I was wondering, what if I get an agent and she tries to sell two or three of my novels, all in the same genre, and nothing sells. What would happen in this case?

Well Katie, sounds like you and your agent will be at a crossroads and need to make some decisions.

Each agent is different, and some agents might set you free at this point, believing they’re not the right agent to help you find success. You’ll want to clarify whether your agent wishes to continue or hang it up.

Remember that you have a choice, too. You may want to consider indie publishing. If you want to continue pursuing traditional publishing, and you think another agent can serve you better, it would be a good time for you to make this decision. Be cautious not to automatically blame your agent for the lack of a sale – she’s put in many hours on your behalf and hasn’t gotten paid a thing. She probably deserves the benefit of a conversation, at least.

If you and your agent want to continue working together, you’ll probably have a meeting to discuss your options. You’ll take a hard look at what’s going on, asking questions like:

→ Why aren’t your books capturing the attention of editors? Is it the ideas? The writing?

→ Could there be something specific about your characters and plot lines aren’t resonating?

→ How much of this is due to the market, and how much is it the specific books you’re pitching?

→ Is it the genre? If so, is there another genre you’re interested in writing that perhaps is more saleable?

Ideally this meeting would culminate in a strategy and action plan for moving forward to find the success you’ve been working toward.

Keep in mind that this isn’t an uncommon scenario. Once you get an agent, it could still be a long time until serendipity strikes again and you find the perfect match between a project and a publisher.

If you should decide to invest in some personalized counsel, I offer coaching for unpublished authors here: My Coaching Services

.

Image copyright: scottff72 / 123RF Stock Photo

The post When You’re Missing the Mark appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

Along similar lines, reader Jan wrote on Facebook: Whenever I check an agency’s guidelines, they always talk about pitching a particular book. I already have a book published, and I’m looking for an agent to help me build my career. How do I query/pitch in that situation?

The answer is simple and clear:

When querying or pitching an agent, always start with just one book.

Here’s why:

1. While most agents are looking for authors with long-term potential and therefore want to know about your other books, it always has to start with one salable book. “Building a career” starts with selling a book to a publisher.

2. It’s unlikely an agent would take you on if you just have a smorgasbord of ideas and a vague idea of a plan. You need a book ready to go. A book that’s so great, the agent can envision the rest of the career you’re trying to build. If you don’t have a single sellable book, then talking about a whole career is pointless.

3. Similarly— if you’re writing a series, you’ve got to get them interested in the first book. Nobody is interested in sequels if they’re not already in love with book #1. So start there. Sell them on book #1.

4. Agents only get paid when they sell a book to a publisher, not by engaging in endless conversations about hypothetical “career building.” We start with a book to sell, then build a career from there. This is true even if you’re already published.

5. At some point in your conversation with an agent, you’ll know when it’s the right time to talk about all your other books and your vision for your career. Often the agent will ask. If you’re writing a query, you can briefly mention toward the end of your letter that you’ve planned a series based on the book you’re pitching, or that you also have other manuscripts in the works if the agent should be interested.

6. It’s not that you shouldn’t let an agent know of your series or your career plans. The point is not to forget your most important priority:

Sell them on a single book. Everything else follows from there.

Do you have a series or multiple manuscripts in the works? Does it makes sense that you’d need to sell them on a single one to start with?

Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

The post Why You Should Pitch a Single Book appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

I was interviewed on the Lead Stories Podcast with Jo Saxton and Steph O’Brien. Listen in, if you’re interested! (It’s about 45 minutes.)

We talked about:

• What I look for in someone I might represent as an agent
• What coaching looks like and why it is worth it
• How I redirect people who aren’t ready for publishing yet
• Whether I think everyone has a book in them
• What I think the best social media platform is
• Current hot topics in Western culture

Some questions for writers to ask themselves:

1) Am I writing for myself or am I writing for a reader?

2) Can I identify who my reader is and why they would want to read this?

3) Have I worked hard to become a strong writer? (Am I getting feedback, improving my craft, reading books in my genre etc.?)

4) What are my personal forms of resistance when it comes to writing? (Write a list and watch out for them!)

Listen to the Lead Stories Podcast HERE.

