Here’s something I’ve been sorely neglecting—I’ve had plenty of people email me asking, and Robert’s even asked me, and I’ve just never had the time. But since I’m sitting on a bus right now, looking out the beautiful New York skyline, I figure now is a really great time. Plus, I have great coffee, and that makes me feel happy.
It’s a What I’m Looking For Post! (Tada!)—the YA edition
I’m sure it’s hard to know what kind of things will strike my interest since you don’t know me. And I certainly can’t give you a good picture of who I am with a few blog posts, or a Twitter account, or even a phone conversation or meeting. One of the reasons I’ve been avoiding this is because my likes are so diverse. I can tell you that I’m interested in people I can relate to on some level, but that really isn’t telling you anything. I love clever writers who can make me laugh with their wit but I also love really emotional descriptions. I love hearing about places I’ve never been and things I’ve never done but also different takes on people just like me…ugh, maybe I’ll just start with what I DON’T like.
I DON’T like people writing for a trend. Please don’t query me with: here is the newest vampire/werewolf/orphan who just realized they have powers super-mega-seller! I’m sorry if you’ve been really interested in the paranormal your whole life and this novel has been bursting out of you for years and the trend just hit at the wrong time, but as soon as the market gets flooded with these things, they stop becoming special and unique. And what I love more than anything is the truly unique. Hint Hint: If you write me a query and tell me how your story is unique, it might help your cause.
The best queries have me at the moment they tell me what’s different about their story than everyone else’s in the world. Even if I think the story sounds okay, I have to ask the querier, “so what? Aren’t there 1001 books like this already out there?” So tell me where the twist is—I love me them twists. What’s different about your character, about your plot? I’m also a huge literature dork, so if you reference Dante’s Inferno or Shakespeare I’ll probably melt into a little puddle. But I can’t promise you’ll get an offer.
I also DON'T like religious books. Excuse my 80's lingo, but it's a little too heavy for me. If the Devil is going down to Georgia and looking for a soul to steal in your novel, however, I may find this intriguing. Just no preaching.
What I would love to find: something timeless. Good books are nice, but great books are around forever and enjoyed over and over. Those are the ones I buy instead of going to the library to borrow. I would love to represent something that I could see my children enjoying as much as I do.
An example of a YA that has touched my heart—Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (if you haven’t read it, go read it right now before I ruin it for you). The reasons I love it are many-fold and all things that I would love to see again.
First: A classic story re-worked with the author’s own twists that make it extremely personal—whoever heard of Cinderella under a curse? I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize it was Cinderella until the very end (be nice, I was 10).
Second: A journey. Yes, all stories have a journey, and no, I don’t mean a (necessarily) physical one. I want to see someone who is different at the end of the story than they were at the beginning. And don’t tell me—show me.
Third: A voice. If you don’t have this, then you don’t have a story. I want to close my eyes and hear the character reading their book aloud to me. It’s all about the little choices. This goes hand in hand with character development—you should know everything there is to know about this person, like they’re your alternate personality, and then their voice will just flow.
Fourth: Love. Face it, your YA has to have some sort of romance, even if it’s on the back burner. Sure, it can be a little steamy, but it should have a buildup, and actually give me butterflies. Don’t rush through the good stuff! I want to fall for Prince Charming, too. But don’t make the mistake of thinking a little love story is enough—there had better be some meat to it.
Fifth: Make your characters round. I love characters that love something, even if it’s not something I normally care about. But the important thing is that they make me love it with them. That they convey their passion for it. Plenty of authors can write this character well. But too many forget that the character has to be a full person, not just a caricature of one. No person is defined by one activity or relationship or event. What else is there about them that makes them who they are? I may not be a hockey star but I can relate to the goalie’s need to support his teammates—I was in the marching band, you know. And I may think that Mathletes is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, but if you tell me the girl is there because it’s the only place that’s all boys who don’t judge her for her body, I’ll get that. This is where you’ll find the voice and, for me at least, this is what I’m looking at—who are your characters and what do they have to say? Because interesting people will get into interesting situations—they just can’t help themselves.
