Jim McCarthy's reading process

Choosing what projects to take on can be a tricky thing. Given the number of manuscripts I usually have waiting to be read and how few of those I’ll actually be able to work on, I start each one assuming that I’ll be passing on it. For about 50 pages, I keep an eye out for the specific reasons I’ll be rejecting. I’m looking for overwrought writing, character inconsistency, sloppy plotting, and/or any reason to put the pages down and move on to something else.

Let’s say I pass page 50 and haven’t found a reason to definitely say no. I hit my optimistic reading phase and for the next 100 or so pages, I’m thinking, “Hook me!” I’ve invested just enough time that I won’t be upset if I end up deciding to pass, but I’m starting to think, “Hey, this could be my next new client.”

At page 150, my mood shifts entirely to, “Don’t let me down now.” Pessimism sneaks back in a bit. Even if I like this, I start to wonder, can I sell it? This is where I bust out the super handy trick that Jane taught me when I was starting out: if you can think of five editors you know who this could be right for, then it’s probably worth a shot. I ride the manuscript out keeping that in mind and also thinking about the competition. What similar books have done well? Are there too many similar books? Does this read like what’s working now, or does it read like what might be working a year from now when it would come out?

Of course, every so often, a manuscript comes along that shuttles my reading rules right out the window. And that is what I live for.

Let’s flash back to last summer. I drag a bag of manuscripts up to my roof, yank out the first one, open to the first page, read the first paragraph…and stop. It sounds so corny and over the top to say that you were hooked on something from the first page except that when it happens, it’s transporting. I read until the sun went down, and the next morning, I handed the manuscript to a colleague.

“Read a page and tell me if I’m crazy,” I requested. “I mean—this is really as good as I think it is, right?”

I fell so head over heels for the novel that I actually wanted confirmation I hadn’t just lost my mind. I felt stupidly luck to even have the project in hand. When the first page was read, I got the affirmation I needed: “It’s really that good.”

“Crap. Who else has this?” Luckily for me, though other agents did have and did want to represent the novel, its author, in her infinite wisdom, decided to work with me. THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan is an astonishing novel for the young adult market that blends the literary and the commercial, stunning writing with rich characters and brilliant plotting. I eagerly look forward to its publication by Delacorte next spring.

The point I always come back to is that people who work in publishing do so because they’re readers. Yes, I read with an eye toward market and potential profit. This is a business, and when you work on commission, you can bet that there’s always an eye on the bottom line. The most thrilling part of the job, though, is playing some role in ushering a book you feel passionately about into another reader’s hands.

At the delightful (and not just because you can gamble there) Las Vegas Writers’ Conference last year, someone asked a panel I sat on, “Would you rather have something come across your desk that has great writing or a great plot?” It’s an unanswerable question. Because I’m not looking for pieces of a good book. I’m looking for the whole package, or for someone who inspires me to believe in their ability to create the whole package.

In responses to rejection letters, understandably upset writers sometimes ask, “Who are you to judge me? What right do you have to say who’s good enough?” All I can answer is that I’m a reader. I’m an audience. And I want you to win me over as much as you want me to be won. It can’t happen always, but we hope it happens enough.

Lauren Abramo on subrights

I recently received an email from one of our blog readers asking for a post on what authors should expect of their agents where sub rights are concerned to follow up on my most recent post [imbed link: http://dglm.blogspot.com/2007/10/lauren-abramo-explains-subrights.html].

So how do we decide which rights to market for which books? It’s not unlike how we decide which projects to represent in the first place. We have to know the various markets and understand how, if at all, our clients’ work fits in. If you don’t have a relationship with any periodical publishers and there are no exciting secrets revealed in your book, chances are that serial’s not going to be a hot commodity. Likewise, cookbooks don’t generally make good audio books, and business books aren’t likely to become movies. It’s not doing anyone any favors if we try to push books we know don’t make sense in a particular market, so we don’t, just as we wouldn’t try to sell a true crime book to a science fiction publisher.

Once we’ve made a deal, then the agent and I, as the agency’s sub rights director, start to plan for which rights we’ll actively try to market for that book, and when we’ll plan to do that. The agent on the book talks to me about which rights they think have the most potential and helps to coordinate and get the info I need to try to sell them.

With foreign rights, we maintain a rights list that tells our co-agents which books we control the rights to. It tells them about the book and keeps them up to date on which territories we’ve sold in. Every few months and several weeks before each major international rights fair, our co-agents receive this updated list so they can share it with their editorial contacts. In addition, we give them a highlight list, with titles that have just recently sold or that have received renewed attention—maybe because the author’s platform has dramatically changed or because a film adaptation is being released. And we get in touch about individual titles as well—when galleys come in, for example, or when we find out about an article that suggests a country might be newly interested in a topic that one of our past books covers. That means we’re not only talking to our co-agents about our new books, but about all our books, and foreign deals can be made long after initial book publication. A very sizeable chunk of our foreign rights income last year was for books published in the 90s.

Now that’s not going to work with all rights—rare is the audio book that’s released after the initial publication of a book, since audio publishers need to capitalize on the publisher’s publicity for the launch. And first serial rights are actually moot once the book is published by definition. With audio and first serial, you’ve really only got that limited timeframe prior to publication to make a sale—and sometimes short publication schedules can be a hindrance here, since audio and serial publishers need to make their decisions and do the work to publish after manuscripts are done but before the book publishes. If the schedule allows for a shot at these and we believe the book makes sense for those rights, we’ll get it in the right hands.

