Caren Johnson Literary Agency

For all of you bloggers out there who do this on a daily basis, I admire you. How do you think of things to say so regularly? Since I’m clearly not that talented, I hope you’ll forgive my blog-writer’s block. So I’m taking the easy way out, and thought I’d just give a little glimpse into what’s on my bookshelf these days. 

Stuff I just finished:

 The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

 This one’s a National Book Award nominee–stay tuned for the awards tonight!

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson

   Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath

What’s Up Next?

   Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook

(I snagged a galley–and so excited to read Eileen’s forthcoming YA debut!)

I spent more time than I care to admit reading about the dismal state of the economy today. While I am worried about the price of gas and butter (I’ve been doing a lot of baking recently), I don’t know if the recent economic downturn can be applied to books. The reason is that book sales have been declining steadily for a number of years anyway and that was while the economy was booming. Fewer people read as a form of entertainment. And now book sales are going to be even lower because people don’t have much disposable income to spend. So what will be the fate of books?

First, fewer books will be published. I hate saying this, but that’s a good thing. There are far too many books published and not enough resources to make each one count. By publishing less we can concentrate on the books we absolutely love and believe in.

I think this will apply to agents as well. Because time is money (weird to apply that often used saying to actual life), our agency is taking on fewer clients and working with them a little longer to get their books into shape for an editor’s eyes. The reason for this is no editor is willing to buy a project that needs revisions no matter how great the writing is. This means more work on our end to get a project ready to be shown.

Second, the quality of each book published will (hopefully) get better. I read a lot of genre fiction so I’m going to apply what I’ve learned from my romance, mystery and fantasy novels to this lesson. I love losing myself in a good beach read, those fun mass market paperback novels that you can throw in your tote bag and take with you. But it’s the novels that combined quality writing with quality story ideas that I continually return to. Novels like The Crimson Petal and the White, The Somnabulist, The Spellman Files and The Dark Queen are various romances, mysteries and sci-fi novels. What sets them apart from others in their genres is the effort the writer went to in developing a brilliant story as well as paying attention to each word that went on the page. These are the types of books that editors want because they are strong enough to pull non-readers, those who don’t buy books as entertainment, to bookstores to read. These are the types of books that our agency wants because they have a longer shelf life than the regular genre novel.

Now the trick of this rant is to learn how to apply these two points to your own writing. What I’d like for the reader (and writer) to keep in mind when reading point #1: you have a lot of competition. Learn as much as you can about the publishing business. This includes reading blogs (and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but I would stay away from other author blogs because each author’s publishing journey is different and it becomes too easy to measure your own success by others standards) written by agents and editors, reading Publisher’s Weekly, and attending conferences when publishers and agents of interest are giving a workshop or on a panel and you can ask questions about their preferences, trends in the marketplace and their process of acquiring or repping a book. Keep up-to-date on publishing news with sites like publishers marketplace and agent query, but take what you learn with a grain of salt. Pay attention to who reps what and read their blog/website for the most recent submission info. And be prepared for rejection. Very few authors get their books picked up immediately by the first agent they query. Please don’t take it personal. Just keep trying. As far as point #2: be aware that how you tell a story is as important as what your story is about. Don’t just read other romance writers if you want to write romance. Read Shakespeare’s Macbeth paying special attention to Lady Macbeth. Read Sarah Addison Allen’s Garden Spells (she reminds me of early Alice Hoffman). Read Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. Read Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. My point is look for quality outside the genre, not because quality can’t be found there (just look at Catherine Coulter, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie, Amanda Quick, and Diana Gabaldon), but because it’s harder separating a writer’s style from the quality of their writing. And this doesn’t just apply to romance, but to all types of books. We’re not looking for pretty words on the page, but sophisticated writing to ensure we care about your characters or your ideas.

I’m not saying the economic downturn is a good thing, but I do see an opportunity for us as writers and writer’s reps (both editors and agents) to improve on our craft for the sake of attracting a new generation of readers (and enticing current and past generations of readers) to fall in love with books as much as we have.

1) Your new book Once Again to Zelda  tells the stories behind famous authors’ book dedications. What made you start paying attention to authors’ dedications?

My interest in dedications was piqued after reading Grace Metallious’ novel Peyton Place. Its dedication was: For George-For all the reasons he knows so well. I was intrigued as to whom George was, and what were “the reasons he knew so well.” When I discovered the answer I found it intriguing. Thus Once Again to Zelda was born.

2) Did you find the stories behind authors’ dedications changing your perceptions of the work itself? The story of Alice and Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), for example, is a wrenching and curious aspect to the whimsy of Alice in Wonderland. Does it change your view of the work?

To a certain extent, knowing the story behind the dedication, the place where the author truly enters the confession, somewhat altered my perception of the literature itself. This held true in Irene Nemirinsky’s (can’t remember the spelling), novel Suite Francaise. The story behind the dedication was so heart wrenching that it makes the  time period about with she writes even more poignant.
In the case where negative facts about the author comes to light as a result of unearthing the story behind the dedication, I tried not to let it tarnish the merit of the book. For example, Alice in Wonderland is one of the most enchanting work  in all of children’s literature. The fact that its author may have had prurient interest’s in little girls’ should not detract from the story itself, in much the same fashion as the sin’s of the father should not be visited on the child.

3) Your dedication for Once Again to Zelda is “To my Js – And to the writers whose fictionalized worlds have forever enriched our own.” Could you explain your own dedication?

4) What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

The best writing advice I ever received is the one that is also the most common: write about what you know. This advice applies to Zelda because it is a merging of literature and history, which have always been my life-long interests.
 

5) In all your research, which was your favorite writer dedication? Fitzgerald’s?

