Karen Sandler

Tag: #LA11SCBWI

  • #LA11SCBWI – The Wisdom of Agents – Panel Discussion

    My final agent-related #LA11SCBWI post is a report from the agent panel that featured Tracey Adams of Adams Literary, Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary, Marcia Wernick of Wernick & Pratt Agency, Tina Wexler of ICM, and moderator Brenda Bowen of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

    The agents started with an introduction of themselves where we learned that Adams Literary represents the gamut from picture book through young adult, Wernick & Pratt is celebrating their 6-month anniversary as an agency and are looking to grow, and ICM is one of the oldest literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and London. The most intriguing factoid was not discovering that Barry Goldblatt Literary has been in existence for 11 years (and like Adams they rep everything from PB through YA) but that Barry is married to YA author Libba Bray.

    The first question posed by Brenda was whether with the advent of e-books and increased ease of self-publishing the role of literary agencies was shrinking or growing.

    Tracey feels the agent’s role is not changing, that they’re looking for new ways to get their clients’ work out there. Barry said it’s really nothing new, just the way it’s done is new. These new avenues don’t change how professional publishing works. Marcia agreed, yes the digital world offers opportunity, but digital is more supportive of the print book (e.g. a game app attached to PB) rather than replacing it. Digital doesn’t change the way stories are out there. The agent is still an author’s advocate and business advisor. Tina said that independently published/e-books are something to watch. She quoted Amanda Hocking as saying that with digital it’s easier to just get a book out there, but to have a career and get people reading your work, it’s very hard. Agents are partners more than just to do the sale, they’re supportive in all stages of the publishing process.

    Brenda then asked, Is there a genre or age-group category that’s drying up/thriving.

    Barry said no, there are always ups and downs in publishing. He just wants a great book and will find a home even if the market “isn’t buying that.”

    Marcia said there’s always a market for well-crafted, strong, original books. She gave as an example Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! which sold in a “dead” PB market after many rejections. More books are challenged to do well, but the ones doing well are doing really well. One market that’s more challenged is the non-fiction market because it’s more geared toward schools/libraries which have had a decrease in funding. But you can succeed in any genre.

    Tracey said that an author asks “Can my agent sell this?” while the agent asks “Do I love this?” If they love it, they’ll find a home for it. The PB market has been challenging, but we’ll never see its demise. For now, YA is the hot topic.

    Brenda then posed a follow-up question: You’ve sold 4 books for a client and you don’t love next book, what do you do?

    Tina said she’d give feedback, have that hard conversation. She’d tell the author, I don’t want to stand in the way, but I don’t think this is the next step in your career. Marcia said that in that situation, she will ask another agent or occasionally an editor (the one who’s currently publishing the author) to get a second opinion.

    Brenda then asked, when you go out with a manuscript for a debut author, what makes you sure you can sell it?

    Barry said it’s the excitement he feels. He loves to make a first sale for an author. Marcia added that just as it’s a passion for the author to create, it’s an agent’s passion to get the book out there and sold. An agent feels a certain entitlement on behalf of their client. For Tracey, she’ll be reading and get excited and can’t wait to show it to a particular editor. She’ll have a submission list in her head as she’s reading.

    Brenda asked for those who represent PBs, how to you find illustrators?

    Marcia, the only agent who answered this, said through referrals and commented that she needs to see character development in a portfolio. She needs to see that character development through the scenes. She also mentioned that she has met (illustrator) clients at conferences.

    Brenda asked how much editorial work do you do?

    Tracey answered that she and Josh (husband and partner) see themselves as the stagers (like in real estate) of the manuscript. They get it ready in its best form to submit. They do respect the role of the editor, and know they’re the one who’s doing the actual editing. She reiterated that they’re getting it ready to submit, not ready to print. Sometimes a manuscript comes in that’s ready to go, and her preference is to take something on that’s already at that stage.

