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Your book will probably never be made into a movie

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:35:00 +0000

Most authors harbour secret or not-so-secret dreams of their book or manuscript being made into a movie. Usually it's novelists who dream this more frequently than non-fiction writers, who tend to be a little less attached to the idea, unless they're memoirists or write narrative non-fiction or true crime.

The blunt, unadorned truth is that your story is unlikely to be made into a movie, and not because it's not fantastic, just because movies are very different beasts and what goes into making a good movie isn't often what makes a good book. I am telling you this blunt, unadorned truth to help you manage your own expectations.

It's tempting to finish there and just say, 'Good luck with that!' but I feel an explanation - or even just some information - may be in order. So here are the Things to Know About Turning Books into Movies.

1. Adapting novels into screenplays is very difficult. If you work off the principle that each page of a screenplay is one minute of screen time, and that a film will average 90 minutes, that's a 90-page screenplay. And screenplays are not like books: there is lots of white space on each page. So your 300-page novel has to be turned into a 90-page screenplay that contains very little description and mostly dialogue, which means a lot of the story has to go. And it has to be a certain type of story to withstand that kind of stripping down. Usually a story with a good, clear dramatic arc and strong protagonists. No arc? Fahgeddaboutit.

2. It's important to remember that, as the author of the 300-page novel, you are not likely to be the person best qualified to write the 90-page screenplay adaptation of your novel, unless you have screenwriting experience. And, at any rate, seeing your novel turned into a screenplay is a bit like watching sausages get made: not advisable, especially for vegetarians.

3. One of the major factors - if not the major factor - that goes into deciding whether or not a book is suitable for adaptation to screen is how much it would cost to make as a movie. If your book is set in the past or the future, that complicates matters. Vintage cars, clothes and locations cost money; so do spaceships. Any producer who is thinking about adapting your novel is going to primarily ponder the cost of making the movie or series that results.

4. It helps if your book has sold well, if only to get it to the attention of producers. There are so many books out there - the producers need to have a reason to read yours, and a built-in readership-cum-audience is a persuasive reason. Of course, having a great story helps too ...

5. You thought the publishing industry was slow? We are sprinters compared to the cross-country game of the film industry. So even if your story is getting some attention amongst film types, prepare to wait, and wait, and wait, for anything to happen. First you'll wait for the option to be done. Then you'll wait for a screenwriter to be attached. Then you'll wait for the screenplay to go through development, while the producer drums up funds. And on it goes.

6. This last point is an important one for those of you who don't have access to an agent or lawyer: do not straightaway sell your film or TV rights. Not to the first person who asks, nor to the last. If someone wants to turn your book into a movie, they have to option the material. And that is an option to purchase. They get to buy the rights when they plug in the lights on the first day of filming.

So while I don't like to encourage writers to give up on their dreams, in this particular area it is advisable to keep the dreams at a manageable level. But, then again, I'm not of the school of telling people to just 'dream big!!!' anyway, mainly because I have seen what disappointment looks like and I'd rather spare you all that experience. As the sole cause of disappointment is expectation, better to manage your expectations.

Sometimes it takes a really long time to get published

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:51:00 +0000

A few years ago I took on an author - let's code-name her AG. AG had written a manuscript that was in a genre that didn't usually appeal to me, and it needed at least another draft. But it was clear that she was hugely talented and I loved the story. She has a natural gift for storytelling and a great facility with language. So I sent out the novel to the publishers whom I thought would like it. One of them was very keen. This publisher asked for some rewrites, which AG cheerfully did in her ninth month of her first pregnancy, when she probably had other things on her mind. That publisher wasn't able to get the novel through acquisitions but later suggested that AG write another type of novel, which she did. (I should point out that AG is the sort of writer who is in love with the process of writing and drafting - not all writers are, and if you aren't that sort of writer it doesn't mean you're a better or worse writer than someone like AG.) That novel didn't get through the acquisitions process either.

More time passed. I kept an eye open for opportunities for AG, and she was very patient about it all. AG now has two children - and one publisher. Yes, at last, someone else loved the novel as much as I did and was able to convince their colleagues about it too.

I'm passing on this story to illustrate, mainly, the point that it can take a long time to find a publisher, even when there are plenty of people who love what you do. Also to afford the chance to talk about why I think AG ultimately did find a publisher. Firstly, there is (obviously) her skill as a writer. But she has some qualities apart from that which have helped. Both of us could have walked away from our professional relationship at the point at which the second novel didn't get up. I wouldn't have blamed her if she'd wanted to go, and I wouldn't have blamed myself if she went. But the simple fact is that she's a great client. She is professional and realistic. Not once has she fallen into the 'poor me' trap which can defeat many a talented writer - purely because, I reckon, it starts draining their energy towards a dangerous downwards spiral. She kept her chin up and she retained her love of writing. Some of this has to do with her personality; a lot of it has to do, I suspect, with decisions she has made along the way.

Now AG has a publisher who thinks she's fantastic. I think she's fantastic. I just wish I could tell you her name so that you'll find out how fantastic she is too. But that would give away my top-secret identity ...

Click on this link

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:31:00 +0000

A fairy godsister (as she's not old enough to be a fairy godmother) sent me the following link:

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/01/24/25-things-writers-should-know-about-agents/

I recommend you click on it as it's to a post entitled '25 Things Writers Should Know About Agents'. While the post contains some information that is similar to things I've posted in the past, it's going to save you having to trawl through this blog to find it!

