crickey.
Galley Cat (a favorite site of mine, by the way) has posted links to the sources of hard numbers on the number of books published and thoughts thereon. Also, some good graphics.
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Galley Cat (a favorite site of mine, by the way) has posted links to the sources of hard numbers on the number of books published and thoughts thereon. Also, some good graphics.
Sarah at Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind has a piece today about Todd Goldberg, whose agent is sending a new book out to various editors. Todd is anxious; of course.
Sarah sez:
It is amazing how we torture ourselves in new and exciting ways, each and every time. But that said, I get the impression that when submissions go out, the agent has more say than the author as to who it gets sent to. Is that really the case (and if it is, that's obviously not necessarily a bad thing), and if so, why wouldn't writers have more input into who they believe is the right editor for their work, especially if they are market-savvy and pay too much attention to industry gossip?
I recently went through this process with Jill, my agent (about which there will be an announcement in the next few weeks). When she was getting the package together to send out, we talked on the phone a lot. As Jill was putting names on the list of editors she would tell me about her reasoning, ala:
X at (Publishing House) is somebody who I respect because s/he (good thing). Also, s/he bought (title of novel), and when I had lunch with him/her last month, s/he raised your name. I think there's some potential real interest there.
Jill always asks me: are you familiar with the editor? Do you know anybody who works with him/her? And the reason she's asking this is because it makes sense. What if I went to high school with Editor X and we were sworn enemies? What if Editor X did something less than nice to a close author friend of mine? What if I adore Editor X above all others?
I have never been in the position where I had to ask my agent to take a name off the list. This is her area of expertise. She spends a good hunk of her time talking to editors to find out what they're thinking and what they want. This is something she does for me that I can't do for myself. It's how she earns her living.
On the other hand, I can raise names. I can say: I really like Author X's books, and I think they're edited by Editor Y at (Publisher). Might that be a good person to have on the list?
And we'll talk about it.
I'm unsure if other authors have this same kind of relationship with their agents. I wonder sometimes if I've just got an especially good thing going. Because, you know: I could make a much longer list of things I like about Jill. Who is my second agent; I could make an ever longer list of things I did not like about her precedessor.
I believe (I hope) I've solved the email problem, or at least, I'm on my way to solving it. See the right hand column.
Let me say here once again that I have a big backlog in email. I read everything that comes in, and send silent thanks. Then I try to get back to writing.