• Check out this guest column by Han Vance on Networking at Writers Conferences.
• Read more about the dos and don'ts of pitching agents at conferences.
• Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
  
• Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

GLA: How did you become an agent?

CR: In 2008 I was a 25-year old writer desperate for a career in books who decided I had to move to NYC to make it happen. I brought my life savings and applied to every editorial position I could find. Then, on a whim, I applied for an internship with Firebrand Literary (who had already passed on a novel of mine). They let me come in and assist for a few weeks before deciding I had potential. They offered me a position and two months later, I sold my first project. It's been a bit of a whirlwind ever since.

GLA: Tell us about this move to Upstart Crow.

CR: Working with the great Michael Stearns was one of the main reasons I initially took a position at Firebrand, so it was an easy choice to join him at Upstart Crow. I've been told our love of books and authors shines through on our website, blog, and in the general way we speak about the agency, and I can say with confidence that it's no act or way of endearing ourselves to potential clients. We simply love books and want to do the best by them. It's wonderful being at an agency where the focus shines directly on the books and the writers.

GLA: What's the most recent thing you've sold? 

CR: Lately we've been focused on selling lots of subrights on projects. It's been great to sell projects in foreign territories, like Jacqueline West's forthcoming The Books of Elsewhere series. In the states, it'll come out in June of 2010 from Dial.

GLA: Your history is as a playwright and comedy sketch writer. How does this influence your tastes and the way you read?

CR: My experience with comedy, though probably not as impressive as it sounds, has made me extremely picky with "funny" manuscripts. It takes a lot to make me laugh, so when something does, I find it extremely gratifying. However, I think sometimes people are a bit intimidated by my background in comedy, especially considering I briefly contributed to The Onion, but I'm here to assure you that 1) I'm not as funny as I think I am and 2) if you can hook me with humor, I'll be a terrific advocate for your work.

GLA: Before we get into your love for kids work, tell me: Do you rep any adult works?

CR: When I first started agenting, I though I might dabble in adult works. I imagined myself selling humor or sports books. I've learned, however, that it's incredibly hard to "dabble" in the world of publishing. I've decided that if I can't go into something 100%, it's better to stick with what I really know. For me, that's kid's books.

GLA: You seek YA and MG.  Besides a soft spot for boy books, what else can you tell us about your preferences?  What do you see too much of?  What do you see too little of?"

CR: I'm definitely looking for projects with something timeless at their core, whether it's the emotional connection a reader feels to the characters, or the universal humor, or issues that are relevant now and will still be relevant years from now. Can readers truly understand what it's like to be the prince of Denmark? Probably not, but they can identify with feeling disconnected from a dead loved one and the anger at watching him be replaced by a conniving uncle. I want stories that, no matter what the setting, feel true in some way to the reader.
      I definitely see too many people trying to be something else. I used to make the mistake of listing Roald Dahl as one of my favorite writers from my childhood, but I've found that just inspires a bunch of Dahl knockoffs. And trust me, it's tough to imitate the greats. I get far too many emulations of Dahl, Snicket, Rowling, and whatever else has worked in the past. It's one thing to aspire to greatness; it's another to imitate it. I want people who can appeal to me in the same way as successful writers of yore, with a style that's their own.
      I see too few writers willing to take chances. I just finished Markus Zusak's wonderful novel The Book Thief. It breaks so many so-called rules for kids books - there are tons of adult characters and POVs, it's a
historical at heart, and it's narrated by Death for crying out loud. It's one of the best young adult novels I've read recently.

GLA: What are some Chapter 1 clichés you often come across when reading a partial?

CR: One of my biggest pet peeves is when writers try to stuff too much
exposition into dialogue rather than trusting their abilities as
storytellers to get information across. I'm talking stuff like the mom
saying, "Listen, Jimmy, I know you've missed your father ever since he died in that mysterious boating accident last year, but I'm telling you, you'll love this summer camp!" So often writers feel like they have to hook the reader write away. In some ways that's true, but in others you can hook a reader with things other than explosions and big secrets being revealed. Good, strong writing and voice can do it, too.

GLA: Tell me more about "fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously." Help define this more so people understand what and what not to send you.

CR: When I was younger, I went through a big fantasy kick. I read Robert Jordan and Tolkein and the combo of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. There's definitely a place for those types of books, but I now find myself drawn more to fantasy that's more fun. The thing about Twilight is that it's not fun at all. If you're going to send me fantasy, I want there to be more than an epic quest and worlds in peril and all that, if I'm going to take on any at all.