The post Let’s Talk About Writing, Publishing, and Coaching appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

Since the rise of self-publishing, it has become a debate—often heated:

Down with the gatekeepers!

Hooray for the gatekeepers!

But gatekeepers are not what you think.

There is nobody in publishing whose job is to “keep you out.” Are we watching the gate? Yes!—to identify authors we’d like to see published.

Each person who has a so-called “gatekeeping” role is tasked with finding authors to bring in, not authors to keep out. Anyone who acquires authors for an agency or for a publisher is totally 100% focused on bringing in books they believe they can sell.

That’s IT.

You wouldn’t call the women’s wear buyer at Nordstrom a gatekeeper, because you know her job is to bring in clothes she believes her customers will like. Her job is not to keep out the bad, but to bring in the good.

Some publishers, librarians, agents, and acquisitions editors call themselves gatekeepers. Maybe they relish that role because they feel it gives them power. But regardless of what they say or how they refer to themselves, they’re not gatekeepers. They’re selectors. Choosers. They’re salespeople. They’re looking for books they can sell. Period.

Some are also looking for books and authors they personally believe in. That’s typically a good indicator of whether you’ll be able to sell something—you believe in it. But you’re not going to acquire the book or take on the author if you can’t sell them.

There is joy in bringing in a book your customers want. My customers are publishers, so I’m looking for books I think they’ll want to publish. Librarians are looking for the books their community members will want. Publishers are looking for books their sales and marketing teams believe they can sell.

There is NO joy in saying “no” to any books or authors, and the “saying no” part of our jobs is purely incidental. It’s just something we have to do, on the way to finding the books we want to say “yes” to.

As a literary agent, I am in business to say YES to writers, not to say no. I’m constantly looking for books and authors I can believe in, and I can sell. I am not a gatekeeper. And I never want to be.

What are your thoughts on gatekeepers? Do you think it’s just an issue of semantics? Do you think agents & editors ARE gatekeepers by virtue of their function in publishing?

The post I Am Not a Gatekeeper appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

Not everyone wants or needs an agent. Your job is to assess your situation and decide if it is the kind of partnership that would serve you. Here I offer you an overview of the ways the right literary agent can enhance your writing career.

What kind of publisher do you want?

You only need to consider an agent if you’re interested in pursuing traditional, full-service, advance-and-royalty paying publishers. If you’re 100% committed to some kind of self-pub or subsidy publishing, you can probably do that on your own, although many agents today offer publishing services.

Preparing Your Manuscript

An agent can help you prepare and polish your proposal and manuscript before they’re submitted to publishers. Agents know what’s sellable in the current market, and they can help make sure your materials are top-notch before submission. They can help with everything from revisions on your manuscript to showcasing your platform in the most impressive way possible.

Submitting to Publishers

When your proposal is ready for submission, an agent has a big-picture view of all the possibilities, and they have information and experience that tells them which houses might be best for you. They have relationships with editors and an awareness of the editors’ preferences and current needs. The agent knows exactly how to submit your project to publishers so that it gets the proper attention. Often the agent has multiple conversations with publishers at the submission stage—answering questions, providing further information.

Offers from Publishers

When offers come in, the agent knows how to respond and how to negotiate the initial offer (at the Deal Memo stage). This is typically the time when the amount of the advance and the royalty rates are discussed, along with other key terms that may include the rights being sold, whether the publisher wants an option on the author’s next book, and the author buy-back discount. If there are offers from multiple publishers, the agent sets up a formal auction to decide the publisher.

But What if You’ve Already Secured a Publisher?

All the the functions listed above assume that you need a publisher. But sometimes an author is already working with a publisher when they begin considering an agent. In this case you’re asking, “Does the agent serve any function beyond the initial submissions and sale to a publisher?”

The answer is yes—read on below. But also, consider that even if you already have a book deal, signing with an agent will mean that your agent can help you with all the above functions—on your next book. By then they will have been working with you for some time, they’ll know you, and be in an even better position to help you take the next steps.

