Q & A with agent Lois Winston

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Lois Winston, Ashley Grayson Literary Agency

Winston, LoisQ: What should participants bring to their pitch sessions with you? 

One page query letter and the first 2 pages (double-spaced) of their manuscript.

Q: What are you looking for? 

The Ashley Grayson Literary Agency was established in 1976 and handles both literary and commercial fiction, children’s fiction, and some nonfiction. I currently represent authors who write romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, women’s fiction, mystery, young adult, and horror, but voice is more important to me than genre, and I love books that make me laugh out loud. I’m not interested in category romance, erotica, regencies, inspirationals, westerns, or paranormal books that feature vampires and shape-shifters.

Q: What mistakes do most writers make when approaching agents?

Three top mistakes I see:

1.       Many writers query too soon. Polish your work until it’s the best it can be before you submit, and you’ll receive fewer rejections.

2.       Know correct grammar and punctuation usage. Too many writers don’t know the most basic of grammar and punctuation rules (and no, that’s not what an editor is for.)

3.       Don’t take rejection personally. This is a business. If your work isn’t right for me, it may be perfect for someone else. Or you may need to reread mistakes #2 and #3.

Q:  Will you accept someone pitching an uncompleted manuscript?

I would prefer to see authors with completed manuscripts.
Q:  Finally, if you do not represent what participants write but someone else in your agency does, would you ever pass the person on to that agent? 

Yes, I do pass along manuscripts to our other agents if the manuscript is not right for me but might work for someone else at our agency.

 

Speaking of agents, we have a MWW success story to share.

During our 2009 MWW, agent Joanna Stampfel-Volpe of the Nancy Coffey Literary Agency met with workshop participants for pitch sessions and signed three authors as clients. In fact, Joanne now represents MWW attendee Veronica Roth who writes YA and has contracted a 3-book deal with Harper Collins Children’s books.

Roth cover

Veronica’s first book, Divergent, has been on the New York Times Bestseller List at #6 for three weeks! We encourage you to register for MWW 2011. Maybe you will be our next success story.

Q & A with agent Kathleen Ortiz

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Kathleen Ortiz, Subrights Director / Agent at Nancy Coffey Literary and Media Representation
Ortiz, KathleenQ:  If participants made an appointment with you, how should they prepare for their pitch session? 

ALWAYS come prepared with a 2-3 sentence pitch and a hard copy of the query. I stress that the pitch is ONLY 2-3 sentences and the query is the actual query they would send. Since the MWW pitch sessions are ten minutes, the first 5 pages are handy, as well. Come prepared with questions in case the project isn’t for me – I’m happy to spend the rest of the appointment giving advice/resources on how to pitch, send queries, do research, etc.

Q:  What are you looking for?

I’m only looking for YA or paranormal/urban fantasy romance at this time. No women’s fiction or other adult genres outside of romance. I like all YA, though the darker the better. I’d really like a YA horror, thriller, suspense, cyberpunk or intense mystery.

Q: What do you wish more writers knew?

Top three mistakes I see:

1.       Reading the entire query to me (it’s a pitch – 2-3 sentences)

2.       Arguing with me if I kindly state it’s not for me. You want someone who will be an advocate of your work – if it’s not for me, respect my decision and use the extra time to ask questions about the industry. Someone else WILL be an advocate for your work.

3.       Giving me a business card. I don’t keep them. If I ask for pages, it’s the author’s job to contact me not the other way around.

Q:  Will you accept someone pitching an uncompleted manuscript?

I prefer someone pitches me if the manuscript is completed.
Q:  Finally, if you do not represent what a participant writes but someone else in your agency does, would you ever pass the person on to that agent? 

If I’m pitched a Middle Grade, I will certainly refer it if it has potential. Otherwise, I prefer not to be pitched if it’s not something I rep.

Interview with author Patti Digh

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INTRODUCING PATTI DIGHDigh
“I can’t wait to meet Patti, whose most recent book, Creative is a Verb, is full of the author’s fascinating personal stories. Patti inspires readers to get in touch with their uniqueness,” commented MWW committee member Cathy Shouse. “It also offers hundreds of thought-provoking quotes from everyone from Malcolm Gladwell to C.S. Lewis.  I appreciate its refreshing reminder that along with instruction on craft we must learn to effectively tap into the creativity each one of us was born with.”Q: Your Thursday Intensive Session “From Blog to Book” is the first time MWW has offered such a topic. Give us a brief overview and timeline of how your blog turned into a book.