Settle, petal

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:33:00 +0000

You mention in one of your responses 'publishing people value manners,' and you often urge politeness, but surely it cuts both ways. I submitted a query to an agent a couple of months ago but, receiving no reply after six weeks, I queried another agent and am still waiting for a response. Yes, their websites said they were open for submissions and, yes, I did follow the submission guidelines conscientiously.

If they are not interested it surely takes only a couple of minutes to hit the 'reply' button, type 'no thanks' and hit the send button. Getting no answer at all is worse than getting a knock-back. Incidentally, I have also queried agents in the USA and UK and usually get an answer within a day or two, albeit sometimes automated. Should I contact agents who fail to respond and ask (politely) whether their email or mine has gone astray?

Yes, it cuts both ways. I've never said that it hasn't. But if you have read other entries on this website you will also have read about the restrictions on time and resources for agents, particularly in Australia. Most of us don't have assistants. Most of us are trying to fit in the submission-reading and submission-replying in our private time. The agents in the US and the UK usually have administrative help, so they can turn around submissions faster.

You'd also have read that a couple of months is really not a long time in publishing. We do the best we can - honestly, we do. But you probably would not believe how many submissions we receive if I told you. If I spent my time only reading submissions, I still wouldn't get through them at a pace that would satisfy the authors who sent them. Because the other side of this is that many authors take ten years to write a novel and then want a response to a submission within ten days. Our reading takes time, just as your writing did.

Is this slow-response situation ideal? No. I would love to be able to get back to submissions faster than I do - I would love to spend a lot of my time reading submissions. But my clients come first. And I also have to be mindful of my relationships with publishers. They take time too. I do always have it in the back of my mind, though, that the people who sent in submissions need an answer. So if you send an email after a few weeks reminding me about your submission, that is completely understandable. Check the submission guidelines first, though. Some agents say how long they're likely to take to respond. If they don't, then eight weeks is a reasonable amount of time after which you can remind an Australian agent that you exist. If they do, then wait however much time they've said and then another week or so, and then make contact. Just don't call unless they specifically say you can. Just as you wouldn't believe how many submissions I get, you wouldn't believe how many people call, and it all takes time away from getting our work done - and getting to your submission faster.

Age is not the issue

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:22:00 +0000

I'm a young writer (still in school) and very interested in becoming a published author. I write fiction mainly consisting of fantasy and supernatural. What can I do to help myself get there? Should I look for agents now or wait until I'm older with more experience?

You can help yourself do what writers of any age do - read, read, read and write, write, write. Your age could be a factor if you were attempting to appeal exclusively to readers over the age of 50 - it would then be arguable that you perhaps should wait until you've experienced what it's actually like to be 50. Except maybe you have a great imagination and you know lots of people in their 50s and you're a really good listener ...

Age is not the issue for writers - that is, it's not that you don't know what you're doing just because you're young. It's actually time that is the issue. The older you are, the more time you've had to spend reading, and honing your writing skills, and finding out all you can about writing. If you're 30, you've had more time to leave manuscripts in the bottom drawer and more time to try out different things than you'd have had at 16 or 17. But you shouldn't let that stop you - you should just be aware that, regardless of your talent, you're submitting to agents and publishers alongside writers who have had more time.

Humorous novels and agent specialisation

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:54:00 +0000

Just browsing your site re US agents and wondering if there are many agents in Australia who are dedicated to humour/satire genre or is it best to approach a US agent?

Would much appreciate any advice you have regarding this, my partner has written 2 complete novels and madly starting his third, is as yet unpublished and about to approach some agents with one of his manuscripts.

Agents in Australian can't really afford to specialise in one genre of anything - some reasons can be found here - so you're not going to be able to find out if they're interested in humour/satire unless you send a submission. You can presume that if an agent or agency is accepting fiction submissions, they'll be interested in a funny story unless they explicitly say otherwise. Your partner may also wish to query US agents at the same time and he should mention that he's doing so when he sends his submission to Australian agents.

Staying on the right side of the law

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:57:00 +0000

I'm looking to write a kind of Bill Bryson memoir of my year working in a coal mine. Can I just change the names of the people and not mention where the place was and be O.K.?

To be safe you should change names, places and identifying characteristics (don't just change a person's name, change their hair colour and height), and also make sure you keep a record of what you've changed and what the new name/place/etc is. Of course, I'm suggesting you do this on the presumption that what you've written is potentially defamatory, or may be construed as such, because that's the main reason to be nervous about using identifying details. But even if you're not defaming anyone else, it's often a good idea in a memoir to be vague about some of this information.

What intrigues me most about your question, though, is that fact that you're writing a 'Bill Bryson memoir' about working in a coal mine. My brain is trying to understand what that would be like!

Greatest hits: The slush pile and how to emerge from it

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:28:00 +0000

**Recently I was talking to a friend about this blog and I mentioned that there wasn't much for me to do any more, as I've answered a lot of questions over the past four years. She suggested that I post some 'greatest hits' for the newer readers. So here's the first of them. Let's hope I can find others! And thanks to my friend K for the suggestion.**

Reader kaz posted the following question in a comment, and I thought it was worth pulling into the main site:

"I’ve placed three first novels in the past few months, with good prospects for others." How do you find new authors, Agent S? Do you just stumble upon them in the 'slush pile'? If so, what makes them stand out from the crowd?

I have stumbled across some in the slush pile; others have come through referrals from existing clients or are writers I've met in the course of work.

