Rajni George
Wendell Mayo
English 531- Directed Writing
June 6, 2005
How To Deal - The Publishing Marketplace and You:
A Report From the Inside
In an editorial, Speer Morgan, editor of The Missouri Review discusses – like many writers
and creative writing professors have before and after him – the growth of MFA programs
and writers in the U.S. and what this means when one takes into consideration the nature of
the publishing marketplace. He stresses that in order for good writing to sustain itself and
expand its reach and numbers, publishers need to invest their energies into selecting
"singular books" that make a difference. Morgan emphasizes that there is a need for writers
to work in the publishing world, controlling and enabling the publication of good quality
writing - while watching out for their own 'darlings,' I assume. [Morgan 5,6] Of course,
there is also the downside of this contention - the tendency of literary writing to become a
sort of incestuous club of writers and editors trading each others' work and losing all
contact with mainstream trade publishing, an opinion that many editors and staff members
of lit mags hold to today. Perhaps what is needed is for the infiltration to be so absolute, so
pervasive that the members of this in-group will have spread to every echelon of the
industry.
In taking on an internship at a literary agency in New York, I have made inroads on
this calling and begun to infiltrate the system in exciting and insidious ways; while
working there, I am secretly harboring visions of a world where I may never have to read
another trashy women's romance novel again and plotting the route for a literary takeover.
In this capacity, I am scouting out future work prospects for myself (a non-US citizen
whose visa some publishing houses are not willing to sponsor) and at the same time
propose to research the process of publishing literary work in a competitive and not always
nurturing publishing world, for MFAs who need to know about agents, copyright, and the
many routes their manuscript will take before reaching the bookstore.
My work at the Strong Literary Agency has been educational and challenging. Our
office is located at 65, E. 96th Stbreet on the Upper East Side of New York City, a part of
the city that is full of business professionals and genteel, elderly people (very "old money")
– the latter category of which my employer and the president of our agency, Ms. Marianne
Strong, is a member. She deals largely with non-fiction and biography/ memoir type works
and the agency is known for contracting such projects as the best-selling The Hunt For
Bin-Laden and her many Jackie O books. At the moment, we are working on a big
real-estate oriented tome and several memoirs, among other projects. We also have begun
giving some of our projects over to a lawyer agent who runs her own agency out of her own
office - we do not have enough time or space to handle all projects. We do not take on film
projects, though we are approached by many prospective clients with film projects or book
to film projects.
We operate out of Marianne’s home and our office is thus a mix of old-world
memorabilia (i.e. pictures from Marianne’s glamorous past, of her old house and estate in
New Jersey - bought by the government after her husband's death twenty years ago, books
from the past few decades), and traditional publishing house clutter (tons and tons of files,
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documents, rejected manuscripts etc.). As soon as I walked in last month, I knew that my
affinity for curious places and strange artifacts had found the right place – here was the
same kind of precious clutter that had marked the houses of other writers and nurturers of
writers I knew.
After a successful career in journalism writing a society column and then operating
a successful PR business, Marianne has been working in the literary world for decades now
and is a great resource. A compelling personality, this socialite, at the age of eighty-three,
jets off to balls where the likes of Yoko Ono and Lauren Bacall are to be seen and still
receives phone calls from gentleman admirers, a woman whose connections are as
abundant as they are curious, even esoteric.
On any given day, I am emailing Jack Idema (former Green Beret currently
occupying a luxury prison cell in Afghanistan for allegedly running an illegal private
prison there and co-author of The Hunt For Bin-Laden which our agency represented),
talking to Hemingway's daughter, also a client, placating eccentric memorabilia collectors
and Malibu castle owners or meeting some of New York's wealthiest socialites and real
estate tycoons, among them a Guggenheim brother – all prized friends of Mimi’s. To add
to the chaos, every few days, a sweet elderly former agent of ours wanders in and asks me
what day it is - he has Alzheimer's - and what projects he might work on, and I try to invent
some for him. Marianne is sick some days and my job description has expanded; one day I
walk in and have to find her dentures, another day I am intervening between her and her
nineteen-year old nephew (she is his legal guardian) or reporting the lack of cold water in
the bathrooms. This, my friends in the publishing industry tell me, is the nature of
entry-level publishing jobs - it's a sort of test of character that most go through, paying your
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dues.