GLA: I know Michael (Ted, too?) reps kids books. Do you find yourself
discussing and passing along different projects in this new community
atmosphere?

CR: We definitely discuss projects at Upstart Crow. Before signing new
clients, in fact, we generally share a synopsis and sample chapters with the rest of the team, including Danielle Chiotti, our adult expert. It's always great to have another set of eyes on a project to make sure that it's not only good, but saleable.

GLA: Is Publishers Weekly right?  Are vampires out and angels in?  Regardless, is it fair to say there will always be a big call for "paranormal," though the specific paranormal item (zombies, vampires, werewolves) is in flux?

CR: I think people are saying that angels are "in" because of a few projects that have just pubbed or are about to, like Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush or Lauren Kate's Fallen. These things come in cycles, though, and more vampire books are coming out each season. I really think some things, like certain types of monsters, will always stay in fashion in one way or another, as long as the mythology stays interesting and there's romance at the core. Or comedy, like with zombies, because they're really funny.

GLA: What's something writers would be surprised to learn about you personally?

CR: That before becoming an agent, some of the ways I made money were by: waiting tables, teaching at a community college, writing jokes, writing about fantasy sports, bartending, and acting in a dinner theater.

GLA: Will you be at any upcoming writers' conferences where people can meet and pitch you?

CR: I'll be doing several SCBWI events over the next few months. Look for me at the Metro NYC in November, Princeton in February, North Carolina next September, and many other places. We keep an updated calendar online that we'll be adding more to soon.

GLA: Best piece(s) of advice we haven't covered?

CR: Take your time with your stories, listen to feedback, and, when you have a real winner, send it to me!

Want more on this subject?

• Interview with agent Jeffrey McGraw (The August Agency).
• Interview with agent Michelle Brower (Wendy Sherman Associates).
• Interview with agent Phil Lang (Reece Halsey North).
• What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• What Agents Hate: Even More Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
• Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

Stephanie Feldstein

POOCHES AND QUERIES

I started querying by accident. The closer I got to the end of my manuscript, the more people I told about it – both because I was beginning  to believe that I was actually going to finish a novel, and because I wanted to make sure that I did; the more people who knew about it, the more accountable I would be. My friends started telling their friends (dog lovers tend to get really excited about new dog-related fiction) and somewhere in that network, there happened to be a few agents.

Within a couple months of opening my big mouth, I had the manuscript out on submission to three different agents, encouraging responses from a handful of others, and the first installments in my rejection collection. To keep the madness of waiting at bay, I’d drop a few more queries every couple of weeks, working my way down the list of agencies I’d found online. One of those was the Irene Goodman Literary Agency and my query landed on the desk of Barbara Poelle, who asked for a full manuscript.

A WORK, IN PROGRESS

That fall, about six months into my querying process, I went to the Algonkian Pitch and Shop Conference in New York and returned with two requests from major editors. An idea for a new first chapter of my book was started to grow, but I ignored it since my book was already in so many hands. It wasn’t long before one of the editors rejected me. Then I got a rejection from Barbara Poelle. A few requests trickled in on the wake of more rejections. Then Barbara and I got back in touch and discussed my new concept. She liked what she heard and said she'd give it another shot. The other editor rejected me. My revision still wasn't quite right for Barbara and she rejected me again.

My initial queries were sent out way too soon. I dove in just because someone told me there was a lake, without looking to see what was at the bottom. For over a year and a half, I was caught in the current of submissions - rejection pulling me under, then a wave of referrals and requests throwing me back to the surface. I started a new novel and tried not to give up on the first one. I tried to decode agent responses and constructed a “Dear John” love poem from rejection letter lines.

As I was losing my oldest dog to cancer in late October of last year, I realized what my fictional dog needed to give him new life. Once I got started, it became a line-by-line process, lasting nearly as long as it had taken to write the first draft. But when it was done, I knew it was really done this time.

A THIRD CHANCE WITH BARBARA

There had been a number of agents who, like Barbara Poelle, had given my manuscript serious thought, had lots of praise for my writing, but weren't able to commit. But Barbara's response had shown an understanding of my novel, and what I wanted it to be, that the others hadn't. It didn't hurt that her career had taken a killer turn in the past year, too. Or that she was known for being absolutely hilarious. So, I sent her an e-mail begging for one more chance.