When I’m reading, there also has to be some drive, what I call “the urge” to get to the end, the race to the last page because you HAVE to know what happens. So send me something with a storyline that keeps moving, please!
Subject matter? I’ll leave it up to you, you’re the writer! Surprise me!
Showing posts with label client. Show all posts
Showing posts with label client. Show all posts
December 11, 2009
December 8, 2009
My First Client
This week I’ve started a new stage in something I’ve been working on since I started at Astle & Associates—I finally began calling editors and submitting the work of my very own client for consideration. While this isn’t the first time I’ve called editors about a project, it’s the one that’s been closest to my heart and certainly the only one I’ve picked out from the slush and followed from start to finish, wherever 'finish' ends up being.
Robert has been really great about helping me learn by doing, which is something that you just never get at school. While Robert’s offered me essential guidance for this project and the client officially signed with him as the agent, I’ve been the one doing all the agent-ing. There hasn’t been anyone looking over my shoulder.
Finding the project was exhilarating—I knew it was special from the first time I read it. It just wasn’t like the others I was reading—I couldn’t put it down. The decision to sign them was all mine and I jumped on it. I had no idea what it was going to entail but it wouldn’t have made any difference. I love this whole process and I love being a part of it.
The author and I have gone through draft after draft of edits together—I’ve started to think of us like a team. Now it’s time I pulled my weight. When the author worries that no one will like the book, I do my best to reassure them: I promise, I know what I’m talking about and I like it. And the agency wouldn’t have signed you if we didn’t think you were worth the effort.
It’s a tough balance between giving helpful criticism and destroying a writer’s confidence, but I’m trying to be both a sympathetic support as well as an editorial sounding board. I know I can’t be everything at all times, but I think it’s important to tell the author that every criticism I give is because I think their work is great, that it can get even better than it is already. That all this effort is going to pay off.
But it would really help if I had someone telling ME that everything was going to be great and that they were sure that someone wanted to buy this book. I just keep thinking: but what if NONE of this pays off? What if I’ve made the author go through all these changes, rip their story apart at the seams and restructure it so many times that they don’t even recognize it, and no one wants it? Will it be my fault if they don’t want it because I suggested bad changes? Or theirs, because the story wasn’t good enough? I think the hardest part is that since I need to be strong for the author, I don’t have anyone to be strong for me! I don’t think of it as much about the money, probably because this isn’t my livelihood yet. I just couldn’t stand putting an author through all this just to have nothing come of it.
My biggest fear was really that today, when I started calling editors, NO ONE would let me send it to them. I know it doesn’t make sense—it doesn’t work that way. Of course there would be at least someone who would give it a read. But this is how my mind works. And I felt so much better when every single editor I got on the phone today agreed to read it. And, they were all very nice! I always feel terrible when calling, since so many editors complain on twitter about being bothered by phone calls from agents. (If there’s a better way, let me know and I’ll use it!)
Now it’s time for me to be an agent. As much as it’s unofficial, I’m BEING an agent to this author, so there’s really no difference. For this manuscript, I get to be Rayna the Agent. Not play, but actually Be.
The author has done a great job. Now it’s my turn. Did I pick the right editors? At the right publishing houses? Can I pitch the right angles? I guess, the overall question is: CAN I DO IT? And the answer is a wholehearted yes—I know I can. But it’s still nice to hear it once it a while, and while I can certainly tell the author that they can do it, I can’t ask them to say it back. I guess this is a little piece of how authors feel the whole time they’re writing: am I doing it right? Is anyone going to like this?
Every time I pick up the phone and talk to an editor about it, I get a rush. I’m terrified but I’m also excited. I want to make this author’s dream come true, because now their dream has become my dream and I feel incredibly lucky. I guess I’m about as insecure as any person who’s new in their field, but I’m also confident that I was made to be around books and I’m ready to have my chance to prove it. I can’t wait to get this book published!
