Category Archives: Guest Posts

Laurie McLean: Literary Agents in the New Publishing Era

With the advent of indie publishing, there has been much speculation about the demise of traditional publishing and the role of the literary agent. Laurie McLean, Senior Agent at Larsen Pomada Literary Agents, shares her views on her profession and the changing industry. Check out her agent blog, www.agentsavant.com, for tales of the agenting life, and the agency’s site, www.larsenpomada.com, for valuable information and links.

 

  1. Can you tell me a little bit about your background in publishing?

I entered publishing from a sideways path, not the traditional one of being an intern at a publisher or agency having gotten a creative writing or MFA degree from college.  I was a journalist first, then worked in public relations, eventually starting my own PR agency in California’s Silicon Valley and building it into a multi-million dollar business.  When I retired early, I was too young to sit around and do nothing, so I wrote a novel. Got a literary agent (Elizabeth Pomada), got involved with the San Francisco Writers Conference, and never looked back. Less than two years after I retired I was a full-time literary agent, author, and on the management team of the San Francisco Writers Conference.  Today I am also the Dean of the newly created San Francisco Writers University found at www.sfwritersu.com. And this year I am starting two ePublishing companies with two of my clients to make out-of-print vintage romance (JoyrideBooks.com) and children’s books  (AmbushBooks.com) available to a new generation of readers.

  1. How would you describe the role of the literary agent?

I find authors with promise, work with them to improve their manuscripts and try to sell them to a large New York-based publisher, a smaller indie publisher or help them self-publish their work.  But agents do so much more than that. (see next question)

  1. In your opinion, what are the most important things that you do for your authors?

An agent is:

  • A scout who constantly researches what publishers are looking for
  • An advocate for an author and his or her work
  • A midwife who assists with the birth of a writing project
  • A reminder who keeps the author on track if things begin to slip
  • An editor for that last push before submission
  • A critic who will tell authors what they need to hear in order to improve
  • A matchmaker who knows the exact editors for an author’s type of writing
  • A negotiator who will fight to get the best deal for an author
  • A mediator who can step in between author and publisher to fix problems
  • A reality check if an author gets out of sync with the real world
  • A liaison between the publishing community and the author
  • A cheerleader for an author’s work or style
  • A focal point for subsidiary, foreign and dramatic rights
  • A mentor who will assist in developing an author’s career
  • A rainmaker who can get additional writing work for an author
  • A career coach for all aspects of your writing future
  • An educator about changes in the publishing industry
  • A manager of the business side of your writing life
  1. What skills and qualities should literary agents possess?

An agent must be organized, intelligent, multi-tasking, a good negotiator, have excellent time management skills, love books, know marketing and sales and be well versed in the mechanics of writing/storytelling/character development/plot/pacing and social media.  He or she must also be relentless in keeping up with developments in publishing contracts, editorial taste and digital publishing.

  1. How do you think the role of the literary agent has changed in the past ten years?

Two things: digital publishing and social media marketing.  These are disruptive technologies that are transforming one of the oldest businesses on the planet.  The rapid rise of eBooks is truly changing the industry and opening opportunities for writers and new eBook-only publishers never before seen. By solving the twin headed dragons of accessibility (through self-publishing) and discoverability (through social media), authors will be free to experiment, broaden and enjoy the control they have over their creativity and careers for the first time in hundreds of years.

  1. What would you describe as the biggest threat to literary agents?

The biggest threat I see is not keeping up with the changing landscape of publishing. If an agent doesn’t dive in and integrate digital publishing into every client’s career planning, he or she will cease to thrive and eventually be out of business.

  1. Is your agency doing anything specific to overcome that threat?

In 2011 we created San Francisco Writers University (www.SFWritersU.com), an online and live place of learning for authors that is a 24/7/365 resource for writing.  We have created tracks at the non-profit annual San Francisco Writers Conference (www.SFWriters.org) for social media for authors and self-publishing.  I have spent four years immersing myself in digital publishing to understand its wide-ranging implications and impacts. And this year I am launching two eBook-only publishing companies with two separate clients-Joyride Books for previously published romance books, and Ambush Books for out of print children’s book backlist titles.  No original works, so I won’t face any conflict of interest accusations…only good, out-of-print backlist titles that deserve to be reissued and now they have a chance.