I started writing my blog, 37days.com, in January of 2005, as a response to my stepfather dying just 37 days after being diagnosed with lung cancer. I was asking myself one question: “What would I be doing if I only had 37 days to live?” and writing my stories down for my two daughters was one important answer to that question. Several years after I started writing it, a publisher approached me and asked if I was interested to make a book from 37days. That book, Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful and Live Intentionally, was published by Globe Pequot Press in 2008, and is illustrated exclusively by readers of my blog from around the world.

Q: Tell us a little about your background.

I got my undergraduate degree in English, with a focus on contemporary American literature, and my graduate degree in English and Art History, with a focus on the figure of the artist in fiction.

My graduate thesis was on William Gaddis’ masterpiece, The Recognitions, which I consider one of the great American novels (along with Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove [yes, really], and Richard Powers’ The Time of Our Singing).

I imagined I would be an English professor somewhere, but I found myself in Washington, D.C., for 20 years after graduate school, in the business world.  The first book I co-authored was called a “business book of the year 2000” by Fortune magazine. A few years later, I wrote another well-regarded business book.

And then the death of my stepfather sent me on a much more personal path, and I haven’t looked back at that other business voice since. I am fully inhabiting my own voice now, and telling my own stories.

Q: When you started blogging, was your objective to get a book contract and if so, are there specific steps to make that happen?

Absolutely not, and I believe we fall prey to focusing on outcome and not on process far too often. My intention was singular: I wanted to write my stories down for my two daughters so they would know me as a person, and not just as a mom. I wanted to leave behind a record of my being-all of it, not just the tidy professional me, but the messy, confused, fearful parts too.

I had no audience in mind but them, and I believe this singularity of intention ultimately drew readers in great numbers to the blog, ironically. A friend teaches young actors and one of the first things he teaches them is that you can’t play two intentions on stage at the same time. For example, you can either warn Hamlet (if that is the part you are playing), or you can try to get the audience to love you, but you can’t do both and do them honestly. Writing for a book contract is a split intention. Write what it is you long to say instead. Focus on process-using your voice, saying what you long to say-and not on product. Focus on content, and not on form.

Q: Will your MWW Intensive Session be more technology oriented or writing oriented; in other words, what should people expect?

Writing, writing, writing, writing, writing. In general, writers spend more time talking about how to write or what to write or what keeps us from writing than we do actuDigh creative bookally writing. This intensive will take us into process. I’ll also share insider tips on product–what happens in that liminal space between blog and book? We’re going to look at intention, voice, and much more–by writing, by digging into both content and form.

Q: Anything quirky or unusual about yourself inquiring minds would want to know?

My childhood hero was Johnny Unitas (quarterback for the Baltimore Colts), I played Johnny Appleseed in my fourth grade play, one of my favorite recording artists is Johnny Cash, I have a slight obsession with Johnny Depp, and I’m married to a man named Johnny. There is a pattern here. I also love the smell of lavender, and I write a thank you note every morning. And mail it. And I love to laugh.

MWW success stories: Dan Johnson and Lonnie Whitaker

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We’re always pleased to pass along the good news of publishing successes from our MWW participants.

DE JohnsonDan Johnson, Schoolcraft, MI (2006 MWW alum), is author of The Detroit Electric Scheme (St. Martin’s Minotaur Books, September 2010) dejohnsonauthor.com. Dan is also our 2010  Friday luncheon speaker, “How I Got Here from There.”

Q: How did you discover MWW and how did it help your writing career?
I found information on the MWW on the internet and attended in 2006. It was the most instructive conference I’ve been to, before or since. I’ve been surprised to find that very few conferences give you the “nuts and bolts” knowledge that new writers need.

Q: Please condense the overall story of your book.
1910 Detroit: Will Anderson, heir to America’s largest electric automobile manufacturer, has been framed for murder. Worse, the woman he loves is in terrible danger, and Will knows it’s his fault. He follows her through the gutters of Detroit, trying to save her and find the killer at the same time. As the evidence mounts, Will gets closer and closer to the truth-a secret that could cost Will not only his life, but also the lives of the people he loves most.

