Plot Monkeys

A quick announcement: Fabulous Brava author Alison Kent is offering a special contest this weekend, giving away copies of Leslie’s two upcoming titles SHE’S NO ANGEL and HEAT WAVE. Winner has to agree to do a review within the next couple of weeks. If you’re interested, check it out: www.alisonkent.com/blog (Click on the Blah Blog)

Now, on with today’s article…

With apologies to everyone following this series…last week, I mistitled the entry. I had it as WHY, but it should have been WHEN. I’ve corrected it. This is the WHY entry, to be followed by WHO, then HOW and WHAT in the end. This is Part Two. Part One is HERE, if you want to read the series from the start.

Oh, forget the organization of it…just read and absorb…I hope it’s helpful!
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The agent hunt is not for the feint of heart. It is fraught with rejection, frustration and confusion–not at all different from the publisher hunt, which makes sense. This business isn’t nice or easy. Best to learn that right up front. And frankly, I believe that looking for an agent–a good agent–is harder than looking for a publisher. Because a good agent for one author can be hell for another. (Though I suppose the same could be said for publishers…huh, it’s just tough all around, isn’t it?)

So before you decide to go on the Great Agent Safari, ask yourself WHY you need an agent.

Like I said last Saturday, if you have not completed a manuscript, why do you need an agent? You should not be submitting until that book is complete. And if it is your first book, just typing THE END is not enough to warrant declaring yourself finished. This business is TOUGH. The competition is intense. That book needs to be polished and vetted until it shines.

I alluded on Saturday to the argument that if you start submitting to agents before the book is done, then by the time you are finished, you will have someone lined up to represent you. While this appears to be sound logic, it breaks down completely in the light of publishing reality.

First, what if someone wants to see/buy the book before you are done? This doesn’t happen often, but it could happen theoretically. Not a good thing to keep that kind of enthusiasm waiting.

Second, what if as you are in the middle of the book (it is my experience that most authors start looking for an agent once they have the required three chapters and a synopsis–WAAAY too early) and you realize, you know what?…this story doesn’t work. I’m going to work on a new project. I’ve seen it happen too many times. If you have a request for a complete, are you REALLY going to dump that book that probably SHOULD be dumped? No, and so begins a vicious cycle that ends, usually, in abject rejection.

The writing of the book from beginning to end is part of the necessary education of a writer. It is the highest, most important due you will pay. The revising of said book (and if you’ve got the right stuff, the submitting of said book for honest critique) is yet another step toward graduation from hobbyist to pro. An agent should not ever be considered a critique source unless you’ve actually BOUGHT a critique from that agent in a charity auction. Get your ass kicked by trusted fellow authors before you start the submission process and your name is associated with subpar work.

Okay, now say the book is done. Revised to the best of your current capabilities. NOW you know what you have. You can, if so inclined, submit to an agent.

The question is, do you need one?

If you are submitting to category romance exclusively, I will tell you that finding a GOOD agent is almost harder than finding a Tickle Me Elmo at Christmas was a few years ago. Most agents who represent category authors exclusively aren’t very good. Sorry, that’s my opinion. They tend to represent a whole stable of category authors and well, they aren’t about to go upsetting the apple cart just because you want 100 author’s copies when the boilerplate contract says 24. If you don’t have an agent who can go in and fight the 800 lb. gorilla of the romance publishing world (that would be Harlequin/Silhouette), then don’t bother paying someone 15%.

And frankly, any agent who represents single title authors who also write category might not be interested either if a category book is all you have. She’s not looking for a one-trick pony and as a new author, you might be just that. I’m not saying it’s impossible…just hard. (But what in this business isn’t hard?)

If you are submitting to Harlequin/Silhouette, it is true that you don’t NEED an agent. Not to submit. Not to be read. However, if you can find one, you are probably better off, especially if you are a wimp. And you wimps know who you are. You’ve got to be made of very tough stuff to represent yourself no matter who the publisher is. You have to be smart, tough, professional to the nth degree. If these descriptors do not describe you, then find either an agent or a literary attorney.

But find a good one because a bad one will kill you. Ah, a topic for another post.

Okay, if you are submitting to single title, you definitely need an agent or literary attorney to traverse the minefields of the single title submission process and complex contracts. There was an editor who blogged a few weeks ago — Jason Pinter– about how an editor COULD discover new talent out of the slush pile, but why would he?