  1. What is your opinion on some of the new agency business models emerging (e.g. full career management, fee-based services, consultant and publishing services)?

As you can see from my answer to question 7, I love the fact that agents are looking at their specific tangential talents outside the core agent competencies and offering this expertise to their clients, and sometimes to authors who are not their clients.  It is an exciting time to be involved in the publishing industry.

  1. Is there a business model that you think will become standard?

I doubt a standard business model will emerge within the next decade, if ever.  Agents are as individual as authors, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.  I am a serial entrepreneur and I bring my business and marketing strengths to any new venture I create.  Other agents are more comfortable offering indie editing services or book-to-film advice.  Some are assisting their clients with indie publishing…going so far as procuring cover art, editing, formatting, etc.

  1. Do you see the 15% commission continuing as the standard payment for literary agents?

For traditional publishing deals, absolutely.  And I don’t see traditional publishing going away.  Like the myth of the paperless office, we will not abandon paper books altogether. There will be shorter initial print runs with quick follow-up runs if a book sells well, print on demand services will thrive (could we possibly see an Espresso Book Machine leased by publishers to booksellers so they can make a book while you wait…I hope so!), and people will read more books in more formats than we ever dreamed possible.

  1. Do you have any thoughts on what the role of the literary agent will be in the future?

If things settle down at all, I believe agents will take on more of a career management role for authors, similar to the way sports or celebrity agents work today.  So they’ll negotiate deals for their authors’ print, ebook and subsidiary rights, but they’ll also make more things happen themselves along the way.

S. James Nelson: Abandon All (unreasonable) Hope

Guest post by S. James Nelson

My intention with this blog is to give you a healthy dose of despair and a stronger injection of hope.

I’m honestly surprised that this blog has turned into what it has. I’ve written and discarded a dozen drafts until settling on this topic–the topic I most hated to hear writers talk about when I started up writing again. In my heart I simply believed it wasn’t true. At least not for me. For the rest of you schmucks, sure. But not for me.

Turns out I was wrong.

I started my self-publishing experiment last August when I published The Demigod Proving. In November I followed up with Keep Mama Dead.

I haven’t sold a million copies.

Yet. I haven’t sold a million copies yet.

I’ve purposefully kept my marketing efforts to a minimum, although I have dabbled in what I would term marketing. That has netted me only about 2k sales and 12k give-aways. I’m more qualified to talk about what doesn’t work in self-publishing than what does.

But there is one thing I have learned, that I’m qualified to talk about, and that might be useful to you: you should give up your unreasonable hope, and maintain your reasonable hope.

I learned this over time, as I came to the conclusion that I am not an exception to the rule. There’s a very high chance (probably better than 99.9999%) that you aren’t, either.

I now suspect that the promise of quick and easy riches was what lured me back into writing. My day job wasn’t meeting my income desires, and so I thought, “I think I’ve got some skill with writing. Maybe I can hit it big. In fact, I bet I can.”

I haven’t told anyone that until now (so, naturally I put it on the Internet for all the world to read)–after all, they would scoff and spout some rot about those stories being the exception to the rule. They would try to distract me from my objective. I believed that I could be one of writers who had crazy huge success without much work.

Alas, it didn’t happen. At the same time, my day-job miraculously exceeded my income desires. The fire in my belly–the desire and urgency for quick and easy success–disappeared, leaving me wondering: why am I getting up early every morning to write? Why am I expending all manner of resources on this effort? It would be so much easier to use those resources for something more productive.

And yet, here I am, still writing. Still planning on putting out more books.  And, in fact, trying to find ways to be more successful. I’m certain I’ll have to work harder. Perhaps I need to step up my marketing efforts. Maybe I need to hone my writing. There’s a chance I need to understand my audience better. It might be that the package of my book (style, cover, title, editing) needs more work.

How strange to find myself thinking like that when it’s safe to say I will never be the exception to that stupid rule. I’ve worked way too hard to ever legitimately be called an overnight success.  For mercy’s sake, I’ve sacrificed for my art!