Film and television rights are a bit more complicated in some ways. We do use co-agents for some of our projects, usually those that we expect will be most likely to catch the attention of Hollywood. Other books—those our co-agents aren’t getting excited about or which we believe will not get the attention they deserve amidst bigger, flashier books—we often deal with ourselves. We meet regularly with producers and managers who come to visit New York and stop by the office to discuss our client list. We hear what they’re looking for and pitch the books that fit that need—regardless of when they were published. And throughout the year, they check in with us to ask about what we’ve got, to update us on what new kind of project they’re looking for, to tell us they’ve just heard X network is looking for the next Y, and do we have anything? While the book-to-film options you’re most likely to hear about are for the big buzz books that have just sold at auction or the current bestsellers, we probably do more deals a year for older titles than for the brand new ones.

Our faithful reader’s last question really speaks to more than just sub rights: Is it logical for the client to ask what has been done on behalf of the work? When it comes to the agent/client relationship, each is different and we let our clients lead the way on that for the most part, but it’s our belief that an author always has the right to ask questions. Part of the reason we’re writing this blog is to answer the questions our clients and other writers may not realize they can or should be asking. We always share the good news right away and wait on the bad news till its decision time or we’re asking for an update. When our clients ask how things are going, they may not hear what they want to hear, but they always have the right to hear it.

Keep in mind, though, that one of the great things about sub rights is that, at least for foreign and film/TV rights, it’s never really the end of the line. Things might be quiet for large periods of time, but we’re still selling rights to books that have been on the shelves—and in some cases, even on the shelves and already off them—years down the line.

Jane Dystel rings in the new

This last year, 2007, was the most successful Dystel & Goderich Literary Management has ever enjoyed. We had a number of bestsellers including Dr. Robin Smith’s LIES AT THE ALTAR, JOY BAUER’S FOOD CURES and Barack Obama’s DREAMS FROM MY FATHER. And we had huge successes with David Morrell’s SCAVENGER, Lidia Bastianich’s LIDIA’S ITALY, Jacqueline Carey’s KUSHIEL’S JUSTICE, Michael Weinreb’s THE KINGS OF NEW YORK, and Michael Tucker’s LIVING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE.

Now it is time to look forward to the exciting titles our clients will be publishing in the coming months.

Mary Doria Russell has a wonderful new novel titled DREAMERS OF THE DAY, the story of a bookish spinster who travels to Egypt after losing her family to the Great Influenza and who is swept up in the drama of post-World War I politics through her friendship with Lawrence of Arabia and her spirited acquaintance with legendary figures such as Winston Churchill. Her own bittersweet romance is set against the machinations of these great men whose actions during this period would have serious, if not tragic, repercussions for the Middle East as we know it today.

David Wood, a splendid travel writer and avid golfer will publish AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 ROUNDS about playing his favorite game in exotic and outrageous locations throughout the globe. This is a unique and entertaining read even for those who are not golfers.

Then there is financial guru Michael Farr’s A MILLION IS NOT ENOUGH about how much money each of us needs in order to retire comfortably and how to achieve that goal. Certainly, this is an area of huge interest for the baby boomer demographic.

From Lynne Rosetto Kasper and her MPR producer Sally Swift we’ll see THE SPLENDID TABLE GUIDE TO HOW TO EAT SUPPER based on content from the enormously popular national public radio show The Splendid Table. Long awaited, this new book is bound to be a bestseller.

Jacqueline Carey’s latest fantasy novel will debut in the spring and her huge cult readership will be all over it. KUSHIEL’S MERCY is the final adventure of Imriel de la Courcel. It brings an unforgettable end to the second of Jacqueline’s celebrated trilogies set in the brilliantly realized world of Terre d’Ange.

Well-known actress and author Adrienne Barbeau and bestselling author Michael Scott have an enormously entertaining novel entitled VAMPYRES OF HOLLYWOOD about, well, vampires in Hollywood and a murder mystery involving one of the most (in)famous of their clan, a beautiful and legendary actress.

Journalist and author Gregg Zachary’s latest is a memoir titled MARRIED TO AFRICA about his romance and marriage to Chizo, his spirited Nigerian wife, and their cross-cultural adventures as newlyweds in the San Francisco area. It is an incredible, often funny, sometimes poignant story of love, romance, and race relations.

And, in the fall, bestselling thriller author David Morrell’s THE SPY WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS will reinvent the Christmas novel with a taut, suspenseful, action-packed and ultimately heartwarming tale of good and evil. This is truly one of his best and most original works.

Along the way, I am hoping for more surprises – which is what keeps all of us happily plugging away in this serendipitous business: New authors, new ideas and new successes. All in all, 2008 looks to me to be a very promising year.

Stacey Glick on another time it paid not to give up

We’ve all heard the stories about big, bestselling authors being rejected by a gazillion houses before getting published. I have one of my own to share. Many years ago, I received a compelling and well-written query letter from a fellow Boston University graduate. A.J. Hartley was a Shakespeare professor who had received his Ph.D. from B.U. Our time there overlapped, but we never knew each other.