“The surprise ending leaves you gasping and shaking your head at Johnson’s masterful plotting and the menacing tension that forces otherwise good characters to behave despicably. Every bit as powerful as Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley series, this gem of a debut showcases an author to watch very closely.” —Booklist (Starred review)

Q: What is the best advice on writing you’ve ever received?
“Let your characters boss you around.” I’ve heard versions of this advice in various books and classes, but it still amazes me how my characters hijack my story if I let them. When I don’t let them, they fight back. And they always win.

Q: Is there something else people might find interesting about your journey to publication?
My journey to publication was humbling, surprising, and ultimately thrilling. I have a good story to tell about the tenuous thread that leads to being published, and how maximizing your opportunities is essential.

Lonnie Whitaker, High Ridge, MO (2001 MWW alum), is author of Geese to a Poor Market, (High Hill Press, released summer2010).

Q: How did you end up coming from Missouri to attend MWW and how did it help your career?
In early 2001, I sold a 500-word story (my first) to a regional magazine and the process hooked me–I wanted to learn the tricks I imagined my journalism friends knew.  I started searching online for a workshop and found MWW.  It’s the same distance from St. Louis to Kansas City as it is to Indianapolis, so the distance didn’t seem too bad.  I spoke with Jama and signed up.  The lineup in 2001 was terrific. I signed up for a critique session and drew Karl Largent.  He told me that writers write, but authors get published, and that I was an author.  At the end of the session he challenged me. “You’ve got the ability–the question is what are you going to do with it?”  That 30-minute session was a turning point.  As the cliché goes:  when the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Q: What is the overall story of your book?
In 1955 Rita Sanders leaves a cheating husband and returns to her childhood home in the Missouri Ozarks.  She lands a job at a honky-tonk on the outskirts of a bible-belt village owned by a retired navy petty officer, and her religious mother disapproves. With the reappearance of her estranged husband, the prodigal daughter discovers there is more than one snake in the garden, as her husband and mother conspire against her for custody of her son.

Q: What is the best advice you’ve received to help your writing career?
“Never have your protagonist running quickly when he could be sprinting.”  Again, Karl Largent at MWW.  That became my starting point for learning the craft of commercial fiction and tight writing.  As a reminder, my business card has a quote from Mark Twain: “When you catch an adjective–kill it.”

Q: Did you learn anything interesting on this journey to publication?
I had to learn how to make moonshine to write one of the chapters. Just because I grew up in the Ozarks doesn’t mean that’s one of my talents.

Q & A with author Shirley Jump

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Shirley Jump

Q: Young Adult fiction seems to be popular right now. What can you tell us about your next YA title?

My next YA book, The Cellar, will be out in the spring from Houghton Mifflin Graphia. It’s basically zombies with “Romeo and Juliet,” and has a little more of a love story (and older characters) than we had in The Well. It’s still got the Shakespeare theme, and this time the horror comes from the zombies next door who want to turn the heroine into a zombie and keep her forever.

Q: In addition to YA, you write romance and women’s fiction. How important is it to continue to explore new genres, including at workshops?

I read across all genres, and write in other genres when I’m not writing my primary genre, romance. That’s how the YA came about…I just happened to have a book I’d been working on, just for fun, that ended up being another genre for me to write. I think ALL genres can teach you about great pacing, strong storytelling, increasing stakes and all the tools of the trade that make for a great book. And, in my opinion, it never hurts to learn about other genres. For one, many of the storytelling techniques are the same and you can bring those lessons across to your own writing, and for another, you never know where you might end up in a few years. So having that knowledge in your back pocket, so to speak, can be handy.

Q: Please give us a sneak preview of the topic you will be addressing at the closing banquet for MWW 2010.

I’ll be talking about Secrets to Success–basically how to take everything you learn at a conference and how to use it to create success from that day forward, as well as how to keep being successful even in a competitive publishing environment.

Q & A with Tracy Richardson and IBJ Publishing

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Q&A with Tracy Richardson, Luminis Books:

Please provide a brief history of your company.