Marianne has, in her characteristic PR manner, spread news of my arrival; the
Indian 'princess' who will handle Y/A and romance and has a funny name and an accent she
can't quite get, and so elderly Lebanese men call and ask for the "star of India" - at which
point I assume that they've dialed a wrong number (we get calls all the time for Merrill
Lynch) and are seeking one of those efficient Indian restaurants New York is famous for.
While the Strong Lit Agency deals primarily with these genres, Lord Colin
Campbell, Ms. Strong’s associate and co-agent, is working on a few fiction projects,
notably a suspense romance novel by an ex-FBI agent. This Scottish lord does not use his
title while in the US - though Marianne is quick to announce it - and manages several
projects while maintaining an interest in the art world where he originally did business. At
the moment he is promoting a book about the history of rum and the influence it had on
history. My role as an editorial assistant is to coordinate his and Mimi's projects and to
agent my own. It involves copyediting, proofreading, evaluating manuscripts, representing
and “shopping around” manuscripts, and managing communications with authors, editors,
journalists, book doctors, other agents, lawyers and publishing houses.
I have taken on several projects independently and at the moment represent - for the
Strong Literary Agency - the second novel of a precocious and talented young
fourteen-year old who has already made a name for herself with Scholastic Press and flew
in from Rome a few weeks ago to meet with me and begin our campaign. It is interesting
that this novel, a philosophical and literary journey into a society of Upper East Side
thespian school kids, has to be marketed as a Y/A novel - while I find that this really isn't a
book for kids, as such, young adult fiction is improving hugely in terms of quality and
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reach. This is one of many new trends. The Publisher’s Marketplace, publishing’s great
source of information and site of networking (www.publishersmarketplace.com),
generally promotes the idea that fiction is doing very well in the publishing world, while
non-fiction is on a decline – this notion was even noted in one of the many items
Publisher’s Weekly puts out. This bodes well for fiction writers and I am inclined to believe
that we fiction writers can use this trend to our advantage.
Our agency is an interesting one in that it is an older establishment that has a lot of
older, well-established clients and is now rising to meet the challenge of the fast-paced
contemporary literary world. I think it is important to note how the literary world is
changing – agents are aware that there are new reading sectors that they must represent; the
burgeoning market for Hispanic literature, the increasing market for young adult works and
religion-based writing. However, some things never change. Contacts still DO matter – no
matter how much people state otherwise. This is the first rule of publishing – who you
know can make you, even if not knowing someone in publishing won’t break you, as
everyone in publishing maintains.
That being said, a great deal can be accomplished by a relatively unknown writer if
they have a resourceful agent - a must if you are working with commercial presses,
publishing professionals and writers assert. Anyone who hopes to publish with commercial
presses must find an agent – and will find one, though it is a difficult process with its own
set of requirements and it is of course easier to find one if you have been published and
have media contacts, Marianne asserts. She also stresses the importance of an agent in
terms of legal matters and elaborates on the practical aspect of hiring an agent, saying that
no publisher will take on a project without an agent because of the legal procedures
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involved; an author must protect himself/ herself with an agent just as a publishing house
must make sure that an agent is on hand to negotiate legalities with their legal departments.
Of course, there are a variety of solid independent and university presses with whom you
will not require an agent and who do wonderful work, publishing many of today’s notable
authors: Arte Publico Press, Graywolf, Milkweed, and University of Iowa Press being
among my favorites.
Technical aspects aside, a good agent is also important because only a solid agent
will shop your manuscript around tirelessly in the manner that I observe Marianne and her
co-agent use in their faithful pursuit of the author’s dream of publication. Since my
research deals with the various steps that a manuscript goes through once it reaches an
agent I outline the basic process here.
