This week! Publishing! Busy day!
Time is money, and I’m time poor. Here is this week in publishing, brevity style.
Marc Fitten: 100 Indie Bookstores in a single tour! Also among Marc’s abilities: leaping tall buildings in several bounds, being an extremely cool guy, and keeping me up until 3 in the morning at a writer’s conference with loud conversation outside my window (true story – I’ve almost forgiven him too). His debut novel: VALERIA’S LAST STAND
Kassia Krozser: So publishers, what’s the Google Book Search Plan B? Um, you have one, right?
Farhad Manjoo: Google Book Search could be kind of great. Or also kind of not.
Moonrat, in response to #1 most asked question: here’s what’s safe to post of your work online.
Cormac McCarthy: another award, of course!
And finally, John Ochwat: Here be some great book videos.
Have a great weekend!
Wow. Firsties.
Um. Have a good weekend!
ALERT: broken link to John Ocwhat’s blog, here’s how to grab it How to Edit Even Goodlier. Hopefully, I got that correct. I was kinda in a hurry, lunch calls.
first carol-
Thanks! Link fixed.
Blogger, you’re killing me.
Enjoyed Jessica’s link thanx!
Thanks for the good weekend fodder, Nathan!
I, who was so opposed to kindle in one of your early posts, on meeting one up close was quite won over by its usefulness and convenience. A place for everything, I guess!
Thank you for the link to Jessica’s post. I appreciate all you do in furthering the career of writers such as I.
Learning the ins and outs of this business would take forever if not for cool agents like you showing us the way.
Have a wonderful weekend!
I’m thinking of saving up money to buy a Kindle…
hope everyone has a great weekend.
Jessica’s post makes me sad. Blogging agents and writers are filling in an education gap. I’ve learned so much at blogiversity, and I’d hate for her (or you!) to get fed up with the negativity and quit blogging. Losing Miss Snark was hard enough.
Thanks for the fixed link, Carol. Now, for the name: Ochwat. Not that it’s ever been misspelled before …
These are interesting links, thanks Nathan – especially since it’s such a busy day for you.
I usually enjoy Jessica’s posts, and I’m sure she had the best of intentions. But I deal with angry people all day long. I can tell you that telling them: “the anger toward agents has to stop, and it has to stop now” is just going to make people even more angry.
Furious actually. I’m not even angry at agents, but I’m angry at her for saying that. Telling someone not to be angry is like pouring gasoline on a fire, and telling it to calm down.
What I feel like saying to some of these agents, who I otherwise like and respect is this: Stop it. Stop acting like children who are being picked on. You’re the ones in power, you helped create this situation.
Take responsiblity.
Thanks for linking to that Moonrat post. I’ve been wanting to post the first chapter or two of my WIP on my blog for some feedback, but I’ve always been afraid to.
It seems the general consensus is that posting a piece of your work (especially if you plan to remove it later) is pretty safe.
So, thanks! Now I feel a little better about the idea!
Sorry, John, fixed.
mira-
My own first rule of dealing with negativity is not complaining about the negativity, so I’m somewhat sympathetic to your viewpoint. However, I think there’s something to be said for standing up and saying, respectfully, “You know what? No. We’re not your problem.”
I agree, Nathan. I thought Jessica’s post was very honest and extremely tactful at the same time.
Thanks for the brief but informative post! 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Whoops. Don’t want to post that if I’m responding to Nathan.
Nathan, I see two problems with saying that. The first is, it’s not as constructive as it looks.
Yes, it’s good to stand up for yourself. But by saying that, you’re also saying to the other person: Your feelings and argument have no validity.
The second problem is: It’s only partly true. Perhaps some of the anger is mis-directed, but not all. Anger does not just erupt in a vaccum. This is partly about some agents (not all) and the agent/writer relationship, and I wish that agents would acknowledge that.
Thanks for the post and links which are always timely. Especially Moonrats! 🙂
I’m in an especially crappy mood today so forgive me for saying this. (Probably a good day to shut the computer off…maybe I’ll take my own advice in a sec)
But will the bickering ever end? I feel like we are beating a dead horse. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is bringing up great points over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
Sorry. I just feel like we should be able to put it behind us for a little while. 🙂
And over.
