Category: Market Prep

Posted in Market Prep, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Market Research Resources – Agents

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Don’t know where to start? What about that book you read? You thought it was similar to what you write, so check the acknowledgements page. Some authors thank their agent in the book. If an agent liked their work, they might like yours. Next step, further research on the agent.
Of course, you will to go to the agency’s website, right? Check out client lists, if available. Take note of submission policies. And read the agent’s and/or agency’s blog. But don’t submit yet. You’ll be continuing your research into this agent.

Agent Query is a searchable database of literary agents. But it is also much more. It has info on large and small publishing houses, literary magazines, plus articles such as “When Agents Offer Representation…” or “How to Write a Query.” In addition, it has links to many other sites, including some mentioned below.

When checking out an agent, definitely go to Publisher’s Marketplace. One cool feature is the site lists who has recently updated their page. Click on browse members, where you can look up a specific name or merely see who is listed. But once you’re on an agent’s page, you can often see what projects they’ve recently sold and/or best known projects.

Now that you’ve done some research, you may know who an agent’s clients are, so read some books that agent represented. It’ll help you learn whether the agent could be interested in what you write.
Know an author agented by this agency? Ask her questions. You may want to find out whether the author has had other agents previously. He may not want to say who he left, but he probably is willing to discuss problems.

Here are two good articles on Harold Underdown’s site regarding agents:
• Children’s Book Agents and Artist’s Representatives: a Guide
(do I need an agent, what do agents do) has good content, but remember it is a dated article as one of the examples is of The Firebrand which has closed.
http://www.underdown.org/agents.htm
• Finding and Choosing Literary Agents
http://www.underdown.org/researching-agents.htm

A lot of working checking into an agent? Yes, but your submissions will be much better targeted than many an agent receives.

*I know there are many other people blogging about agents. If you’d like to list any, feel free to comment here.

Posted in Market Prep, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Writing a Novel? Where Does It Fit?

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

A few years back another writer and I did a novel writing retreat. These questions are ones I developed for attendees to consider about their novels. Perhaps the updated version will be helpful for you, too.
Where will your novel be shelved after it has been published? Not just shelf, but picture what authors you will be placed between. If you don’t know, take a field trip to the bookstore and see.
What is the category and genre of your novel?
Middle Grade
• Adventure
• Animal
• Biographical
• Contemporary
• Early Middle Grade
• Fantasy
• Graphic
• Historical
• Horror
• Humor
• Multicultural
• Mystery
• Problem
• Religious
• School
• Science Fiction
• Sports

Young Adult
• Adventure
• Biographical
• Chick Lit
• Coming-of-age
• Contemporary
• Dystopian
• Edgy
• Fantasy
• Graphic
• Hi-Lo
• Historical
• Horror
• Humor
• Multicultural
• Mystery/Suspense
• Novel in Verse
• Paranormal
• Problem
• Religious
• Romance
• Science Fiction
• Sports
• Steam Punk
• Urban
• Western
I doubt these are exhaustive lists, but they should help you think about what type of novel you’re writing.
What three stories are similar in some way to yours? The first 3 books or movies that come to mind when you think of your story are? What makes them similar? What is different?
Think about the books you most enjoy reading. What subgenre(s) are they? Don’t know? Check out reviews, talk to booksellers and librarians.
Does what your writing fit one of the areas you love to read? If yes, keep reading those subgenres. If no, consider writing in a different subgenre–something you love to read. If you never read, how can you know what today’s kids are reading?
Feel free to comment on these lists and questions.

Posted in Market Prep, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Meeting Editors and Agents – In Person

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Nothing is better than actually meeting an agent or editor in person. (Although long term following of someone on twitter is close.) By listening to an editor or agent talk at a conference, not only do I learn about their house, their agency, their tastes, and perhaps how they work with authors, I discover something of their personality. I’ve gone away with “Wow, I’d love to work with __________.” I’ve also experienced, “We just wouldn’t mesh.” They’ve also taught me about craft, given me insights into my own weaknesses in writing, made me think, inspired me, encouraged me, and challenged me. Whew!