Negotiating the Contract

Most publishing contracts are 15 to 25 pages of legalese spelling out what rights the publisher is buying, and what rights you retain. The contract details how much money you’ll make on each format of your book and on every different kind of sale the publisher might make. It details how much it will cost you to buy your book from the publisher, whether the publisher wants an option on your next book, when you are eligible to get your rights back from the publisher, and whether your right to publish other materials is restricted. A typical boilerplate publisher contract that hasn’t been looked at by an agent usually doesn’t contain the most favorable terms an author could get if they tried (and I am not just referring to money). And most attorneys do not understand the implications of much of the language, unless they specialize in intellectual property.

Your agent understands the contract, and their job is to make sure your rights are protected and you are getting a fair deal with the best terms possible in your situation. They know which terms are most important to negotiate given your own goals and publishing scenario. Most importantly, they won’t allow you to sign a “bad” contract that would probably come back to bite you in the long run.

Interacting with Your Publisher

Once the contract is signed, you are on a long road with your publisher in which you’ll go through the process of:

• writing your book,
• dealing with several rounds of editing
• having your book cover designed
• possibly having your title changed
• promoting your book in cooperation with the publisher’s marketing department
• launching your book

Throughout this journey, you will have many questions, and your agent will have the answers. Whenever you have an issue (for example, if you think you may not meet your deadline) your agent will handle it with the publisher. Whenever there is a conflict, such as a cover design you hate, your agent knows how to go back to the publisher and facilitate a satisfactory resolution.

It is this day-to-day partnership that is most valuable to many authors. An agented author is never alone on this publishing journey.

An Agent is Your Royalty Statement Watchdog

When your royalty statement comes, it will probably be confusing and hard to read. You may have no way of knowing if it contains mistakes or if you’ve been paid the proper amount. Part of an agent’s service is that they analyze your royalty statements to be sure your sales are being properly accounted for.

Constant Input and Education

Your agent can be a great source of knowledge about the industry. They can offer you a wider perspective whenever you have a question or concern. When you hear industry rumors, your agent usually knows what’s true and what’s not. Many agencies also offer concrete help and education for their clients, on topics that concern authors such as how to use social media to market books, or how to make the most of a writers’ conference. Some agencies have regular webinars for their clients, some have retreats, and many offer an online forum in which their clients can communicate and support each others’ careers.

Strategic Career Management

One of the best values an agent can offer is brainstorming with you about your “next book” and the entire direction of your career. They can take into account your personal goals and the state of the publishing marketplace to help you determine your next steps. If you have three different book ideas on the table, your agent would offer guidance as to which would probably be your best bet. They are keeping your brand in mind and will want to help you maximize your sales potential over the long term.

Ancillary Services

These days, literary agencies are doing more than just representing books to traditional publishers. They’re offering their clients multiple ways to be published, whether it’s traditional publishing, self-publishing, or a hybrid method. They’re always on the lookout for new opportunities for their clients.

Still, Not Everyone Needs an Agent

It’s up to you to determine whether a partnership approach to publishing would be right for you. I’m not trying to convince you to get an agent! But for those who’ve asked, I wanted to point out the benefits.

If you have an agent, how would you describe the benefits?

Tweetables

Do I need an agent? If I had one, how would they help me? Get the answers. Click to Tweet.

Does the agent serve any function beyond the initial sale to a publisher? Click to Tweet.

Here’s an overview of the benefits of having an agent. Click to Tweet.

The post The Benefits of Having an Agent appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

But some people aren’t saying those things. Want to guess who?

Our clients.

(And of course, all the writers still seeking representation from us.)

The people who are loudly proclaiming literary agents “dinosaurs” and “unnecessary” have a limited understanding of what agents do. (Recently, agents Steve Laube and Janet Grant each gave a rundown of what they do in a typical day.)

Agents are not just middlemen. Agents are more than gatekeepers.

Agents are business partners and trusted advisors.

Steve Jobs said, “People pay us to integrate things for them, because they don’t have time to think about it 24/7.” It’s this quote that got me thinking about the value of agents.

Integration is exactly why agents are still so valuable to both authors and publishers. We consume and assimilate reams of information about publishing, distill it, and identify the important parts so we can help authors make good decisions, find good author/publisher partnerships, and ensure the author’s interests are protected.

Those who dismiss literary agents often claim that there is so much information available that anyone can “be their own agent” – or publisher. But as in any walk of life, the more information that is available, the more people need an advisor to wade through it all and know how best to proceed.

