An Agent Agent? Just Say No

Earlier this week I read an enlightening post at Jennifer Represents, the blog of literary agent Jennifer Laughran. In this particular entry, Jennifer posts a great mock conversation with her and an agent agent (which I won't reproduce her but I urge you to click the above link to read the entry), as well as the following, which I've included here to explain what an agent agent is:

Much more often -- every couple of weeks at least -- I get the same basic thing but in email form:

Subject Line: AUTHOR REFERRAL!

Hi Agent, I'm Random McNoname, and I'm writing to reffer [sic] my client Author Sapsucker to you. Sapsucker has a pHd in Neurocathology [sic] and 78 followers on twitter so he's the real deal. The manuscript is attached, I look forward to hearing from you by next week.

If you're not quite following, this is the gist: Jennifer is an agent. Authors need agents to send their manuscripts to publishing companies that won't deal with unsolicited submissions. Agents are easy to get hold of - they have to be, because their livelihood depends entirely on having authors to represent. Somewhere along the line, deceitful cunning people have created a new job, that of the agent agent - an agent that an author pays to find them an agent for their book. As if getting published wasn't hard enough...

Jennifer further explains:

These are what I call "agent-agents" or third-party queriers. They convince authors that their "services" are necessary to query (aka spam) literary agents*. Authors who are totally new and/or desperate will take the bait and pay, in the hopes that it will give them a leg up on the competition. 

But it won't give a leg up on the competition, all it will do is frustrate or anger the agent, cost the author a lot of money, and all but guarantee their work is rejected on the basis that the agent agent is causing problems. The agent agent works on the premise of 'if you throw enough mud at a wall, some of it will stick' i.e. hit up enough agents and one may show interest. As such, they don't take the time to research each individual agent and find out what books or categories they represent; after all, a rejection doesn't matter to them, it matters to the author, so they need no qualms about accuracy. Spamming an agent is the quickest way I can think of to alienate an agent - and the very last thing any author wants to do is alienate agents. If they remember the title of the author or the book, that can haunt the writer if they approach the agent directly after ditching the agent agent - we all make mistakes and act in ignorance, but agents can afford to be picky about who they represent and who is going to want to recommend someone who doesn't do basic research into the appropriate steps to take?

Remember, budding authors, agents represent authors. By virtue of that fact, they need to hear from you, get to know you, and communicate with you and you alone. Querying is a step that authors need to take for themselves, and authors are already being represented - by their books.

Querying can be time consuming and tedious, but it isn't hard. It's made much easier by agents, because they post visibly on their websites how to approach them and clear instructions on what to include with a query. Paying someone else to do that for you isn't just expensive, it's alienating. 

Encouragement for NaNoWriMo Writers

November is a busy month - it's not only the month that confuses shop owners into playing Christmas music already, it's also host to Movember and, ah, the event that inspires and terrifies writers: National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.

There's no denying it's a popular event, according to the website there are 299,589 novelists signed up this year, no doubt some of them serial attendees. Just in case you haven't heard of it or you're hazy on the details, entrants have between the first and last day of November to write an entire novel, at a minimum of 50,000 words. It sounds tough (because it is tough), but the organisers have plenty of resources to help keep you going - physical events, online pep talks, a forum, and the option to upload your latest word count as and when you want. 

If you've signed up and are still going strong, congratulations - you've made it further than many others and that alone is incentive to finish. If you haven't signed up but want to, you can (but you'll need to really know what you're going to write in order to finish on time).

Now, I've not yet partaken in NaNoWriMo - partly because fiction isn't my primary outlet when it comes to writing, and partly because I forget about it until people start talking about how well they're doing. That being said, I still feel equipped to help and encourage others, because timeframe aside, the challenge is writing books - and that's something I have done and continue to do (if you're new to me, I offer professional ghostwriting services (but no, I won't write your NaNoWriMo entry...)).

Books are daunting, there's no escaping that, and NaNoWriMo is the London Marathon of book writing. But, at the risk of further exhausting a very tired cliche, the biggest journey begins with a simple step. Have another one too: "You don't need to be great to start, but you need to start to be great." Actually, to salute the power of three, have this one as well:

Those cliches are tired because they're true, and they're as true today as the time they were first spoken. As with any book, approach it one step at a time, one page at a time, and forget about the deadline - it's knowing that there are only 30 days in which to write the book that makes it more difficult, and if you're the type of person that can't cope with that pressure, forget about it. Just focus on the writing, and once you're absorbed in the story, you'll write a better book faster.