Luminis Books was founded in October, 2008 by the husband and wife team of Chris Katsaropoulos and Tracy Richardson. Chris has over 25 years of experience as a publishing executive and Tracy’s background is in sales and marketing. Our first titles were released in late 2009 and early 2010. We publish literary fiction and YA fiction that is wise and meaningful.

Please give some examples of books you have published.

We recently published Summer Sanctuary by Laurie Gray who is also participating in the Buttonhole the Experts session and the panel “Choosing How to Publish.” (Purchase Laurie’s book here.) We’ve also published Precarious by Al Riske, Fragile by Chris Katsaropoulos, and Indian Summer by Tracy Richardson.

Please give an overview of the way you work with authors.

We will work with authors directly or through agents. We generally pay a small advance against royalties and pay royalties as a percentage of sales. As a small independent publisher, we work directly with the author in a very cooperative manner during the editing, revision, and design process. We see the author as part of the Luminis team and continue to work cooperatively during the marketing and PR phase of the book’s launch. Our backlist continues to receive full support.

What are you looking for now and how are your books distributed into the marketplace?

Luminis books are distributed through Midpoint Trade Books and are available through all online channels. They are also available through big box and independent bookstores.

Luminis Books publishes thought-provoking literary fiction as well as young adult and middle grade fiction that explores the intricacies of human relationships.

We look for beautifully crafted prose above all-writing that is compelling and thought-provoking, stories that provide glimpses of insight, while at other times challenging readers with concepts that prompt a moment of reflection to discern. We do not publish genre fiction in the following categories: thriller, romance, sci-fi, or chick-lit. We will consider mysteries and historical fiction that have a depth of meaning and go beyond the boundaries of typical genre fiction.

Q&A with IBJ Book Publishing:

Some of us have read and enjoyed the Indiana Business Journal for years. Please describe this new division of IBJ and provide a brief history and description of the services you provide.

Coming to the Buttonhole the Expert session is Patricia Keiffner, Director of Production for IBJ Media. She oversees the Art/Production Department. She has been with the company for 15 years. She has been instrumental in creating two prominent divisions within IBJ Media – Custom Publishing and IBJ Book Publishing. Custom Publishing focuses on marketing and business collateral and has been very successful, especially with small businesses and non-profits throughout the state. IBJ Book Publishing helps independent authors seeking self-publishing services and solutions. We partner with our authors. Every book we produce is totally custom. We work with many large printing companies, as well as, Print-On-Demand printers. We offer Book Coaching, Editing and Marketing Services including a marketing binder; a press release template; a website advertisement; a book launch announcement ad in the IBJ and Indiana Lawyer; a media contact list and a direct link to your site from IBJBP.com

Please give some examples of books you have published.

We publish an array of books including, but not limited to: Art; Business/Self-Help; Children’s Books; Cookbooks; Directories; Handbooks/Manuals; History/Political; Military; Novels and Travel. Every year we publish a small cadre of books in order to dedicate more time and provide personal service to our authors.

Please give an overview of the way authors are compensated and/or the fees they might pay for some of the basic services.

We can design a 6 x 9 paperback, 4-color cover over a black and white text interior with up to 240 pages and print 1000 books for $4,500 or $4.50 for each book. We can design a 6 x 9 case bound with a 4-color dust jacket over a black and white text interior with up to 240 pages and print 1000 books for $9,000 or $9 each. Authors maintain 100% ownership. IBJ BP does not collect royalties from book sales. This allows authors a bigger share of their profit. The author sets the price of their books and is responsible for all marketing and sales.

For those unfamiliar with the IBJ publishing service, how would writers benefit from them?

IBJ Book Publishing will guide authors through the process, ensuring their book publishing experience is a rewarding one. The greatest contrast between our company and other self-publishing companies is our one-on-one customer service. When an author publishes with us, they will meet with our staff as often as necessary. They do not have to communicate with us through a computer.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE NUMEROUS, INFORMATIVE SESSIONS MWW IS OFFERING for 2010!

Meet Literary Agent Suzie Townsend

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Townsend

 

We caught up with Suzie and asked her a few questions about her 2010 MWW presentation THE DREADED SYNOPSIS… (Part II, Friday, July 30)1) Why do you think the synopsis gives writers so many problems and do you find confusion about length is common?

