Results tagged “agents”

Conventions are great fun!

Del Rey Books editor-extraordinaire Chris Schluep has supplied Suvudu with a diary of sorts cataloging some of his adventures at last weekend’s World Fantasy Con.

Want to know how an editor spends some of his time?

Below is his account! Enjoy!

Greetings from San Jose!

World Fantasy 2009 is now in the books, and I am leaving, tired and slightly humbled by other people’s energy, but with spirits high. What a great time! After a several-year hiatus, I found that little has changed on the World Fantasy front (other than the host city). There were still lots of writers, editors, and agents on hand. There were fans and pros. There were seemingly endless conversations, meetings, parties, drinks, ad hoc meetings at parties, meals, meetings over meals, and more drinks. To be honest, I feel like the weekend lasted about a week and a half.

I flew into San Francisco on Friday afternoon, where I met my friend and fellow editor Fleetwood Robbins. We had decided to take CALTRAIN down to San Jose together. But first, there was time for the initial Mexican meal of the weekend. I have included documentation.

Welcome to California!

After carnitas, a short train ride, and an even shorter cab ride, we got to the Fairmont hotel. Almost immediately, we began to see old friends. We spent the afternoon catching up, and then a dozen or so of us headed out to find dinner. we ended up sitting outside, enjoying a pleasant evening, and eating Moroccan food. I have included a picture I took from the evening.

I finished writing my book last night—again.

Yes. Again.

I completed the first draft of The Dark Thorn about a month ago. I was fairly happy with it but knew it was only one step in a series of steps. Months ago when I had submitted its first four chapters, my prospective agent asked for the book when it was done but warned I had a great deal of purple prose that would need editing before he would send it to a publisher. It meant once I finished it I would have to start from the beginning and remove as much of that flowery, ornate language as I could.

After a long month of analyzing every word, sentence, paragraph and bit of dialog, I have a much tighter—and shorter—book.

The first draft of The Dark Thorn was 162,000 words. It is now 149,000 words.

Hence my finishing the book yet again.

It is now time for the next step though. The agent submission.

The first of what I hope will not be many!

Ironically, a few days ago I received an email from a hopeful writer concerning the next step for him to take now that his manuscript and editing are completed:

A whole other article can be written on how to fully submit a book to various agents and editors. There are rules upon rules for doing it correctly and just one error can end an opportunity. More on this soon!

Have a question for me? Other than why do you talk about your unpublished book so much? Send them in to me! I love to talk about the craft of writing.

And the business that comes after!

Every writer has multiple learning curves.

The obvious first arc is learning the craft of writing, a process that takes a great deal of time and devotion. The more one writes the better they get and despite having written two books, I am still learning at a great pace, every day spent increasing my knowledge and improving my skill.

But what happens once a book is finished?

There is also a learning curve for how to get a book published.

Most people write a novel to be published. It is a natural drive. People yearn to make a career doing what they love, and I have yet to meet a writer who is not in love with writing. Finishing a book is the first step, however, and getting the book into the hands of an agent or editor is the only way to be published and make that dream come true. There is a great deal to learn to make that happen.

I receive a lot of email from hopeful writers every day. They all ask a variety of similar questions and by the large I reply to every single one. I have been where most of them are, unsure of the process one goes through to get a book published but willing to ask the questions, and any help I can give pays forward the help I’ve been given over the years.

To the point of his article, last week I received this email:

• “It has been two weeks since I sent my book to an agent and I have not heard anything back yet. What should I do?”

I receive this kind of question quite regularly. Usually I admire brevity but this is a case where I really need to know more. Did the writer submit her book following the guidelines laid down by the agent? Did the agent request the book or did the writer just send it? Who is the agent and who do they already represent? There are many possible reasons why she has not heard back from the agent—those reasons fodder for a different, much longer article I will write—but I want to point out part of the email that struck me.

The words “two weeks.”

A war has begun in the streets of the internet(s).

And it is not pretty. As all terrible wars become.

Last month, several agents and editors put together a Twitter event called #queryfail. Twitter, another in a long line of social networking sites designed to move information quickly through the internet(s), hosted agents and a few editors to post what did not work with query letters they received. It began as a harmless helpful tool for both sides of the publishing coin. Writers got a rare opportunity to see what not to do while querying; agents got an opportunity to use a new possible marketing tool and educate writers who are sorely in need of it.

A couple thousand anonymous queries were rejected and told how they needed to improve.

For a month, nothing happened during the war.

Until now.

Writers have been given a forum called Agentfail to strike back at the agents who rejected their queries, in some cases with outright scorn. It is a natural reaction, I must admit. When I opened up the first three agent rejections I received for my first novel, Song of the Fell Hammer, my reaction was anger. It had no basis in logic. Given the internet(s) though, these people have the ability to respond to their perceived “attackers” in just as anonymous ways as Queryfail worked.

So, being in between both worlds and a writer trying to break into the business, where do I stand in this war?

I sit firmly on the side of the agents!

Now where’s my broadsword?