Part of the beauty of writing is that there are no rules. You can start on page one and work right through to the end, or you can start at the end and work backwards, or start in the middle. Whatever works for you - do alternate chapters if it helps. Write down plot and character notes, then when you're having a hard time continuing with a certain scene, push it aside and develop one or more of those earlier notes. Not only will it ease the frustration of a deadened in the scene you were working on, you'll also see the word count and overall story swell at a faster pace.

It can also be important - depending on the type of worker you are - to not get too concerned about other writers, or sticking exclusively to 'rules' of the event. No one knows your story better than you, and if you're certain of what you want to write and the direction it will take, forge ahead. That being said, if you're losing pace and need some help, Galley Cat is running tips for NaNoWriMo throughout the month, with today's tip being character point of view.

Writing a book in a month is made even more difficult by the presence of Real Life - work, family, social events to name a few. For that reason having some dedicated time to set aside can make a difference in ensuring you meet your writing targets, as well as helping other people know that it's your time and not to disturb you. "But writing isn't like a tap, I need to be inspired and can't just turn it on!" I hear you cry. If that's your thought, you're not alone. It's difficult to just turn it on because the clock struck 7pm. So if that doesn't work for you, find your groove - is it better for you to collect notes and ideas throughout the week and then after a lie in and gallon of coffee on Saturday morning spend the weekend tying it together to rack up the word count? Then do that instead. It can't be over-emphasised that the only rule is there are no rules. Do what works for you, not what other people are doing. When you play by other people's rules you lose the game because you're restricting your own ability to work. A wise person once said the only way to get through something is to go through it, so, with that in mind:

So You Want to be a Writer?

A lot of people want to be writers - or at least, they think they do. Like all the creative arts, it has a certain appeal to many people for various reasons. But just like becoming a famous musician does not happen overnight and requires years of gruelling schedules and poor income, writers are not guaranteed success. As a continuation of last month's post by Lauren, this will be looking at the ups and downs of writing and the various ways in which you can write for a living.

Typically when someone says they want to be a writer the first interpretation of that from others is a novelist, and that is often followed with warnings along the lines of '98% of manuscripts get rejected' and 'most writers never make much money'. Both points are true enough, but being a writer doesn't start and end with novels.

When you enter the foray of writing you need to decide what you want to do. Do you have lofty ambitions of being the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, or do you just want to be able to earn an income by putting words to paper? The latter is a shorter, easier process. You can start writing in your spare time, selling short stories to magazines or writing freelance articles for newspapers, or approaching companies to be a copywriter for their adverts, brochures or websites. If you already have a job, you can use your knowledge and experience from that to write on that particular topic - you may find that pretty soon you're in demand to write for a collection of people or companies on your chosen topic.

If you want to be a novelist, the process is longer and much more difficult. Not only does it take time to write a full book, but you need to then sell it to a publisher. While it is true that 98% of manuscript submissions are rejected, you shouldn't get too upset over that; rather, make yours stand out. Most of the submitted manuscripts are very rough and require a great deal of work before they are ready to be sold to the market. So, take some initiative and hire an editor; they will sort out the content and format it ready for submission. Do your research on what publisher or agent to approach - there's no faster way to get rejected than to send a submission to a publisher that doesn't deal with your type of book. For instance, there's no use in sending a fiction book to a non-fiction publisher.

Whichever route you decide to take, make full use of the power of the Internet. As Seth Godin recently said, don't wait to win the lottery, build an army of readers who are willing to buy your output when you release it. Build a website, write a blog that you regularly update to generate traffic so people become aware of you. Register on Facebook and Twitter to reach a wider audience and utilise the option of downloads so people can get your writing straight away. You can even give it away and ask for donations, or sell it. If you give it away and make no money at all, you're still building that army, and that will be great leverage when approaching publishers: they will see there is already a growing market for your personal writing.

Writing can be a wonderfully rewarding vocation and there are numerous ways you can earn a living from doing it. So don't be intimidated by the prospects; instead, brainstorm some ideas of what area you want to venture into and then make an immediate start. There's no time like the present, as they say, and you may well be surprised by how quickly things take off.