The synopsis is evil. Everyone hates them. Writer’s hate them because they’re so hard to write. The question of what to include and what to leave out is especially hard because a writer is so close to their own work. Length and tone can sometimes also be a source of confusion because sometimes editors or agents will ask for different specifics in a synopsis if they have a specific purpose in mind for it.


2) How important is being able to write an effective synopsis to a writer’s career?

Very. Editors and agents use synopses to generate in house excitement for a project that will help get more people behind the project and the author – which is so important at all stages of the publication process. Film and subrights agents also often ask for a synopsis when they’re looking at purchasing rights to a manuscript.  And as an author’s career progresses, they’ll need to write a longer synopsis and book proposal for later projects.  Since that’s more in depth, it’s much harder to write especially if an author doesn’t have a basic synopsis to start from.


3) Do you think there are “secrets” to writing a good synopsis and will you be sharing specific tips?

I don’t know if they’re “secrets” per say, but there are rules and an easy formula to “demystify” the synopsis writing process. 


For people who have an appointment with you and for those who are considering registering for one, please share what you are currently looking for. Also, please mention a couple of your clients and their most recent books.

For adult fiction, I’m currently looking for a really great urban fantasy or paranormal romance series with a strong voice and characters I can fall in love with (Patricia Briggs or JR Ward are two of my favorites).  In YA and Middle Grade, I’d love to find beautifully written literary projects with a speculative twist (like How I Live Now or Before I Fall or When You Reach Me). I’m also looking for an author/illustrator who does quirky and unique picture books.
 
Some of my clients with books out:
Hannah Moskowitz, BREAK (Simon Pulse 8/2009), INVINCIBLE SUMMER (Simon Pulse, forthcoming)
Nicola Marsh, MARRIAGE: FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE (Harlequin, 2/2010), OVER TIME IN THE BOSS’ BED (Harlequin, 6/2010), THREE TIMES A BRIDESMAID (Harlequin 6/2010)
Lisa Desrochers, PERSONAL DEMONS (Tor, forthcoming)

Interview with poet Debra Marquart

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 Marquart
Q. Give us the scoop on some of your many achievements, since we don’t have space for them all!A.  Most recently, I received a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (2008), and my latest book, a memoir titled The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere, was awarded the PEN USA Creative Nonfiction Award (2007).  It also received the “Elle Lettres” award from Elle Magazine (2006), and an Editors’ Choice commendation (2006) from the New York Times Book Review. In 2005, I received a Pushcart Prize, and I’ve also been the recipient of the Shelby Foote Prize for the Essay (2003), the John Guyon Nonfiction Award from Crab Orchard Review (2003), and the Mid-American Review Nonfiction Award (2003).

Q. For your 2010 MWW intensive, you ask writers to bring photographs. What can we expect in that workshop?

A. The static quality of photographs provide writers with an opportunity to stop time, to look around, to note the details in a way that is never afforded us in real life.  For this reason, the photograph becomes a kind of warehouse of memory.  In this session, we’ll begin to take an inventory of that warehouse of memory and detail by asking participants to bring two photographs-old or new, formal or informal.  We will be doing some freewriting and sharing within the intensive workshop.  The hope is that participants will leave the session with good starting drafts of writing that can be explored further after the conference ends.

Q. You’re a professor of English and a teacher in two MFA programs. Explain how your writing evolved and how your MWW intensive could help writers in any genre.

A. Because my initial approach to a life in art was as a musician, my first interest in writing poetry really began with my interest in song lyrics.  Then I migrated to a love of and practice of writing poetry.  Song writing and poetry writing are very different, however.  At the very least, they do share a common interest in the music of language (attention to sound), as well as a compaction and precision of language in the form of description, detail, metaphor, image.  For any writer-whether one writes fiction, nonfiction, mystery, romance-the study of poetry can be an immersion in language-intensive writing.  Each word in a poem weighs a great deal and does a great deal of work for the larger poem.  This is certainly true with prose as well, but the poem is a kind of crucible where all these considerations become more acute, immediate, and apparent.  For that reason, the study of poetry (reading as well as writing) can be an enormous help to all writers-a kind of joyful boot camp of language/image/metaphor/symbolism.