She read my last draft over the summer and suggested we meet up at the South Carolina Writer's Conference, as we were both planning to attend. While it was probably safe to assume she didn’t want to meet to serve me a restraining order against future submissions, I didn’t exactly have her answer yet. At the mixer on the first night of the conference, Barbara found me nursing a glass of wine and chatting with a friend. She began by giving me feedback on the manuscript. As hard as I tried to listen, “Is this a revise and rewrite or an offer of representation?” kept running through my mind. But when Barbara Poelle said she had brought a contract with her, it came through loud and clear.

If you had told me up front that I’d spend two and a half years on an emotional bungee cord to eventually land my dream agent, I would have taken up knitting, or geocaching, or anything with attainable goals that could distract me from the need to write. I’m not known for my patience. But luckily, I’m also not known for a lack of stubbornness. So I kept going, and my refusal to give up on my book eventually paid off.

Want more on this topic?

• How I Got My Agent: Kate Douglas (Demonfire).
  
• How I Got My Agent: Robert Hicks (Widow of the South).
  
• Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
  
• Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

GLA: How did you become an agent?

DC: When I was an editor at HarperCollins and at Putnam, the agent I did the most business with—Simon Lipskar at Writers House—had become pretty much my best friend in the world.  And one of our many standing jokes (our favorite: “friends don’t let friends write books”) was that how when (not if) I got fired, I’d come work for him. 

GLA: Does that mean you were on the verge of being fired when you left Putnam in 2007?

DC: No—at least, not that I'm aware of! But I've always had this paranoid fixation with the number 52—that being the age at which I always figured my corporate superiors would at last judge me too expensive relative to my productivity, and cut me loose, leaving me to wander about aimlessly like some gray-suited ad-man in a John Cheever short story.  And what happens to editors when they get fired—and they all get fired, eventually, don’t they?—is, they become agents.  At the time I left Putnam, I’d published or had acquired bestsellers by Ridley Pearson, Martha Raddatz, David Stone, and Steve Lopez, and had published some other pretty amazing books along the way. So I wasn't feeling vulnerable at that time. But I did a little math and realized that 52 corresponded with another number: 17, as in the age my three triplet daughters would be when I turned 52. Three college educations to pay for? That seemed like a particularly bad year to get fired.
      So, long story short, it occurred to me that my stock probably wasn’t going to get much higher than it was right then, and that if I really imagined I wouldn't survive to get my gold watch at the age of 65, maybe I should make the move to becoming an agent preemptively. Writers House was looking to grow the agency, so I was invited to come aboard. That was about two and half years ago.

GLA: What’s the most recent thing you’ve sold?  
 
DC: The End of Everything by Megan Abbott, sold to Reagan Arthur for her eponymous imprint at Little, Brown. A two-book contract; and we've since sold the book in a number of foreign countries, too. 

GLA: What are you looking for right now and not getting? What do you pray for when tackling the slush pile?

DC: Slush or not, I keep my prayers simple: Let's start with a handful of really wonderful sentences strung together just so. "Just so," of course, speaks to the impossibly subjective nature of this racket. 

GLA: You used to be the anonymous voice behind Mad Max Perkins of the now-inactive BookAngst 101, the blog that started out as a way to candidly discuss the industry with other editors and publishing types but emerged as a resource for writers.  Do you miss it?  Have you found another outlet for such conversations?

DC: I do miss it! BookAngst 101 was a wonderful experience, for a whole bunch of reasons. As time passed, it became less about industry stuff and more just my riffing on one thing or another, kinda self-indulgent, I suspect, but it was a uniquely satisfying outlet for me. But ultimately the energy I put into Mad Max is work that is more profitably channeled to my clients, with whom, in many cases, I'm allowed a great deal of creative input.

GLA: In an interview you did last year for Susan Henderson’s LitPark, you said you weren’t looking to take on any new clients.  Still true?

DC: Kinda yes, kinda no. I will take on new clients when I'm bowled over.   

GLA: Do you notice any trends in what you tend to represent in historical fiction? Elements that particularly grab you?

DC: First off, I'm never interested in anything but beautiful writing; engaging, urgent storytelling; characters you fall in love with—above all, voice. I'm reading a new novel right now by Robyn Young, a huge bestseller in the UK; the novel is called Insurrection, the first in a new series about Robert the Bruce and the wars for Scottish independence, and it's blowing me away on all these fronts. 

GLA: What draws you to a true crime story?

