Recently in Ask Daphne! Category

I'm running around like a crazy Daphne this morning, trying to get stuff done before my flight to NYC. Contracts to mail, manuscripts to upload to my Kindle, emails to answer, and blogs to post! So please forgive this bare bones list of links, and I promise I'll be better soon.

• Alyson Noel's Kiss And Blog is going back to press!
• Ask Daphne is being reprinted in the Children's Book Insider, and will have a quarterly column as of October.
• Registration for the 2nd Annual Kidlit Bloggers Conference in Portland, Oregon is now open. Rexroth and I will be there. Will you?
• And... um... The first act of Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog is now up! Act II follows tomorrow, Act III on Saturday, and by Sunday it will be gone. Watch now!

Ok, that's all I have time for this morning. Keep those questions coming for Ask An Editor!

So I'm heading off to the New York office later this week, taking a couple of days off to be with the Unfeasible Clan, and then spending next week running around between meetings with editors and scouts. I've got tons of things to talk to them about, but in case the well runs dry, and to prove that I am nothing if not service-oriented, I'm throwing open the floor to questions.

I will take the three best questions left in the comments below from now until next Monday morning, and I will Ask An Editor (like this). I might not ask every editor I meet all three questions, but I'll do my best to ask each of them at least one, and I will get back to you with their answers.

So there you go! The comments are open!

Friday hit me like a ton of bricks, and I apologize for not getting a blog post out. To make it up to you: Double the Daphne! First question. Erin asks

I was wondering, if an author has written a manuscript which they plan to write a sequel to, when is a good time to tell the agent they're querying that they plan for the book to have a companion? Should this be stated in their query letter?

I wouldn't, Erin, and here's why. You have to sell this book first, or else what good is the sequel? Now, you may have the sequel all sketched out in your mind, but unless you mean to trick your readers with an unfinished book one, you still need to have a conclusion. And that's the book you have to pitch me on in the query, sell me on in your opening chapters, and reel me in with the complete manuscript. Once I love that, then we'll have a phone conversation and ask what else you're working on, and THEN you can tell me about the brilliant sequel you've plotted out. D'accord?

Next question! Kris writes

I'm a fashion writer/blogger, was featured in VOGUE.fr and WWD, and mentioned in NYTimes.com and Forbes.com, and I'm moving into fiction. When I mentioned this to a friend in TV (which may explain his advice), he said I should get an agent as soon as possible. What do you think? Is it premature to find an agent to submit fiction to glossies like Esquire, or I should find a great rep right away? I'm also working on my first novel. And I'm also really hot and young. And, almost as importantly, I'm very talented. Check out some of my writing. There's a photo of me in the header.

Wow. So you're hot AND young? Let me just rush to sign you as a client!!

Sorry, Kris, but literary agents don't work the same way Hollywood agents do, and you're right to mistrust your friend's advice. Most agents want to see your completed novel before they consider signing you on, and most (I know I'm generalizing, but if any of my agent friends work otherwise, please let me know!) don't represent magazine submissions until you're a published novelist. Even then, unless you're Tom Wolfe, they may leave the magazine submissions to you.

So, bully for you for being young and hot, but until your novel is hot, then just keep writing.

Good morning, readers! Hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend, enjoyed some fireworks, and got in some relaxation and/or reading. Rexroth and I certainly did, along with some great time spent with friends. But on to business! Handmade shoes for J.P., who writes:

What do you think about Self-Publishing venues like Createspace.com (Amazon's Self-Publishing branch)? Do you think they would hurt the chances for a prospective agent for a writer or help?

Well, J.P. I don't know Createspace personally, but I know other self-publishing venues like Xlibris pretty well, and I will tell you my impression of them -- they're a fallback. Can't get an agent or a publishing deal for the book you're certain is a bestseller? Self-publish it, and you can prove all those naysayers WRONG!

Except the thing is, a vast percentage of the books that are self-published never do end up proving anyone wrong. They sell a few copies to friends or family members, and take up space on your bookshelves with amateur-looking covers and design that will never truly hold a candle to a book published by a mainstream publisher.

