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Agent Interview with Scott Treimel |
Welcome, Scott. Thanks for joining us in an interview today. First off can you tell us a little about yourself? ST - I was raised in a small beach bungalow in the San Diego and spent my childhood acting, surfing, playing tennis, and sunburned. I went to a non-traditional liberal arts college in the Ohio cornfields- I never took a test and I never got a grade. I was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, worked for a civil rights organization in the Mississippi Delta, spent a year in India, and worked at the college's prestigious literary quarterly. Upon being graduated, I moved to San Francisco and wrote theater reviews and feature articles for local newspapers and published humor pieces nationally. AF - How long have you been agenting? ST - In 1983 I came to New York and trained with pioneer children's agent Marilyn Marlow at Curtis Brown. Before opening Sİott Treimel NY in 1995, I worked for publishing houses (Scholastic and HarperCollins), a newspaper syndicate (United Features: think Peanuts and Garfield), a magazine (House and Garden when it was, glamorously, HG), and a movie studio (Warner Bros.) My agenting education including selling, of course, but also buying, creating, and packaging intellectual property for chidren. AF - What are your feelings about the children's book market right now? ST - Kind of gloomy. Consumers have become the gatekeepers of children's books, usurping the importance of librarians and teachers; so children's publishers now pander to booksellers the way adult publishers do. A book today is not given the chance, as in the old days, to do the best it can. Keen for the mega- hit, publishers will cut their loses on most titles quickly to funnel resources into very few. This throw-it-out-and-see-what-sticks strategy puts extreme pressure on each book. And for first-time authors. . . yikes! 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? ST - The way a foot needs a shoe. Here is only one reason: publishing houses these days share the same impersonal and aggressive culture of their corporate parents. Editors, once authors' in-house protectors, are themselves often treading water, beholden to marketing and sales executives, and often job hopping as a result. An author needs an advocate inside the industry, and that's an agent. Okay, one more reason: an agent keeps an author's relationship to his publishing house pure. We argue for money and contract extras; authors are distanced from potentially combative negotiations. AF - What kind of questions should a writer ask a prospective agent before they sign with them? ST - Agents are not licensed; anyone can hang up a shingle. The first question I would ask is, Do you belong to the AAR (Association of Authors Representatives), which, at a minimum, guarantees the agent has a track record and operates by a stringent canon of ethics. Also: 1) What is your commission, domestic, foreign, and film? 2) Do you charge fees? (STNY charges for copying, messengers, and book copies we use for selling subsidiary rights)? 3) Do you use sub-agents to sell film? Foreign rights? AF - Some agents have a full written contract, some a verbal one. What kind of contract do you have with your writers? ST - Our Agency clause, providing for our commission, is inserted to all agreements we negotiate. I avoid author-agents contracts because I figure life is too short to be stuck with someone you don't like. AF - Do you ask for edits from a prospective client before you sign them on? ST - Invariably. I would prefer not to have to, but editors want to see polished manuscripts. AF - What kind of manuscripts would you like to see more of? ST - Easy: imaginative and well-crafted manuscripts! I want contemporary young chapter, middle grade, and teen novels. (Historicals are tough to sell right now. However, if an author is compelled to write one: a story-NOT the same as an historic event- with plotting and multi-dimensional is as essential as it is for a non-historical novel. AF - What kind of manuscripts do you get far too much of? ST - Derivative! Countless fantasy copycats. My assistant and I laugh, saying, Where's the time portal this time? The refrigerator, the doghouse, the picnic basket? You are not asking what never to send but I seize this opportunity to say: no faires, rainbows, unicorns. Ever. AF - What makes a manuscript stand out to you? ST - Astringent writing, plotting, and a true child-like-or teenage-like point of view. AF - Do you accept unsolicited submissions? ST - Alma: I am attaching our submission policies. (posted below the interview) AF - Do you have any advice for writers? ST - Work on your craft! Study the language, not just the market. AF - Do you work with Canadian authors and publishers? ST - I work with several Canadians authors and both big (Harper, Scholastic, Penguin) and medium/small (Tundra, Red Deer) Canadian houses. Canadians are often surprised that the U.S. market is more competitive. But it is. Submission Policies Sİott Treimel NY 434 Lafayette St. New York, NY, 10003 Sİott Treimel NY sells and administers intellectual property rights-- print, electronic, foreign, dramatic, film, composition, broadcast, merchandise, promotion-- for children's book creators. On average, 3,000 unsolicited submissions arrive yearly, necessitating our strict adherence to these policies. Submissions are to be sent via post. Text submissions must be in standard manuscript form: double spaced type in a standard size font. No multiple submissions or queries are considered. Our period of exclusivity is 90 days from our receipt. Submissions received without an s.a.s.e. are recycled upon receipt. The post office does NOT accept metered postage. Complete picture book texts may be submitted, but no more than two. Picture book dummies and/or thumbnail storyboards may be submitted only if the author is also the illustrator. A manuscript must be included separately as well. Complete chapter books of 60 or fewer pages may be submitted. Queries are required for manuscripts of 60 or more pages: include a story synopsis with attention to character development and two sample chapters. No film scripts are considered. Do not telephone before submitting work. No toy projects are considered. Founded 1995 Associate of Authors Representatives The Authors Guild Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators P.S. The U.S. post-office will not accept foreign postage. Canadians should buy U.S. stamps for our response to their submissions. |