    There was a side discussion about voice, Tracey said it’s an immediately eye-catching element. Barry said it’s hard to define voice but we know it when we see it. At a writer’s workshop once, he had everyone bring a sample of what they thought was great voice. It was enlightening because whatever it was, they knew it when they heard it. Marcia said it’s distinct, you can envision the character through voice.

    Brenda then asked that fatal question—what happens if you can’t sell something?

    Barry noted that his agency has a 98% sell-through rate (i.e., they sell 98% of what they represent). He’s had manuscripts that were submitted to 22 publishers before they made a sale. Some things are unsalable, and you have to have that conversation with a client. But great writing will always find a home. Marcia added that it’s important that while the agent is trying to sell an author’s current book, the author is working on their next project. You have to look at the career path long-term, not just one project.

    Next question posed by Brenda: I’m multi-published, how do I get to the next level?

    Tina turned the question back on itself when she said, your writing has to get to the next level, what are you doing to get there on the page?

    Next: My sales are fine but not great. Should change my name with my next release?

    The agents didn’t answer that question specifically, but instead discussed the issue of authors comparing themselves to one another. Tracey said everyone’s on their own path and a giant deal for a first book isn’t the norm. Marcia commented that you do yourself a disservice comparing yourself on to others on Publishers Marketplace. Barry noted that you might see big deals on PM, but they don’t say what happens after that (i.e., how well a book with a huge deal ultimately does, that author’s future career). Brenda added that data in PM can be misleading, and it’s very superficial.

    Then Brenda said, you have a magic wand. If you could fix any one thing in the publishing business, what would it be?

    Marcia’s wish was that there’d be standard royalties and sub-rights rates. Tracey would end publishing by committee. She feels the publisher should trust the editor, that’s why they hired a great editor. Tina asked for a higher royalty for e-books, and wants more bookstores to come back (don’t we all). Barry said we should end the practice of paying authors their royalties semi-annually (i.e., they should be paid more frequently).

    Next, the ever eternal question: How to submit. All four indicated they are taking electronic submissions only.

    Tracey said Adams Literary takes all submissions via the form on www.adamsliterary.com. They’ll want to see the full manuscript.

    Marcia said submissions are done online at www.wernickpratt.com. Check the submission guidelines there.

    Tina said the ICM site is changing, for now submit to twexler@icmtalent.com, with the first 5 pages in the body of the e-mail.

    Barry said go to www.bgliterary.com and follow the guidelines.

    Lightning round: What do you not want to see ever again? Vampires, screenplays, bad writing.

    What do you think is the next hot trend? Thrillers, suspense, science fiction, and horror.

    What’s your pet peeve? Getting things you don’t represent, hostility, too long winded, Dear Sir (when the agent is a woman)

    What do you want to see on your desk tomorrow? In order, the agents said, Something brilliant, ditto, award winner & best seller, all of the above.

  • #LA11SCBWI – The Wisdom of Agents – Brenda Bowen

    I’m home from SCBWI LA and am playing catch-up with my notes. I’m planning several more conference posts, today’s featuring Brenda Bowen, and I’ll continue to post until they’re all up, including the keynotes I attended. I’ll also post the promised/threatened pictures from the PJ party. There were some creatively wacky costumes.

    I attended four workshops/panels given by agents, which is somewhat odd since I have an agent and don’t need another one. It’s kind of like being married and checking out additional husbands when one man is more than enough. But I’m glad to share what the agents had to say with those of you out there who weren’t able to attend SCBWI LA .

    First up with a workshop titled Agents: Who Needs ‘Em? is Brenda Bowen of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

    Brenda started by saying that in children’s, it was once thought that an author didn’t need an agent. Of course, this is no longer true with so many publishers only accepting submissions through an agent. But having someone to submit for you is only one feature/advantage of having an agent. Your agent can be a constant in the publishing world, even when editors change houses or publishing houses merge or close.

    An agent has to find that diamond in the rough amongst her submissions. When your

    manuscript comes over the transom, if it’s what the agent is looking for, she’ll see there’s something there, that you’re the kind of writer who might one day win the Newbery Award.