This past year I was privileged to meet quite a number of editors and agents–all at SCBWI conferences. (If you’ve never gone to one, I really encourage you to do so.) Two agents that pop to mind with no reference to notes from the LA conference last August are: Marietta B. Zacker, Nancy Gault Literary Agency, and Sarah Davies (pronounced Davis), The Greenhouse Literary Agency.

I loved Marietta‘s straight forward, no nonsense approach–this was especially noticeable in the Q&A time. She’s passionate about what she does. She advised when writers are looking for an agent that they consider these questions: “Who will share your vision? Who will share your passion?” Marietta recommends writers find the passion that each has – whatever that may be.

At the beginning of her speech Sarah answered the questions on everyone’s minds. She also told her audience that writing is like being a violin player. “Would you expect to be on a world stage when you just learned to play scales?” she asked. Sarah finds it thrilling as an agent to have the opportunity to change someone’s life and help them reach their dreams.

At the Iowa and Illinois SCBWI Conferences I met Candlewick Editor, Yolanda Scott, who besides being a good editor is also a singer! Which reminds me, Ted Malawer at Upstart Crow Agency, used to sing opera (Kansas SCBWI conference.) Back to Yolanda who reminded us, she and other editors do what they do because they love it. She wants to know we’ve checked out her publishing house when we submit.

I’ve heard lots of agent talks, but in Kansas Ted gave some very practical advice about what we should be asking agents. He also advised, “Think about the query letter as the bait.” He believes comparisons–i.e. your manuscript to other books–are his job, not yours, which is different than what I’ve heard others say. (Again, why we should be out listening to these professionals speak!)

In Illinois I met Alisha Niehaus from Dial Books for Young Readers. She did a fantastic and fascinating workshop using Savvy by Ingrid Law. With permission of Ingrid she gave us insights into how the book changed–wow! When talking about middle grade readers in another session, Alisha said, “Though they wish they could make out with a vampire, they are still trying to figure out how to fasten their training bra.”

I met other editors and agents in 2009, but this post is growing too long to mention them all. Over the years my knowledge of the publishing world has grown by listening to agent and editor talks, panels, critiques. I’ve learned how dedicated these professionals are. Best yet, I’ve improved my odds of finding the right home for my manuscripts.

Posted in Market Prep, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Meet Editors and Agents – Online

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

It used to be hearing an editor or agent at a conference or event was the only way to discover what he or she was like personally. That’s not true anymore. These days you can also learn about an agent’s or editor’s personality, pet peeves, likes and dislikes and more on the web. Many editors and agents are active with blogs and/or on twitter. Some of the blogs are personal blogs; some are official agency blogs.

Last spring on her blog, Editor Martha Mihalick talked about some of her favorite places in books.
This summer both Agent Kate Schafer Testerman and Agent Elana Roth tweeted about their frustrations of going through queries. Kate shared on twitter after posting requirements on her blog. Elana reposted her tweets as a collection on her agency’s blog afterwards (unfortunately this blog and agency site is no longer available). One of the biggest complaints both had was that people don’t follow submission directions.

Agents and editors have pet peeves, too. Look at these agents’ comments. Jennifer DeChiara tweeted, “Never say ‘in regards to.’ Just say ‘about.’ ‘I am writing about’ instead of ‘I am writing in regards to.’ Please. I’m begging here.” From Barry Goldblatt‘s Query Lessons: “‘Word-jockey’ Is an idiotic euphemism for ‘writer.'” Lauren E. MacLeod tweets, “Am getting *really* tired of pre-query emails. Just query. If I don’t want it, I’ll reject.”

Do agents ever purchase manuscripts from unpublished writers? Of course! Colleen Lindsay tweeted, “The first project I sold was an unpublished writer. Got her a two-book deal at Pocket. The writing is what matters.”

Meeting an editor or agent at a conference helps you realize they are just people like you are. A recent tweet from Agent Jennifer Laughran illustrates that concept, “Faced with 2 equally good choices. To pick either disappoints somebody. What to do? What to do? Horns of dilemma. Ow. OW. QUIT IT, DILEMMA!” As does this one from Editor Ruta Rimas “EEEEp. Has anyone ever been too afraid to read an ms? I really want to love this one and am scared to be disappointed…!!!”