Those who came from the slush pile have a few elements in common:
1. Fantastic query letter. You'd be surprised how often the covering letter says something like, 'Here is my novel. I hope you like it' and that's it. All the written communication from an author is an indication of how they write, from their cover letter to their emails and all points in between. I'm sure that often writers don't know that they shouldn't do this (hence one of the reasons for this blog - to shine a bit of light on what authors need to do), but they really shouldn't. Because a letter like that makes me think that the author can't articulate what their novel is about, they can't tell me who they are or what they want from their writing, and they certainly can't tell me why they approached my agency. Writing a query letter is a skill, and good writers refine their query letters several times. There are workshops on it in the US, and you may find the odd one at a writers' centre here too.

2. The author has taken their time with the manuscript before sending it in; it is usually the fourth or fifth draft or beyond by the time they send it in (and they say this in the query letter). They may also have done some courses, such as QWC's 'Year of the Novel' or a program at Varuna. This indicates that are realistic about how much work is involved in writing a novel and will therefore be more realistic about the publishing road ahead.

3. They are great writers. Their prose may shine like a jewel; or maybe it doesn't but they tell such a fantastic story that the prose is not the focus.

4. They are polite in their communication with the agency and respectful of the amount of time it may take us to make a decision about their manuscript. This point is actually quite important, because I, at least, feel that I'm 'auditioning' writers for publishers (and that does not mean that I think agents should be treated as if on a pedestal - although I do like my grapes peeled occasionally). Writers who are unreasonably difficult with their publishers often never get published again, because the Australian publishing culture is quite genteel and really doesn't take well to foot-stompers. So if someone is routinely shirty with me, I know exactly how they'll behave with their publisher and what that will mean for their book: usually, not much. It takes more effort to be angry than to be reasonable, and it's easier to be reasonable when you remember that agents and publishers aren't the enemy. We love books - that's why we work in publishing. We just don't have 24 hours a day to read submissions, so it will take us some time to get back to you. If you respect our request to give us three months to read your submission, we'll respect your writing. If you, instead, call after two weeks to complain that we're taking too much time, that doesn't really bode well.

Pitch, wait, wait, wait, follow up

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:14:00 +0000

I recently pitched to a publisher at a writer's festival and forgot to ask how the follow-up procedure worked. I left them with a query letter and the first chapter of my novel. What do you suggest the follow-up procedure should be? Should I call after three months if I have not heard anything etc?

Three months is very reasonable but I actually think you don't need to wait that long if it was a letter and a chapter and you met someone - six weeks is enough time. Only call if you have a number for an actual individual - if all you have is a switchboard number, you're probably not going to get through. And the reason for that, in my experience, is that us publishing folks don't like phone calls. We like things in writing (this probably won't come as a surprise). So send an email - if it's to a general email address, mark it for the attention of whomever it was you met, briefly say where you met and what you gave her/him, say that you're following up and that if you haven't heard back within another six weeks, you'll send another note. Keep it short and polite. Don't ask for anything. Don't use any words that could be construed as a complaint that you haven't heard from her/him already. Do not look directly into their eyes. Do not feed the animals. Et cetera.

If you still haven't heard after three months, leave it. In the meantime, you should be querying elsewhere. Unless this publisher asked you for exclusivity they don't expect it, so put some other irons in the fire while you wait.

The possibility of offending people and other thoughts on submissions

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:07:00 +0000

A commenter to the previous post posited the following:

... the pool of people potentially to offend (ie people and companies taking submissions, especially in Australia) is so small and so apparently interconnected, the possibility of getting it wrong seems like a big risk to take -- is it unreasonable to fear that a mistake will affect all your future submissions as well as the current one? It seems hard to condemn someone for overthinking it, the way it is in the publishing industry at the moment.

And the answer is: yes, it's unreasonable. The reason I say that is that the publishing industry - as monolithic and impenetrable as it seems - is not a collective of vindictive individuals, let alone individuals who have enough time and brain space to remember the name of each author who sends in a submission, the better to be able to give them a black mark for a future submission. Nor do we discuss submissions with each other. So while, yes, the industry is interconnected - as many are - we don't tend to conspire.

So for those of you who are submitting now or in the future, or who have submitted in the past and not been successful, please bear this in mind: in almost 100% of cases rejection isn't personal to you, the author. It is about your work. If the rejection is personal, then it means you have already had some kind of interaction with an agent or publisher and it's not working out for whatever reason, and thus the relationship is severed, regardless of what the work's like. But usually it's the work.

Accordingly, when you're planning to submit, ensure that your work is the best it can be. Then do your best with the query/submission letter and the synopsis if these things are requested. All you can do is your best. Everyone in the publishing industry understands this. And we won't know if you're not doing your best, of course, because we don't know you; so we presume that you do your best and make a decision accordingly.

If you have not done your best, do not be surprised if you're rejected - you haven't given yourself much of a chance, so why should an agent or publisher give you a chance? This reaction, by the way, is not evidence of malice on their part.

Finally, before submitting, work out what sort of person you are: the sort who believes that things happen to them because everything is against them and they can't control what happens - the 'why me?' or 'God hates me' type - or the sort who believes they have some kind of agency in their own fate. Because this, more than anything, will determine how you handle the submission process and the inevitable rejections - which the vast majority of published authors have received, by the way, at some stage of their career.

You can make your work the best it can be but still be a 'why me?' type who is going to fall at the first hurdle; you can submit work that is not your best but also be a person who believes that they can have control over their own life. The ideal combination is to be a writer who makes their work the best it can be and also be a person who believes that things that happen to them are not the result of a malevolent force that's out to get them. Both of these things are within your control. Both of them affect your ability to succeed at what you want to do. Being a successful writer - however you define that - takes talent and application. Mostly application. And application is also within your control.

Tripping over genres

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:14:00 +0000

This may sound odd or, sadder, not sound odd. I've completed a manuscript ("Ack! Another one! Quick run away!!!") and am about to seek representation in North America.

