Location: Old New Castle, Del.

Yesterday I wrote about finding a treasure–a children’s picture book manuscript that a friend referred me to. It is a story filled with magic, sensory richness and adventure.

You may have guessed, after my raving about the story yesterday, that I offered representation.  You would be guessing wrong.  I did contact L. Stewart Marsden through my friend, but it was to ask his permission to blog about his project.

So why, if I’m crazy about this story, did I not offer to represent it?

There are a number of reasons. I thought by discussing them here you might get some insight into why agents make some of their seemingly inexplicable decisions.  So, let me list a couple:

Genre mismatch-- Although I have sold some wonderful children’s picture books both in the CBA market and the ABA market, it takes a real specialist to sell children’s books these days. Someone who keeps up with the market and knows who is buying what. It would be a disservice to Mr. Marsden to take him on for this story. He needs to find a children’s agent.

Generalist Author– I looked at Mr. Marsden’s website and noted that he is in the experimental phase of his career. He has his children’s book but he also has adult fiction, poetry and other offerings. This is normal when an author is exploring, but to an agent, it is a sign that the author has not yet found his genre and his voice.  When he settles, he’s going to be much more attractive to an agent. (I’ve blogged a number of times about the importance of finding your writing “home.”)

I’m sharing this so you realize that finding an agent is as much about a perfect match as it is about getting an agent to fall in love with your writing.

What can an author do to ensure that the right agent falls in love with his writing, his book?

Location: New York City

Talk to any literary agent and she will have stories about discovering that perfect project– the one that wouldn’t   leave her alone. Today I’m going to talk about one such project that I discovered this week. On Friday I’ll reveal why I made the representation decision I made.

One of my longtime writing friends wrote to our critique group to tell us about a reporter who was doing a story about her. She told us he was an aspiring writer himself and she pointed us to a children’s story on his blog. I normally wouldn’t have time to go look at a blog but she loved the story and I needed to see why. The story is for a children’s picture book and is titled Stinky and the Night Mare by L. Stewart Marsden.

I’ve always been a children’s literature aficianado but it’s rare to come across a manuscript that is neither condescending nor “precious.” This is one of those rare ones. As I read the story I could practically see the illustrations. It’s the perfect combination of realistic and magical. I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

Immediately I began compiling a mental list of the editors to whom I’d love to present it. Tomorrow I’ll share next steps but in the meantime let me tell you what it takes to catch an agent’s eye.

• An outstanding manuscript– this goes without saying.
• Perfect timing. In this case I happened to have a few extra minutes to go out to a website and read a manuscript. That’s a rare occurrence and had I been at my desk instead of on the road, who knows?
• A connection. This is not required of course but in this case one of my friends pointed me in this direction. In the place of a recommendation, a meeting at a conference or a stand-out query may do the trick.
• A match between the agent and the genre or subject. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow.

In the meantime, use the comment section to tell us  your story of being discovered. Or about how you discovered a brilliant piece of writing and why it appealed to you.

Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

If you don’t know what a QR code is, scroll down to the end of this post to take a peek. QR (which stands for “quick response”) codes are ubiquitous–on food packaging, on clothing tags, in ads, etc. The codes might provide recipes that use the food item you’ve just purchased or ways to tie the scarf you’re considering buying or a video about the car pictured in an ad.

I’ll suggest some ways authors can use QR codes in a minute, but first I’ll explain how they work. (If you already know, just move on down to the numbered items.) The codes are two-dimensional, which means they can carry much more information than the one-dimensional bar code. QRs are designed to be used with smartphones by scanning the code with the phone’s camera. The phone’s software interprets the information and takes the user to a spot  on the Internet.

Android phones have built in QR code readers, but other smartphone users can download an app for their phones to read the codes. CBA Retailers + Resource Magazine in its November 2011 issue, indicated that 40% of all mobile phones in the U.S. are smartphones, and by 2015 more smartphones will be owned than other mobile phones. The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that the majority of  Americans research online items they’re considering purchasing. InsightExpress’s study reveals that 82% of shoppers already use their phones in some way before purchasing.

For all these reasons, it makes sense for authors to think about how they might use QR codes. Here are a few suggestions to get your creativity going:

1. On your business card. When you hand someone your business card, you could be handing them quick and efficient access to your website. You don’t need to put your web address on your card, which the user would have to type in (correctly, which is a challenge for some of us). Or you could send someone to your blog, if you want to show off your writing.