His contention made me think…and he has a damned good point. Say an editor has an hour a day (realistically) to read submissions. Remember, their primary function is not to discover new talent, but to edit and nurture the talent they already have…and to attend meetings. Lots and lots of meetings. So in that hour (and even that is generous…most editors read at home or use freelance readers,) where does the editor reach first, for the pile of unknown, untested, unvetted manuscripts piled on the shelf or to the pile of manuscripts that came in with the recommendation from an agent. A trusted agent. Someone the editor has possibly worked with before.

Yup…the editor will reach for the agented pile out of pure common sense and self-preservation. Even if the slush pile is filled with manuscripts requested at conferences or based on query letters. Those might not be technically unsolicited manuscripts anymore, but they are just one thin cut above. But the agent pile has a layer of protection that goes with it. If the agent has a good reputation, the editor can be reasonably sure that the manuscript he’s about to read won’t be crap. Doesn’t mean he will buy it, but it at least won’t be crap.

Here’s my advice, boiled down, since I’m afraid I’m starting to ramble. When you have completed your manuscript and polished it to the best of your ability, you know what you have, start to finish. Take a specified period of time to research agents. I’m assuming that in this process, you’ve already become connected/plugged in to the professional business of publishing world for one year, so you won’t be tempted by charlatans or scams. (If not, go back and re-read last Saturday’s post.) Come up with a list. Break the list into Group A, Group B. (Personally, I’d never consider a Group C because of that “bad agent is worse than no agent” thing–but that’s just me.) Then submit. All at once in one fell swoop or do Group A first, and then once that is exhausted with rejections, dip to Group B.

If you have vetted, critiqued and polished that manuscript to the best of your ability BEFORE you submit, then there will be no “what do I do if I’ve revised my manuscript, but the old version is with Agent X, etc.” That’s the height of unprofessionalism. Write the book. Polish the book. Submit the book. Forget the book.

Work. On. Something. New.

Not a sequel to book one, either. You can work up an idea on that just in case book one flies (by “idea,” I mean synopsis, maybe ONE sample chapter just to get it out of your system) but if you are a new writer, then work on something new entirely. For all you know, book one simply isn’t good enough, won’t be published, thus destroying all need for a sequel. It is, after all, your first effort. You will have learned a great deal during the process if you do it right. Book Two has to be better.

You might get rejections from agents that say, “This book doesn’t work for me, but if you have anything else I’d love to look at it.” And if you follow my advice, you will have something else! See how that works?

If all requests for book one are answered with rejections, start the entire process again with book two. FORGET BOOK ONE. Move on. I don’t care if it’s won contests. I don’t care if your mother loved it. The only time you go back to book one is if an agent says, “If you do a, b, & c effectively, I will represent this book.”

In the process of writing book two, stay connected with the industry. Now that you have a completed manuscript under your belt, you can start taking agent appointments at conferences. Don’t make an appointment with an agent who turned down Book One if that’s the one you’re pitching. Pitch only Book Two to those agents who rejected the previous project, and no, I don’t care how much you think it is the next Great American Novel.

As I mentioned before, I started looking for an agent long before I was ready the first time around. I submitted my first two books to various agents. Neither brought as much as a nibble. Then I switched genres. Since I was now trying my hand at category, I decided to forgo the agent route–I was tough, smart and professional. I had a list of negotiable points to the Harlequin contract in my purse for years.

After selling ten books successfully to Harlequin and because I had a fantastic working relationship with my editor, it was hard to make the choice to do the agent hunt. But I had a single title idea and I knew I needed representation. My agent also represents my category work and she’s been incredibly effective in dealing with various problems, leaving me to concentrate on the writing. Just because I am tough, smart and professional in negotiating doesn’t mean I want to spend my time doing it. I’d rather pay her.

And that is the advantage of having an agent for category work, if you can find one. She can deal with the career stuff. She can play bad cop to my good cop. She can be the one on the other end of the phone when my cover sucks or my author’s copies haven’t arrived or my money hasn’t made it into my mailbox on time or when Harlequin changes a policy on this or that which royally chaps my hide, but she is so much more calm and collected and can call the right person and say the right thing while I continue to write my books.

So there’s my opinion about THAT.

Any questions? Stuff I missed?

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 9th, 2007 at 6:00 am and is filed under Julie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.