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TIPS, TRICKS AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. Make Sure Your Table Can Stand.
When Jody speaks at writer's conferences, she advises authors to think of their literary works as tables, or stools-anything that needs four legs to stand without wobbling. The four legs of your literary work are:
- Your idea;
- You (your credentials in your field; your writing experience);
- Your platform (which means your already-existing promotional vehicles, such as your speaking engagements, your media contacts, and so forth);
- The execution of your idea: your writing. Each one of these elements is a critical consideration both agents and publishers examine in making the decision to represent or publish your book. Before you write your first query letter, make sure each leg of your table is as strong as it can be.
2. Some ways to get an agent's positive attention:
Agents are wary humans. You can lower their resistance through: writing a very professional, well-researched cover letter; mentioning other books that agent has represented or similar books that have been published; dropping the name of a mutual friend or acquaintance; choosing appropriate stationery.
3. Ways to get an agent's negative attention:
Write a messy letter. Use purple stationery or cutesy letterhead. Neglect to include an SASE. Phone. Send inappropriate submissions. Be coy in your query letter (as in, "my subject is so hot I can't tell you about it, but I can promise you it will be a bestseller.") Send food or other gifts. Be dishonest.
4. A Call To Self-Published Authors:
JRB has a special expertise in reselling self-published books to major houses, often for substantial advances. Jody has, in fact, given several lectures on the subject, answering questions such as: "How do I know if my book would be of interest to a major house?" and "Should I sell my book to a major publisher, or could I do a better job myseIf?" If you have self-published a book, and would like to explore the possibility of selling the rights to a major house, please send the finished book to Jody, along with the following information: Number of copies sold in the past year; number of copies sold in the past several months, per month; any press clippings, date you first printed and number of copies in that printing (and any subsequent printings); and your manner of distribution.
Frequently asked questions
1. Can an agent outside of New York be a good representative for me? There are good agents all over the country now; with technological communication so easy, the necessity of Being There has diminished considerably. But what is very important, in our view, is that your agent knows New York. Publishing is above all a very personal business, and it is crucial that your agent has met the players, and keeps up day-to-day on corporate changes, which are constant. Wherever your agent is, he or she should have either worked in New York publishing at some point, or been in the business long enough, and traveled there frequently enough, to be the true insider a good agent must be.
2. What makes you turn something down? Queries are initially screened out if they meet any of the "negative requirements" above; in other words, if they are blatantly inappropriate or unprofessional. Beyond that, Jody's decisions are very personal. That is why she strongly advises you to keep trying-she takes on very few new clients, and only those she feels on an instinctive level (after those 4 legs of that table have been evaluated) will sell.
3. I sent a submission to an agent and nothing came back: What do I do? If you sent a query letter and you've waited more than two months, we'd suggest you send it again. It's possible you forgot to include your SASE. If the material you sent was requested, and it has been several weeks, we suggest you send a note to the agent telling him or her, politely, that you will be submitting the material to other agents as you have not heard back from that agent. We would also suggest that you let the deliquent agent know you would still be happy to hear from him or her-you don't want to let a week or two get in the way of your finding representation!
4. Can I submit to several agents at once? Agents assume query letters are multiple submissions. Different agents feel differently about lengthier packages. At JRB, we do expect exclusivity for a short period of time. The important thing is that you find out whether the agent who wants to review the longer submission expects exclusivity or not; that way, you avoid any miscommunications and sticky situations.
5. Why can't I call you? Phone calls, in Jody's view, are generally a waste of both your time and hers, because if your book doesn't fly on the page, she can't sell it. She has to see how you express yourself on paper, because it is on paper that she will be selling your work to publishers.
6. What should a book proposal contain? For a nonfiction book, we like to see the following sections: a 3 to 5 page Overview, a Review of Competitive and Comparable Books, an Assessment of the Market, an Author Biography, a Detailed Table of Contents, and a Sample Chapter.
7. Do I need to write the whole book? If you are writing a novel, the answer is pretty much "yes." While this is changing, most publishers still need to see an entire novel before making a publishing commitment. You may be able to secure an agent with sample writing and a great synopsis, though.
8. What in the world is happening in publishing these days? These are difficult times. Many companies are merging, which means that many good editors are losing their jobs. The focus in major companies is definitely more on the Big Hit than on the slowly developing author. Yet, everyone in the business is here pretty much out of love for the written word; by and large, it is not and never will be a big money business-despite the stories you read about millionaire authors, these are few and far between. Nothing excites an agent or editor more than finding that gem-a fresh and wonderfully written book. What all this means to you is this: you must be more thorough and diligent than ever in the researching and presentation of your idea, fiction or nonfiction. But if you are, and if you are talented, there are agents out there who will want to represent you enthusiastically, and publishers who may well take a chance on your work.
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