2. On your proposals. Picture a publishing committee meeting. There’s the conference room, the conference table, the decisionmakers–and lots of laptops. As the editor presents your project, everyone’s fingers are flying on keyboards. Your website is checked out; your presence on Twitter; what’s going on for you on Facebook; a quick trip to Amazon to check out your previous books and where they stand in the rankings.

Now picture this: You put a QR code on your proposal that takes the reader to your website; or you have a (short!) video of you speaking that shows off how adept you are in front of an audience or a video during you give your pitch for the project being considered. That way the committee gets to meet not only your project but also you.

3. To reach your readers. Ask your publisher to put a QR code in your book that leads the reader to a brief video of you introducing the book (and yourself). Or a QR code to an online readers’ discussion guide.

4. To sell other books. Add a QR code to a bookmark that contains all of your titles or all of the books in a series. Since reviews often help a reader to decide to buy a book, why not establish a page of reviews (or segments of reviews, to keep it short) on your website and create a code to take readers there.

The possibilities are almost limitless. And creating codes is easy. Just google “QR code,” and you’ll be taken to a variety of sites from which you can create the codes.

What ways can you think of  to use a QR code?

And, now, just for fun, here’s a QR code that takes you to a photo of our agency staff, including our newest addition, Rachelle Gardner.

P.S. For those of you used to the rhythms of our blog posts, you’ll expect to read more from me tomorrow and Friday. But we’re trying a new rhythm of three blogs from one writer followed by two blogs from another contributor.  So tomorrow and Friday you’ll meet up with Wendy Lawton here. We’re experimenting with this new arrangement for several weeks, and we’d love to hear what you think of the change as it rolls out. Plus we’ve added Rachelle Gardner to the writing schedule as well, starting on Feb. 13; so she’s a new voice on our blog that we know you’re gonna love.

Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Considering that January is about to exit our lives, I figure today is my last chance to let you know the word that Dictionary.com selected as depicting 2011: tergiversate.

Just in case that announcement didn’t seem especially enlightening to you, tergiversate (pronounced “ter-JIV-er-sate” means “to change repeatedly one’s attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.; to equivocate.”

Now do you get why the word was so appropriate for 2011? The stock market couldn’t make up its mind how it felt about the world’s events; so the market looked like a kid on a trampoline–way up, way down, way up…And then we had Occupy Wall Street (and several other “Occupies”). Not only couldn’t the public decide how it felt about Occupy, but also the movement couldn’t decide why it existed or even what to occupy. In my hometown, Occupy moved from the plaza where the city government buildings were located to banks to the mall to the local junior college. And then there’s publishing…

eReaders continued to wreak havoc on the industry as it had been known for hundreds of years, and social media added so many ways to connect with each other that just keeping up with options was exhausting.

Yup, we saw  plenty of tergiversation.  But here’s the thing: tergiversate encompasses a sense of flip-flopping combined with intentionality. Changes are afoot not by happenstance but by necessity. And the word originates from Latin for “to turn one’s back.”

What does that mean for us in publishing? The importance of embracing change, not just enduring it.

The sea change we’re experiencing isn’t going to abate in 2012. We need to be adaptive, to turn our back on what formerly was. That means, what was new in 2011 can seem outdated by the end of 2012.

One of the goals I’ve set for our agency is to find–or develop–three new revenue streams for our clients. As publishing pays smaller advances and remains convinced that 25% is an adequate royalty rate for e-publishing, authors are feeling the pinch. I believe our agency’s job is to tergiversate our view of publishing and the ways writers can make a living. The ideas we decide on in 2012 might remain relevant for only a year or so, but this isn’t a moment to worry about how long an idea with float but if it will float now.

What tergiversating events occurred in 2011 that I didn’t mention? What do you need to tergiversate in 2012?

Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Pretty much everyone just wants to be liked, right? Why, we’ve all taken to heart one sentence from Sally Fields’ earnest Academy-Award acceptance speech: “You like me, you really like me.”

But authors seem especially prone to need to know that they’re not only liked but also respected by the publishing industry. Which points to one of the reasons authors forgo the option of self-publishing. They want to be able to say, “My publisher likes me, really likes me.”