Andrew had been writing fiction for many years, and had even queried the agency long before my arrival. I requested his manuscript, and signed it up, then proceeded to shop it around to publishers with no success. That first book was charming and funny, but not quite what publishers were looking for at that time. His next novel, a quiet mystery set on a college campus, was also well done and engaging, but I faced resistance again from publishers, for different reasons this time. All the while, we were learning what A.J. needed to do to turn his talent into a saleable manuscript. Bigger and more commercial were two things that I felt his fiction needed to be, ambiguous as that can sound to an author, and eventually A.J. came back to me with a terrific thriller called The Mask of Atreus. This was around the time that Dan Brown had published The DaVinci Code, and though A.J. hadn’t read the book before he wrote Mask, there were some similarities in style and tone, and in pulling historical facts into contemporary fiction.

I had put a paragraph about the book into our agency newsletter before I submitted the manuscript, and it caught the eye of our subagent in Greece. Before long, we had a large offer from Livanis in Greece, well before I sold the rights here in the U.S. What followed was a series of quick sales internationally, eventually totaling over a dozen deals that took us well into the six figures, and then finally, a U.S. publisher came through. Berkley published The Mask of Atreus as a mass market paperback in April, 2006. The book hit the USA Today bestseller list. We went on to sell his next thriller, On the Fifth Day, which was published by Berkley this past July and hit the New York Times list. A.J. Hartley’s books have been praised by bestselling authors like Steve Berry, Kathy Reichs, James Rollins, and Douglas Preston. Publisher’s Weekly said about Mask: “This intricate and absorbing thriller augurs well for Hartley's career” and in reviewing On the Fifth Day, said “This slam-bang title is a very fun, surprisingly satisfying read.”

A.J. recently signed a 2-book deal with Tor for a new fantasy series which will come out in 2009 and 2010, and we are working on his next thriller now, which uses his Shakespearean background to weave an intriguing, commercial thriller.

Years after I’d signed A.J. up as a client, I found a query letter he’d sent to the agency back in the early 90s. There was a hand-written note on the bottom saying that he was a good writer but it wasn’t the right manuscript. I’m glad that I was able to discover A.J. again so many years later and work with him to develop the right project for him at the right time. A talented author getting the right kind of guidance can find success, even if it takes time, effort, and lots of rejection to get there.

Adina Kahn discusses competitive titles

One of the most important parts of any book proposal is the comparative books section. This is your opportunity to prove to that you are well acquainted with the market and convince editors that your book will stand out from all the rest. Of course, it is the agent’s job as well as the writer’s to be aware of all competition, but every author should approach an agent already intimately familiar with other titles in their category.

A few tips:

1. Take a Trip To the Bookstore

The easiest way to start your search is on Amazon, and this is an excellent start to obtaining a comprehensive overview of competing books and their sales. But do not stop there. The next step should be a trip to the bookstore, where you can observe which titles are more prominently displayed on the shelves, and see in person just how much competition you will have.

2. Check the Publication Date

Unless the book stands out as one of the classic books in its genre, it will suffice to list books that have been published within the past five years. Listing a book from the 80’s that is out of print is going to be of little interest to an editor. A good rule of thumb is to come up with about 5-6 books.

3. Update Your List

A proposal can end up going through a few edits, so before you hand in the final product, make sure to check one last time and see if any books were recently published that might compete with yours. If you omit a new bestseller, it will make the proposal look dated and the author will appear unfamiliar with the competition.

4. Explain How Your Book Differs

Some writers feel they have to badmouth their competition, but that is not the case. If you feel that another book is lacking in some respect you may say so, but your main focus should be describing how your book is different.

5. Know the Competition for Fiction

Fiction authors are not usually asked to submit a list to editors of comparative titles, but that does not mean they should not be doing this for themselves. You should be aware of what category of fiction your material falls under, how other books have performed in that category, and which books yours will most likely be compared to. Also, be knowledgeable about which trends are no longer working.

Of course, if you’re a big enough name you don’t have to concern yourself as much with the competition. Jessica Seinfeld, wife of Jerry, recently made bestseller lists with her cookbook Deceptively Delicious, even though it was very similar to another recently published title The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine. Ultimately, the press from the authors’ quarrel ended up causing both books to rise in sales. It didn’t hurt that Jessica Seinfeld was also backed by an appearance on Oprah and the fact that Jerry gave her recipes his seal of approval.

Mrs. Seinfeld ended up with a successful book, but many authors may not have been as lucky. My advice is to make sure your book stands out as an original and take the time to prove it in your proposal.

Chasya Milgrom is thankful for...

I’ve watched with envy as my fellow D&Gers posted lists of recommended books and decided I wanted in on the action. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I got to thinking about books that I have come across that have truly made me thankful. Whether fluffy and fun, serious and academic, or just plain good reading, here is a short selection of books that I am thrilled to have had the chance to discover. The list is incomplete and in no particular order. Please feel free to add your own as well!

Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut

We’ve all heard of Slaughterhouse-Five, but this title by the recently deceased master of postmodern fiction is another must-read. The novel follows Walter F. Starbuck, a low level player in the Watergate scandal who has just been released into the corporate world from a minimum-security prison for his involvement in said scandal. In Vonnegut’s unique, brilliant and satiric style, he delivers a novel that is absurd, humorous, and smart and touches on a vein of truth about the American experience that resonates with us all.