I've written a supernatural mystery, but have a question about genre. It is an unwarranted imposition, but would Supernatural Mystery be used and universally understood in the industry or would I be better advised going with Paranormal or just staying with the umbrella of Fantasy? Are there genre identifiers that should be avoided? What is common parlance in the publishing industry today?

You know better than anyone, the publishing and agenting worlds have changed. Ten years ago there were a dozen subgenres of Science Fiction. Today there are scores not counting the sub-subgenres.

'Supernatural mystery' sounds pretty clear to me - it's a mystery story with supernatural elements, yeah? I guess you could call it 'paranormal mystery' if you prefer, but then you'd want to make sure that it conforms to the (many, it seems) rules about the paranormal genre.

'Supernatural' probably gives you a bit more freedom and - newsflash - no one is going to reject you if you don't get your genre just right, unless you send this supernatural mystery to an agent who only looks after romance novels or one who only does non-fiction. When someone sends me something with a genre on it, I use it as a guide but only that, because if I take on the manuscript and submit it to publishers, I may have to change the genre anyway to suit what the publishers are used to. Genre is a fast-and-loose proposition these days.

As always, though, the most important thing is your writing. If you have written a brilliant paranormal romance and somehow labelled it 'supernatural mystery', will I care about the genre mis-identification? No. I just care about the writing. Of course, if you have a screaming match with me about the fact that you want to call it supernatural mystery when it's clearly not, then may change my mind about wanting to have you as a client ... but the problem there is the screaming, not the genre itself.

Oh, woe is you

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:20:00 +0000

Do any Australian agents have their books open at the moment?

(I can't find any)

Then, mate, you're just being lazy. It took me five minutes to find out that the following agencies have submissions of one kind or another open:

Australian Literary Management

And they're just the ones I found in five minutes - and in case you weren't sure, 'accepting submissions' means 'books are open'. However, since I now know your name and also know that you have lazy tendencies, don't expect me to look kindly on your submission if it ever darkens my door ...

Stell-aaaaaa Stell-aaaaaaa

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 05:37:00 +0000

I wonder if you've been keeping up with the recent debate about a perception of bias against women in the publishing industry (widely defined to include publishers, publications, writing prizes, and book reviewers)? And if you are across the debate, what are your thoughts?

See also:

Love your blog, by the way, and only wish you'd post more often.

Okay, last point first - thanks for the compliment, and the reason I don't post more often is, first, that people don't ask me questions that often any more and, second, after four years of doing this I don't have too much left to say that I haven't already said. Oh, and there's a third reason: blogging takes up a fair bit of time and I seem to have more to do than ever, what with the keeping up with digital issues and whatnot. So even if I wanted to blog about non-questiony things, I just wouldn't have the brain power or, frankly, the time.

Now, to your question.

Yes, I've been keeping up the debate. I try to keep up with current debates in all sorts of things because it makes me seem less unedumacated when I talk to people.

I don't think the problem is bias against women in the publishing industry. I think the problem is bias against women in the culture generally. Male sports players, male musicians, male writers, male film-makers, male newsreaders dominate our cultural outpourings. Et cetera. This is not new news. We have a male-dominated culture - for now. This is not to say that all men support this culture, or that men are solely responsible for it.

Why it seems weird in publishing is that women buy most of the books. Often they buy those books for men and, rightly or wrongly, they have their own perceptions about what sort of books men will read. As do the men themselves.

This often goes no further and is not more complicated than the author's name on the cover. Female name: men don't buy. Gender-neutral name (i.e. female author uses initials or has a first name that is gender-ambiguous): men probably buy. Male name: men buy. NB: women will buy books by anyone for themselves, but not usually for their son, father, brother or husband. (This is my observation and not a scientific statement.) But I know men who are really eclectic readers, in that they will read books in any genre, but they categorically will not buy a book written by a woman because they think it has no relevance to them. Apparently women don't have the same issue regarding male authors - and thank goodness, because Dan Brown and John Grisham et al would never have had careers.

So where does this bias start? At school? In the home, when those men are little boys being read to by their parents? Who knows. But it's there. And booksellers and publishers are businesses - they will go where the money is, so they are reluctant to publish books in certain genres that will only appeal to women. That's why you see a lot of authors with initials on the covers of crime novels and thrillers. And not just in those genres: JK Rowling, anyone?

This debate has focused on so-called literary fiction. There has been a lot written about it by people far more eminent than me. But, in short, the genres that women traditionally read and write are not, and are unlikely ever to be, considered to be 'literary' fiction. So that genre is in the blokes' domain. Hence, there are more blokes nominated for literary prizes for literary fiction. As far as I'm concerned, they can have fun with their prizes while Harlequin laughs all the way to the bank and dominates the publishing landscape in the digital age. But I am not a literary novelist trying in vain to get published in a genre that seems to favour people with different chromosomal structures, nor am I a book reviewer or someone trying to get a book reviewed. I completely understand their frustrations. And to that I shall say what I usually say to people seeking to change institutions and institutional structures: subvert from within.

Becoming a literary agent: introductory course

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:58:00 +0000

I've been reading your blog and you answer questions asked by aspiring authors. I was just wondering if you could possibly give advice on becoming a literary agent? Especially in Australia. I'm in my penultimate year at university, and I would love to know how to get a foot in the door of becoming a literary agent. It's often noted how important networking is, but it seems you need some sort of established background before someone even takes notice.

Currently, I'm trying to get an internship over the summer holidays. There are very few literary agencies in Australia, but do you still think there would be a chance they'll accept an intern? If it's a yes or no, and why? I thought it would be a good time since many individuals would go on holiday with their kids.

