If you’ve read my blog (or any agent’s blog) for a while, you know that ours is not a nine to five job.  Not by a long shot.  My weekends bear a striking resemblance to my work weeks.  Lots and lots of reading and critiquing —queries, client manuscripts, partials, proposals….  If I don’t read at least six to eight hours in a weekend, my work piles up to ridiculous heights.  Don’t forget that I read in the evenings and sometimes even during the business day if I don’t have contracts to look over, submissions to get out, checks to chase, e-mails and phone calls to answer, rights reversions or reconciliations to print to request….  But every once in a while, I have to give myself permission to take a break, otherwise I lose all perspective.  Reading and critiquing works back to back to back can lead to burn-out.  I’m not truly serving my authors, who come first, or queriers, who, by necessity, come second, if I’m not giving it my all.

So every once in a while, like on the fourth of July, I have to give myself permission to pause.  (Not the fifth, in case you’re concerned that I’ve turned to workaholics anonymous.  Then I stayed home to read for hours in the morning to make up for my slacking the day before while my husband and son went off to Busch Gardens with friends to ride coasters and eat funnel cake.) 

I’m talking about it here because authors need to do the same.  Every once in a while, find what gives you peace.  Change your venue, if need be, and quiet your mind.  You’ll be surprised what it’ll come up with when you give it a chance to catch up with you.  Because, let’s face it, the brain never shuts down.  We may be doing other things—playing with the puppy, doing dishes, watching fireworks—but our stories are so all-consuming that they’re always in the back of our minds.  We’re constantly, subconsciously working on the puzzle.  I had a difficult end to the last week, where I got a “this could be huge” comment on my concept and, essentially, a “change everything” on my execution of a new mid-grade series I’m working on.  It threw me into torment, because I’d had the same sense of Eureka! on the premise, but have a terrible self-defeating fear that I won’t be able to pull it off.  Very, very awful to feel that you just might not be good enough to go for the gold.  So I balked against the notes and shut down.  Didn’t work on the novel for days.  Little did I know, it just doesn’t work that way.  By Sunday, my mind had, unbeknownst to me, worked out several ways to change or enhance what I’d already done.  The beginnings of my finished novels hardly ever resemble the first chapters of my early drafts.  I always have to remember that.  Still, it’s torture to throw out so much work and begin again, not even knowing if all the blood, sweat and tears will be worth it in the end.

Anyway, whatever you do—writing, agenting, painting—you sometimes need to give yourself a break.  Don’t think of it as slacking (easier said than done, I know), but as refreshing.  In the end, it’ll be more productive than slogging along down the wrong path or slowing and slowing because things have lost their luster to the point where you come to a complete stop.

This has been a public service announcement brought to you by the word epiphany.  Learn it, live it, love it.  Ephiphany

I'm positively thrilled to announce that I am joining The Knight Agency and that my authors will be making the move with me.  If you’ve never visited their website, you can learn more about the company at www.knightagency.net —and you can also see why this team of fabulous agents appealed to me so much.  They are dynamic, energetic, and are very forward thinking (they’re buying me a Kindle as we speak!) 

The big, official announcement goes out today (or tomorrow at the latest), but remember, you heard it here first.

It was a terribly difficult decision because as much as I adore the folks at The Knight Agency – their enthusiasm, professionalism and warmth – it's not easy to leave behind fifteen years at Spectrum, which still has so much of my love and respect.  But, in many ways, it was time to leave home and I'm looking forward to all of the opportunities that joining a larger and very vibrant agency will provide. 

More as it happens!

THE SECRET LIFE OF AGENTS – WHAT WE DO AND WHERE WE CAN BE FOUND

            When you think of agents what probably comes to mind is the Hollywood stereotype – maybe a man in a well-tailored suit who looks like he leads the good life, styles his hair with snake oil and wears a little too much bling, possibly on his pinky.  Or maybe you've seen the short-lived series Central Park West and think that agents, editors and authors attend almost nightly soirees where we sip champagne and look perfectly comfortable in our designer gowns and tuxes.  Well, I mean, doesn't everybody?