Robert has been really great about helping me learn by doing, which is something that you just never get at school. While Robert’s offered me essential guidance for this project and the client officially signed with him as the agent, I’ve been the one doing all the agent-ing. There hasn’t been anyone looking over my shoulder.
Finding the project was exhilarating—I knew it was special from the first time I read it. It just wasn’t like the others I was reading—I couldn’t put it down. The decision to sign them was all mine and I jumped on it. I had no idea what it was going to entail but it wouldn’t have made any difference. I love this whole process and I love being a part of it.
The author and I have gone through draft after draft of edits together—I’ve started to think of us like a team. Now it’s time I pulled my weight. When the author worries that no one will like the book, I do my best to reassure them: I promise, I know what I’m talking about and I like it. And the agency wouldn’t have signed you if we didn’t think you were worth the effort.
It’s a tough balance between giving helpful criticism and destroying a writer’s confidence, but I’m trying to be both a sympathetic support as well as an editorial sounding board. I know I can’t be everything at all times, but I think it’s important to tell the author that every criticism I give is because I think their work is great, that it can get even better than it is already. That all this effort is going to pay off.
But it would really help if I had someone telling ME that everything was going to be great and that they were sure that someone wanted to buy this book. I just keep thinking: but what if NONE of this pays off? What if I’ve made the author go through all these changes, rip their story apart at the seams and restructure it so many times that they don’t even recognize it, and no one wants it? Will it be my fault if they don’t want it because I suggested bad changes? Or theirs, because the story wasn’t good enough? I think the hardest part is that since I need to be strong for the author, I don’t have anyone to be strong for me! I don’t think of it as much about the money, probably because this isn’t my livelihood yet. I just couldn’t stand putting an author through all this just to have nothing come of it.
My biggest fear was really that today, when I started calling editors, NO ONE would let me send it to them. I know it doesn’t make sense—it doesn’t work that way. Of course there would be at least someone who would give it a read. But this is how my mind works. And I felt so much better when every single editor I got on the phone today agreed to read it. And, they were all very nice! I always feel terrible when calling, since so many editors complain on twitter about being bothered by phone calls from agents. (If there’s a better way, let me know and I’ll use it!)
Now it’s time for me to be an agent. As much as it’s unofficial, I’m BEING an agent to this author, so there’s really no difference. For this manuscript, I get to be Rayna the Agent. Not play, but actually Be.
The author has done a great job. Now it’s my turn. Did I pick the right editors? At the right publishing houses? Can I pitch the right angles? I guess, the overall question is: CAN I DO IT? And the answer is a wholehearted yes—I know I can. But it’s still nice to hear it once it a while, and while I can certainly tell the author that they can do it, I can’t ask them to say it back. I guess this is a little piece of how authors feel the whole time they’re writing: am I doing it right? Is anyone going to like this?
Every time I pick up the phone and talk to an editor about it, I get a rush. I’m terrified but I’m also excited. I want to make this author’s dream come true, because now their dream has become my dream and I feel incredibly lucky. I guess I’m about as insecure as any person who’s new in their field, but I’m also confident that I was made to be around books and I’m ready to have my chance to prove it. I can’t wait to get this book published!
December 3, 2009
Bonus Post: Author Event Tonight!
Very exciting--my first author event with Robert Asle & Associates! If you're in NYC, come by, meet me and hear my author read!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author and film maker, Deidre O'Connell will be reading and signing books at Hue-man Bookstore in Harlem:
6:00PM, December 3rd, 2009
Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe
www.huemanbookstore.com
2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard
New York, NY 10027-3612
(212) 665-7400
Subway: 2/3 train to 125th street
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author and film maker, Deidre O'Connell will be reading and signing books at Hue-man Bookstore in Harlem:
6:00PM, December 3rd, 2009
Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe
www.huemanbookstore.com
2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard
New York, NY 10027-3612
(212) 665-7400
Subway: 2/3 train to 125th street
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