But I was reminded of how compelling that need is when I read a recent Wall Street Journal article about Darcie Chan, who crafted a hit, self-published novel. The Mill River Recluse is her debut novel and has sold more than 400,000 copies–in seven months. According to the WSJ article, she’s receiving offers from foreign imprints, movie studios and audio-book publishers–without having  sold a single physical copy of her book. And that’s the big rub for Chan.

Ms. Chan craves for one event to occur in her writing career that so far has eluded her: She wants a traditional publisher to produce a book–a physical book–Chan has written. Despite six film studios inquiring about movie rights and two foreign publishers bidding on the book, Chan “is holding off on such deals, for fear they might sabotage a potential contract with a domestic publisher,” according to WSJ.

“I have people writing me begging me for a hard copy,” she says, “book clubs and libraries calling me, and I don’t have a hard copy to provide for them.”

Chan is working on her second novel and hopes a traditional publisher will phone one day to say, “We like you, we really like you.”

As I read about Chan, I experienced a raft of responses. Here’s a short list:

• Obviously, this intense longing for a publisher to produce a physical book isn’t just about having a hard copy. It’s much more about Chan’s desire to have the traditional publishing experience. She wants a professional editor to work with her on her book and for her book to be available in bookstores and libraries. Yes, she could create a physical book, but it wouldn’t be the same, would it?
• Chan recognizes that a traditional publisher brings to bear certain elements the author can’t provide: Distribution to retail venues, placement in libraries, a marketing plan, an editorial eye, and a team of publishing professionals all focused on how to make her book a success.
• The desire for “legitimacy” can blind a person to the shortcomings of going the traditional route. I’m sure several traditionally-published authors reading this blog post are groaning over how much they wish they could say their book had sold 400,000 copies.
• Other self-published authors are gloating over how much money they’re making and how many fans they have. They feel plenty affirmed by their readers.
• But, really, Darcie Chan is like all of us, including me–she has a set idea of how to know if she’s really liked–and she hasn’t experienced that yet.

What’s your response to Chan’s saga?

Now, here’s the hard part, thinking about how this applies to you.

• What is the most affirming event that could occur for you, as a writer? To win a certain award (aka Sally Fields)? To sell a certain number of copies of your book? To get a multi-book contract? To hit a best-seller list (would any list do, or would it have to a specific list)?
• What might you sacrifice to achieve your goal? Might you, like Chan, put film options and audio versions on hold so as not to hurt your chances of making your goal? (Be honest!)
• How do you handle the disappointments this heartbreaking industry has handed you?
• How do you keep belief in your abilities going strong?

Location: Books & Such Midwest Office, Illinois

A killer title for your book can make the difference between an editor taking a serious look at your proposal or not at all. It’s the all-important first impression. If your title can capture agent and editor attention, the perception is that the first pages of your manuscript might deliver on the title’s promise. Here are a few suggestions to help you zero in on a great title.

• Promise Something (for nonfiction projects)
  
  • One Month to Live: 30 Days to a No-Regrets Life
  • One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
• Intriguing One or Two Words
  • Moneyball (about how the Oakland Athletics built a successful team with one of the smallest payrolls in baseball). Michael Lewis brilliantly combined the subject of the book (the Oakland Athletics) with the specific topic (building a lucrative team from minimal resources) using a familiar game idea for the title.
  • Blink (how instincts work in your mind) – Malcolm Gladwell found a perfect word that describes how instantaneously our gut-level hunches come to mind and the importance of paying attention to them.
• A Potent Phrase or Place
  • The Devil in the White City (how an architect and a serial killer were linked by the World’s Fair of 1893). A powerful descriptor of the psychopath in contrast to Chicago, the city filled with new hope, employment, and preparations for the World’s Fair.
• Adapt a Familiar Phrase or Scripture
  • In the Still of the Night (about the strange death of Ronda Reynolds and her mother’s tireless search for the truth). True-crime author Ann Rule paints the picture of what really happened on the night Ronda Reynolds supposedly committed suicide.
  • Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God. Mark Batterson used a familiar phrase, “wild goose chase” that also has another meaning. Wild Goose is his name for the Holy Spirit, and the name hints at mystery…and adventure. Perfect.
• Incongruous Words or Phrases
  • Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. Francis Chan contrasted the “crazy” thought that the God of the universe loves us with a relentless love in a powerful, two-word title.
  • In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. How we think we’ve been in the wrong places at the wrong times might actually have been the right places at the right times according to God’s positioning. Mark Batterson thought of a great word picture to describe this contrast.
•  A Key Phrase from within the Story
  • Pearl in the Sand (the fictional story of Rahab). The phrase doesn’t appear until the last part of the story. But in so doing, the reader not only finally understands where the title came from but also gains deeper meaning into the imagery of finding a beautiful pearl in commonplace sandy surroundings.