There will always be “do-it-yourselfers.” Some people eschew a realtor and go the “for-sale-by-owner” route. Some don’t think they need a financial advisor, so they get a Vanguard account, do their own investing and manage their portfolios. Some fire up TurboTax and do their own taxes, avoiding paying a CPA. Yet realtors, financial advisors and CPAs continue to provide valuable services to the millions who use them.

What agents see, up close and personal on a daily basis, is that most of their authors have no interest in being publishing entrepreneurs. Most of them barely have enough energy to stay on top of all their writing and editing deadlines, not to mention the marketing activities required to sell books these days. Most are not eager to add “self-publishing” or “publish without an agent” to their to-do list.

Most writers want to do what they do best – write and speak – and leave the rest to someone else. We work with these authors every day, and we hear the exhaustion in their voices as they are asked to do more and more on their own. Most of them would say that they’re getting their money’s worth out of their agent.

Yes, things are changing in publishing, but agents are not standing still—we’re evolving along with our industry. Don’t place us on the “endangered species” list just yet!

Do you think literary agents are more relevant these days, or less? Have you thought about the agent’s role in integrating things for authors and publishers—the assimilators of information?

Tweetables:

Are writers getting their money’s worth out of their agents? Click to Tweet.
Are literary agents dinosaurs — or work horses? Click to Tweet.
People who don’t like literary agents are just stoopid. Click to Tweet.

Thanks to Sally Apokedak for the Tweetables!

The post Literary Agents: Not Quite Dinosaurs appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

1. Business as usual. Agents are still selling books to publishers for traditional publication, and this remains the major part of our business. Along with that, we’re managing authors’ careers, advocating for our clients, and sometimes talking them off ledges. It’s also important that we nurture strong continuing relationships with publishers, despite our occasional adversarial positions, since we’re all in this changing landscape together and we can learn a lot from each other.

2. Protecting authors’ rights in contracts. While this has always been a major responsibility of agents, it is becoming more important as many publishers tighten up their contracts to protect their own long-term interests. Agents are diligently working to ensure authors receive fair terms especially related to things like non-compete clauses and reversion of rights.

3. Helping authors navigate new options. Many of our clients are not only publishing traditionally with major houses, they’re utilizing a variety of new options including self-publishing, subsidy publishing, or publishing through new digital publishing companies, and agents play various roles in these pursuits.

4. Selling sub-rights for our self-published authors. Some of us have clients who have self-published, and we’re working on selling sub-rights including print, foreign, film, and audio rights.

5. Staying informed. With the daily changes in our industry, it feels like a full-time job keeping up with all the developments. But more than ever, it’s a necessary part our job. We are constantly reading the trades, the important blogs, and networking with our colleagues to stay on top of all the latest news.

What value do you think an agent can bring to the pursuit of publishing? Do you think agents’ roles have diminished, or simply taken different form?

The post What Agents Are Doing These Days appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

Another thing agents do is champion worthwhile authors and books—trying to convince publishers to take a chance, even against market conditions or conventional wisdom.

Most agents have a few of those projects on their roster—the ones that have obvious problems with marketability yet we decide to represent anyway because we truly believe in them. We think the author has talent and deserves to be read by many people. We know they might be a tough sell to publishers, but we’re going to try anyway. The book’s just that good.

I know some writers complain about the publishing industry as if we’re all just mercenaries, caring  nothing for the advancement of literature or the dissemination of important ideas. We all just want to make a buck. That’s the word on the street, right?

But the truth is something less black and white. Something more human. 

Yes, many of us are trying to make a living in publishing, and that means we always have to watch the bottom line, spending our time on activities that have a good chance of being financially profitable.

But most of us went into the world of books because… we love books. And so, we not only look for authors and books we believe can be successful and find a large audience, we also look for books that matter.  Books that touch our hearts, books that change our minds, books that are stunningly well written, books that feel necessary.

We take them on, and sometimes it takes a long time to sell them to a publisher. So if you’ve got an agent on your side who is doggedly determined to convince an editor to just read your work and catch a vision for it… and they’re willing to put in the time and effort it takes to persist against the obstacles… then your job is to be patient and keep believing in yourself. Write more books. Keep yourself busy. Allow yourself to feel good that someone sees that much potential in your work.