Thanks for more great links!
Yaaaay, Cormac McCarthy! I love his writing, and am so glad he won another award.
The information from Moonrat is extremely helpful. At this point, I receive around 8,000 to 9,000 hits to my website every month, and am careful not to post anything from works-in-progress, and only post brief excerpts from my published works.
Google Book Search. Grrrrr … It always seemed fishy to me. I’ll go with brevity in my comments here.
Loved Jessica Faust’s article. I guess I associate myself with so many writers who work hard, already have great agents or hope to have one soon, I had no idea there was that much anger out there against agents. On The Swivet, Colleen Lindsay posted a link to this hilarious article: #Underfail: Rise of the Agents. Nathan, your blog’s mentioned there, too.
As far as my own writing goes, I’m planning to take a long summer break this summer, do more background research, and return to long hours of writing in the fall.
Have a great weekend! Hope you have a great summer, too! It’s almost here.
P.C.
Okay. Certainly the last thing in the world I want to do is argue with Nathan.
Nathan, who is one of the kindest people I’ve met – and I’ve never even met him.
And he’s extremely generous with me, which I notice and appreciate. So, yes, I can drop it. No problem.
Mira – you silly sweet girl. I wasn’t talking about you. 🙂
I was actually talking about Jessica’s post about #AgentFail. Sorry I guess it did seem that way but I hadn’t read your post yet.
Other than the comments from AgentFail day I haven’t read a single solitary blog post where anyone complained about Agent’s. I guess I keep good company.
Bloody hell, that Google mess is a headache. It’s always disturbing to me when creative intellectual property is lumped together like oranges or widgets or something. Ugly, even.
Thanks for the article about releasing material online, as well. I’ve done it and have plans to do more. In fact, big plans. More on that later. Maybe. 🙂
mira-
I don’t mind if you disagree. I think you posted a very rational, reasonable way of resolving conflicts. I wish it were more conducive to the Internet, but it’s such a cacophony that it’s not always possible.
I agree that it isn’t conducive to tell people their feelings aren’t valid. I think though, that explaining an agent’s perspective is part of the process of the resolution.
@JohnO — Sir Nathan is trying to make that list How do you spell that?, but will probably be satisfied with Win MS critique. I should bid on it merely because he mentioned my name in a comment. Nothing like a little capitalism (supply and demand) and driving the price up. Hehehe.
Thanks for the links Nathan. I enjoy your Blog throughout the week, but always look forward to TWIP.
The information I gather from your Blog, Jessica’s and a few others has helped me a great deal
Have a great weekend!
Cass
Nathan said:
“I wish it were more conducive to the Internet, but it’s such a cacophony that it’s not always possible.”
I’m starting to feel that way about the Internet, as well: “cacophony”. Whenever people have any kind of thought they feel they’d like to express, the Internet allows them to send it out to the world immediately. I’m seriously thinking about taking a break from the Internet for the entire summer. Not sure I can do it, though. The Internet’s just so … shiny. And we all know writers are mesmerized by shiny objects.
Purple Clover,
I’m sorry but YOU’RE the sweet, silly girl. 🙂
No, I’m glad you said something.
I suddenly realized I’m doing exactly what I say agents shouldn’t do. I’m not listening.
What I should be saying to agents is this:
It probably felt like you got completely blind-sided. You work hard, your hands are tied at least half the time, you’re under intense pressure and you’re probably under-compensated. I’m sure you feel completely squeezed between the publishers and the writers, not to mention your bosses.
It must have really hurt to feel like the writers were turning on you and attacking you.
You’re good people, and you’re trying to do your best in a very difficult job.
It didn’t feel fair to have such bitterness and anger directed toward you. You also didn’t appreciate what felt like a personal attack.
At least that’s how I probably would have felt in your shoes.
Nathan,
“explaining an agent’s perspective is part of the process of the resolution.”
You’re right!! My post above was sincere, and for those not familiar with reflective listening, it was not meant manipulatively, it was genuine.