Also, I've been reading on submission guidelines. And there seems to be very little agencies that represent Young Adult work. Is there a reason for that or are Australian agents just not interested at the moment? My favourite genre is YA, and I think there should be more Australian YA authors in the market. I'm honestly curious because I see so much potential.

I can't imagine how anyone would become an agent straight out of university unless she was going into a fairly large, established agency where she could be trained. Being an agent, like many jobs, depends on relationships. If I don't have relationships with any publishers, I can't place books with them. Certainly, when I started I didn't have as many relationships with publishers as I have now, but I had some. It would be very difficult to start with none, unless you work with an experienced agent who can take you around and introduce you to people. It also helps to have a fair amount of knowledge about how the publishing industry works, which you can learn on the job, but, again, you'd ideally have someone to teach you if you haven't learnt it from personal experience. So if you're intent on only working in an agency, make it a large one. But you can also get a lot of relevant experience working in a publishing company or as a bookseller. I actually think bookselling is the closest parallel to agenting: both booksellers and agents are trying to place stories they love with other people who may love them too.

Regarding an internship: again, it's probably only a large agency who can accommodate a trainee. Small agencies or agents who work for themselves would be less likely to take on an intern, simply because it would create a lot of work and not give them any help whatsoever. Small operators of all types are used to doing everything themselves. Trying to hand some work off to someone else requires a lot of time and probably creates a fair bit of stress. And that's if they even have somewhere to put you - they may only have one desk and one computer.

As to agents and young adult fiction: it's a matter of personal preference. It's very hard to effectively represent something if you don't love it. So if an agent doesn't naturally have an interest in young adult fiction, it's better if they leave it alone because at best they'll be making educated guesses about what's going to work, and then their heart won't be in it, and that's not the best result for the YA authors. There are certain genres I don't represent because I don't love them, don't know much about them and therefore shouldn't touch them with a ten-foot barge pole. There are other agents who love the genres I don't, and they are rightfully the ones who should represent them.

Torn between two lovers

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 07:26:00 +0000

After experiencing some recent Slightly Dodgy Potential Client Behaviour, I thought I should say a little something about what an author should do if he or she finds that he or she has two or more agents or publishers to choose from (and if, in the latter case, there is no agent to advise).

We'll vault past the initial querying stage to the point where your full manuscript has been requested by an agent or publisher (editor, if you're in the northern hemisphere). Let's call this agent Agent A. If another agent, Agent B, then requests the manuscript, the polite - and professional - thing to do is to email Agent A and let her or him know, so that Agent A is aware that there may come a point at which the author tells Agent A that he/she has been offered representation by someone else; plus it may cause Agent A to hurry up with the reading. It is also polite to let Agent B know that Agent A already has the manuscript, so Agent B, too, can hurry up with the reading.

If Agent B reads faster than Agent A - which can happen for various reasons - and comes back more quickly to the author with an offer of representation, the polite and professional thing for the author to do is to contact Agent A and say something like, 'Another agent has made an offer of representation, but I'd still really like to hear from you. It would be great if you could let me know what you think of the manuscript by X date [allow a week or so].' The incorrect thing to do is to contact Agent A and say, 'Another agent has offered to represent me - see ya.'

This is the incorrect thing for the following reasons:
1. No matter how excited you may be about Agent B's offer of representation, how do you know if Agent B is the better agent for you when you haven't given Agent A the opportunity to tell you what s/he thinks?
2. It's kinda rude, and publishing people value manners. Gods help you if you ever decide to leave Agent B and seek out Agent A again, because Agent A will remember you and will likely say 'no way'.

Agent B will not withdraw the offer of representation if you stall for a few days - not even if you say why you're stalling, because Agent B would expect the same if s/he was in Agent A's position.

In short: it costs nothing and takes very little time to be courteous to people whom you hope will support your career for years to come. This also applies to dealing with people you meet along the way in publishing - today's editorial assistant is tomorrow's agent or publisher. Why not behave in a professional manner towards people you expect to behave professionally towards you?

Optioning for film - or not

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0000

There is an old, long-forgotten war memoir that I would like to adapt into a film. I should point out that I'm a far cry from being a successful film producer. Yes - a film I helped develop picked up 'Best Feature' at IndieFest ... but that isn't exactly much in the world of cinema.

However I'm also not going into this blindly. I've researched who the copyright holder is (since the original author has long died) and although the literary rights has changed hands a few times in wills, it turns out that the current owner is living in Perth.

I've spoken to her (and exchanged some letters) and she originally had no idea that her great uncle had ever written a memoir. She is an elderly lady in a retirement village and, to put it bluntly, she has zero interest in the memoir.

She has given me verbal permission to adapt it in an extremely informal 'I don't care - do what you want with it' way - but as you can imagine that isn't exactly sufficient to move forward with development. Certainly if I was just going to dump the original text onto a blog I'd be happy enough ... but verbal permission certainly isn't good enough for a film project. (Nobody in their right mind is going to put money into a film where the original rights haven't been locked down)

So I am in a curious position - I want to give her money ... but she simply doesn't want to get paid!

From her position, of course, her reaction makes a lot of sense. We all hear about scam artists preying on elderly victims ... so would you really trust a chap on the other side of the country who tells you that he'll give you money just for signing a contract you don't really have the inclination to understand?

My question is this - instead of having a literary agent represent an author and search for buyers - is it possible to get some kind of 'reverse literary agent' involved? Basically someone who can sit down with the author (or copyright holder) and get a sale on behalf of an existing buyer ?