Some tweets may be rather mundane, like comments on the weather, but still give a taste of personality. In the summer Editor Sarah Shumway tweeted, “is there a snowy, chilly book you can recommend that will take me far, far away from the muggy afternoon?” By contrast Editor Kristin Daly tweeted on another day, “But the REAL excitement: Mailroom just brought me advance copies of two fab fall books. Hooray! This rainy, gloomy day is def. looking up.”

They all worry about whether their books will do well. Here’s a tweet from Editor Elizabeth Law, “Now that G-Force is a hit, I am hoping that guinea pigs will ride a wave of uber-popularity, in time for our own Guinea Dog.” Or have hopes for their books. This blog post shares some comments from Editor Nancy Mercado on Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle.

Interviews of these figures are often online, too. Literary Rambles blog is a great source. See more below.

So interested in an editor or agent? Of course, you’ll read books they’ve edited and agented, attend conferences where they are, but also find out as much as you can about them on the internet.

Some Useful Resources: Bloggers Who Interview Agents and Editors

Alice Pope‘s CWIM Blog – http://cwim.blogspot.com
Cynthia Leitich Smith – https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/for-writers/for-writers/links/writers-links-agents-profiles-agency-guidelines/
Cynthea Liu – https://www.writingforchildrenandteens.com/ in her “Take the Dare” challenge
Kathy Temean‘s Writing and Illustrating blog – https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/
Natalie Aguirre‘s Literary Rambles – http://www.literaryrambles.com/

Posted in Market Prep, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing

Book It! – Recording What You Read

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

“The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over a half a library to make one book.”
Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
Sometimes I learn by what doesn’t work. I experienced this in an area of researching the market. Over the years I’ve faithfully read children’s books and recorded what I’ve read, who published it, genre, and my opinion of the book. What I hadn’t consistently recorded was the author or even a brief summary of the story. In addition, my recorded opinion had often been too succinct. And it had never occurred to me that it would be helpful to know when a book was published.
I look back on comments such as “couldn’t finish reading it” and “same old supernatural story” and wonder what I meant. In the former case, did that mean, the writing style was difficult to read? Or did I find it boring? Was the main character uninteresting, or was the subject matter offensive? Who knows! Maybe in the latter case my notes referred to a repeated or overdone theme. Or was it the story itself that I felt had been told and retold too many times? I can’t remember the story and I didn’t make enough notes to remind myself of plot line or character or anything helpful to resurrect the story from my faulty memory banks.
But I learned from my mistakes. I changed my recordkeeping system to make sure I noted the author’s name and a description of the book. Plus, I took a few extra moments to make clearer comments. The results are best shown by a sample comment: “odd – should we encourage kids to be friendly with real bears – not!” I know why I didn’t like that story!
Being more detailed has helped me with my original intent in keeping these records–accurate marketing. When my notes are good, I can look at a publisher and see their books are “hard-hitting; not what is typical for ordinary people’s lives.” And since publishers do change, adding publication date helps me see easily which books are recent ventures and which happened long ago. (I keep the books in date order.)
What about the books on my list that didn’t have enough information? I worked to rectify what I could. Many books I found online: my library, the publisher’s website, or Amazon.com. There I could see the publication date, author, a description of the story. Often that jogged my mind and I could do an “oh, yeah” and write more notes. If that didn’t help, I looked to see if the website had an option such as “see inside” this book. Rereading the beginning was the best way to bring the story back for me. However, books I read three to five years ago were often hard to find online. Some had gone out of print, but even that knowledge is useful.
In case this idea will be helpful for you, here’s a recap of what I’m keep track of in the children’s books I read: Publisher name, book title, author, illustrator (when appropriate), genre (including subgenre), brief description of book or storyline, publication date, and my opinion. I have books grouped under their publisher for that overall view of the house and, when possible, I note who edited the book. I keep this information in the computer in a table in a Word document, however, a spreadsheet program or a notebook would work as well.
Is this enough information to keep? It is for me. It makes a difference to my knowledge of what a house publishes. It has also shown me where I need to do more reading.
marketing record