I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

Begins with the protagonist Dominick Birdsey’s schizophrenic twin brother, Thomas, slicing off his hand. This thematically ambitious novel encompasses family history, dysfunction, mental illness, and the complication of family loyalty and responsibility and spans the length of three generations. Lamb pulls it all off and then some while still making it look easy.


Me Talk Pretty One Day – David Sedaris

The widely acclaimed Sedaris is a master of acerbic wit and this collection of autobiographical essays showcases his talents at their absolute best. His observations and stories about his family growing up in North Carolina and his time as an expat in Paris are by far among the funniest essays I have ever read. I laughed until I cried.


Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace

This Pulitzer Prize winning 1,000 + page tome may look daunting, but it will grab you at the very first page. The all-encompassing work (co-written by one of my former professors) is almost novelistic; peppered with stories of well known and lesser-known Gothamites that shaped this city, while still being so broad in scope as to be a definitive work of the history of New York from the Dutch settlers up until the end of the 19th century. If you read one book about New York, read this one.


Bill Bryson

There is just something about him. Bryson has the ability to find the humor in almost everything he writes about. And he brings that, along with a laid-back style, astute observations and genuine child-like curiosity to every one of his books. He primarily writes travelogues, but this smart and funny author can write about anything. Start with In a Sunburned Country and work your way up to A Short History of Nearly Everything, which I loved so much I put it in our staff recommendations.


Atonement by Ian McEwan

You might want to pick up a copy of this breathtaking novel before the movie comes out, as no movie can compare to McEwan’s stunning prose. The novel begins as 13-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses her sister, Cecelia, stripping out of her clothes and diving into a fountain on a scorching summer’s day in 1935. Beside Cecelia stands Robbie Turner, the housekeeper’s son and close friend. By the end of that day Briony will commit a crime that will change their lives forever. McEwan follows the characters and repercussions that the crime has had on their lives. McEwan is a true master of his craft and nothing could have prepared me for the novel’s ending, which takes place many years later in 1999.


A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Like many of Irving’s novels, this one, about a young boy and his strange friend, received mixed reviews. While the novel is, in fact, strange – Owen, the title character, is extremely small, has a distractingly high-pitched voice, and believes he is God’s vessel – it is one of the most touching and lovely books I have come across, and certainly one of Irving’s best.

And now, over to you…

Jim McCarthy is excited that 3 out of 4 people read a book last year

When the AP did their recent poll on literacy, they found that one in four Americans didn’t read a book last year. I know a lot of people who found that news depressing, but my own reaction was more, “Rock! Three out of four people read a book last year!”

Let me just get one important fact out there—I’m not an optimistic person by nature. If I’m excited about a concert, when it starts I’m less, “This is gonna be great!” and more, “I hope the speakers don’t fall on anyone.” I worry—it’s just what I do. When I tell my mother I’m traveling, she usually replies with something comforting like, “I hope the plane stays up.” Me too. It’s in the genes. Which is to say: when people proclaim the death of the written word, and I of all people think, “You seriously worry too much…,” that’s saying something.

So 25 out of 100 people didn’t read a book last year. At least one or two of them must not be able to read, right? (Note to self: look up American illiteracy rates) And then you have people who just don’t like to read. I’m not thrilled with that fact, but I’m at peace with it. Because elsewhere in that group of 100 are people who read 20, 30, 40 books a year—folks for whom the written word can’t be replaced by TV, movies, the internet, or any other media yet to be created. Sure, we have more entertainment options now, and people have a little bit less time to read. But do we actually think books are so easily replaced?

When it comes right down it, there is little I find as satisfying as a great read, and it has nothing to do with any lack of affection on my part for every other type of entertainment.

Perhaps it’s because I’m consistently surrounded by book lovers (it comes with the job), but the chance that books will become passé seems a bit unlikely to me. All the people who were up in arms over this poll only were so because they’re readers. And readers are still in a majority.

What I do find unnerving is that other poll from a year or so back that indicated 80% of Americans wanted to write a book. First of all, that means that at least 5% of people who want to write a book didn’t read one in the past year. That is frightening. Truly. I honestly don’t believe someone can be a great writer without being well-read, let alone without being just…read. Beyond that, if four out of five people in the entire country are going to be sending query letters…that’s a lot of digging we’re going to have to do, not to mention a lot of awkward cocktail party chatter. “What do you do for a living? Oh! Well, let me tell you, I have the most wonderful idea for a book. It’s about kittens.” Scintillating stuff. There’s nothing like dodging the mother of the bride at a wedding after she tells you about her “brilliant” concept for a picture book about cheese. Not that I don’t love cheese.

I kid (mostly). I’ve said it before, and I still mean it: I love the slush pile and the feeling of potential when I dig in. It’s intimidating at times because there’s just so much, but finding something brilliant in the mass is such a thrill. Just like starting a book and finding yourself instantly hooked.

I digress… So why do you read? And why do you write? And am I overly optimistic in thinking books will always be around?

Michael Bourret doesn't think young adult novels are only for young adults

Telling people that I represent young adult books can be annoying, whether it's because of blank stares from people who don't understand that children's books go through much the same process as adult books, or the gentle ribbing from friends that think I'm still stuck in high school.