            The truth is that while we may on occasion burn the midnight oil, we're more likely to be catching up on our reading than tripping the light fantastic.  And, while there's a certain amount of bling and finery, we only dust it off a few times a year for award ceremonies and special events like launch parties and 30^th anniversary celebrations.  Actually, outside of the office, agents can most often be identified by corrective eye wear from squinting at too much fine print for hours on end and stooped shoulders from carrying home 200+ pages at a time.  Yes, we really do work for a living.  It's not all about the schmooze.  Oh, that figures in.  Networking is an integral part of what we do.  But I would say that the bulk of our work involves reading, critiquing, submitting, negotiating and nagging, which I like to call nudging, but I don't think I'm fooling anyone.  I'll discuss each in turn.

            Reading.  You might be under the impression if you've seen the movie Wolf that editors (and maybe agents) spend a good deal of our office time reading and editing manuscripts.  This isn't so.  There's too much office work to do in the office – returning calls, checking e-mail, looking over contracts, arguing over contract points, writing pitch letters, writing checks, etc.  As a result, reading is primarily done at home, in our "free" time.  This means that work is competing with family, hobbies, socializing and, oh yeah, sleep.  In other words, when you send us material for our consideration, you're asking us to give up something in order to read your work.  No problem.  This is what we signed on for.  But you have to make it worthwhile.  Don't send out a diamond in the rough thinking that we'll be able to help you polish.  We don't have that kind of time.  I'm not saying that we won't provide editorial input.  I can and do.  However, it already has to be so good and so compelling that it calls to me above and beyond the pile of dishes waiting for me in the sink (okay, not hard), the other submissions I brought home to read, and snuggling up with my husband on the couch.  Is that a tall order?  Maybe.  But one new author manages it every year – for me.  And there are many more agents out there.  In other words, we're discovering new – or new to us anyway – talent all the time.  It's one of the most exciting parts of the job. 

            Critiquing.  As I mentioned, I do provide feedback; sometimes in the rejection letters, though with about 300 queries per month per agent, I don't have time to respond with a personal note to every submission.  More often, though, I'll give a detailed letter because I think someone is close and that there are only a few things holding the writer back from being "there."  I also work editorially with my authors, both new and established, because it's too competitive a market to let something go out at less than its best.  Editors have a lot of material to go through.  I don't want to give them any excuse to put my submission aside and move on to the next.

            Submitting.  There's a lot to this one.  First, knowing the market.  Because of our regular interactions with editors, we have a good sense of who is buying what and who's just not buying.   We have a sense of how best to market the book (single versus multiple submission, for example, or mystery vs. mainstream).  We can also pitch the work to editors, either over lunch, via phone or a glowing cover letter.  Often, editors will even call us rather than vice versa because they're looking for something in particular at that moment.  In that case, we'll alert our authors to possibilities they might want to jump on.  We also follow up regularly on those submissions, but we'll get to that in the section on nagging.

            Negotiating.  Once we've got an offer, we enter the negotiating stage.  If this is an option book, a new work by a published author that you're contractually obligated to show her current publisher, you'll be negotiating with just one party.  (Although this would change if after negotiating in good faith you're unable to come to an agreement or if the publisher fails to offer for the next book.)  If this is a new writer or a work not covered under option, you might be talking with one publisher, for example giving a favored editor the chance to preempt, or you might be dealing with an auction situation.  However it plays out, the agent is there to get the author the best terms possible and negotiate the most advantageous language.  Because we've worked with all these houses before, we'll already have boilerplate language that's much more in the author's favor than the model the publisher starts with for an unagented writer.  Once the contracts arrive, we look them over to be sure everything is as agreed and to hash out any problems that arise.  In addition, we handle subrights deals on behalf of the authors – translation, film, television, audio, etc.