Try to avoid discouragement. Your subjective experience might be that you’re anxious, you want something to happen and you want it NOW. But quicker isn’t better. When readers are enjoying your book, they’re not going to be asking themselves, “But how long did it take to sell to a publisher?”

Things that are worthwhile need to be allowed the time to come to fruition. As an agent, I’m just as subject to anxiousness and wanting things to happen FASTER. I keep reminding myself, if FAST is what I want, then I’m in the wrong line of work.

If you have a book you believe in, and you know it’s worthwhile but there are external forces making it a difficult sell, don’t despair. There is always a way for an important work to find its audience. Agent or no agent.

Have you accomplished anything in your life that required you to be diligent and persist despite tall odds? What was it like? Did you reach your goal?

The post To Champion Worthwhile Books appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

If you’re my client, I love talking to you. Don’t be afraid to call. Don’t worry about “bothering” me, and don’t worry about being  “high maintenance.” If you need to call, call. If I can’t answer, I won’t. Leave a message, I’ll call you back.

For anyone who’s not represented by an agent and not contracted with a publishing house, then it’s almost never okay to call an agent or editor on the phone. I say “almost” but honestly, I can’t think of an exception. This is why God created email, right? Don’t call to ask questions about submissions, definitely don’t call to follow up on a submission, don’t call to chat or pitch your project.

Most agents spend a lot of time on the phone. I’m talking with clients and editors everyday, and often these phone calls are long and they’re one right after the other. (And yes, I use a headset.) So sometimes, it helps to use email to schedule a call so you can avoid playing so much phone tag.

Lately I find myself wanting to be on the phone more, because I get so weary of the hundreds of emails in my box. It can be overwhelming! Many times it’s more effective and quicker to talk through an issue on the phone with a client or editor, rather than try to compose an email.

If you have an agent, be sure to find out their preference for how best to contact them: email, phone calls, texting, Twitter, Facebook, Google+. But if you need to call them, do it. They’re your agent—they shouldn’t have a problem with actually talking to you.

What about you? Do you find you’re using other methods of communication besides phone calls these days? How do you best communicate?

The post When To Call an Agent appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

Most editors and agents have passed on books that went on to success (if not bestseller lists), and I think we all feel regret to a certain extent, maybe a little professional jealousy, yet we can’t lose any sleep over it. Most of us realize that if we didn’t recognize the “X” factor that makes a book a bestseller, we may not have been the best agent for it. The truth is, many bestsellers are freakish surprises, even to the publisher. So we cut ourselves slack knowing that most likely, we weren’t the only ones who rejected it, and just because we didn’t have that gut feeling about it doesn’t mean we can’t still recognize good books.

Sometimes an agent will “lose” a bestselling book not because they rejected it, but because there was competition for it (many agents offering representation) and the author chose someone else. There can be some regret in this situation, to be sure, because you recognized the good book and gave it your best shot, but weren’t picked.

Agents usually say “no” after careful and experienced evaluation. If they determine they can’t personally get behind a book, or they don’t have the right publishing contacts or it doesn’t fit what they represent, they make the right decision in saying “no” even if the book is a potential blockbuster. So that helps us to avoid living in bitterness over all those bestsellers we’re missing out on.

Sometimes I say “no” to someone for representation, and then I hear a fellow agent agreed to represent them. My response is generally to think, “Great, I’m happy for both of them.” Personally, I might re-evaluate whether I made the right decision, but I haven’t experienced much regret. I believe I have to keep moving forward with confidence. I try to be wise in making decisions, and I also want authors to find the best agent for them, even if it’s not me. That helps me to trust that everything is working out as it should so I don’t need to waste energy regretting a lost opportunity.

So how many bestsellers have been rejected by reputable agents? Probably something like, all of them. How many agents have rejected books that went on to become bestsellers? Probably a quite a few. Do we ever kick ourselves over it? Maybe sometimes, but mostly we just keep moving.

Do YOU have any regrets about something you did or didn’t do on this publishing journey?

The post Missing Out on a Bestseller appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

What is the most important thing you expect from a literary agent?

(Let us know if you have an agent, or if you’re seeking one.)

Have a good weekend!