I have spoken with a producer and his suggestion was to simply ignore this particular memoir and work with the other accounts of the events. So I suspect that the market value for this particular account isn't very high.

I'm in a position where I want to treat her fairly - and I also want to be in a position to adapt the memoir. What would you suggest someone in my position do? Obviously I can just wait another 15 years or so for the copyright to expire ... or 'file off the serial numbers' of the original story - but neither are satisfactory solutions.

**This question was quite a bit longer and contained some details about the proposed deal, which I've removed in the interest of brevity and also because it just didn't seem right to publish them.**

I believe the 'reverse literary agent' you seek is an intellectual property lawyer. This situation is already murky and could get murkier - the only way to make sure everything is clear to everyone is to get a lawyer involved and get it all in writing. The current rights owner may not be interested in the project but there's no telling who may turn up in future years, and you need to protect your interest in the project and any film that may result. And I know lawyers are expensive - but they're cheaper than lawsuits.

Alternatively, you could do as the producer suggests - you only need to option the rights to the memoir if you wish to adapt that account of the historical events. If there is primary evidence elsewhere, or there's another published account that you could option, that's a valid course of action. Just make sure you don't end up with a script that resembles the memoir.

As a last recourse, find another project. There's plenty of great stories out there.

Query early, query often

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Is there any point to asking an agent if they're open to considering a particular subject? Should you just go ahead and put in the effort to meet their submission requirements?

My novel is about a teenager who was born with a genetic condition resulting in short stature and a sexually ambiguous body. It's written from a Christian perspective and based on ten years of answering inquiries on behalf of a support group for the parents of such children.

I've written to several agents who represent Christian authors and the replies have been fairly consistent: They don't know of any Christian publishing houses that will handle the subject material. A few of the smaller Christian publishers I've contacted directly have asked to read the manuscript, but even one of them said they wouldn't ordinarily consider the subject. They were offering to give feedback on the manuscript, not consider it.

I'm assuming that, because most of the novel is written from the teen's perspective, I should be approaching agents who represent YA. Is it a waste of time to ask them if they'll consider a book that is explicitly Christian in outlook? Should I look for agents who represent Christian fiction as well as YA?

For the reader's benefit I'll state that this question came from a writer in the USA, a land of many and varied publishing houses and agents; this variation in turn facilitates the allocation of very specific genres for fiction. Also, Christian fiction is not a big genre here in the land of widespread godless-convict ancestry and declared-atheist prime minister; accordingly, I'm answering this question without knowing much about the genre at all. First things first, however ...

I can understand why it's tempting to ask a question about subject matter/genre without doing a full submission, but here's why agents don't like it: first, everyone would do it and we'd spend most of the day answering these questions; second, it's a question asked out of context, because we really need to see your writing before we can say definitively whether or not we like a subject or genre. I could, in abstract, say I don't want to see stories about this or that, but if the manuscript was amazing, I'd change my mind. So for a writer to give him- or herself the best chance of getting an agent or publisher, you need to show us your writing.

Also, going through the submission-writing process can be very useful for your writing. It forces you to think about whether or not you have a clear storyline; whether or not there's a readership for your story. If you don't ask yourself these questions before you send off a submission, you can't expect an agent/publisher to answer them for you.

When it comes to [Kevin '07 reference there for those feeling nostalgic] who you should query: query as many people as possible. If you think your book could have three different genre labels attached to it, query agents who look after books in those genres. Let them work out if it's exactly right for them or not - by reading what you've written. Yes, it's a lot of work, but you've spent all that time writing the novel - don't you want to give it the best chance of finding the right agent?

It's just not that complicated

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:26:00 +0000

I'm a starry-eyed novelist eager to undertake the Great Publishing Adventure. So over the past few years while working on my craft, I tried to absorb as much information about the industry and the ideal submission package as possible from sources in the know.

Unfortunately, I am cursed with a terrible affliction: I'm as easy to confuse as a drunk peacock at mardi gras.

Because I’m painfully aware of this flaw, I quadruple-check everything to make sure I don’t have my wires crossed. To that end, I caved and bought the ‘A Decent Proposal’ guide from the ASA, and though I found the advice and the examples therein to be an extremely helpful addition to my resources, I was struck by a clash of terminology that’s left me befuddled and chewing my nails in uncertainty.

The synopsis has always been the bane of my existence (isn’t it always?), and I felt that I had finally got a good handle on the stygian beast. All the advice and examples I’d read online pointed towards an abridged thematic summary of the story. However, the description of an ideal synopsis in the guide -- categorising the kind of information one would normally find in the query letter: word-count, genre and the long pitch with market information etc -- and the related successful examples have left me wondering if I’ve missed something important.

What I was hoping you might be able to clarify is, is this actually typical of what Australian agents want to see in the synopsis? Or is it acceptable to submit the typical query & author details cover letter + a summary-style synopsis that I’d been under the impression was the norm?

The guide also refers to things like chapter outlines and market rationales and series summaries. How important do you think these things are to a fiction -- specifically a YA fantasy series -- submission? I'm aware that YA fantasy is very competitive because there's a lot of hopefuls like me out there, so I feel the pressure is really on to stand out as best I can.

That's a long, somewhat complicated question that has a fairly simple, two-part answer.

First: what you need to put in a submission is what's in the submission guidelines. Yes, it's frustrating that there's not a universal code of submission guidelines but there's not a universal code for anything, including laws and recipes, so it's just the way it is. Follow the guidelines for each agent and publisher you submit to - they're likely to be similar, so you shouldn't have to do too much extra work for each submission.

