Comments on: Advice for Agents (Including Me)

By: Kira Budge

Kira Budge — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:54:29 +0000

Oh this is fantastic. Thank you so much for posting this!

By: Lynette Benton

Lynette Benton — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:21:03 +0000

We all want (and deserve) productive relationships with agents (and others in the publishing field). This post will go a long way to advancing that goal. Thank you!

By: PKV Tarifrechner

PKV Tarifrechner — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:31:39 +0000

Websites we think you should visit…

[…]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[…]……

By: fontanna czekoladowa

fontanna czekoladowa — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:58:28 +0000

Visitor recommendations…

[…]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[…]……

By: Leebox

Leebox — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:57:40 +0000

Wordlist…

Great blog post, saw on…

By: Robert Christian

Robert Christian — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 09:38:52 +0000

Visitor recommendations…

[…]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[…]……

By: Julia Greco

Julia Greco — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:41:59 +0000

Thank you so much for this. I’m tired of agents feeling above the fold and taking out their bad moods on anxious writers who try their best to follow all the rules of decorum and respect. I had one agent snap at me, “Are you that woman who talked about how young us agents are?” I stammered out a no, but she’d already turned and walked away. And I’d only approached her to thank her for being on the agent panel I’d just attended! (The woman she was talking about happened to have curly dark hair like me and sat a row in front of me.)

That was only one situation. Thankfully, those run-ins fall in the minority, but a rude agent can leave a lingering bad taste. As it happens, this particular agent happens to represent my favorite local author, and every time I see this author’s posts on Twitter or Facebook, I can’t help but think, “Man, I hope her agent treats her better than she did the writers at that conference.”

Cheers to all the agents out there who give the same respect they ask to receive.

By: TNeal

TNeal — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:27:54 +0000

Those pitch sessions can be tough. I remember being initially tongue-tied (my wife would say, “A miracle!”) at an appointment. Andy applied your wisdom to the situation and asked pertinent questions. His response eased my discomfort to the point I relaxed and became more my normal self rather than the desperate guy who wanted to get his story published. Desperate guy still lives but thankfully good editors and agents know how to quiet the beast. I hope your days go well at the conferences.

By: Alisha Gabriel

Alisha Gabriel — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:28:10 +0000

In reply to Julie Geistfeld. Thanks for sharing such an interesting analogy. I just won the Would You Read It Wednesday pitch contest on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog and understand that it's extremely hard to boil an entire book down to one sentence. My one and only editor critique session at a conference two years ago was a huge disappointment and the editor would do well to read your reminders before her next conference. Thank you for sharing!

By: Christine Nolan

Christine Nolan — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:56:34 +0000

Links…

[…]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]……

By: Ishta Mercurio

Ishta Mercurio — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:33:41 +0000

In reply to Linda Adams. Linda, that agent sounds golden. His clients must be pretty lucky.

By: John Waverly

John Waverly — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:36:14 +0000

I think every writer should read this list of suggestions, too. We know that the agent on the other side of the table is a real-life person, but it’s often hard for us to understand what this experience is like from your perspective. I appreciate the candid advice.

It almost makes me want to schedule an appointment in the middle of the day, walk in and say, “I don’t have a book to pitch, but I brought you some soothing music, and a small snack. Just relax and recharge for the next 10 minutes. So, how are you enjoying the conference?” Then again, I wouldn’t want to waste your time, or take a precious slot from another writer.

By: Linda Adams

Linda Adams — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:10:19 +0000

I’d add one more — please, please accurate information about what time you’re leaving so the staff can schedule properly. I’ve run the pitch session at the last two writer’s conferences. Same agent left early both times and still had two writers left. It did not leave a good impression, and we had to ask other agents if they minded filling in so the writers were not left hanging.

And just so you can hear about something good an agent did …

An agent showed up at our conference and discovered that his associate, who was also supposed to be there, was a no show. He worked out with us how to take all of her pitches as well; we would just keep the rest of the sessions on time and let him take his as he needed. Everyone got to see this agent, and his pitches were only slightly delayed.

One writer came in to see him and had to wait until he called her. So she stayed with us, the volunteers. She was 16 and really scared. She was so scared she started crying, and we were talking to her, trying to calm her down. Eventually, he calls her up, and she heads for his table. We helped a little, but she was still so nervous. We saw her when she left — all smiles. I don’t know what that agent did, but was able to calm her down.

By: Ishta Mercurio

Ishta Mercurio — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:41:55 +0000

Great post, and great comments! I’ve never had a pitch meeting, but I look forward to the opportunity one day. In the meantime, I have a small piece of advice for agents at conferences in general: talk to writers. Don’t just say you want to talk to them in advance (like on your blog or in your speech), and then blow them off when they come up to say “hi” and chat (NOT pitch) in the coffee line.