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Welcome, Nadia. Thanks for joining us here for an interview today. Can you tell us a little about yourself? NC- I think I tend to be a little different when it comes to agenting - I'm very much into the gestalt of the industry and so my focus tends to be a bit wider than that of my contemporaries. I've always been in love with business (both my parents and my grandparents were entrepreneurs and the majority of my Sunday mornings were spent listening to my parents hashing over business concepts and budgets - I never quite lost my nostalgia for that). I tend to apply business concepts that I glean from different industries to agenting: marketing books - look to the music and entertainment industries; general business model - look to the advertising/pr firms; etc. So, while I do spend the majority of my time working, my "fun time" is often spent discussing business ideas with friends in and outside of the industry and learning new things. That means that I like working with people who I feel have similar ideas about their careers: they are ambitious (openly so). AF - How long have you been agenting? NC -I started as intern with CMA in the summer of 2004, so in September I will have been agenting for three years, two of which will have been at Firebrand Literary. AF - What are your feelings about the children's book market right now? NC - Oh…definitely warm and tingly. I think that several things are working in favor of the burgeoning YA/Middle grade market right now: the first "blockbuster" children's book (Harry Potter); the class of 2008 is supposedly competitive (in size) with the graduating classes of the baby boomer market; the number of authors that are switching from writing adult to writing for children (and the number of been-there-all-alongs that are finally being read). All this means that there is the interest, the audience and the talent. A triple threat for the industry - the market is booming. What we have to be careful of is when one of these three things starts to slack off. When any of the three disappears, so does the market. So it's our job to keep great books on the shelves, keep the audience interested and the talent crafting. AF- Do you feel a children's lit writer absolutely needs an agent (this is kind of a loaded questions isn't it)? If so, why? NC - Yes. No. Yes. I once tried to explain to my brother what a literary agent does. It went something like this: Him: So you edit books? Me: Only if I have to. Him: You publish them? Me: Um, no. We're like brokers - we just take the author's books and sell them to publishers. Him: Oh, so authors can't be published unless they have an agent? Me: Um, no. They can. Him: ::long pause:: So, you're scamming authors, huh? Me: GAH! Ok - You don't Need an agent to get published, so what are giving up to have one and what do you get for it? Ok, so you are giving up 15% - 20% of your deals (including foreign/film right deals). So, if you sold a book for ten thousand dollars you've just kissed $1,500 of it goodbye, not to mention 15% of all the earnings of that book forever more. What do you get for that investment? Let's see: you get someone who is going to negotiate your contract in a manner that maximizes the earning power of your book; you have someone to act as your advocate to the entire publishing community; you have someone with experience and contacts in foreign/film; you have someone to negotiate for you - who knows the value of your project and the value that the publishing community will place on it (and how to leverage the two against one another); you have someone in your corner - like a boxing coach - to fix you up between bouts, make sure you're continually motivated and reading to knock out some great books; you also have someone to give you feedback, support and answer questions in a way that your family, friends and family lawyer (no matter how much they love and adore you) won't be able to do. But like everything else in publishing, the entire worth is based on what you're willing to pay for it: so - if this feels like its worth paying 15% of your book for, then yeah, go for it. If not, hire a publishing lawyer to negotiate your contract and the boiler for you - you'll pay a nice chunk of change for the honor, but only once - and it's definitely worth it. AF - What kind of questions should a writer ask a prospective agent before they sign with them? NC - How they work. How they like to interact with their clients. What type of projects they like, if they are strictly children's agents: what happens if you write an adult project. What type of career planning they do. - basically any question you can't answer with some research (most answers are already waiting for you on the internet, and you should know most of the answers before you even query - you are doing your research, aren't you?). AF - Some agents have a full written contract, some a verbal one. What kind of contract do you have with your writers? NC- We have a written contract that closely imitates the SFWA boiler contract for agency/agent contracts. We've changed a few things: we charge back our clients for postage/copies/etc after a book sells (if it doesn't, we eat the cost); we have a 30-day out clause if one of us decides our relationship isn't working out and the rest just outlines the basic working relationship that we have with our clients. AF - Do you ask for edits from a prospective client before you sign them on? NC -Sometimes. I wish I could do this more, actually - but sometimes it kills me to get invested in a project, give notes, only to have the author say, "hm… I think I'm going in a different direction." And not use them (or worse, use them and not resubmit them to you!). It's a gamble and sometimes it feels worth it, sometimes not. AF - How about after they're signed? Do you offer editorial suggestions before you submit the manuscript to an editor? NC -I used to do line edits with my clients before sending it out - but no big editorial changes. I also looked at projects that needed a little more work than I do now, and funnily I do a lot more editorial work with my clients now before sending it out. That said, I'm not an editor and never professed to (want to) be one… so, all my edits are to make it saleable, not publishable. AF - What kind of manuscripts would you like to see more of? NC - Best-sellers. Haha… ahem… La. Ok, let's see: some more literary YA, more historicals (girl-centric), some contemporary, smart, quirky middle grade. AF - What kind of manuscripts do you get far too much of? NC - Fantasy. I'm very particular about what kind of fantasy I enjoy - but because I get so much of it and am not taking on that much - it really has to kick me in the head from the very first page. (How's that for a marketing hook?) AF - What makes a manuscript stand out to you? NC - I'll overlook a lot for a great story. I mean, I've read some fabulous books that are perfectly crafted but really boring stories - but a really perfect story, even if it isn't perfectly crafted will have such MEANING and resonance. I want those. I'm not sure how to identify it, but, as everyone will tell you: you read the first page and you KNOW. It just - erm… kicks you in the head. AF - Do you accept unsolicited submissions? NC - Sort of. We accept queries all the time through our web system. And then if we like the query, we ask for the full (also through our web system). So, none of these are unsolicited (accept the queries, and isn't that the very definition of the query?). AF - Do you have any advice for writers? NC - I hardly ever reject a project because I dislike the author. Don't take it personally. It's about a choice we make (as agents/editors/etc) that has nothing to do with YOU, and everything to do with US. There are a million reasons why I say no and only reason why I say yes… so you can imagine that it's going to be bad odds. But, because everyone has a different reason to say yes, it's a matter of finding the right person and the right time with the right "yes." And : It only takes one! |