But there are great YA books out there that everyone can appreciate and enjoy, like my own client Sara Zarr’s Story of a Girl a finalist for this year’s National Book Award, I put together a short list of some of my favorite books for teens that even adults reluctant to read YA should be able to enjoy and appreciate.

1. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

A gritty, honest, sober look at what it means to be a teenager. Alienated from her peers after calling the cops during a party over the summer, Melinda has become an outcast at school, and can barely speak. We experience her pain, anger, and frustration dealing with her school and home life. It isn’t until much later in the book that we come to understand her silence. This is an important and powerful novel that has started many discussions between parents and children.

2. Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Teenager Steve Harmon is accused of being the lookout during a burglary that ended in murder, and is now on trial for the crime. Innovatively told with a mixture of screenplay dialogue and journal entries, all written by Steve, Monster asks important questions about morality and conscience, and is a quick, engaging read.

3. Twilight by Stehpenie Meyer

Much more commercial than my first two picks, this one has easily been successful with adult readers already. It is the romance between the self-assured Bella and her vampire beau that has quickened many pulses. Like good chocolate, Twilight is the perfect balance between dark bitterness and sugary sweetness. Perfect for any romance reader.

4. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

This one is perfect for anyone who likes sci-fi or fantasy. Set in a world where everyone is made “pretty” on their 16^th birthday, Uglies is a Brave New World for the Paris and Britney generation. All of the books in the series deal with issues like beauty standards, the role of government, the importance of free will, and celebrity culture, all the while being a thrill-a-minute ride.

5. Clay by David Almond

The story of two boys who build a monster, Clay deals with questions of faith, character, and evil. This is one of my favorite books, period. The language is beautiful and evocative, and I think anyone can relate to the issues at hand. I find myself recommending this book more often than almost any other.

I hope I can convince some of you who aren’t already hooked on YA books that they’re just as good and varied as the adult books you’re reading. They run the gamut from literary to commercial, and they welcome every genre (and don’t mind mixing them sometimes). For those of you that are reading YA, what would be on your list of recommendations?

Jane Dystel explains the option clause

So many of my first-time clients ask why they have to have an option clause in their contracts that I thought I would write about it.

First, what is an option? An “option” is the author’s promise to show the publisher his or her next book before showing it to any other publisher. That’s it.

I actually don’t mind options. With this “promise” from the author that s/he will show the publisher his/her “next” book, the publisher is, therefore, more committed to investing in that author’s future. And, as we will see here, the author isn’t giving up anything other than a bit of time.

The important thing about options is that they must be very well defined. What to I mean by this?

First, if the author is a novelist, then the option should only be for his or her next novel. Even narrower, if the author is writing a mystery series, for example, the publisher should only have the option on the next book in that series. All other books that an author might write – non fiction, cookbooks, or novels in another series do not fall under the option and the author should be free to sell those at any time. This should apply to all book categories. If the author’s next book is in another category, she should not be obligated to show it first to her current publisher (although there is no reason why that publisher shouldn’t see it at the same time everyone else does).

Second, the timing of the option is critical. The option should kick in after the publisher accepts the current manuscript NOT after the current manuscript is published. There should be no time defined after acceptance. For example, there are publishers who try to say that the option shouldn’t take effect until 60 or 90 days after acceptance. This is unfair to the author and should not be permitted. (The reason the publisher does this is to get as close to the publication date of the current book as possible in order to ascertain how it will do. They then base whether they will bid on the next book and how much they will offer based on the indicators of the first book’s success.)

Finally, there should be a time limit for negotiating the option. The publisher should have X days in order to consider the next project (I think no more than 30 days is appropriate) and if necessary Y days to negotiate in the event they make an offer. After that time limit, the author should be free to approach any other publisher.

There should be no “topping” or “matching” privileges. If the author has given the publisher adequate time to make an offer and negotiate and they cannot come to an agreement, the author should not be obligated to come back to the original publisher for any reason if he gets another offer.

So there is no real reason to object to having an option in your contract IF it is negotiated properly. Of course, in practice, you cannot always get the ideal option clause; much depends on what kind of leverage you have and how many precedents your agent has with that publisher. But, these simple qualifications make it fair for all involved.

Stacey Glick on why, "Sometimes it Pays to Not Give Up."

Several years ago, I received material from a mother and daughter who wanted to write a joint memoir about their harrowing experiences involving the daughter’s dramatic emotional breakdown and subsequent recovery at a boot camp-style school in Montana. The mom was a screenwriter; the daughter then a college student at a top university. Their proposal was one of the best I’d ever read. Well-written, commercial, unputdownable. I couldn’t wait to get it out to publishers.

With high hopes, I did a wide submission and received a tremendously positive response from editors whose opinions I valued. They, too, felt it was among the best proposals they’d seen. And yet, no offers came in. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. I was getting a ton of positive feedback. Editors told me over and over how much they loved the project…and how they couldn’t buy it. There were a variety of reasons cited, including lackluster sales on competitive titles and no guarantee of publicity. Publishers are looking for bestsellers, and this wasn’t a guaranteed big seller, despite the quality of the material.