    If you submit and the agent decides she wants to work with you, she will want you to revise your manuscript. The agent wants to get it up to being salable. The editor to whom your book will be submitted should be able to confidently take it into the acquisition meeting. In the old days an editor could buy herself, but now that decision requires an acquisition committee. Everyone has to read the manuscript and feel they can see it as a book. A manuscript has to be much more polished than in the old day

    What else do agents do? They schmooze. They’re constantly in touch with the editors at various publishing houses. Often it’s best for an agent to find out what the editors don’t need. For example, if an editor says, “If I see another dystopian I’m going to throw up,” the agent won’t send a dystopian to her. Brenda gave as an example of how well agents know editors by quoting Adams Literary agent Tracey Adams: “I know whether they’re a dog person or a cat person.” That is, agents develop personal relationships with editors.

    All an agent has is her taste and her gut instinct about a book. The agent shouldn’t have the mindset that they’re selling the book to make money, rather they should believe in the book. However, the books Brenda represents are not always what she likes as an agent, and she’ll need to be more neutral because an editor can love it.

    Brenda has learned to schmooze with everyone, not just the editor. She has to be nice to the assistants too because one day you might be crawling to them for a job (she referred to her former boss, Alessandra Balzer as an example).

    She referred to the art of the deal (which she went into in more detail in a later workshop and I’ll be posting that later). But there’s a lot going on after the deal; the deal is just one episode. The agent helps handle the editor. When an author gets worried, about a title change, for instance, the agent can assure the author. Sometimes an author might want her agent to take a look at an e-mail she plans to send to her editor and get feedback on it. The agent’s job is to mitigate those issues.

    Selling translation rights (and UK foreign rights) are another key service of an agent. They’ll try to keep those rights to sell independently. For picture books, the publisher usually acquires foreign rights as well as NA, but those rights can be available at other age levels. There are also commercial, dramatic and ancillary rights (merchandising—think action figures). The literary agent will visit film agents & tell them about upcoming books, what the agent thinks will appeal to them. For e-rights, the agent can make sure it’s the best deal possible, with better language. The agent takes care of  backlist as well as frontlist. The agent takes the heat so you can enjoy the ride and be the star you are.

    There was a Q&A after Brenda’s talk. I’ll list them here in the original Q&A form

    Q. Do you represent screenwriting?

    A. No.

    Q. Speak to how agents handle illustrators who also write or only illustrate

    A. The great thing about representing illustrators is she’ll get e-mails asking to use a particular client (illustrator). Work goes up on her site & she gets interest. She only works with PB & illustrated novels

    Q. What would you suggest to writers who have submitted to agents without success and are considering submitting directly to publishers?

    A. A large number of publishers don’t accept unsolicited ms.

    Q. What are your personal submission guidelines?

    A. After she’s back from vacation (after Labor Day) use querybb@sjga.com (note: there was a secret word given, but it was only for the use of those who were at the presentation). Include the title of the book in the subject line. The query goes in the body of the e-mail and 3 chapters are sent  as an attachment (note: there are further instructions at http://www.sjga.com/code/contact.htm). For an illustrated PB, send as PDF. A pet peeve—she hates to see forwards. That is, she doesn’t want to see that you forwarded a query that you’d sent to another agent. Another pet peeve is the use of rhetorical questions (“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be born with three elbows?”)

    If you query her, you’re going to get a bounceback that says “I’m not able to read and respond to all, so if you don’t hear from me in 8 weeks, I’m declining the opportunity.” If you hear from another agent, put “interest received” or “offer received” in the subject line. For what it’s worth, TNR is her fave font.

    Q. How do you feel about historical fiction?

    A. She loves historical fiction, and is repping an author who’s a master of the genre. Publishers say no historical fiction, but they publish it all the time. All the Newbery & honor books this year were historical fiction.

    Q. What if you didn’t attend this workshop and what’s a bad time frame to submit?

    A. If you didn’t attend the workshop, you could say, I recently attended the SCBWI conference. As to when to submit, although people are looking for good books all the time, the following time periods are slow: the month of August and Dec 15-Jan 1. Another tip: use Publisher’s Marketplace to see who represents what.