But say you went the self-published route for some other reason other than as a last resort, and now you're submitted your book in its self-published form to agents and editors. Does it do you any good?

Again, no. It doesn't count as a publishing credit, because there's no editorial process involved in being self-published -- all it takes is money. And most agents don't want to receive a bound book to consider -- we want your first 5 chapters, or fifty pages, and if you send them to me as a book, I will tell you in all honesty that it will go to the very very bottom of my reading pile.

So, JP, there you are. If this publishing thing is just to get your words out there to a small group, and you're so sure they're perfect you can't imagine anyone could improve them, and you have the money to burn -- sure, go ahead and self-publish. But if you have greater aspirations for success as a writer, and know that you have a long road to travel, keep submitting your work the traditional way. And good luck.

Traditional Japanese shoes for Tiffany, who writes:

I wrote a Japanese grammar book. I've submitted my book to a number of agents who specialize in education but have never received a reply - because they don't speak Japanese! The agents have no way to judge my book. My searches for literary agents that specialize in foreign language books has proven fruitless. I don't know what to do.

Unlike the mainstream fiction market, I think you need to be dealing with educational publishing, Tiffany, which works on a vastly different set of rules than commercial publishing. I think a lot of educational houses happily accept unsolicited manuscripts, and you should check that route out.

The other thing to be aware of, though, is what sets your book apart from other Japanese textbooks. Check out a local college bookstore for what foreign language texts are out there, see who's publishing them, and see if you're covering the same material that's already readily available to educators.

Unless you can find a way to make your book more mainstream -- in the way, for instance, that Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss did for punctuation -- I would stick with the educational market, and wish you luck!

Famous big shoes for Paula, who writes:

I recently submitted my first book to several agents. This is my first time, and I really wasn't sure what I was doing. I got names off the internet. Anyway, two of the agents requested a partial. One of them requested the full the next day, and the day after that called me with an offer for representation. She was nice, and guided me through the q&a. I haven't heard back from the other one yet, and there are still queries out there. Bottom line: I'm hoping to be with a bigger agency, even though she and her agency have plenty of sales in my genre. How long can I keep her waiting for an answer? She didn't give me a timeframe. I'm thinking of using this offer to try and get the other agencies to offer. Is that appropriate?

First of all, Paula, congrats, and I hope you haven't had to wait too long for my answer to your pressing question. I think a week ought to be enough time, once there's an offer of representation on the table, to tell the other agent considering your manuscript that you've received an offer, ask her to get back to you with her reaction, and get back yourself to the first agent who offered.

Now, you said the other agent considering your material only has a partial, and you haven't heard back from her yet -- did you mention you had an offer? You should do so, soonest. You can make your own decision about informing the agents who only have queries; I know I'd be happy to be told I had one less query to read, if a manuscript was no longer available to me, but other agents might be happier if you didn't flood their inbox.

But there's another part of your email I want to discuss. You mention wanting to be with a bigger agency, even though the agent you offered representation has strong sales in your genre. That's a fine line you have to walk to find an agent, and some folks you may approach with it might not be thrilled. It's one thing to tell someone you've already been in touch with that you have an offer of representation, but if word got back to the agent who offered that you were contacting other agencies after the fact, she might withdraw her offer.

You need to consider honestly if you truly believe you NEED to be with a big agency, or if you can be happy with your book in the hands of a quick, enthusiastic, efficient agent with a strong track record of sales, whether she's with Giant Agency, LLP, or out on her own. Good luck!

--
The famous shoes, by the way, are Vivienne Westwood platform mock-crocs that Naomi Campbell was wearing in a runway show when she fell in them. They live in the V&A in London, now. Link.

A plethora of shoes for Narda, who asks:

As most agents are very busy and even an E-mail query may take quite awhile to receive a reply, how many agents should you query at one time?