But I refused to give up. I worried that if I couldn’t sell this book, I might not be able to sell anything. I just believed so strongly in the project and that it deserved to be published. So the submissions continued. Fifty-four of them, to be exact. I started to think about throwing in the towel because I just couldn’t come up with anywhere else to go. Then I met the daughter in person for the first time when she was visiting New York. It turned out she was going to be in the city that summer and wanted an internship at our agency. How could I have her working here after all she’d been through when I couldn’t sell her book? She was lovely and it broke my heart.

Then it happened – just a few days after I met this charming young woman, an offer came in. That offer was suddenly followed by two more, all that time after we started the process. Before much longer, we had sold the book to ReganBooks, a then-prominent and commercial division of HarperCollins. Meanwhile, the daughter did work with us that summer, and became one of our favorite interns. She was (and is) smart, articulate, mature, and a very hard worker, and we were all sad to see her go at the end of the summer.

When the book, COME BACK by Claire and Mia Fontaine (you can visit their website at claireandmia.com to learn more about it), was published in hardcover in April 2006, sales were modest, though the authors worked tirelessly to spread the word. Then, the publisher scheduled the paperback release for February, 2007, and we soon learned that the book had been chosen by Target’s book club and that they were taking 40,000 copies. It’s since gone back to press several times, and the book has now sold over 100,000 copies! Claire and Mia and their publisher are working hard to continue promoting the book. We’re hopeful that the Target sales will help get it into other outlets and word of mouth will continue to work its magic to get it into the hands of parents and teens everywhere who will benefit not only from a good read, but from the positive messages the narrative has to offer.

I reflect on this when I get frustrated that a great project isn’t working -- which unfortunately happens more and more in this market -- and it gives me hope. Sometimes, it pays for a publisher to take a chance and for an author and her agent to never, ever give up.

Endnote: One person integral to Mia’s recovery, Mike Linderman, has his own book just out (referred to me by the Fontaines, of course, for which I am grateful) this fall entitled THE TEEN WHISPERER, intended to help parents and teens in need. The authors are very much looking forward to cross-promoting and spreading the word about both titles. Oprah, here they come!

Lauren Abramo explains subrights

With the Frankfurt Book Fair just passing, now seems the perfect time to bring you into the weird world of subsidiary and ancillary rights.

Why me, you ask? In July I had the pleasure of taking over the agency’s sub rights “department” to fill the formidable, but fashionable shoes of Michael Bourret, who is now focusing entirely on his personal client list. Said department had consisted only of Michael and me, with some much appreciated help from the interns who suffer hand cramps filling out customs declarations, brain damage from trying to figure out the best postage options to get books halfway around the world quickly without spending our entire commission, and sneeze attacks scouring the shelves for copies of books to send uptown, across the country, and to far off lands. Fortunately for me, and for Michael before me, we have a fantastic network of co-agents scattered across the globe who know the ins and outs of the markets, publishing houses and production companies, so that we don’t have to do all the legwork ourselves.

So what exactly are subrights? Basically they’re rights derived from the book itself, including foreign editions—both in translation and in English in the UK and Commonwealth—as well as audio books, film adaptations, and serial rights—book excerpts printed in magazines and newspapers.

When you sign that book contract with a publisher, you’ll see something called the Grant of Rights, which essentially spells out which of those rights you’re giving to the publisher and which you’re not. For example, nearly all publishers buy the e-book and book club rights in a standard contract. Others, like multimedia and film, are often reserved by the author—though those following the news about partnerships between publishers and film producers will know that the publisher trying to buy film rights is increasingly common.

Being the subrights director at DGLM mostly involves foreign and audio rights, with some film and serial in there for good measure. As an agency, we do some of our film business with co-agents—many of them in LA, some in New York—and some ourselves directly with production companies. While I’m often the first point of contact on film rights, every deal is a bit different, and submissions and negotiations are handled by some combination of a co-agent, the agent who sold the book rights, and me.

Other rights, like foreign, audio and serial, are handled by me regardless of the agent who sold the book rights. Serial rights come in two varieties—first and second. For first serial the excerpt runs before the book is published, and for second, which is almost always controlled by the publisher, it runs after. Like many facets of the business, serial is undergoing a transformation. Fewer and fewer magazines and newspapers are buying serial rights, the conventional wisdom being that they don’t want to pay for an excerpt when they can just have a staff writer whose salary they’re already paying review or write about the book for free. Those of you who caught the PW article linked above may also have seen this one on the changing face of serial rights. And when an excerpt from Alan Greenspan’s book reportedly sold for only $1—ouch. These days serial is much more a publicity opportunity—and not terribly easy to come by with so many publications reducing their book coverage—rather than a real moneymaker.

Audio’s a whole different ballgame, though that doesn’t necessarily make easy. Have any of you bought or contemplated buying an audio book recently? If you have, you know just how expensive they can be, which means they’re not going to sell as many copies as the same book that’s a fraction of the price; if you haven’t, well, now you know why so many books don’t actually get to be published in audio editions. With the cost of production, low demand and the high price point needed to have a shot at paying back those costs, audio books are a tough market. In order to compete, a book really needs one of two things—to be a very big deal in its book release or to be the sort of book that would do well in the library market. Bearing in mind that most audio books are published simultaneous with the first release of the book, and that they need to be sold, recorded, produced and packaged before that time, but after the manuscript is available for the audio editors’ review, that’s not a terribly large window for selling audio. When that window happens to line up with the timeframe in which good information is available on the publisher’s plans for publication, publicity and marketing—and when that information indicates the likelihood of success in audio—authors can find a happy home in a different medium.