This has led me to a conclusion: I’m no longer in it for the quick and easy money. Which leads me to another realization: though success isn’t the primary goal, I still want to sell a lot of books. Which begets another conclusion: if a large number of book sales is something I’m going to continue to pursue, I’m going to have to manage my expectations about how easily that success might come. At the same time, I must maintain hope that I’ll succeed. Without hope, I have no reason to try. I may as well write and hide my work under a bushel.

Yet I have hope, and therefore I must continue to act. I must try different things, believing that if I change this or that-maybe this time I’ll have success.

So, the message?

Despair at ever being an overnight success, yet hope that your hard work will pay off.

Let your hope lead you to continue to develop your writing. If you self-publish, let your hope lead you to develop your marketing. If you fail at first and give up, it means you were in it for the money. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you fail at first and find yourself willing to keep going, you must maintain hope that with persistent work, constant learning, and different approaches to the same problem, you’ll succeed.

You may not, though, and that’s why the money can never be the only reason you’re in this business.

S. James Nelson recently won first place in David Farland’s Nightingalewriting contest. If you enjoy action-oriented, deep-thinking fantasy, take a look at his book, The Demigod Proving. If you like strong characters, real-world fantasy, and hiking in national parks, take a look at his book Keep Mama Dead

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Jordan Ellinger: Coming Up in the Trenches

Guest Post by Jordan Ellinger

Quick! Name some of your favorite science fiction writers. Some of you might have named Asimov or Theodore Sturgeon, while others might have said Orson Scott Card or Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The more literary-minded amongst you probably listed Elizabeth Hand or Jeff Vandermeer. Guess what? They’ve all written tie-ins.

There is a perception among writers that tie-in books–that is to say books that are based in a universe created by someone other than the writer–are of low quality and reside in a kind of literary ghetto, and in some ways that’s even true. Tie-ins are generally hastily written and of poor quality. The plots are often clichéd or trite and the characterization hobbled by the need to not conflict with “canon” and to leave the universe in a state suitable for the next writer to tackle. But these books can often add depth to a beloved universe like Vonda McIntyre’s Stark Trek novels, or continue the story of favorite characters like Dave Wolverton’s the Courtship of Princess Leia, or even fill in plot holes such as Isaac Asimov famously did in Fantastic Voyage.

Like many of today’s fantasy writers, I spent my teen years playing Dungeons and Dragons and so it was with some pleasure that I discovered a set of Dragonlance books on the shelves of my local bookstore. Tie-in books had existed previous to the Dragonlance novels by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, but in the late 80s they were being pushed in a big way, and began to occupy whole shelves at the local bookstore. Being a fan of both dragons and lances, I devoured Weiss and Hickman’s novels and moved onto the Forgotten Realms series also set in a world that obeyed D&D canon.

It didn’t matter to me that many of these novels were hastily written and clichéd. I was young enough that a plot line revolving around an elf, a dwarf, a wizard, and a warrior meeting in a tavern seemed fresh and new, simply because I hadn’t read enough to know how many authors start their novels that way. At one point, I had more Forgotten Realm novels on my shelves than original novels, and I would incorporate some of the plot lines I read into the D&D campaigns that I ran with a few friends.

In 2009 an event occurred that marked the beginning of my career as a professional writer: I won 1st place in Writers of the Future with a story about a woman with the powers of a Phoenix and a lifespan only a day long. After my win, I immediately started writing novels, hoping to capitalize on my newfound notoriety. Unfortunately, everything I wrote seemed to peter out after 50,000 words (just over half the length of a modern fantasy novel). A year after winning the contest, I had nothing to show for myself other than a few failed manuscripts.

Around that time, Larry Segriff put out a call for his Story Portals site, which would launch with a series about Katya, an assassin who killed with a mixture of extreme competence, sexually aggressive tactics, and magic. This was my first experience with work for hire. He owned the characters and universe and, once I signed his contract, he’d own whatever stories and ideas I created for him as well. Despite that stipulation, I was intrigued. Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weiss had done quite well from Dragonlance, and I told myself this could be an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new franchise. I expressed an interest in the project and sent Larry a writing sample, which he quite liked. I was hired.