    Q. Do you do specific change suggestions?

    A. Yes. She’ll help the author get something ready, and then the editor might have suggestions as well

    Q. Can a publisher take rights to character?

    A. That would be a very bad deal. They own right to publish the book, maybe an option to the next book with the same character, but an agent is unlikely to allow them to own rights to the character itself.

    Q. Would a publisher be involved with other rights such as a TV show?

    A. Those rights don’t have to be included in the publishing contract, but everyone should work together. The question is, Whose team is the editor on? the publisher’s or the author’s? If everyone is on one team that works the best.

    Q. Is the client under contract during revisions?

    A. Sometimes yes. Brenda has a broad contract, but some agencies don’t have that contract.

  • #LA11SCBWI – Day 2 Judy Blume!

    The bad news is that John Green had to have emergency gall bladder surgery and couldn’t be here for his workshop. The good news is we got Judy Blume instead.

    The surprise interview with Judy Blume was so fabulous, it deserves a blog post of its own. I took notes on my netbook during the interview, which was kind of stream of consciousness, but just perfect. There’s not a lot of organization to the following; it’s pretty much as it went down this morning.

    Judy likes the intimacy of writing with pencil. From the start, her approach was to just get through a draft, which worked when she used carbon paper on a typewriter. But with the advent of computers, there’s a lot of temptation to go back and edit before moving forward in the manuscript. She admits she’s a terrible first draft writer.

    She prints out her manuscript several times and scribbles on it (still has to edit on hardcopy), her security for the next draft. She’ll do 5 drafts herself, maybe 5 more as she works with an editor. Summer Sisters required 23 drafts.

    Her inspiration for Summer Sisters: She was at a pond in a kayak, and heard a loud noise like a gunshot. A whole group of people came down the hill and jumped into the pond in all their clothes (Lin Oliver joked it was a gunshot wedding). After she got home she started conceiving the book. She knew there would be two girls, that one would marry the other’s boyfriend and the book would start with a wedding.

    She’s not necessarily plot person, in fact is sucky at plot. Plot is not how a book comes to her. She will have an idea. She’s never really understood the creative process. Her son says she’s the least analytical person he’s ever known. A basic idea lives in her head and percolates.

    She gave the advice to start the book/story on the day when something different happens. Sometimes you have to write pages and pages before you get to that different day (and then you’ll discard those pages). When she writes a book, she knows where it’s starting and where it’s going, but she doesn’t know where it’s happening along the way. As she writes, she’ll laugh aloud, cry a lot, be turned on by a sexy scene.

    She said what’s going to matter to your readers should come from deep inside you, the writer. Lin commented that Judy seems to channel directly from kids to her. Judy has no idea where that comes from. She can meet a 4 year old and have an instant connection. She identifies with kids, which as she wryly noted doesn’t make you the best mother.

    She mentioned that at the moment, kid’s writers are hot—that we’re the money makers. We write them (kid’s books) because it comes naturally to us, not because we want to do good.

    She was supposed to be conventional mom/wife but it didn’t fit for her. At first, she wanted to be Dr. Suess, and she wrote terrible picture books & sent them out (they were rejected). With the first rejection, she went into the closet and cried. She said determination rather than talent will get you through

    She took a writing class in the ‘60s. The teacher was an older lady (at least from Judy’s perspective) who had last published 20 year earlier. The teacher had rules, that children could never eavesdrop, that the book should tie up everything at the end. Judy didn’t follow the rules. Even though she  didn’t learn anything in the class, she took it again just to keep writing.

    Judy’s first book, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, was shocking when it was first published.

    Judy had an idea how to write because she read books. You should write the kind of book you like to read. Get over writing like Dostoyevsky and Robaire.