In what ways do these tips and examples prompt ideas for your WIP? What additional tips can you offer that have been successful for you in coming up with killer titles? Or tell us what titles you’ve seen that you consider stellar.

Location: Books & Such Midwest Office, Illinois

As we concentrate on positive outlooks, this week, let’s tackle our persistence barometer. Some people just seem to have a sunny disposition no matter what life throws at them. For the rest of us, especially those with a melancholy temperament, it can require a lot of effort. We have the assurance: Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). But acting on it takes persistence.

You can employ some practical exercises to help check yourself when you encounter discouragement over a rejection letter or your book’s low sales numbers. First, appropriate the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared.

• You have been waiting . . . forever . . . for a reply from an agent or editor. Being ready with a little self-talk to recall all the positive evaluations from your critique partners might be enough to balance negative news and counter the impending gloom.

• Be prepared to have a positive perspective. Don’t assume the only reason you haven’t received a response from an agent or editor is because your proposal was quickly dismissed. It could be that she is giving it a thorough review with the intent of offering constructive feedback. There are a number of those proposals on my desk right now.

It is realistic to expect you’ll have disappointments. In her book Bird by Bird, veteran author Anne Lamott describes an experience with her editor, who rejected one of Anne’s manuscripts three times. But Anne persisted in taking his feedback and returning to him with revisions until he finally accepted it.

If you receive a rejection from an editor without any comments, it is okay to request feedback. I know some editors don’t initially offer their reaction because they feel their opinion is subjective and another editor might love your manuscript. And editors can’t give feedback on every rejected project; they’d never accomplish everything else on their massive to-do lists; so graciously accept an “I can’t” response.

If you do receive feedback, look at it as constructive criticism not as a critical review. It is also possible that the rejection has nothing to do with the quality of your work, but only that the publishing house already had contracted a book similar to yours.

A persistent faith plus persistent improving of your craft will yield a positive outlook that your dreams of being a successful author will become reality. I have a Post-It note on my computer monitor that’s a definition of dreams Cynthia Herron wrote in a comment to a recent blog: “Dreams (are) something beyond the scope of the tangible but completely possible with the One who moves mountains.”

What do you do to stay positive about your writing and your publishing dreams?

Location: Books & Such Midwest Office, Illinois

If you are in a well-functioning critique group, you are blessed indeed. You know what an asset your group is to growth in your writing craft, and you witness increasing results in your work. In fact, you may be thinking you couldn’t do this thing called writing without your partners. Today, let’s talk about the characteristics that create the perfect climate for a well-functioning group. Much of what is said about teams in the business realm can be applied to critique groups as well. In their book The Wisdom of Teams (HarperBusiness 2003), co-authors Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith list five qualities that distinguish a high performance team from ordinary teams. High performing teams have:

• a deeper sense of purpose
• relatively more ambitious performance goals compared to the average teams
• better work approaches or complete approaches
• mutual accountability; acknowledgment of their joint accountability toward a common purpose in addition to individual obligations to their specific roles
• complementary skill set and, at times, interchangeable skills

Let’s apply this information to critique groups. Would you say everyone in your group is at the same level of purpose? Have you set goals as a group, and is everyone on board with these goals? Are all members of your group equally accountable to each other, respond to each other in a timely manner, and genuinely care for each one’s best work? Are there complementary skills represented in your group?

If you aren’t in a critique group, I want to encourage you to search for one that is right for you. You will benefit in having multiple sets of eyes to catch problems you didn’t notice. And what you invest in time evaluating other members’ WIPs, you save in the cost of hiring a professional editor. Not to mention that critiquing other people’s work is instructive to you and informs what you’re writing. You’ll gain networking potential and build strong friendships within this tough industry. You might have to try out several groups until you find the one for you. Look for personality compatibility: Do you feel comfortable with most or all in the group? Do the members of the group possess a variety of skills and, in particular, those you need help with? What skills are missing in the group that you can provide?