As many as you want, Narda, but more importantly, only as many as you can track. Remember, of course, that you should be researching every agent before you query them, making sure that your work is appropriate for them, and personalizing every email that you send out. Nothing will get your email query deleted unread faster than a huge field of agents' email addresses in the cc field and a form letter that starts "Dear Agent."

But if you've researched 5 agents whose lists seem to match your work, whose tastes you agree with, whose clients you admire or respect -- or if you've done that with 10, or 20, or 50 agents -- then be sure you're tracking every email you send out, and go ahead.

Of course, should one of your dream agents respond positively and offer representation, you'll need to let everyone else know, which may cut down on your widespread querying, but that's a pretty good problem to have, I'd say.

Some super expensive shoes for Susan, who writes:

I recently received an e-mail from an agent who said she would like to represent my book. But she also pitched her writing workshops to me. When I said that I wasn't sure I could commit to her workshop, but had already hired an editor who is well-known in the subject of my book, this agent replied that she can also help me with edits on a one-on-one basis--for a fee. Do you think this is a conflict of interest: representing my book and being my editor for a fee? I know that a lot of agents have other work on the side, so maybe this is standard?

Susan, there may be more to this than I understand from just your brief email, but my immediate reaction is "EEEEEKKKKKK!"

This does not sound like any legitimate agent I know. We make our money by selling your book, and taking a commission on the sale, not charging you fees to edit it. I offer editorial suggestions to my clients as part of my services as an agent -- there's no extra fee, it's part of my job. Pitching a writing workshop to a prospective client also seems like a strong conflict of interest to me. Have you checked this agent out on Preditors and Editors? What about Writer Beware? The very first warning on Writer Beware about Dishonest Literary Agents reads

Dishonest agents prey on writers by charging fees, promoting their own paid services, engaging in kickback referral schemes, and misrepresenting their knowledge and expertise. These agents don't earn their income by selling manuscripts to publishers, but by extracting money from their clients.

This sounds just like your prospective agent. You can also check if they're a member of AAR. Not all agents are -- I'm not, for example, at least not yet -- but it's another place where you can do some serious double-checking on this agent before signing anything. Based on just your description, I'd run far, far away from this agent.

JM writes:

I have a completed manuscript in search of a hard-to-find agent. I am a first-time novelist with a 93-chapter epic that crosses genres: religious fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, contemporary and historical fiction. Using databases like agentquery.com and reference books, I have identified agents, but what I really need is a specialist in urban fantasy with a spiritual message told through character story. Any idea how to find one?

JM, I answered a similar question this weekend at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop LitFest, when an author asked how his "uncategorizable" manuscript could find an agent when all he had to go on were agents' lists of those categories they specialized in. My answer to him, and to you, is to figure out the simplest definition of your work, and find agents that would represent that. Given that, you could look at agents who work with Urban Fantasy, or religious fiction, if those could be seen as the most general genres you're working in. If the work is strong enough, you may be able to interest an agent who'd otherwise never look at one category or another.

All that being said, be careful not to overwhelm a prospective agent with a bold new genre like Urban-Religi-Fi-Fant-Contemp-Thriller. Remember my DON'Ts. Number 9, in particular.

A quick question tonight, since it's already way late, and I spent the entire day amidst serious renovations. My fingers are sore and my back's about to give out, so this is about the limit of my time in front of the compooter today. Will writes:

I wrote a novel that originated from a published short story of mine. Should I mention that in the query? Is it better to change the title or keep it the same?

Absolutely.

This is what we in the business call a credit, and we love when authors who are querying us have them. It shows us that you've been edited (usually) and that someone other than your friendly neighborhood critique group or grandma or local class of 8-year-olds thinks your writing is nifty.

The title is immaterial -- lots of titles get changed from submission to publication. the one that I would try to make clear is WHY you felt the need to expand it from a short story that (clearly) worked. If you cover than in your query letter as well, you should be hitting the major plot points and be ready to go.

And I'm off for bed before I mix any more metaphors.

(Side note: my work boots are nowhere near as cute as these. I wants.)