Here's the cover of book #2 in my Sassy Devils series with Ellora's Cave:
Is that not the sexiest thing you've ever seen?!? (The release date has yet to be determined--I haven't even started on edits yet.) But, wow. The artist--Philip Fuller--did a wonderful job!
On Thursday last week I briefly discussed the situation when a prospective agent requests you to do a revision. Let's back it up a bit today and talk about why you need an agent.
Simply, agents can target the editors who are best suited to publish your work and who are, therefore, less likely to reject it. If the agent has a good working relationship with these editors (which, let's face it, they do or they wouldn't be in business for very long), the editors will trust the agent's opinion about the book they're trying to sell, and will in most cases be willing to read the manuscript within a matter of weeks. (Versus being stuck in the slush pile for months and months and months.)
An agent will navigate the contract waters for you, taking on what could be a somewhat adversarial process and free you up to focus on the creative end of things. (Of course, I'm not saying that you shouldn't read that contract word for word--and make sure you understand every last option clause. But your agent can get the kinks worked out so that you don't have to worry about much of the process.) Plus for the agent it's a much less emotional thing, and editors prefer working with someone who's going to be calm in this process.
Even if you've met an editor at a writers' conference and that editor requested your manuscript, you still need to get an agent. By all means, submit the manuscript to the editor, and then use that request as leverage to get an agent on board.
Do your homework, though. Don't just grab a list of editors and start down the list alphabetically. Find out which specific editors handle the type of stuff you write, make sure they (and their agency) are reputable. If an agent wants to charge you anything up front, run. Run as fast as you can. They only thing they should "charge" is the standard 15% on what you make. Nothing should be asked for up front. If a prospective agent asks for a reading fee, or an editing fee, or any kind of fee... Well, like I said. Run.
Check out this commercial. Funny stuff!
One of my critique partners, SC, started working with an agent several months ago, and before this agent actually agreed to take SC on as a client, she asked her for rather extensive revisions to her book. This agent was one that SC really wanted to work with, and the areas in the book she was asked to revised weren't out of line, so she agreed. Even as she said to us that the agent had recently blogged about how she *never* took on clients after she'd asked them to revise a book. But SC knew the revisions would make her book stronger, so she did as requested.
And was promptly picked up by the agent.
Agent Nathan Bransford blogged a week ago or so about agenting and revisions, and he had this to say (in part. You can read the entire blog about "Exclusives and Literary Agents" here.):
Revisions: I don't generally ask for exclusives at the partial or even full manuscript request phase. But there is one situation when I often will. And that's during a revision.
It's very time consuming for an agent to read partials and fulls, although I see it as going with the territory. But a revision with a prospective client takes time-consuming to a whole new level. It means a serious commitment on the part of the agent without a sure prospect of success, it means committing to reading a manuscript multiple times, taking notes, thinking about the manuscript during most waking hours, and for me it means writing 10-20 page e-mails full of suggestions on each draft.
I don't know if there would be anything more gut-wrenching than to embark on a time-consuming revision to improve the manuscript only to have an author take that improved manuscript to a different agent who gets to benefit from my hours of hard work. Quel horreur! The mere thought of this happening gives me dry heaves.
Fortunately this hasn't actually happened to me, but just to make sure we're all clear what a full manuscript revision means, I often ask for an exclusive before embarking on a revision, and I think this is fair. When the author is done, if either of us aren't happy with the manuscript or how we've worked together in the process then we're still free to go our separate ways, but while we're working on that revision we're going steady, pinning each other, and any other serious dating metaphor you can find. If we are happy with the manuscript at the end, then it's time to move on to formal representation and submissions.
So, my point is, if you've been lucky (and talented) enough to garner the attention of an agent, listen to him/her. Don't do something that will, in your opinion, ruin the book. But do try to take an objective look at it and, if it's something that really should be done, then do it.
An agent wouldn't make the suggestion just to make the suggestion. They have better things to do with their time.
In recent days there has been another example of an author behaving badly, which I'm not going to go into on my blog here. All I want to say about author behavior is...
Be professional. All the time. But especially in public forums. Ever heard of the word "cache"? It means that what you put out in cyberspace stays there forever...
Along these lines, here are my tips for the day:
Be emotional about your work, but not about the business. Because it *is* a business. Emotion in a book is necessary; whining to your editor is not. (Whining to readers is even worse. First, because they can't do a damn thing about it and, second, it's not their problem. Don't try to make it so.)
Build relationships. Send cards (or emails) and say thank you to the people who help you. Even reviewers who don't "get" your book should receive a "thank you for your time" note from you.
Treat your writing like a professional. Don't pull the kind of crap that would get you fired from an employer who gives you a weekly/biweekly paycheck--which means, meet your deadlines, accept constructive criticism, and do what you can to make your boss (i.e., your editor) look good.
Treat your readers with respect--even the snarky ones. Be accessible. Be polite. And, even though I'll sound like a broken record, be professional.