Marilyn,
Don’t you dare leave. I’d have to add you to the list of people I stalk.
I have had an intense week full of political b-s, and I’m going to sneak out early now and go see the new Star Trek.
Beam me up, Scotty.
To the agent/writer fued- it will never really end. Not totally. There are two, very different forces at work here. In most businesses you hear that work and passion can’t co-exist. (To tell you the truth publishing relies on both these items) Agents are the business side, writers are passionate beyond reason in some cases. Mix business with passion and you’ve either got a good match or a fight.
So, an agent tells a writer that the book they’ve poured thier heart and soul into for the last three years that it’s not a good match for them. Mr.Passionate gets mad and writes a nasty note to the agent, the agent then feels the need to write a blog on why it’s not personal and that they don’t want to be yelled at, angering even more writers who are saying, “That’s not me!” and then the cycle starts all over again when these writers are told no by an agent. It’s a vicious cycle.
All though I like that every one here is hopeful that it will end. That says a lot about you Nathan and your followers.
Anyway, thanks for the links, gives me something to read over the weekend. Have a good one.
Justine
Mira said:
“Marilyn,
Don’t you dare leave.”
You are so sweet! This is one of my favorite blogs on the Internet. I just need to cut back on my overall Internet time. I probably need to cut back on Twitter more than anything else. It’s a steady stream of consciousness over there … well, limited consciousness, since people can only post 140 characters per thought.
I’m planning on taking a long, restful break this summer and returning to my writerly life in the fall.
Thanks. I love TWIP and appreciate that you do this for us every week. Those videos, especially the Impotance of Proofreading, were fabulous.
I loved Cormac McCarthy’s writing, but I’m beginning to fall out of love with it. In All The Pretty Horses and Blood Meridien, he reminded me of the Old Testament; in The Road I just see yet another writer who has read How To Write A Bestseller: the usual stuff, lots of short action verbs, no adverbs or adjectives. I’m beginning to see through these ploys and find them unsatisfying. Oh for some food for the senses: colours, smells, sounds, texture
Full stop
When I read All The Pretty Horses, as a writer I felt crushed, intimidated, because I knew I could never write anything as good as that, but when I read The Road I simply thought I can write better than that and I probably can.
What I feel like some people aren’t getting in this whole “AgentFail” blogstorm (I hesitate to call it a “discussion”) is that agents are writers’ advocates. If the writer profits, the agent profits. And while of course publishers want the books they acquire to succeed, they want to acquire those books (for the most part) spending as little as possible.
Yeah, there’s a filter, and I know from experience that not getting through that filter can be an incredibly frustrating and depressing experience. But it seems to me that the writers who are complaining most loudly about The System as it is today are frequently the ones who also don’t seem to understand how it works.
Justine said:
“To the agent/writer fued- it will never really end. Not totally. There are two, very different forces at work here.”
I think that’s probably true. The other day in a very public Internet group, a couple of people in the publishing field (not literary agents) decided to post running commentary about how annoying it is that so many writers don’t follow instructions, use bad grammar, are just “stupid”, and so on. I felt myself getting angrier and angrier, so I turned off my computer and stopped reading their discussion. I think that, whenever people make insulting comments about an entire group of people, it often incites people from the insulted group to make angry generalized comments about everyone in the other group. After a while, it’s just all a lot of unhealthy meaningless noise. TV news is filled with these types of ongoing arguments between different groups of people; and I think, in that case, it serves to keep the focus off much more serious events happening in the world.
This week’s TWIP is quite a bit shorter. Hmmmm. Twitter speak at work?
Seriously, still jam packed with juicy links and info.
Nathan,
I just read Jessica’s blog, and since it is a slow day, I thought I would ask – Do you give feedback on the queries you receive?
You’ve said that you personalize the responses you send to personalized queries, but I thought you’ve also said that you wouldn’t get any work done if you sent detailed responses or answered follow-up questions.
I’ve been following the “angry blogs” and it seems to me that one of the major issues is form letter rejections.
Doesn’t the Agent vs. Author conflict center on the fact that an author spends years writing a novel, and then carefully selects the agents they want to query – only to get rejections with no explanations for the rejection?