The post What Do You Expect? appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

First, whenever you are going to re-query, it’s a good idea to open your letter with a brief mention of your previous interaction with the agent, and an explanation of why you’re writing to them again. (BRIEF.) That way, if your name sounds familiar to the agent, they won’t be sitting their scratching their head trying to figure out why.

Let’s look at some different situations.

A query for a totally different book.

• Go ahead and re-query, but I recommend waiting three months or more before requerying the same agent with a different book. You don’t want the agent to tire of you or develop an overall feeling of “this writer isn’t right for me.” Give them time to forget your last query! But still, mention that you queried before on a different book.

A query for a book that was previously rejected; but you’ve rewritten the book.

• Did the agent specifically say they’d like to see it again if you make some revisions? Then yes, of course, send it.
• Did the agent see any pages of the book, or just your query? If they only saw your query, then they weren’t impressed by the concept or the hook, and/or they weren’t impressed with the writing in the query itself. So it’s very likely they won’t be interested, even if you’ve revised the book. Go ahead and re-query if you want, but be sure to revise that pitch in the query letter, since it didn’t work last time. Take the chance but keep your expectations realistic.
• Did the agent see a sample of your writing? If so, then make sure you’ve done all you can to bring the overall level of writing up before you re-query. Look very closely at those first few pages; get outside feedback.
• In all cases where you’ve rewritten the book, go ahead and re-query if you like but be aware that some agents don’t like seeing the same project twice, even if rewritten.

A query for the same book, you haven’t revised it, but you’ve rewritten your query:

• If your original query included sample pages: I would not suggest requerying. Even if your query was poorly written, the agent also saw your actual writing, and that wasn’t enough to pique their interest. I’d say you’ve lost your chance with this project and this agent.
• If your original query didn’t include any sample pages:  Most agents can see through a poorly written query letter, and if it’s something they think they might find interesting, they’ll ask to see pages. If they never asked you to see more, then the query didn’t interest them, but if you’re convinced you did a really bad job with that first query letter and that your new one captures your book much better, go ahead and re-query but be aware many agents would feel like this is a waste of their time. If you requery, open your letter with something like, “I previously queried you on this book but you passed; however, I’ve learned so much more about how to pitch my book and I don’t believe my previous query adequately captured it. I’d like to try again.” The worst they can do is click delete without responding. It’s worth a shot… but only if your first query truly didn’t capture your book.

I’m kind of on the laid-back side of this discussion. I don’t mind if people re-query as long as they are truly offering me something new and better. Other agents may not like it so much.

Do NOT requery the same project with the same query letter. And as you no doubt know by now, please don’t respond to pass letters with a request for a reason, a referral, or more info from the agent. These emails will be deleted without a response by almost all agents.

Have you ever re-queried an agent? What happened?

Do you have a project you’ve been wondering if you should re-query? Why? What did you change?

The post When to Re-Query an Agent appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.

Ohmygosh! Another video! And guess what. I decided to name my video series “Two Minute Tutorials” and wouldn’t you know, today’s video is 3 minutes. C’est la vie, as they say.

So this installment of “Two Three Minute Tutorials” answers the question, “Why Don’t Agents Give Reasons with their Rejections?”

(I’m trying to get better at this vlogging thing… give me some time. I promise I’ll get better with practice!)

Here’s a recap:

1. We get a LOT of queries and it takes quite a bit of time to go through them.

2. Brief explanations of the reason for a query rejection don’t tend to be helpful, and often bring up more questions than answers.

3. You may think it should be “easy” to dash off a sentence or two to help you understand why your query was rejected. In reality, it can take 5 to 10 minutes or more to compose an explanation that might help  you. (5 minutes extra per query… times 100 queries a week… is 8 extra hours per week that I just don’t have.

4. It’s subjective and I’m not the ultimate judge or arbiter of your project. I could be wrong. Someone else may see something in your query that I don’t. Really, all you need to know is that it’s not for me.

One thing I didn’t say in the video is that, when we try to include reasons for our rejections, a certain percentage of writers use that as an opportunity to write back and argue the point. We really don’t need that!

I am really sorry that I can’t give you the answer you want on this. I wish I could help every writer who crosses my path. But I just can’t, so instead, I blog!

Have a good weekend…

The post Why Agents Don’t Give Reasons with Rejections appeared first on Rachelle Gardner.