On to the Agent!

Well, it's a long, long journey
to New York City....

Our story idea has become a manuscript and now must leave the author's hands--a very scary prospect indeed! But in the hands of a great agent, our story will have a fighting chance. So let's take a look at "How a Story Becomes a Book" from the agent's perspective:

Agent Erin Murphy at the Erin Murphy Literary Agency

For me, a manuscript starts becoming a book when I read a query letter and writing sample and immediately get excited about sending it to editors--a list of possibilities blooms in my mind, and I start thinking about how it would turn into a different book with different editors and publishing houses, and weighing which directions seem best.

But of course I need to read a full manuscript first! If the writer is already a client, that's a much quicker process, obviously, than if it's a writer I'm considering representing, whom I need to get to know a little and determine if we're a personality match. It doesn't matter how much I like the writing if the writer and I don't seem like we'll mesh, and it doesn't matter how much I like the writer if I'm not fired up about the manuscripts.

I work with my clients to revise and strengthen manuscripts before sending them to editors, so how quickly things go depends on how quickly the author works and how jammed my schedule is at the moment. We're not trying to make a manuscript perfect, and I don't have an expectation that an editor will sign it and publish it with few changes beyond copy editing and proofreading--I just want to eliminate any problem areas that might give any editor (or the rest of her acquisitions committee) an excuse to say no.

When a manuscript is getting close to presentable shape, I'll start mentioning it to editors and gaging early interest, honing my pitch and sharing with the client which aspects seem to spark the most oohs and aahs. I compile a list of interested editors and those I haven't mentioned it to yet, but whom I'd like to include when I send it out. I make a second-tier list, as well, which is mostly made up of long shots (more a match for the editor's personal interests than her publishing house's particular slant, for example) and editors who have sister imprints on the first-tier list, because I want to avoid any in-house conflicts. I also determine how widely I want to send it out, which is a decision made individually for each client and each manuscript. If we're uncertain which direction to go with revisions, we might test the waters with just one to three editors to start with, so we can try a different version if needed. If the client already has a relationship with an editor, we'll start with just that person, or that person and just one or two others. But if a manuscript feels like the kind of thing that lots of different editors might be interested in, and I feel really strongly about it selling quickly, I'll send it to a larger group.

When it's time to start sending it out, I email a pitch to editors I haven't mentioned it to before (or pitch it by phone), and send a little reminder to others who have expressed interest, to let them know it will be coming, and then I follow it up by sending the manuscript with an email that includes the pitch, an author bio, and any other pertinent information. If it's an especially wide submission that seems to have a lot of early interest, I'll make sure to point this out to editors so they will move more quickly with reading it.

From here it's a matter of waiting, nudging, juggling interest from multiple people (ideally), taking offers, negotiating a deal--and then it's in the editor's hands. The overall process is roughly the same for every manuscript, but the time line varies greatly depending on the manuscript, the client, the situation, the time of year, the editor, the publishing house....If an editor is especially eager, this process of signing a book can go very quickly--a matter of a week or two. If editors are busier than usual or we don't get any early nibbles that I can use to nudge along the others who are considering the project, it can be weeks before we have a sense of whether an editor is interested enough to pursue it or not. And the same variation goes once an editor wants to take it to the next stage (editorial meeting, then acquisitions meeting)--many houses have these meetings weekly, but some only monthly, and during a busy convention month, meetings are often canceled. An editor may hold a manuscript back from going to a meeting until the schedule clears a little, so she can spend more time on it with others on the committee to give it the best shot, or she may push it through quickly because the urgency will seem more persuasive.

Obviously, everything does not go the same way every time, but this is roughly how I handle it, with variations to allow for the individual needs of each project and each client--because in the end, that's my goal: Making each writer I work with happy and reaching toward each writer's idea of success by building one publication on another. --Erin

Thank you Erin! The process is exhausting, and it hasn't even started yet. We still have to get to the editor! Next stop: Andrew Karre with Flux !

How A Story Becomes A Book...

Do you remember that cute Schoolhouse Rock song all about how the little Bill fights his way through all the red tape and goes through all the committees in order to become a Law? Well, it is the same long and complicated trek a story idea takes to becoming a book on a shelf. This week we're going to follow the path a story takes from idea all the way toward its goal of becoming a book on a shelf--from author to agent to editor to book store buyer! Today we're going to talk about how story ideas form and what authors go through to get them down on the proverbial paper!

"The reason I started writing The Gollywhopper Games is well-documented in my acknowledgements (and in some resulting reviews). But wanting to write a book that might appeal to a lover of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory provided a huge set of challenges. Dahl had already claimed candy. Dahl had already claimed a spot as a top master. So how could I craft a book one particular 5th grader would love without being derivative of a master work? I'd give you a replay of my process, but my methods of brainstorming are near-impossible to document. They do, however, involve doodling, massive amounts of pacing and utter disregard for household chores." Jody Feldman author of The Gollywhopper Games

"I was a model booker for years, which gave me lots of material for the book. I worked at two busy agencies, but I was always scribbling down story ideas onto notepads instead of working. Sometimes I’d be interviewing a model, looking at her portfolio, and a detail about her photos would strike me as interesting or funny, so I’d say, 'Excuse me just a sec,' then I’d whip out my notepad and start jotting away while the poor girl had to wait. I also took notes when models made comments I liked, usually something like, 'I’m an excellent actress, as long as there’s no dialogue.' Years later, I referred to all those notepads when I sat down to write BRALESS IN WONDERLAND. I guess I only pretended to be a model booker. I spent most of my time scribbling. I should probably give my ex-boss her money back. " Debbie Reed Fischer author of BRALESS IN WONDERLAND and SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS

"I paid for my writing time. Seriously. After my third child was born, I hired a babysitter to come for three hours a day, three days per week. I would need a sitter to go to any other job, I rationalized, so why not for being a writer? It is amazing how much you can get done in three hours, especially when those hours are costing you money. However, it’s not the cheapest way to write. Until I sold a book, my job actually cost me more money than I earned. But it was so worth it! I never would have finished my novels without it." Jenny Meyerhoff author of THIRD GRADE BABY and THE IMPOSSIBLE SECRETS OF ESSIE GREEN

Tomorrow our story must head to agent Erin Murphy at the Erin Murphy Literary Agency!