With a story for Larry under my belt, I decided to tackle other franchises, and when I went down to the local mega-bookstore I found that Warhammer had the most shelf space. I sent them a note telling them I’d won this award, and did they have any stories that needed writing? Laurie Goulding, their acquisitions editor wrote me back to say that he was interested and that I could send him a pitch. When I asked what I should write about, he gave me four potential ideas. I ran out, spent a ton of money buying the rulebooks and then did my best to bone up on the areas he suggested. Instead of sending him a single pitch I sent him four (two of which were accepted and will be in issues of Hammer & Bolter this summer).

Laurie seemed to like my work, and he was one of the best editors I’d worked with (and still is) so I dove full-tilt into the world of Warhammer. The Black Library sends its authors free books whenever they ask to encourage them to become familiar with canon, and I must have read twenty novels in those first few months. Some were bad, but to my surprise and delight, some were amazing. In the latter books, the prose held up to that of any in the genre, and though the focus was necessarily on bloody action scenes, they were dynamic, with well-realized characters. These would be the kinds of books I’d write. Sure, they’d be Warhammer books, but they’d be the best damned Warhammer books out there.

Things have really skyrocketed for me recently. Since writing that first short story for Story Portals, it seems that my career has come full circle. When I was a kid, I had a ton of Tracy Hickman books on my shelves and I now have a novel coming out in a series he anchored. My name will be on the spine of a novel only a few books away from his on the shelves.

Writing tie-ins has given me the confidence to write my own stuff, and I’ve been able to bring the lessons I’ve learned writing them to my own original work. Best of all, the work pays better than pro-rate and is paid in advance. I’ve heard it said that the average number of novels a new writer has to pen before selling one is six. I sold my first novel before I’d even written it.

In terms of ways for a new writer to practice their craft, it’s hard to beat the tie-in market.

 
Guest Writer Bio:
Jordan Ellinger is a Writers of the Future winner and Clarion West graduate. His story “Kineater” recently made an appearance in Warhammer:The Gotrek & Felix Anthology and has work upcoming in Hammer&Bolter as well as World’s Collider, a new anthology from Nightscape Press. In his spare time, he helms Every Day Publishing, publisher of Every Day Fiction, Every Day Poets, Flash Fiction Chronicles, and Raygun Revival. To read more, visit his website www.jordanellinger.com or follow him on twitter @jordanellinger.

David Dalglish: The Triumph of the Dalglish: How I Sold 200k Novels While Not Knowing Squat

Guest Post from David Dalglish

In Christmas ’09 I bought my wife a Kindle as a present, which we ended up sharing. It took less than a week to realize that little e-reader was something special. Together we were reading more books than we had in months, and buying far, far more than in years. I felt like I’d stumbled upon the iPod just before its sales went insane, and mentioned to my wife how awesome it’d be if I could get in before it really took off. At the time, I was speaking out of wish fulfillment more than anything, but my wife went investigating, and realized I could start self-publishing on the Kindle without any monthly fees, upfront costs, etc.

Now at the time, I had a very simple mindset: self-publishing equals loss of money, and spectacular failure. In college I’d taken plenty of Creative Writing classes, and my favorite teacher had a single day each semester devoted to discussing the pure business of publishing. I still remember what she said: self-publishing meant the end of your career as a writer. You’d never be taken seriously again, because self-publishing was the route of the desperate, and those unwilling to put in the time and effort to get published traditionally.

I bought into this completely. I really did. And to be fair to her, much of what she said was true, particularly when she said it. When my wife showed me the option to self-publish on Amazon, I had, deep down, given up on a traditional deal. Everything I could find, from agents to publishers, basically said what I wrote wouldn’t sell. If you had elves, or orcs, disguise them with new names or consider yourself dead in the water. So trying to shop a series titled The Half-Orcs, well . . . yeah. So part of me was giving up, waving goodbye to a world of agents, query letters, minimum/maximum word counts, and the like. It was terrifying.

On the other hand, I still firmly believed two things. One, I could tell a story that’d entertain readers out there; those who grew up with Dragonlance and Drizzt. Two, the Kindle was going to be huge. I decided if I was going to do this, I’d go all out.

I scoured deviantart for covers (because at the time, you could point out 99% of self-published authors just by their cover, and I didn’t want to be one of them). I lucked out insanely to find Peter Ortiz, who has now done twelve book covers for me.

