' ... or is it different?
 

Deadeyemouse

Perpetually Wondering Why
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2018
Messages
64
Reaction score
5
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Website
deadeyemouse.wixsite.com
I'm going to have to check back in on this thread for sure, everyone of the questions so far has been something I'd like to know the answer for. Especially the "coming of age" definition.

Does a fairly frequent use of curse words in dialogue have a negative effect on your stories potential in getting picked up?
 

Woollybear

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 27, 2017
Messages
9,723
Reaction score
9,703
Location
USA
Patty also asks:

When instructions for query submission says:

In the subject line, put the word "Query"

... does that mean that *only* the word "Query" goes there? Or can we add (TITLE, word count, age/genre) to the subject line too?
 

AgentJessica

Absolute Sage
Absolute Sage
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
46
Reaction score
13
Okay, let me throw out an easy one I see asked all over the internet.

If I self-published my book but sold very few copies (only to friends and family), can I still submit it to your agency in hope of trade publication?

Maryn, pretty sure she knows what you're about to say

Maryn: Thanks for asking. Self-publishing is tricky for a number of reasons, the first is that it does give an indication of potential sales for your book and not reaching an audience bigger than your family and friends shows a bigger risk to the publisher than someone who hasn't published at all. Not only does it show that sales will be difficult, but you've already diminished part of your audience.

In addition to that though, the publisher will evaluate a self-published book in the same way that they will evaluate a book from another publisher that they might want to reprint. They will look at the book as-is, assuming it's been edited to completion. Which means, a self-published book, unlike an unpublished manuscript will be viewed as a final product, one the publisher won't likely be able to edit. Therefore, if the book needs more work, or the publisher thinks it needs more work, they might likely pass.

All that being said, you should always feel free to submit a self-published book to our agency, or any agency, but you might have better luck with your next books.

--jessica
 

Enlightened

Always Learning
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 5, 2018
Messages
4,863
Reaction score
167
Location
Colorado
Hello AgentJessica

Thank you for doing this. Fantastic!

1. What makes an outstanding query letter, in your opinion?

2. If comp titles do not exactly match your manuscript, is it accepted to have comp authors (or should this be skipped if no, exact titles are found)? If skipped, and agent requires 3 comps, what might you suggest adding instead? How many years is too many for comp titles?
 
Last edited:

AgentJessica

Absolute Sage
Absolute Sage
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
46
Reaction score
13
I have a question. How important do you think social media is for writers? And what level of self-promotion do you ask your author-clients to carry out?

(Welcome to AW, by the way. It's good having you here.)

Thank you for the warm welcome.

I'm going to break down your question for nonfiction v. fiction writers.

For nonfiction prescriptive writers (less so with narrative) social media is incredibly important because it's a large piece of your platform and when selling a nonfiction prescriptive book, platform is key. It's what the publisher will count on to determine your expertise in the subject as well as your ability to reach readers.

For fiction I think social media is less important prior to publishing. What's really going to matter for an unpublished author is the book. Now, once you find a publisher and your book is published you will be expected to help reach readers and promote to them. These days the best way tor reach readers and market and promote is through social media.

I ask my clients to do what works for them. Before even getting published test out different social media platforms and find out what works best for you, play around, explore, have fun and follow some of your own favorite authors. Identify who you want to be on social media (yourself of course, but we all tend not to be our whole selves) and emulate some of the accounts you enjoy and connect with. It's important to try to connect with readers without always selling to them, but if it's too difficult or doesn'rt work for you then I find it's better not to be on at all, then to be on badly.

If you're interested in more social media I interviewed our own social media manager on YouTube and he has some great tips.
 

AgentJessica

Absolute Sage
Absolute Sage
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
46
Reaction score
13
Patty asks:

In YA, is 'coming of age' the same thing as 'personal growth through overcoming challenges' ... or is it different?

Hey Patty!

I'm going to be honest, I have no idea exactly what you're talking about. I would say they sound like exactly the same thing to me. Are you looking to categorize your book or simply determine if an agent is right? If it's categorization you're looking for I would suggest simply sticking with "YA" and if it's determining what agents might be right I would say those terms seem to be the same.

Sometimes an agent or two will further describe something that sound a bit like a sub-category. I wouldn't get hung up on it too much. No book in a bookstore is defined by either of those descriptions. They are simply called YA.
 

AgentJessica

Absolute Sage
Absolute Sage
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
46
Reaction score
13
I'm going to have to check back in on this thread for sure, everyone of the questions so far has been something I'd like to know the answer for. Especially the "coming of age" definition.

Does a fairly frequent use of curse words in dialogue have a negative effect on your stories potential in getting picked up?

Thanks!

I had further thoughts on "coming of age" after reading your post and that's that not all coming of age will be YA. Authors like Jay McInerney and even Philip Roth might likely have been considered coming of age at one point and they would in no way be considered YA. Coming of age could be a further description of a more adult-leaning novel, but one that's too old for YA. But again, it's more of a description and not a genre.

I have no issue with curse words, although I imagine there are agents who might. One thing to consider is that if it feels like the use is too frequent or if you start to really notice them they might lose their impact and feel gratuitious. In that case, they might have a negative effect. Overall though, curse words are something an agent could help you edit out if it seems like too much.
 

AgentJessica

Absolute Sage
Absolute Sage
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
46
Reaction score
13
Patty also asks:

When instructions for query submission says:

In the subject line, put the word "Query"

... does that mean that *only* the word "Query" goes there? Or can we add (TITLE, word count, age/genre) to the subject line too?

I would suggest adding title and/or author name or something else. The idea is usually that an email inbox is screened to deposit anything with "query" in the subject into a folder of queries. But adding a title or something identifying also makes it easier for an agent to search if need be later.
 

AgentJessica

Absolute Sage
Absolute Sage
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
46
Reaction score
13
Hello AgentJessica

Thank you for doing this. Fantastic!

1. What makes an outstanding query letter, in your opinion?

2. If comp titles do not exactly match your manuscript, is it accepted to have comp authors (or should this be skipped if no, exact titles are found)? If skipped, and agent requires 3 comps, what might you suggest adding instead? How many years is too many for comp titles?

Thank you for the questions!

A query for me is all about the blurb. In fact, often I read the blurb before or even instead of reading anything else. An outstanding query is simple in style, short (one page), has a blurb with a hook and idea that is different and immediately grabs my attention and conveys the author's voice, which will also help grab my attention.

Comp authors are fine as far as I'm concerned and if you don't feel like you have any fair comps skip it. I guess I don't know of agents who require comps, but apparently some must. But remember you could also use movies, TV shows or other media. But there must be something that your book will appeal to fans of because that's what comp titles really are, what other books will fans of your books be reading. Who would you think belongs on the bookshelf next to your book?
 

Enlightened

Always Learning
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 5, 2018
Messages
4,863
Reaction score
167
Location
Colorado
Hello Jessica.

Absolutely wonderful. Thank you for the wonderful and timely responses. Your responses helped me a great deal.

Cheers!
 

Woollybear

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 27, 2017
Messages
9,723
Reaction score
9,703
Location
USA
Yes, thank you greatly.

I asked for the distinction between coming of age/etc because there is an agent that wants one and definitely NOT the other and so I am perplexed. At least we are confused together. I wondered if C.O.A. implied first sexual experience, for example.

Patty asks:

If a full is requested, is it expected within the hour, day, week? What is the standard response time of writers to agents, when fulls are requested?

I am a never-ending tinkerer, and I'd want to glance through the whole ms with spell check and so on, before sending off. A few days grace would be priceless. Is this appropriate?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.