            Nagging.  Well, as you might guess, this is just my favorite part of the job.  The agent exists not only to be a hard-nosed negotiator but to handle all the business aspects of the writing and let the author get on with the creative side of things.  So, we follow up on submissions and on contracts that don't arrive in a timely manner.  We make sure check requests are put through.  We request information on print runs and sell-throughs.  Basically, we make sure that things run smoothly, in a timely manner, with information flowing back and forth between the publisher and the writer.

            Oh, did I forget that we're the great communicators?  The agent keeps the author apprised of submissions, rejections, offers, payments, publication dates, figures, etc.  She keeps the editors advised of the ETA on manuscript delivery, on publication dates of other publishers if the author's work is being released by more than one house, of promotion points, etc.

            And yes, sometimes we schmooze – break bread together, raise a glass, celebrate.  I've even drunk champagne, though I prefer chocolate martinis.

WHERE TO FIND THOSE ELUSIVE AGENTS

            Well, okay, we're not so elusive really, though I can warn you that a good agent is likely to be too busy to advertise.  In other words, if you see or receive a call for submissions, it's a good idea to check the agent out.  Quite a few scams have started this way.  Please be safe rather than sorry.  If you're not sure how to tell reputable from disreputable, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have a site that will help: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/agents.html.  Also, the Preditors and Editors site will recommend or disrecommend by agency and sometimes tell you a little bit about what a particular agency represents, though it's alphabetical by first name rather than last.  Their site is: www.anotherrealm.com/prededitors/.  If you prefer print, there's Jeff Herman's Writers Guide to Book Editors, Publishers & Literary Agents.  Also, you can check the website for the Association of Authors Representatives: www.aar-online.org.  Not everyone who qualifies is a member, of course, and not every member agent will be right for you, so it's a good idea to do your research.

            How you ask?  Well, you're at a conference.  It's a good place to start.  Ask your agented friends how they feel about their agents.  If there's no one you're comfortable approaching, look in the acknowledgements of books you feel appeal to the same audience you're trying to reach.  Many authors thank their agents.  You might also go on-line or look through industry magazines to see if you can find interviews with the agents you're interested in or articles they've written.  Of course, once an agent has said that he or she would like to represent you, then you're able to ask questions of that agent directly to see if you'll be compatible.  Before that point, it's unlikely that an agent will take time out of a very busy schedule to be grilled.

ADVICE FOR THE ASPIRING WRITER   

            The very most basic thing you can do to increase your chance of getting the right kind of attention from an agent is to follow the agent's submission guidelines, which are often posted on the agency's website.  Some agencies welcome electronic submissions, others delete them unread.  Some want a brief synopsis, others a full outline.  You do research when writing your novel, you should do no less for the submission process.  If you're sending a regular mail submission, always include a self-addressed, stamped return envelope.  I could go on with dos and don'ts, but that could cover a whole new presentation.

            Polish.  Get readers you trust, a critique group or partner and listen to what they have to say even when it hurts.  If it makes sense to you, take it.  If it doesn't, throw it out.  But always take it under consideration.  Never send out a draft.  Remember that revision is your friend.

            Learn your market.  Consider your favorite writers.  Why does their writing speak to you?  What works?  Why do you think they're so popular?  Don't try to emulate anyone.  The best thing you can offer is a breath of fresh air, but you should be able to apply what you've learned to your own writing without lifting ideas.

            Be persistent.  Most writers don't sell their very first novel, certainly not on their very first submission.  If you don't have a stack of rejections, you may not be trying hard enough.  You may need to develop a thick skin, but you may also find that the better you get and the closer you get the more helpful even the rejections may be to help you learn and hone your craft.  That's not to say that if you receive a form rejection you're not a terribly talented writer.  Sometimes it's a matter of time or simply of taste. 

            Basically, above all, don't get discouraged.  As Dori from Nemo would say – can you tell I have a five-year-old? – "Just keep swimming."  We agents aren't really sharks except as called upon.