The MFA’s Professional Commercial Press Publishing Plan
I.
Find An Agent
Do some research – online and in printed sources. There are many, many agents
around and unfortunately, some have been known to cheat their clients. For a quirky
and street-smart commentary on the dangers of agent 'sharks' go to
http://www.qcorplit.com/shark.html.) Marianne Strong's policy is the same as that of
most reputable literary agencies - she does not charge a fee and works, instead, on
commission. The basic rule is to remember that NO ONE should charge you any
money just to take you on - it is common knowledge that agents who charge reading
fees etc. are not usually going to treat well and are likely to be profiteers. Moreover,
most agents are members of the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR), a
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non-profit organization of independent literary and dramatic agents - all of them
non-fee charging and governed by an established set of rules regarding ethical
professional conduct.
Aside from the great links on BGSU’s Career Page, there are:
1) the Literary Marketplace, available in most libraries
2) the highly recommended Guide to Literary Agents by Writer's Digest Books
(Writer's Digest publishes many useful writer-oriented books)
3) http://www.agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html
4)http://www.aar-online.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=10336
5) http://www.writers-free-reference.com/agents/
and also a useful adult trade agent index at
6) http://everyonewhosanyone.com
7) http://www.writers.net/agents.html
Of course word of mouth is the best way to locate an agent and you should either
contact all your writer friends and start schmoozing with such talented and published
MFAs as Erik Esckilsen. (Contact Erik at erike@bgnet.bgsu.edu. Erik also has
experience with publishing houses.) There is a great short piece in Salon by Craig
Offman on how even guides to finding literary agents aren't always credible ("Guide to
literary agents may send hopeful authors astray,"
http://www.salon.com/books/log/1999/08/24/agents/) Make contact with writers you
admire or whose work you feel is similar in style, spirit or subject matter to yours, if
you haven't done so already, and find out who their agent is. Most writers are very
helpful and eager to share their professional know-how with you.
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Now what it is fair to pay agents, who do not make money off making phone calls
and sending out manuscripts for you, is the cost of such necessary expenses as mailing
and messenger services (they relay a manuscript to an editor/ publishing house within a
day if in New York City, the nation's publishing hub), extensive photocopying, faxes
and overseas phone calls. The reason I say this is because I have had the experience of
watching clients try to get out of paying our agency money for these expenses,
believing that they need not pay for anything. Until a book is sold, an agent really
doesn't make any money, and it is necessary to pay for incidentals so that your
manuscript can go through the necessary channels as speedily and effectively as
possible. I quote from Marianne's contract, a fairly standard one that doesn't really
depart from the one the Authors' Guild uses (full contract supplied in appendix):
"Author is obliged to submit clean, professionally typed copy. Billable
expenses include Xerox copies, overseas phone and faxes. Possible travel
and entertainment can follow sale of book. The fee of $100.00 to be sent to
Agent with executed contract, is for Messenger service and/ or Priority
Mail. Outside editors, “book doctors”, or additional collaborators are the
responsibility of the Author."
The next important issue is the commission your agent receives - most agents ask
for a commission off of everything the author makes that proceeds from the book. The
Strong Literary Agency receives 15% of the author's returns on the book project. I
quote from our standard contract again:
"For her efforts, the literary agent will receive 15% of all proceeds accruing from
this project and any ancillary rights or subsequent products that it may generate,
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whether initiated by the Agent or not, providing the Agent was responsible for
original or ongoing marketing efforts in behalf of book or other rights,
whichever comes first. For sales of magazine features, Agent receives 20%
since these are one-time insertions and usually do not generate future sales or
royalties, unless condensed by another publication (i.e. Reader’s Digest). As
long as the publisher or producer of record retains publication rights and/or
production rights – or until such rights revert to the Author – the Agent remains
the Agent of record. Monies paid to Agent must be forwarded to Author within
5 business days of receipt."
