Buzz, Balls & Hype : How Lucky Can You Get? Part 3.

The last part of the Poets & Writer's Article:

Other than luck - ten things you can do for your career

1. Bonnie Hill Hearn, author of The Intern, who in her capacity as features editor for the Sacramento Bee has been working with writers for over twenty years suggests that as authors we should set the tone of the relationship with our agents and our publishers in the beginning.

"It’s like a romantic relationship. The problems you’ll have down the road show themselves in the beginning; we just ignore them. An agent or editor who doesn’t return your phone calls or e-mail in the first month of the relationship isn’t going to improve."

Self-esteem is at the bottom of the way we let ourselves be treated by those who earn their money from us. "I often wonder if we writers spend so many years learning to live with rejection, that we accept shoddy treatment as our due, just grateful to have any attention," said Hearn.

As in any relationship, remember: you can leave, you can move on. Don’t play games. If you say you’re going to walk, you have to be willing to do that and not look back.

2. Amy Bloom suggests authors ask potential agents about the other books he or she is handling and listen hard. Are they selling too hard? Are they talking about plans that are too big and unrealistic?

3. Elizabeth Benedicts advises authors that they should do more than write books. "Write book reviews, short stories, essays, travel pieces, anything that gets your name out and keeps it there before your book comes out and after. It'll make the publisher's job easier, if you've gotten some literary attention before. "

Jonathan Franzen did this with his now infamous Harper's essay. Other examples of this include Francine Prose's career as a journalist, novelist, and essayist.

4. It also helps to keep some perspective. " Writing books is a career, not a one-time hit-the-jackpot-or-else pursuit, even though a few people a year do hit the jackpot with their first book. That's rare and it's okay if it doesn't happen to you. What I mean by this is: pick yourself up off the floor and-- after you've tended your wounds -- keep writing," said Benedicts

5. Gretchen Laskas, whose debut novel Midwife's Tale says that you need do more than just know who the people are in the editorial and publishing process. "You need to know who these people are as people, and why they are doing what they do. You need to know things that have nothing to do with your individual book (which is hard for writers, or at least it was for me)."

To this end, Laskas suggests that there is nothing better (and nothing to substitute) for going and meeting with your editor and agent in person.

"If you are going to be in New York for ANY reason, let them know and ask to take THEM to lunch or coffee. Ask them to talk about why they got into this business, or a book they really enjoyed reading, or what book they are most proud of producing (and do NOT expect them to say your book.) In fact, you won't learn as much about them if they say your book."

6. Lisa Bankoff, a Literary agent at ICM suggests that new authors chat with other published writers. "There's nothing like hearing it from someone a step or two of three ahead of you in the process, provided you listen with both ears and can discern the difference between legitimate gripes and sour grapes.

7. Before you choose an agent, Bankoff suggests authors learn what sort of track record the agent has in handling his or her type of book. "If you've written a proposal for a nonfiction work of substantive and critical merit, and then given it to someone whose experience is largely in self-help and diet books, they're less likely to know the best editors for your book and less likely to be familiar with how the market will value it."

8. Bankoff also says to pick an agent who suits your temperament. If an author is the type who needs to know where and when the manuscript is being submitted, to be kept abreast of responses along the way, and to make sure the agent is receptive to this sort of interaction.

9. "You want an agent with sufficient experience to bring to bear on helping understand how they (those publishing professionals) approach decisions regarding allocation of marketing dollars," Bankoff advises. An author wants an agent who "can make sense out of a business that's still less science than art, a person who will be candid and not cagey about why sales are disappointing."

10. Contact a few of the agent's current clients, advises Bankoff. "Their comments are the litmus test. It's easy to talk the talk,
but let's see what happens when it comes time to walk the walk."

Things they don't tell you - (A side bar by Two Anonymous Writers with five books published between them.)

∑ They don't tell you that they really only have time to market, promote, push and get behind a few of their titles per season.

∑ They don't tell you what your true print run is. (The announced number isn't the same thing as the real number.) And they don't tell you that a lot of your returns get pulped. (Even as there might be a shortage of books and they can't fill orders.)

∑ They don't tell you that your book is out of stock just as major reviews are appearing, which they could see coming but didn't do anything about. They tell you they have gone back to press and you're elated -- woo hoo! Another printing! But they don't tell you that the press run is only a thousand copies.

∑ They don't tell you that they never sent out most of the books to people on your "big mouth" list because they couldn't be bothered or they didn't want to spend the time and money to do it.

∑ They tell you when a review is coming...but then they don't tell you it's been killed and will never run, even though they know it.

∑ They tell you they have a plan to run an ad, or to include your book in a group ad.... but then they don't tell you that it isn't happening after all.

∑ They don't tell you that your publicist is leaving, has left.

∑ They don't tell you that your new publicist is still too young to rent a car and has never heard of Somerset Maugham.

Buzz, Balls & Hype

Because there are over 750,000 self-pubbed and 250,000 books published a year and they won't all get reviews in the NYTBR. Authored by M.J. Rose

June 13, 2007

How Lucky Can You Get? Part 3.

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