Second: to my way of thinking a synopsis is closer to the 'abridged thematic summary' than the word count, market information etc, but I suspect the ASA is trying to give authors a hand by telling them that that information is important. Some authors won't know the term 'query letter' but they know 'synopsis', so the ASA has grouped that information under the latter.

One last point: I hope you're putting as much thought and energy into your writing as you did into this question. The writing is what's important. Your query letter and synopsis are an introduction to your writing, but if the writing itself isn't any good, it doesn't matter how much effort you put into the letter and synopsis.

This question is very long and it is about ebooks

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:30:00 +0000

I'm reading in various places lately the advice that authors who aren't sure about electronic self-publishing can (even should, according to some) bet both ways, by self-publishing some stuff and seeking professional representation for other stuff. I'm thinking about self-publishing some spec fic under a pseudonym, and continuing to seek an agent for other works in a different genre under my own name. My question is, if I acknowledge the pseudonym openly (wishing more to use it for branding purposes, not to pretend that a subset of my work isn't really mine), does this self-publishing turn off (specifically Australian) agents and publishers as it once might have, given that a) self-published books seem to be more accepted by many readers than they used to be, and b) I would be seeking representation for a different type of work, written for sale under a different brand?

I'm curious also about the idea that large sales of self-published ebooks would (at some fuzzy value of 'large') become an advantage in seeking representation and publication (for, let's say, other as-yet-unpublished works) in spite of any remaining self-pub stigma, since it would imply a platform and a potential financial win for a conventional paper publisher. Do you have any thoughts about what kinds of values of 'large' an author would need to be in possession of for this to be the case? If an author could claim to have sold, say, 2000 mainstream fiction ebooks, would that make you think they were a commercial proposition? Or would you only start to notice if it were more like 20,000, or more than that? Or is there still some quality-driven (or snobbery-driven, even) stigma that overrules the idea completely? I think these are questions requiring new answers, now that it's clear that self-publishers are not limited in the number of copies they can physically distribute and sell. I've seen a lot of opinions on this from leading self-published authors, but not so much explicitly from publishers or agents.

I guess I'm asking whether you think there has been much change in the risk of shutting yourself out of the publishing industry by going down the self-publishing route, especially in light of new attitudes (at least on the part of some authors and readers) to self-published ebooks and this currently-fashionable advice about having a bet both ways.

I've read your question a few times and it's still slightly doing my head in. And that's because you're basically asking me to predict how publishing will 'end up' overall. And that topic makes my head hurt because it's just everywhere, all around, at the moment and I often feel like I can't get my actual agenty work done because I have to spend all this time thinking about change and how to manage change and how it may affect authors and publishers - and agents.

I've already written some posts about what's changing in publishing and my potentially crackpot theories about what may happen - they're here if you're interested - so I've possibly already addressed some of what you want to know.

Generally speaking, though, I have this to say: we don't know what is going to happen. I can't, with any certainty or real authority, tell you that this or that is going to happen and, thus, what you should do. What is going on now is unprecedented since the printing press was invented because, well, we're dealing with the invention of a new type of printing press. So I can only offer more crackpot theories. Pay attention to them at your peril.

First I'm going to address the question about what will constitute 'large' sales. Currently sales figures have to be taken in the context of their territory - the figures that make a bestseller in Australia barely raise an eyebrow in the US, for example. That is probably about to change in the English-language market in relation to certain types of books. There will be a day, probably not too far off, when I believe certain types of genre fiction by certain authors - even those published by large multinational publishers - will be published as digital only. At that time the worldwide rights holder will probably not think there is much reason to sell rights to other English-language territories when they could release the English-language ebook into world territory all at once. That way they get to keep all the royalties and they don't have to worry about getting files to other publishers, etc. If that happens, how, then, do we measure 'large' sales? If there is only one territory, what is the benchmark for a bestseller? These are questions I cannot yet answer. And accordingly I can't answer your question because it depends on what's going to happen in future.

Now let's look at the self-publishing 'stigma' - true, it's not what it once was - for certain types of books. Again, what's changing in publishing is probably going to change at different times in different ways depending on the types of stories and content involved. If you are self-publishing a children's picture book at this point in time, you'll probably still find there's resistance to that; if you are self-publishing an urban fantasy ebook, not so much.

So now to your question about whether or not you should self-publish some material and not others - I've written before about how authors can think about categorising their content. If we combine that with what was said in the paragraph above, there is certainly an argument for self-publishing some types of stories and not others. Will this prevent you from getting an agent or publisher for the 'others'? I really don't know. Publishers and agents may decide that protecting their brands is more important than anything and, thus, anyone who has published other stories/content that don't fit with their brands isn't welcome. Maybe that's how they'll sort through the increasingly large amount of submissions that we'll all see. But that's a hypothesis.

Something else to consider: if you are writing enough material that you can publish in two or more streams - and keep up the pace - I'd say go for it. But that's a lot of writing. At this point in time, when authors are actually in a very good position to start making decisions about how, when and where they're to be published, I'd advise a bit of patience. Keep writing, stockpile some stories and see what happens over the next few months. And it's probably only a few months we're talking about. The pace of change that's happening now is such that everything is going to look different for certain types of books within the next year or two.

And if you really want to keep track of what's going on, as it happens, I cannot recommend The Shatzkin Files highly enough.

Some things just don't bother us that much

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Fri, 27 May 2011 05:35:00 +0000

RIDICULOUS question I know! I was wondering, when I send sample chapters, given that they are random chapters from amongst the novel, do I leave the actual page numbers that they are in the book (like 65-72) or is that too confusing for the poor person trying to read them?

Does it even matter!? There is nothing in the submission guidelines that I've been reading about page numbering.

