“Suck it up, buttercup” advice for writers: August 14, 2011

 

At the Humber School for Writers Summer Workshop, several agents spoke with the crowd and delivered words of wisdom for finding success in the world of writing. Here’s the inside scoop to what was said (deciphered from my many pages of scribbled notes):

Single most important piece of knowledge for writers:

The only source of income an agent makes is the money they get from your published book. If they take you on as a client and your book doesn’t get accepted by a publisher – and therefore isn’t published – they don’t get paid.

Here’s the skinny – agents normally make 15% of your book sales. If your book goes international, your agent gets 7.5% and the international agent gets 7.5%, Basic math: if your advance is $1000 the agent gets $150 once the publisher takes it on. They make no money before that time for what they invest into a client, or any of the stacks upon stacks of books they have reviewed but rejected from the slush pile. Understand that fact when you send off a query and expect personal attention in a timely manner. Bottom line – agents are swamped.

 

What agents look for:

1. Books that will make money.
2. Writers who understand the publishing business and how it works.

 

What you need to know:

Publishers succeed when they find a book that readers want; agents succeed when they find a book publishers want. They all look for projects that attract attention of more than one publisher, work that can travel internationally. Publishers are profit minded and conservative when it comes to projects – essentially – will we make money on this book?

 

Scary fact:

Only 20% of books published in Canada are Canadian. We compete with big name US authors. The internationalization of the books sales has changed the industry in the last 5 years.

Tidbit:

Comparing your book to another (in your query) can be dangerous because you may not know how it really did with book sales. Award winning books don’t always bring in sales. Regardless, it’s not at all valuable to compare your book to one that is more than 5 years old.

 

Getting Ready to Submit to an Agent:

• Learn as much as you can about publishing.
• Read Quill and Quire, Publishers Weekly to understand the business.
• Get news alerts from New York Times on publishing.
• Look at publisher websites.
• Working at a bookstore can help you understand how the book gets into the readers hands.
• Be a good listener. Absorb feedback from an agent (whether it’s a note on your rejection letter, or an agent representing you). Better to hear it from an agent than a publisher and lose your chance with that house.
• Be open to criticism.
• Pay attention.
• Understand how your work fits into the commercial machine. Do your homework!

Getting geared up and stressed…er, I mean ready. July 7, 2011

I haven’t been sleeping, I’m skipping breakfast, eating cereal for lunch and having late dinners that start with dessert. My house looks like a bomb went off right down the center it, and I’ve been shopping way more than I should be. What’s the problem, you ask?

Stress.

Why am I stressed, you ask?

I leave at six a.m this Saturday morning for the Humber School for Writer’s (HSW) Summer Workshop. I couldn’t be more please about it. While I spent the same time there last year as a workshop attendee, this year I’ll be working as a teacher’s assistant for Nino Ricci. I’m thrilled, excited, and downright giddy about it. So why am I stressed, you ask?

I didn’t say bad stress, I just said stress. And the list of bits getting to me include: leaving my kids and husband to fend for themselves, leaving my dog walk-less for a week, and leaving the house (in hopes that the cleaning fairies visit while I’m gone). I worry about my daughter getting to camp on time, with appropriate gear and sunscreen on; about my son getting to tennis, getting a new racquet, and not pulling his hair out with the antics at home between his father and sister; and that my pets will never forgive me for the abandonment. I worry that my house will look even more destroyed than it does now, and that my husband will be so exhausted and fed up that he’ll want a divorce or worse – tell me no more writing weeks away (yes, to a writer that is worse).

I’m also worried about my role as an assistant in that classroom. Anyone who knows and loves (or even likes) me, will know I have energy to spare and I can be spastic at times. That exuberance seems to accelerate when I’m nervous or excited, and I’ll be both. I’ll planning to try to keep level-headed and look normal so I don’t scare the “real authors” off with my intensity. I know it can be a bit much – but honestly, its work to contain.

So I’m busting at the seams happy about my week away at the HSW Summer Workshop for Writers and can’t wait to see Wonderful Wayson again. I understand I’m also in for a treat with the incredible Nino Ricci, and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the students he’ll mentor during the workshop. I want to be a sponge and soak it all in!

It would be a dream to one day blog about being a speaker at HSW. Once I meet the goal of getting published, that’s the next goal I have on my list (besides getting a second novel published). My plan: write a novel (check), attend HSW (check), spend a year revising novel (check), write second novel (check), work as a classroom assistant at HSW (check), get published (???), finish second novel (check), be invited to be a keynote speaker or mentor at HSW (???), get published again (???), write third novel (???) get published again (???), write fourth novel (???), get published again (???), and so on and so on…

Here’s hoping for a productive week and hip hip hurray for one more thing I can check off my list of goals on my road of words and all things bookish!