Official figures can be obtained from The Author's Guild on commissions and
agent fees on translations, subsidiary rights, motion picture rights, etc. but this seems to be
an industry standard. QCorp Literary Agency, an agency with a seemingly savvy if not
textbook approach to the agent search, gives a rough 10-15 % as its official idea of fair
agent fees. [QCorp Literary Agency Question Corner Web Page]
II.
Write the Agent
Do NOT call an agency or send then a manuscript without first writing to them. The
ideal mode of communication is email and also the least time-consuming; you can, of
course, write to more than one agent and also re-send if you don't hear from them
within a month or so. Agencies receive so many queries that you have to bear in mind
that yours may be overlooked - be patient. The Strong Literary Agency, which is not
even listed in as many places as most agencies are, receives roughly forty or fifty a
week.
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Send a brief email query with a basic idea about your novel/ short story collection,
highlighting impressive aspects of your resume and even reasons why your manuscript
is specially pertinent and/ or marketable. Write a brief (two or three para) synopsis and
mention any works that you have published as well as the names of the people who
published these and when they came out - any missing information holds things up, as I
have observed at the Strong Literary Agency. We are always less likely to get back to
someone if they leave out pertinent information.
The important thing to remember is that an agent will want to represent you if you
are already making your "product" accessible and if you have a record of doing so.
Don’t put too much in but state that you will send full submission requirements once
requested.
III.
Send Submission Requirements
Once you’ve found an agent - preferably a non-fee charging one - and he/ she has
written to, they will ask you to send them certain submission requirements.
Editor's submission requirements are:
1) Overview
2) Chapter Headlines (Table of Contents) and short plot-based précis describing each
chapter if possible.
3) Author Biography
4) Sample Chapters (2-3)
5) A thumbnail sketch of the protagonist plus 2-3 other main characters, briefly
describe physical appearance and character traits.
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6) Marketing Analysis, if possible
IV.
Shopping It Around
If this agent likes what he/ she reads, you must sign a contract. While
agencies differ in practice and things also depend on how well you know your agent
and through whom - in my agency's case, a lot of the clients are friends of
Marianne's - you should make sure you sign a clear contract (outlined in part above,
and in full, in appendix) that you might want approved by your lawyer if you are
especially punctilious and wary. Once this is over, you’re on board!
Your agency will now proceed to circulate your manuscript with full
marketing materials and your biography, visuals etc. Our agency shops a
manuscript around to at least 10-15 first tier publishing houses in an initial first
round, most of them big names; Random House, HarperCollins, Penguin, Little,
Brown and the like. Colin Campbell, co-agent here, is trying a new procedure
where he first enquires via email and phone and then sends a full proposal
(including bio, synopsis of story, manuscript itself, etc.) once the contacted editor
expresses interest in seeing the manuscript. Your agent should have a working
rapport with many of the editors he speaks with - what makes them particularly
talented is knowing or intuiting which editor will most understand and accept your
manuscript.
However success is terrifyingly difficult in contemporary commercial
publishing and if all the publishing houses reject your manuscript, it is likely that
your agent will then go to the smaller second-tier publishing houses - many of them
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still wonderful, if less lucrative. Agents work without fees and with very little
commission until the publication of a manuscript and they need incentive to
continue with your project. At present, we have a manuscript that proposes a
solution to the Middle East crisis that has been rejected by many of the big presses
- our lawyer agent will be taking it on and taking it to the smaller presses, as it is
still a worthwhile project. Continuing with a project speaks to the ethos of your
agent - you owe it to the writer, says Marianne Strong, as well as to yourself as an
agent, after having spent all this time on a project. Time is definitely money in this
business - every minute your agent spends on your project is time they're not
spending with another of the several hundred projects crowding his/ her inbox and
mailbox.
The time an agent spends with your project may be negotiated - some
people sign contracts with stipulated time periods, at the end of which an agent's
obligations may no longer exist - the ethos of this is generally accepted.