    She wishes there were an answer to finding your voice. It never gets easier, after 40 years there’s still the anxiety. She at least knows how to do the process (although there’s no guarantee she’ll do it well)

    She scribbles everything into a notebook, so she always has something written down and never has to face a blank screen. In the beginning, her writing came out faster & more spontaneously because it was new. She keeps a binder with each book.

    By writing electronically, she still has same work product, but it’s harder because she can go back and revise, revise. Doing a first draft is a method, a puzzle. Finding the pieces is the first draft, putting them together is the next draft. The creative part is so much fun when you’re thinking about it, not so much when you’re doing it.

    Why do you come to a conference? For inspiration (although it can be overwhelming). Inspiration will be inside you without you thinking specifically about what was said.

    For instance, at the Key West literary seminar, which has an audience of readers, the theme this year was new writers. A woman was talking about her new book. While she was talking, a light bulb came on in Judy’s head and she knew what she wanted to write next, about something that happened in the 50s in the town she grew up. She started right away, did research for the first time (news stories of the time). She had to take 2 years off because of the movie she was working on (Tiger Eyes which she and her son co-wrote, her husband executive produced), but now she’s back to the book. It’s the first time she knows everything that’s going to happen, previously she’d write to find out what’s going to happen.

    Don’t listen to advice that says “Don’t do this particular thing” if that’s what you’re prompted to write. Don’t worry about the audience if you’re excited about the book. There’s no one way, find what works for you.

    She doesn’t like series. She gets bored too easily. Beverly Horowitz is her editor/publisher.

    How to keep motivated—writing changed her life. She was very prolific at first. She wasn’t happy in her marriage, when her marriage improved and she got happy, she jokingly accused her husband of ruining her career.

    Her mother used to make bargains with God—you can’t take me in the middle of knitting this sweater. In Judy’s case, it’s You gotta let me finish this book.

    She asked the question, why can’t a writer just write, why do we have to be a public speaker? But nowadays we have to. A writer should remember we’re acting out all our characters’ roles and use that when we have to speak.

    She discovered that while a book is very emotional, a movie is even more so. In working on the script for her movie, she had to write in pictures. The movie comes together in post production.

    Dialogue is the only thing she likes to write. She’s not good at descriptive writing or metaphors. She’s good at creating characters and putting them together. She likes contemplating what they’re thinking vs. what they’re saying. Dialogue writing is what comes to her naturally, spontaneously. She hears them talking. Everybody has to listen to write. It’s not a good idea to write, for example, what kids in California are saying, then 2 years later when the book is read in New Jersey, it won’t match (kids in NJ speak differently).

    What is YA? (there was no YA when she was writing). Forever was first thought to be adult, but it was released as children’s. Her daughter had asked couldn’t there be a book where a girl gets pregnant and nobody dies?.

    She didn’t censor herself in the ‘70s, many authors were coming of age then. It’s cyclical, and YA is back to that time (less censored). If it’s important to the character or story, it should be there.

    Judy commented that the infamous WSJ article used her as an example of a good girl, a writer who described the happy days of our youth. The WSJ writer obviously didn’t know the history there. Judy said the WSJ writer made a terrible mistake using the mother in the bookstore. Why did nobody tell her about the many alternatives which are not dark? And there are wonderful authors who are dark.

    Judy said she would have killed for an SCBWI 40 years ago, for a community, to not feel alone. She had nothing like SCBWI. She thanked Lin for that alone. Judy was one of the first people to join the organization.

    Judy had not a clue about how to write at the beginning—and that’s good. We shouldn’t expect to know.

    An audience member asked what was her spiritual place when wrote Margaret. Judy said she was questioning. She came from a mixed religion family, kind of choose your own religion. Her brother married a non-jew who didn’t belong to any religion. At that time, Judy was ready to cut loose and write her 6th grade story.

    Telling a story is a quest which involves questioning. But question your characters, not yourself.

    When asked what did she dream that her legacy would be for herself/her daughter/others, she said she doesn’t dream of a legacy. If she thought of her audience, she wouldn’t be able to write, she’d be too afraid of disappointing them.

    As a last note, she said she’d like her tombstone to read “Are you there God? It’s me.”