If there's nothing about it in the submission guidelines, then clearly it doesn't matter enough to the agents/publishers who composed those guidelines. Therefore, don't worry about it. Of course, if you're really worrying about it and it will put your mind at rest, make the numbers sequential. But whoever is reading it is unlikely to notice. We only notice on full manuscripts. And only then usually if there are no page numbers at all.

This earlier post may also help:

http://callmyagent.blogspot.com/2009/08/formats-fonts-and-attachments.html

What to give away for free, what to keep etc

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Fri, 27 May 2011 05:28:00 +0000

Just a simple question: is there any reason why I should not post a chapter except of my novel onto my blog? I'm printing out copies of the complete manuscript for my friends to evaluate, and I want to give them an idea of what to expect before they sign up for the read. I've heard of publishers/agents getting quite touchy about manuscripts that have had an online existence, whether in forums or blogs, in excerpt or complete format. Indeed, is it wise to simply keep all of my work offline for the sake of future publication consideration?

I'll start my answer to this question by referring you to an earlier post in which I expound, in a mildly bossy fashion, about what I think authors should give away for free and what they should retain for Potential Future Book Publication.

Actually, most of my answer to your question is in that post, so please go and read it. I'll also say this: I can say 'do this, do that', a published novelist may say something else, a publisher may say something completely different. Ultimately the decision rests with you. You should do what you want to do. I'm also a big fan of working from instinct. If you *feel* you want to publish a chapter of your novel online, who am I to say that that feeling is wrong? We're all just guessing about what's going to happen - about what is happening. It's your novel and your intellectual property.

Voucher winner

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Sun, 15 May 2011 06:31:00 +0000

There were several good entries to win the $100 voucher for courses at the Sydney Writers' Centre and the winner is ...

Lynda Young.

Her entry was:

'As an unpublished writer I deserved to be published because I pour all my energy into my writing. I don’t have time to do the dishes, vacuum the floors, or cook. If I don’t get published soon, I’ll need to find a new excuse for avoiding housework.'

I found this appealing mainly because I could, ahem, relate.

Congratulations, Lynda! I'll be in touch by email to tell you how to claim your voucher. And thanks to the Sydney Writers' Centre for offering the voucher in the first place.

Why do so many good novels get rejected by agents?

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Thu, 12 May 2011 06:09:00 +0000

The title of this post was the search term someone used to find their way to this blog - yes, occasionally I check the traffic sources - and it struck me as a good topic for a post.

The first answer that struck me was: Because so many good novels get rejected by readers.

Agents are readers too. Readers first and foremost, hopefully - usually people who work in the publishing industry start out as passionate readers. Quite often we're rejecting good novels because they're just not novels that we want to read. It doesn't mean they're not good. It means they're not good for us. The person who used this search term has no doubt gone to a bookshop more than once and ignored the hundreds - thousands - of very good novels because he or she only wanted one good novel. Only had time to read one good novel right then.

I reject good novels. I have to: I simply can't take on all the good novel manuscripts I read because (a) I can't physically manage that many authors and (b) I can't place that many good novels with Australian publishers, who are also limited in how many good novels they can publish.

And that's as much as I've come up with on this particular matter. Now I have to get back to cramming things in to make up for the amount of time the Sydney Writers' Festival will consume next week ...

$100 Sydney Writers' Centre voucher to give away

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Wed, 11 May 2011 03:20:00 +0000

The nice folks at the Sydney Writers' Centre have sent me a $100 voucher, as this blog was a finalist in their Best Blogs 2011 competition.

The voucher can be used on any of their 30 courses - details are available on their website.

I'm going to offer this voucher to one of you*. And here's how you can win it.

Unpublished writers: in 100 words or less, tell me why you deserve to be published. You don't have to be too earnest about it.

Published writers: in 100 words or less, tell me why you deserve to get the voucher more than an unpublished writer does.

Email your entry to call [dot] sydney [at] gmail [dot] com by 1700 hours AEST on Friday 13 May . I will pick one winning entry only (I've made the unpublished/published distinction above because asking published writers to tell me why they deserve to be published didn't seem like a good idea).

*You don't have to live in Sydney - they offer online courses.

Fantasy, submitting overseas, 'US agents are superior' etc

noreply@blogger.com (Agent Sydney) — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:29:00 +0000

I have written a fantasy (i think?) novel which is complete at 165,000 words and is also the beginning of an intended trilogy. I sent it to agents about 3 weeks ago and i only have two left to reply to me. There aren't an enormous amount of agencies who are looking for new clients in the fantasy genre, and i was wondering whether it would be a good idea to start trying to submit to international agents? I feel like there might be a better chance of an international agent - say, from America - picking up my manuscript because many seem to have far fewer clients and therefore potentially more time. I have also noticed that many agencies in America state that they offer editorial help, and most Australian agents say they do not offer any. It gives the impression that a manuscript will be rejected if the grammar isn't always perfect or there are sections which need to be cut out, but the novel itself could be very marketable. Does that make the chances higher for an American agent to accept a manuscript?

Lastly, can you give any advice on how to make sure your cover letter is good enough to not be rejected before they hit the "thank you"?

Here's some information about why American agents can offer those services and Australian agents can't: http://callmyagent.blogspot.com/2010/11/some-truths-about-being-australian.html

Here's me giving a whole lot of feedback on query letters that may help you craft your own: http://callmyagent.blogspot.com/search/label/query%20letter

Here's a post about submitting fantasy overseas: http://callmyagent.blogspot.com/2009/05/submitting-fantasy-novels-overseas.html

Happy reading.