DC: How annoying would it be if were to give you essentially the same answer? And yet it's true: I'm always looking for basically the same thing! Regardless of genre—thrillers, narrative nonfiction, anything—it's the writing and the voice and so on that are the determining factors for me.  
      True crime is a particular publishing challenge, because the phrase itself signals down-market crap-ola, and yet, so many of the most beloved and enduring works of narrative nonfiction could be categorized as such. The reason there will always be interest in good true crime stories is the same reason that dramatic adventure stories like The Perfect Storm or Into Thin Air continue to resonate: They're real stories, often about communities in crisis, dealing with matters of life and death. For more than a decade, I've wished I could find a new category tag/euphemism that would allow people to publish what we mean by "true crime" without the stigma the phrase connotes. If you come up with one, let me know.

GLA: If you were teaching a class on nonfiction writing & submitting, what would be item number one on your syllabus?

DC: On the submitting side, I'd say: Keep the pitch short and to the point. On the writing side, I'd say: When you think you're done—that is, after you've rewritten it a couple of times, set it aside, wait a while—then sit down and rewrite it again. Whatever you submit, it needs to be as good as you're capable of making it.

GLA: Concerning your nonfiction interests, what are three topics you would classify as overdone?

DC: For me, execution is everything, so anything handled the right way can still be interesting. We may not have another seafaring story quite so big as The Perfect Storm, but great stories told well, regardless of category, are likely going to find interest. One category that seems especially tough, though, is military memoir regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. 

GLA: What would writers be surprised to know about you?

DC: What a terribly slow reader I am. 

GLA: Best piece(s) of advice we haven’t talked about yet?

DC: It's not advice, really, but perspective: This really is a profoundly subjective business.  Editors and agents respond to what they respond to—not so much to whether there might be a market for something, but whether they themselves are sufficiently moved by something to be the right person to help find that market. There's lots of good writing that doesn't quite light my fire; that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it—it's just that it's not right for me.

7 Things I've Learned So Far is a recurring column where writers at any stage of their career can talk about seven things I've learned on their writing journey that they wish they knew at the beginning. This installment is from Wyoming writer Jessica Zelenko.

Jessica Zelenko is a new writer living
in Jackson Hole, WY, and when she’s not
writing, she’s becoming a badass. See
proof at her Becoming a Badass blog.  

1. Take the leap. You already don’t have an agent or oddles of assignments coming in, so there is no reason for you to fear rejection. You have nothing to lose!

2. Start a blog. If you have a blog, you can direct people to examples of your writing. This is especially helpful if you aren’t published. Plus, do not underestimate the motivation that comes from having an audience. Every time someone tells me they enjoy my blog, I get a body buzz and a renewed desire to write. I’ll do almost anything for a body buzz, excluding most hard drugs. 

3. We must listen to the experts. We need expert advice on grammar, structure, queries, agents, etc. Look to books, websites, and Chuck Sambuchino. The most important advice I've taken to heart is to have a set writing schedule. Everyone recommends it, and if you aren’t writing regularly, you’re probably barely writing. Admit it. Set a schedule. 

4. But we can also blow off the experts. All these great writers like to talk about their desks - like Stephen King in his book On Writing, who makes a desk sound more important than oxygen. I spent months bemoaning my lack of a desk and trying to find one to cram into my tiny room. I felt like a failure. Finally, I realized, I’ve got a lap, a bed, a couch and, gosh darn-it, I’m writing. The details don’t matter; the writing matters.

5. This is supposed to be fun. I write because I enjoy making myself and others giggle. Some people write for catharsis or a love of spreading knowledge. There are a million reasons to write, so acknowledge yours and hold onto the passion. If you just wanted money, you could write living wills or ransom notes. Keep on nurturing your love, and when the rich suits give you a hard time at your high school reunion, just smile smugly, knowing your having a much better time with your life than those drones.

6. Writers' Conferences are worth attending. My first writers' conference was in the middle-of-nowhere Wyoming and I was one of the few people there who didn’t qualify for Social Security. Still, for a flat rate, I got access to a bunch of experts and networked with agents and editors. Go to a conference. You’ll learn and you might make some …

7. ... Writer friends. You can steal all their knowledge over coffee, tea, or whiskey. They will edit for free! They will help keep everything fun, and keep you from the hard drugs procrastinating.


Want more on this subject?

• Want to write a "7 Things" guest column? Write me at literaryagent@fwmedia.com.
• Live out west? Check out my review of the Wyoming Writers' Conference.
  
• Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
  
• Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!