  • #LA11SCBWI – Day 1

    To start with, that’s a heck of a ballroom, isn’t it? And that image only captures half of it. Hard not to feel intimidated.

    After registering and scrambling around for something for breakfast (the Starbucks line was monumentally long), I settled into the second row for my first major SCBWI conference.

    Teeing off was Bruce Coville with a welcoming keynote. He started out by reminding us that children are worth our best efforts, not just lip service. He talked about the importance of craft, but said that craft without inspiration is basket-weaving (and inspiration without craft is Jackson Pollock). He read a fan letter and remarked that as children’s authors we make a difference, that like a stone falling into a pond, the ripples go far beyond where the stone fell. He then listed thirteen key points to success as a writer–the first one being Marry Rich.

     

    Next, Jerry Pickney’s keynote presented the illustrator’s side of the publishing equation. As a YA author, I’m very much in the dark about picture books and the illustrators who help create them. Mr. Pickney is a fabulous artist, and even with his work enlarged to display on a giant screen, the images were jaw-droppingly beautiful. He talked about how his childhood and his family history impacted his art and how an artist should present an illustration as if looking over the shoulder of the action.

     

     

    Next was “Writing about Other Cultures” with author Rukhsana Khan. Since I wrote outside my culture in Tankborn, I appreciated getting a better understanding of what to watch out for to avoid “voice appropriation.” Rukhsana talked about how if an author writes a book about the worst in a culture outside their own, it will probably be a bestseller, but it isn’t fair or completely honest. Instead she urged us to work hard to pay attention to the social construct of a culture, to get the thought process right. We should internalize the values of a different culture, do our research and accept the customs and mores, create that world as we would in a science fiction and fantasy story.

    After a very rushed lunch (the line for sandwiches was even more monumentally long than that for Starbucks), it was on to the publisher’s panel, which included Allyn Johnston from Beach Lane (Simon & Schuster), Julie Strauss-Gabel from Dutton, Jennifer Hunt who is newly arrived at Dial/Penguin Putnam, Beverly Horowitz from Delacorte (Random House), and Debra Dorfman from Scholastic. They ran through what their imprints/houses are publishing. Generally PB to YA, although some houses focus more on one end or the other, e.g., Dial is heavier into PB and Dutton leans more toward YA. They all seemed to agree that although the adult market is sagging, YA is doing well. Beverly commented that we have to be optimistic, but realistic, that electronic doesn’t have to annihilate the physical book. Julie pointed out that there’s no single way to publish a book to success and that social media has to be genuine; kids immediately sniff out a forced effort. Debra suggested that authors put themselves out there with school visits, a website, and blog. They finished with a list of upcoming books they’re very excited about, which included Ghost Bunny (note: I could swear I heard this right, but M. Raven tells me in the comments it’s Ghost Buddy. I like my version) by Lin Oliver and Henry Winkler and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

    After taking a break during which I missed the apparently hysterically funny Libba Bray, I caught the last half-hour or so of a discussion of subsidiary rights by Tracey and Josh Adams of Adams Literary. I’ve heard them speak before and they’re always enthusiastic and informative.

    Emma Dryden gave an extensive talk on where we’re going on the digital highway, then we all headed off to the PAL (Published And Listed) reception/booksigning where I scarfed up a slider and too many spicy chicken nuggets. I then trolled for books and bought two (Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji and Woolbur). As Ken Min, illustrator of Hot, Hot Roti, autographed his book, he referred to the two of us as siblings since both both our books are published by Lee and Low. Which was one reason I bought his book–after all, siblings have to stick together. When I reminded Ken when Tankborn comes out, he hinted that he might just buy it (being a sibling and all).  Autographed books in hand, I staggered upstairs to blog and pray those chicken nuggets would digest.

    The only bummer of the day is that my stack of business cards vanished. I’d worked so hard to get them just right, with Tankborn‘s cover and all my contact info. I sent them down on a chair and when I went to leave, they were gone. No idea what could have happened to them. Sigh.