Last but by no means least, foreign rights. Fortunately for sub rights as a whole, while foreign rights are by no means simple to sell, in most categories things are not quite so bleak as they can be with something like serial. A book that “travels,” meaning it appeals to a foreign audience, can find itself republished in different translations and editions around the world. The tricky thing is that the book has to be perceived to be of interest to enough people in a particular territory that the cost of buying the rights, translating and producing the book will be offset by the number of people interested enough to buy the book and not interested in reading it in the original edition, which will often be available, whether through distribution in the territory or from the U.S. itself.

Though I’ve done my fair share of laying out the reasons that sub rights are tough, I must say what a great part of my job that it is. I love getting to speak to and email with people who are outside of the typical New York book publishing world—either in foreign countries, Los Angeles production companies, big magazine offices in midtown, or audio publishers wherever they happen to be—and hear different perspectives on whether or not a book “works.” It’s absolutely fascinating to be able to really look at the big picture and evaluate a project not just for how it’s going to work on the bookshelf at the Barnes and Noble on the north side of Union Square, but in the multiplex, the car CD player, the newsstand and the whole wide world.

Adina Kahn talks about nonfiction platforms

When discussing nonfiction proposals with editors, the question that I am asked most commonly is: What is the author’s platform? Editors want to know if the authors have written for any publications, whether they have an established website or blog, and if they have recently done any media appearances or speaking engagements.

It isn’t always enough to simply be an expert on the subject you are writing about. In order to catch an agent’s or editor’s attention, you want to already have a built-in readership. The best proposal not only proves that you are the perfect person to tackle the topic at hand, but also shows that people already look to you for the answers.

Obviously, being a recognized name helps matters when selling a book. Stephen Colbert, Alan Greenspan and Bill Clinton did not need to do much to persuade their publisher that they could sell books. Sometimes a celebrity can help build buzz around your name without you having to do a thing. Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin’s SKINNY BITCH was selling nicely, but Victoria Beckham ensured that they hit the bestseller lists when she was spotted carrying a copy of their book.

Of course, not every author is this lucky. Very often it is the authors’ responsibility to get their own name out in the public eye. There are some simple and inexpensive ways to do this. Pitch articles to publications. Get endorsements from recognized names in your field. Start a website or a blog (of course, you also have to make sure people are actually reading them.) In AUTHOR 101: BESTSELLING BOOK PUBLICITY Rick Frishman and Robyn Freedman Spizman emphasize the importance of platforms and discuss in detail how to create your own promotional campaign for a book.

Of course, there are still many cases where an author’s stellar credentials or inspiring memoir will ensure that a book gets sold, regardless of whether or not anyone has ever heard of the writer. The strength of the material will always be the number one reason a book ends up getting sold.

It may seem logical that a platform can only be established after a book is published, but when trying to get an agent or editor’s attention it is not a bad idea to come to them with a built-in audience. Perhaps Victoria Beckham will eventually pick up another book, and perhaps that book will be yours, but until then it never hurts to work on building your platform.

Jim McCarthy offers books to make you question humanity

To rip off Miriam, I’ve compiled a little list of my own. Below are a few books that, for whatever reason, may make you question your faith in humanity. More publishing advice to come soon!

WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILIES by Philip Gourevitch: The title gives a pretty strong indication that all is not well in these pages. Emotionally devastating but entirely necessary, this work, subtitled “Stories from Rwanda” is an impeccable look at contemporary genocide, brilliantly written and depressingly relevant.

IF I DID IT by O.J. Simpson: What does it say about us that we’re snatching this book up in large numbers? Who is reading it? And why? To me, the only thing more upsetting than the book was the number of people who tried to silence it. Would I buy it? No. Would I have represented it? Probably.

The collected works of Ann Coulter: About as smart as O.J. and about as reprehensible. This woman is a mouthpiece for hatred and contributes nothing legitimate to political discourse. Also, I think she eats babies.

TRY by Dennis Cooper: The adopted teenage son of two sexually abusive fathers begins a journal about his own mistreatment and exploitation entitled “I Apologize.” The adults in Cooper’s vicious world are violent and degraded. The children seek solace in drugs and sex. The book is legitimately shocking, and you might have to numb yourself to get through it. But the biggest surprise is that if you can stomach it, you come out on the other end realizing that Cooper is actually a humanist, and that this is a novel about love. You just have to survive the attack to realize it.

THE MYSTERY METHOD: HOW TO GET BEAUTIFUL WOMEN INTO BED by Mystery: Now, if anyone has seen the VH1 series The Pick-Up Artist, they know that Mystery is a guy named Erik who wears big furry hats, silly eye makeup, and entirely too much animal print. He looks like the love child of Dennis Rodman and Tammy Faye Bakker. He’s a misogynist, a moron, and a self-professed “expert” on landing beautiful women. Now, I watch bad reality TV. I watch a lot of bad reality TV. Rarely, if ever, have I come across someone who is as big a tool as this guy. That enough people seem to believe he might have the secrets to becoming a ladies’ man to propel his book to the bestseller lists makes me want to vomit in my mouth a little bit.