Other qualities I consider essential to a successful writers group are:

• Group members must to be sincere believers in each other. In other words, there must be a high level of respect for each other, whether you are a published author or a first-time writer.
• Because rejections and lack of responses from editors and yes, agents too, are realities of the business, discouragement always lurks around the corner. You need to sense your group is a safe, affirming source of support.
• When these characteristics are functioning well, an atmosphere of trust is built. Trust is a beautiful thing. It undergirds the well-functioning group and creates the perfect climate to grow in your craft.

Are you in a critique group? Did you have to try more than one to find the right one for you? How did you know it was right for you?

Location: Books & Such Midwest Office, Illinois

In a productive brainstorming meeting with a client about two weeks ago, three necessary parts of a writer’s whole proposal “package” came into clear view. They are not new concepts; they are basics. But the combination of the three results in a winning idea. See if they also are helpful to you in terms of adjusting your WIP and in developing future book ideas.

LOOK. This client is working on a new nonfiction series and gave me the outline for book one. Her passion for Christ’s church is authentic and deep, and she is accomplished in her writing craft. Those are necessary ingredients for a compelling book, but as we all know, those two alone don’t guarantee a publisher will offer a contract.

As Amy researched in preparation for this series, she looked for several niche topics in the area of spiritual formation that are common stumbling blocks for everyone but to which few books have been devoted. She looked to fill a gap and meet a need. This is a great strategy for giving your book a unique edge. Passion + great writing + unique approach = marketability. Marketability is the scale on which all manuscripts are weighed.

EXPECT. If you have prayed for direction, apply Proverbs 3: 4-5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.” Expect God to answer your request according to his will. Listen and watch. Don’t be surprised when you set goals for the year or review your day’s writing and think, where did that come from? He’ll keep his promise to direct your path.

ACT. As we dive into our work this year, we need to humbly acknowledge afresh that our gifts and abilities are from God for his purpose. Next, we must commit to take action steps—risks—to follow his direction. Spend a few minutes, or hours, to reflect on your calling in those terms, and let God energize your passion.

Don’t you love it when the cloud over your work dissipates and the sky begins to clear? Share a time when words, scenes, entire chapters, or a book idea were, all of a sudden, right there in front of you.

Location: Just back from Agency Summit in Wine Country

No, the title of this blog isn’t about the software program. I’m referring to my view of 2012. At the beginning of each new year we’re used to feeling encouraged at the thought of a fresh new start. This year, take it up a notch for me.

Exhilarate: 1. to enliven; invigorate; stimulate. 2. to make cheerful or merry. This is the atmosphere that permeated our Agency Summit last week, and I hope to pass it on to you. What am I so exhilarated about?

With the wonderful addition of Rachelle Gardner to our agency, we now have offices in three areas of the country. Our summit provided time for a live gathering as a team, and gel we did! We set agency goals for the year and sought God’s direction to dream big for our clients. We came away aligned in our vision. I encourage you to spend time with your writing and critique groups, Bible study groups, or even with your spouse and children, to focus on this exercise as well. More on this topic on Wednesday.

Exhilarate!

We’re all familiar with, what shall we call them . . . hindrances? road blocks? . . . facing writers. The exciting news is that viable, creative possibilities for overcoming obstacles are arising from many directions. Let’s celebrate and thank God for endowing those with the entrepreneurial spirit. They are creating new vehicles to navigate new paths. You’ll be hearing more in the days ahead.

Exhilarate!

New technologies are making it easy to connect with each other and stay on top of industry news. Our agents will be utilizing some of these technologies this year. We realize it’s imperative to keep up with these advances and exploit them to best serve our clients. I’m sure this will be the modus operandi until the Lord returns. I can hear some of you shouting, Of course, bring it on! while others are mumbling, I just learned this one, and already there is something new to replace it. Ugh! Confession time: I used to be one of those but no more. I’m…

Exhilarated!

… and I hope you are too. What do you see around you that motivates you to have a sunny outlook on your writing career in 2012? What goals have you set for yourself this year? Or haven’t you gone through this exercise yet? A goal is a marker in front of you. It will help you decide if a choice you are contemplating will help close the distance to your goal or could steer you off-course.