Highlights from Smith Publicity’s Get on the Same Page with Literary Agents Webinar

For authors navigating complex publishing pathways, a literary agent serves as a guide and advocate, cutting through the noise and opening up the doors to new opportunities on your behalf. Not only is working with a literary agent essential for any kind of traditional deal, but they can also help authors with translating publishing contracts from hybrid and indie houses as well and can curate long-lasting relationships with editors and publishers alike. But first, before working with an agent, you have to query them. What does that entail? And once you’ve signed on, what are the best practices for creating a positive working relationship? We’re glad you asked!

Donya Dickerson, Literary Agent at Aevitas, and John Willig, Literary Advisor and Content Coach at Literary Services Inc., joined Host Corinne Moulder, Smith Publicity’s VP of Business Development, to discuss how to query and work collaboratively with literary agents. Below are some highlights and a recording, in case you missed it!

Can you explain first what a literary agent does and what your day-to-day work entails?

A lot of agencies have their foundation because it was based on contracts, so there is the whole aspect of selling, deals, and negotiating. These days, the agent has become much more of a trusted advisor throughout that whole process. The inboxes of many great agents in the industry are filled with questions about publicity and questions about schedules and all of that. The best deal oftentimes involves who is the best publisher and who is the best editor for your work. I think one of the things that is so beneficial about having an agent is they understand the business so they can really work with both sides: the authors they represent as well as the publisher. You want an agent where you have a relationship that you feel good about. Having an agent is someone who can come in and deal with conflict for you so that you don’t have to make the relationship tense between you and other members of your team. Another benefit of an agent is they’re thinking about the big picture for your career, not just the short term.

What is querying? What are some tips that you would offer for authors who are just starting the process? 

The query letter should really give a good understanding, in a very short amount of space, of what your book is about and who wants to read it. I understand this is challenging, but giving a good understanding of what the book is, who the audience is, and why you’re the person to write the book is imperative. If you have any platform, you must know the unique selling point of what you are offering. 

I always try to have my clients think of publishers as investors. What you are seeking with a query is funding for your project, and the publisher and the editor have lots of choices. You start your query off with a little bit of acknowledgement that you’ve done your homework, and when you make that connection, that agent is more likely to read into your query. Another tip is that every aspiring author should have the top five to ten books in their category. If they go into those books, they will see an acknowledgement section where the author will thank specific names of contributors. So you just have to go to your bookshelf and get the names of the agents and agencies that are working in your “zone,” and then when you query them. Authors can start off by saying, “I noticed that you worked with XYZ author on XYZ book” and build a conversation from there. If you seriously want to be published, it’s worth taking the time to do the research to see what kinds of books agents represent. Some agents only do nonfiction and will get so many queries for fiction, which is just an instant reject for them. It’s clear that those people have just been blanketing all the agents they have contact information for and not really looking into their “zone.” 

What are some of the areas in a book proposal that authors may not realize they need to have figured out? 

Having an executive summary cover page before really moving that to the forefront about the book is important. There should be two or three paragraphs and then four or five bullet points about publicity, your credentials, and motivating the editor to get into the rest of the proposal. Even photos on that cover sheet if it’s a history book, for example, to kind of bring the project to life a little bit. That summary leads the editor into the rest of the proposal. Another section of the proposal that people don’t talk about that much is the competitive analysis section. A lot of times authors will say their book is the only book on this topic. If this is true, it is actually kind of a red flag for publishers… if it’s the only book, it could be because people don’t want to buy a book on this topic. Another common mistake seen is that a lot of people don’t always work to their advantages. They will list books that are competitive and then they kind of put those books down by writing a lot about what’s wrong with competitor books. When in reality, it’s great to highlight what’s successful about that book and how your book is similar and can also do well. 

Do you have any tips for authors on the best ways to work with their agent? 

Even if an author sent over the perfect query letter and the perfect proposal, we want to get a sense of how open you are to suggestions, how collaborative you are, if you’re going to be strident about your title and your subtitle, etc. Agents are kind of judging these qualities right from the get go. One of the things that’s hard about publishing is that you’ve written a book that feels so personal, so you can feel a little defensive about it. When people have suggestions, it’s easy to take offense to them. It is important authors know just having an open mind to any kind of feedback makes them come across stronger. 

Communication is also an important quality an agent is looking for. If there’s something that is frustrating you, the agent is the person that you can go and talk with about it. You’d be surprised at the number of times as an editor, two weeks before the book is due, someone says, “yeah, that’s not going to happen in time.” Well, they should have communicated that months ago when they knew they weren’t writing the books! It’s a time to be transparent and honest and, when there’s a problem, the agent can really help you if you’re willing to communicate. 

Is it ever too early to reach out? What happens when you’re interested in a query letter and then find out they don’t even have the right assets or they’re not quite ready for that next step?

People get this idea that they want to write a book, but they haven’t done their due diligence and seen what other books are out there or how they’re different from competing books. Reaching out and saying, “I write a book about this topic” without really knowing what you want to write… that’s definitely too early. So definitely write that proposal so it’s ready in case you have any kind of interest.

Donya Dickerson has spent over two decades helping authors get published.  She’s currently a literary agent at Aevitas (Aveeta-is) Creative Management where she focuses on nonfiction titles. Prior to Aevitas, she was the Associate Publisher for the Business Trade list at McGraw Hill where she had a track record of publishing multiple New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. For more, visit www.aevitascreative.com and follow them on LinkedIn and Instagram.

 

John Willig graduated from Brown University and got his first job as a sales representative in academic publishing. He soon began work as a marketing manager and then editor for HarperCollins where he published in 1984 one of the first books on AI — Artificial Intelligence: Tools, Techniques and Applications by Tim O’Shea and Marc Eisenstadt. As his interests moved to trade publishing, he became an executive editor at Prentice Hall for business books. While at P-Hall, John enjoyed working with such authors as Henry Mintzberg, Philip Kotler and Jim Collins. He acquired and edited Jim’s first book Beyond Entrepreneurship which now has a new edition B.E. 2.0. In 1991 he decided to become a literary agent to work more closely with writers. Throughout his career as an editor and agent, John has successfully negotiated over 800 publishing agreements. John participates at many industry events including the Writer’s Digest and American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) conferences. For more, visit www.literaryservicesinc.com and follow him on LinkedIn.

 

Corinne Moulder, VP of Business Development, worked as a book publicist for nearly seven years which introduced her to the reality of the relentless and creative nature of the book publicity industry. Now managing accounts that range from imprints from the Big Five, budding and established small presses, best selling traditional and indie authors, and breakout debut writers, Corinne values publication processes from pre- to post-launch and understands the need for strategic, impactful publicity timelines. Corinne speaks at national trade events, local writers’ conferences, and industry events.

 For more, visit www.SmithPublicity.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.