Finally, I am about to start querying, and I see you have listed several genres. However, your clients seem to be limited to young adult, memoirs, and literary estates.
I mean no offense, but an agent once recommended that authors look at what an agent actually sells and not what they say they represent. Heck, for all I know, you might have been that agent.
Would you clarify?
I am not trying to give you a hard time. Like so many others, I appreciate the time you spend hosting this blog.
Thank you.
anon-
I personalize by name and thank people who read the blog, but beyond that there’s no real way for me to individualize my rejection. I understand that it’s frustrating for authors that they can’t receive feedback, but that’s just not the agent’s job.
Also, many of the people who participated in Be An Agent for a Day tried to personalize their responses, and only 50 queries nearly broke them. It’s just not realistic for authors to expect that agents are going to take up a tremendous amount of time to respond to every single person who approaches them.
I absolutely think authors deserve to be treated with respect, and I always try and do so. But as I’ve said elsewhere on a blog: writing a manuscript does not buy you an agent’s time.
Really, a personal response is much different than a detailed response. A personal response simply means its not uniformed. A detailed response would mean that the agent had to give reasons as to why they didn’t choose your book. That would take a lot of time if they did it for every one. So in the end, even if they were to try, they’d have to be short with someone.
And there are lots of agents that want you to just query them. They’re a competative lot and don’t want to miss out on the next BIG THING. Even if they don’t deal with your genre, maybe they can pass you off to a friend. In the end, they’ll tell you just to query them. I would put more faith into what there selling as to the likely hood of them excepting you, but I wouldn’t limit myself to that either.
Justine
Nathan – you sound busy so I hope you get some down time this weekend. Everyone else – Happy Friday!
Oh, I just got back from hearing Augusten Burroughs speak and he’s a fabulously entertaining speaker if you get the chance to hear him (and a really nice guy!) We read Running with Scissors for my bookclub. 🙂
Amen to Jessica. Just because agents have become more personalized through blogs this does not mean authors have a right to expect a personal/casual relationship with them. I work in the medical field and believe me if a nurse/doctor started a blog, I would never conceive of berrating them with industry issues in the form of rants, generalizations or direct attacks. It’s simply not professional. To be taken seriously in a profession, treat all others professionally.
Thanks for another great place to read blogs. Yours, Nathan, was my first encounter of the earthling blogging; now, the Moonrat race is on.
Have a great weekend yourself…look forward to reading again on Monday at 6pm ET. Ciao
Defining Lucinda…
Thanks for the weekly info, Nathan.
Rick
Lemme try that again…
Thanks for the weekly info, Nathan.
Rick
Okay now that I’m in a better mood…
I like Moon Rat’s response to the question whether we should allow any parts of our wip on our blogs. She basically expressed a similar view of it to you.
Here is where Nathan blogged about it. If anyone is interested.
So I’m excited to say that I’m going to release my first chapter on Wednesday (in case anyone wants to bookmark/follow me…hehehe). I’m already getting great feedback on two snippets I’ve posted yesterday and last Thursday.
Thanks again!!
Bigger Kindle? I guess they think size really does matter.
But seriously, since this is sort of a weekly summary, I thought your post this week, “Writing as an Identity” was excellent.
“It seems the general consensus is that posting a piece of your work…”
The word “general” is superfluous in this sentence, since the word “consensus” already means, “a general opinion.”
There seems to be some confusion here and on other agent blogs about “disrespectfulness” (i.e. “trolls”) vs. having a legitimate disagreement with the agents. I have seen professionally written disagreements on these blogs referred to as “trolls.” They say writers need a thick skin, right? It doesn’t make their skins seem very thick when they get hyper-defensive over agents.
So are your commas.
Watched the book videos. Ha!Ha!Ha! Those are hilarious! Here’s another video mentioned earlier this week over on Twitter: Jeff Somers Presents: A Day in the Life of a Writer.
The word “general” is superfluous in this sentence, since the word “consensus” already means, “a general opinion.”
Neither of those 2 commas are needed (although the point s/he is trying tomake is correct).
A@6:47
My point exactly.
Yours,
A@6:43