In a mad dash I edited, edited, rewrote, and then uploaded Weight of Blood for 99 cents. I basically tried to outrun my doubt and fear, because I knew if I delayed I would eventually wimp out. So on sale at Amazon went my first book. I figured fifty sales a month would be fantastic. Heck, on the first day that I sold five copies, I called and told my brother, all ecstatic.

“So you don’t know any of those five people?” he asked me.

“No! I don’t!”

“That’s awesome!”

“I know!”

It might seem crazy to get excited about what amounted to $1.70, but at the time, I considered it a score having a short story accepted at a magazine with copies as payment. Making money, however little? Awesome.

I should also point out I was working at Pizza Hut. An extra fifty bucks a month per book I wrote? Rock on. Two hundred books later, I’d be a millionaire.

So now things have changed a bit. Obviously. It seems everyone and their dog has self-published a book, and there are too many people making solid money to still believe self-publishing will destroy your career. And now I have people sending me emails, asking what I did, and what they could do to have sales like mine. The terrible truth is, I’m not sure what worthwhile advice I have to give. Why?

Because if I tried self-publishing from scratch right now, I’d fall flat on my face. That’s how much the self-publishing world has changed. Let me explain. Self-publishers are like locusts (I’m serious, hear me out). For every one person that is respectful, and putting time into their craft, and willing to abide by the rules, there are five who won’t, and will simply swarm in, regardless of the damage it might cause. So one of the earliest ways I got sales was by chatting with people on the Fantasy forums on Amazon. But once people realized that could earn sales, those forums were bombarded with spam, sock puppets, people recommending their own books regardless of the topic. Once upon a time, a reader could make a post saying “I just finished this book by David Authorguy, and it was great!” and you’d nab ten to fifteen sales just like that. The same went for the 99 cent price point. It was an easy way to get noticed, and undercut competition. But now? Pricing 99 cents does nothing, absolutely nothing, to make you stand out.

One of the biggest kickstarts to my success was when Amazon price-matched Weight of Blood free for about five glorious days. Sales for all my books quadrupled the following month. Now? With Select, we’re drowning in freebies. Websites with banners, email blasts, all costing more and more, and giving diminishing returns (other than a precious few . . . to give one example, ENT. They also filled up a year’s worth of paid advertisements for self-publishers *in a single day*).

So yeah, this probably sounds dire. In some ways, it is, at least if you’re in the get-rich-quick mindset. I rode the various waves just ahead of everyone else, and that’s probably the best advice I can offer. To do this, you need to keep your eyes and ears open. Pay attention to what’s going on, and always try to think from a reader’s perspective. Your pride does not matter. What you think your book is worth does not matter. You can trot out the tired “people pay four dollars for a cup of coffee” nonsense, but it changes nothing. Stay nimble, pay attention to the people who are doing well, and then emulate them.

I guess that isn’t my absolute best advice, but it’s what I usually resort to telling people when they ask. See, the other advice isn’t anywhere near as sexy. It’s also the most obvious. Write. And then write some more. You know what’s easier than selling 10,000 books? Selling 5,000 copies of two books. And far easier than that is to sell 3,500 copies of three books.

So many people seem to want to hit the jackpot with just one book. To be fair, people out there do pull it off occasionally. I’ve seen it, even had friends do it. But I’ve seen some of those same people have their sales eventually dry up into nothing, and instead of giving something new for their readers, they keep shopping and pushing that same book, trying to recapture that old miracle.

No.

Stop it.

Keep writing.

And I don’t mean crank out crap. Imagine that you have a fan base out there, one you’re steadily growing. Every book you write, make sure it’s something that audience will love and devour. With each new book, you’ll gather in the new, and satisfy the old.

I’m starting to ramble, so I’ll cut it off here. In short, if you want to self-publish, go in wide-eyed, your pride swallowed, and your ears open. Treat your readers, who are also your paying customers, with respect and courtesy. Don’t make excuses, but instead have the best editing you can have, the best cover, the best formatting, and the best presentation. Most of all, the best story.

And then do it again.

And again.

And again.

Guest Writer Bio:
David Dalglish is the author of the Half-Orc Series, the Shadowdance Trilogy, The Paladins Series, the Watcher’s Blade Trilogy, and the Land of Ash anthology. Find out more about David at http://ddalglish.com.