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Sometimes I get on thematic reading kicks. I’ll go all Southern Gothic for a little while then find myself reading lots of books set in and around zoos for a few weeks. Earlier this year, I found myself reading back to back books about civil wars in Africa. I followed the aforementioned Gourevitch with this novel about the impact of the Nigerian-Biafran war a few decades back. Is there hope and redemption in this astonishing novel? Absolutely. Would I recommend you read it immediately after a book about the Rwandan genocide? Not unless you want to feel like you got sucker punched in your soul.

Miriam Goderich's breakup books

My stepdaughter was recently going through a bad breakup with her boyfriend and in need of solace. The usual clichés and verbal palliatives weren’t having much effect and I was trying to come up with things she could do to take her mind off the creep as well as support my contention that we’d all been there and most of us recover fully (which, by the way, she didn’t believe at all).

We’d already gone through the sad music (Nick Drake, anyone) and depressing movies catalogues and I decided to dip into my “necessary books” list to see if I could pull together 10 titles that would do the trick. As all bookworms know, there’s nothing like the comfort to be found in the pages of a book. The list I finally came up with allows for a certain amount of wallowing, but mostly it’s meant to inspire – ‘cause what’s more inspirational than turning pain into art:

1. CHERI and THE LAST OF CHERI by Colette. The French do bittersweet love affairs better than anyone else (also see Charles Aznavour).

2. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway. You wouldn’t think the macho writer could make doomed love so heartbreakingly tender.

3. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Makes you cry, laugh and hope. Oh, and the prose is worth a Nobel Prize.

4. WRITING A WOMAN’S LIFE by Carolyn Heilbrun. Empowerment for when you’re ready to stop dating idiots.

5. FIRST LOVE AND OTHER SORROWS by Harold Brodkey. Hmmm, the title says it all.

6. LAUGHABLE LOVES by Milan Kundera. Because every doomed love affair has great reserves of irony and humor (even though you may not get either for a couple of decades).

7. BELOVED INFIDEL by Sheilah Graham. After reading what she went through with F. Scott, you’ll be thinking your own life’s not so bad.

8. THE FEAST OF LOVE by Charles Baxter. Because he writes so beautifully about the tiny, luminous moments that make up being human and alive.

9. THE SHIPPING NEWS by E. Annie Proulx. There’s always a second act.

10. CONSIDER THE OYSTER by M.F. K. Fisher. For when you’re ready to get off the couch and reclaim your mojo.

What are your favorite breakup books?

Chasya Milgrom chats about changing perspectives

Having read some of your interesting questions in our Q & A, I got to thinking about the way in which we begin to see books in a different light when we (as agents, authors, editors, etc…) enter the world of publishing.

For instance, a little while ago I was scanning my bookshelf for something to read and my eye hit on one of my all-time favorite books, an epistolary novel by Steve Kluger called Last Days of Summer. The book is not something I would think most people have heard of, and I’m fairly sure it didn’t make any bestseller lists, but it is one of those great reads that leaves you laughing out loud at certain points and crying hysterically at others.

The story is about a precocious 12-year-old wise-guy named Joey, who is growing up fatherless and Jewish in early 1940s Brooklyn, and his unlikely friendship with the hot-headed 3^rd baseman of the New York Giants, Charlie Banks (also a wise-guy, naturally). I feel like so many people have one of those books on their shelves – the one that you catch yourself wistfully glancing at every so often, remembering just how much you enjoyed it. I remember reading Last Days of Summer for the first time and laughing myself to tears. “Here,” I would insist, shoving it into the hands of one friend after another, “read this; it’s funny.” And they all pretty much agreed.

So I picked it up off the shelf. It had been years. My copy had yellowed with age and was pretty dusty – it literally made me sneeze when I opened it. Given my nostalgic feelings about the book, I was pretty surprised at myself when the first thing I flipped to wasn’t the beginning of the novel itself, even though, as I recall, the novel opens to hilarious effect with a letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt to a then nine-year-old Joey thanking him for his campaign contribution. Nope, that wasn’t what I was looking for. I picked it up and immediately flipped to the copyright page to look for the publication details.

This is a strange little habit that I seemed to have picked up after starting to work here at D & G. Now with every book I see, I am struck with the insatiable curiosity to find out who it was published by, when it was published, whether or not it had been published originally as a hardcover or trade paperback. It was when I lifted Last Days that I was most surprised by this new added dimension through which I now see books.

That is not to say that I am upset by it. In fact, I get a huge kick out of watching my boyfriend shake his head as I flip to the copyright page of every book I pick up. He thinks I’m a huge dork. I tend not to disagree.

A couple of months ago I got to see the entire industry come together at BEA – the Book Expo of America, a yearly gathering of the publishing community. It was really exciting for me to walk around the Jacob Javits Center here in New York. The convention center was simply buzzing and it was great to watch this business in action. Publishers with their books on display, distributing advance reader copies for books coming out in the fall, editors and booksellers mingling with each other, authors (like our own David Morrell) doing book signings.

I realized then how interesting it is how we all begin to have a multi-dimensional perspective on books and how our curiosity can add to our understanding of this industry.

Now, rifling through books, I wonder about their history. Did this book I am reading go through growing pains? How many people had to read it before someone agreed to publish it? Then I crawl up in a ball on my giant cozy chair and start with Chapter 1…