V.
Negotiating With the Publishing House
Once a publishing house makes a pre-emptive offer, your agent and you can
now go into full negotiations. Certain legalities follow and a contract is eventually
signed. Some publishing houses can try to trick you out of certain royalties/
privileges to which you are entitled - again deals differ from project to project.
Some publishing houses will sign on for a series - one of our clients was just offered
a deal for a series on presidential memorabilia in a two-book deal with
HarperCollins.
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The following websites offer official advice on copyright law:
http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sup_01_17_10_1.html
2) http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/copyright.html for an overview on copyright
3) http://publaw.com/legal.html for publishing laws.
In light of the recent increase in e-publishing, there is also a useful website on e-publishing
law:
4) http://publaw.com/erights4.html.
It is up to you, ultimately, to decide what is best for your project - perhaps you'll decide to
go to a small press on your own or self-publish ultimately. This report might just make
things easier if you give the commercial route a try.
________________________________________________________________________
A List of Genres and Publishing Houses Useful For MFAs
This is a list I am working on, based off of lists Marianne Strong has compiled. It describes
which particular publishing houses are partial to which genres and sometimes lists editors
with these publishing houses.
1) First Novels
William Morrow (Jennifer Pooley)
Random House (Ileene Smith)
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux (Lorin Stein)
Steeple Hill (Joan Golan)
2) Short Stories
Knopf
Grove Atlantic
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A List of Good Non-Fee Charging Agents For MFAs
For Fiction in General
1) Judy Heiblum and Sally Wofford-Girard (veteran agent) at Brick House Literary
Agency - they have a special interest in literary fiction and have published the likes of
Michael Cunningham
2) Anna Ghosh at the Scovil Chichak Galen Agency - special interest in literary fiction,
international works
3) Esther Newberg and others at International Creative Management - they represent a lot
of big names like George Saunders and do literary fiction
4) Marly Rusoff & Associates - they represent a lot of quality fiction, including poet and
novelist Judith Goldman
5) Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency - they handle good fiction and come recommended
by "Predators and Editors," another useful online resource
6) Jim McCarthy at Dystel and Goderich Literary Agency - handle fun literary and
non-literary fiction, some chick lit
7) Maria Carvaini at Maria Carvaini's Agency - quality Y/A and other fiction
8) Janet Reid at Janet Reid Literary Agency - does some big names like Amy Meade
(Million Dollar Baby)
9) Bretene Bloom at Kneerim Williams - recently sold Patrick Somerville's Winter Kept
Us Warm
10) Julie Castiglia at the Castiglia Agency - fun fiction, some chick lit
11) Daniel Lazar at Writer’s House – Writer’s House has been around for some 30 years,
one of the largest agencies, represents adult and juvenile fiction and non-fiction (also Maya
Rock, who agents independently)
12) Rebecca Strong of Rebecca Strong International Literary Agency – New independent
agency looking to connect emerging writers with trade publishers of quality fiction and
non-fiction
13) E.J. McCarthy of E.J. McCarthy Agency – A former executive editor, McCarthy has
some solid contacts and a broad array of interests
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For Short Stories
1) Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson and Lerner Literary Agency - Actually represented a
collection of short stories! Of course this was made easier by the fact that it was Publisher
Weekly editor Emily Elenovitch's collection
For Debut Novels
1) Farley Chase at the Waxman Literary Agency
2) Ira Silverberg at Donadio & Olson
Works Cited
"How Do You Tell The Good Agents From the Sharks." QCorp Literary Agency.
http://www.qcorplit.com/shark.html. June 20, 2005.
Morgan, Speer."Literary Publishing." The Missouri Review. Volume 26 #3, January 2004:
3-6.
Offman, Craig. ""Guide to literary agents may send hopeful authors astray," Salon.com,
2000. June 20, 2005. http://www.salon.com/books/log/1999/08/24/agents/
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