In terms of what was my favorite book, I am tempted to quote Dickens who once wrote, “A good mother loves all her children.” However, that being said, I did love The Great Gatsby-which is why I chose its dedication as my title.

6) You’re a long-time schoolteacher. How has your teaching or your students influenced your writing?

7) Do you have another book in the works?

Because the entire experience of writing Zelda was such a wonderful one, of course I wanted to repeat the positive experience. Subsequently, I am not in the process of writing my second book. Hopefully, history can repeat itself….

8 ) What advice would you give one of your students who hopes to have a writing career?

The advice I give my students when they share with me their future plans, (writing or otherwise) is that dreams don’t just have to be for sleeping…

At the agency we receive a few hundred queries per month. The well written ones stand out from the rest, not because they have a better book to talk about, but because they have a clear presentation of what the book consists of. These queries also are polite, professional and succinct making it difficult to turn them down (as opposed to the ones that ramble or contain the words, “I’ve never written a book before”. We can’t reject those fast enough). Here are a few tips to keep in mind when writing your query letter.

1. Check the agent’s blog or website for the latest submission info. Writer’s market guide books are a great start, but with so many market fluctuations, you want to get the most up-to-date info possible. Check and double check that names are spelled correctly, email addresses are spelled correctly and that the agent you’re querying still works at the agency. On the flipside, don’t email the agency for their query guidelines. Chances are they won’t have the time to return your email and it will languish in their inbox.

2. I received five or six query letters last week where the person said some variation of the following: I have never written a book, but I have always wanted to and there are so many things that I want to write about that have happened to me and my friends. If you give me a chance I can show you everything that I can do and we can work together to make a bestselling book that so many people will want to read. I think this could appeal to all readers since it’s such an interesting story. I guarantee that I haven’t finished reading past the statement, “I’ve never written a book”. If you’ve never written a book, how do you know you have the stamina and discipline to do so? Maybe this person meant they’ve never published a book. That’s fine since all writers have to start from somewhere. But if you’ve never written a book, you’re talking to the wrong person. You would be better off taking a class where you can write a complete book and receive feedback for it.

3. Please don’t mention that your mom/wife/cousin/colleague loved your book unless they have some authority to judge a book. By authority, I mean they are somehow connected to the publishing world. More often than not, you won’t receive objective feedback and criticism for your book. People don’t want to hurt your feelings. But they may be doing more harm than good when they tell you your writing is brilliant. By mentioning this a red warning bell goes off in an agent’s head; the writer sounds like an amateur and probably won’t have what it takes to become a published author.

4. Don’t burn bridges. Not every agent is good at every subject. For example, I don’t think I can tell a brilliant diet book if it smacked me in the face. But I can tell, if an author has great credentials and a wonderful platform, one of my colleagues that they may want to pursue this book. If an author is nasty or hostile after I’ve sent that letter, I don’t care how wonderful your credentials are. I’m not going to recommend that my colleagues pursue the material further because you’re not professional. If you’re willing to fire off an email to a potential agent (arguably your biggest fan and the only consistent person in the book process since editors sometimes move mid-project), then will you do this to an editor who rejects your book? Would you do it to a critic? You want to be known for writing good books, not for throwing tantrums.

Also, there are times when I don’t ”get” a project. That doesn’t mean every project you pitch will be a rejection. I do allow people to pitch their next projects (and sometimes encourage them to do so by asking them specifically to send their next project along) for me to consider and have signed people based on this.

5. Be clear about the type of book you’re writing. This is tricky. Even I have to rethink whether I want to pitch something as a thriller or a mystery and the lines between categories are blurred all of the time. But boil your book down to the barest bones. Is the focus of the story a romance? A mystery? This makes it easier to categorize and this is important for an agent to know where to send your book.

The best advice I can give in terms of your query letter is as follows: spell my name right. Dear Caren, Dear Ms. Johnson, Dear Mrs. Estesen, Dear Ms. Johnson Estesen are all fine. Be clear about what you’re pitching. I would like to share a novel (title here) in the vein of Brideshead Revisited and Atonement. I have a proposal for a biography that looks at the life of the writer Jane Austen. I have a romantic suspense novel in the vein of Karen Rose and Allison Brennan. I have a proposal for a definitive guide to birds in the Northeast. Sum up the book in a paragraph or two, no more. Rambling will lose my interest. (Look on Amazon for great book summaries.) Mention only relevant info in your bio. I’ve published three romantic comedies to date and am looking to move to writing romantic suspense. My articles have appeared in Elle magazine and on Nerve.com. I worked at NASA as a tech writer for five years before pursuing writing romantic suspense. Be patient when waiting for a response. There are days when I’m wonderfully efficient and others when I’m drowning in queries and requested material. Keep in mind that my focus is always on my clients and that I have to fit in reading non-client material as I get the chance. And I if I do send a rejection letter, please keep in mind that it’s not personal. I only take on books that I think I can sell so there are good projects that I have to turn down. But if your project is really good, it will be snapped up by an agent in good time.

This post appeared on Kelsey Timmerman’s blog on October 31st. He’s looking forward to getting plenty of emails as he puts together his book trailer.

Ever been in a book trailer? Do you wanna be?

Email me a short (5-10 seconds) video clip of you checking the tag of your favorite item of clothing and I’ll put you in the trailer.

It should go something like this:

1. Look into the camera and say, “Check the tag”
2. You check the tag on your item of clothing say, “Made in _____”
3. End with “Where are you wearing?”

Or some version of that. Feel free to get creative.

My goal is to have the movie done by early next week, so try to get the clips to me by Tuesday. Email them to Kelsey@travelin-light.com.

November is just around the corner, and as some of you may already know, November is National Novel Writing Month, known in abbreviated lingo as NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is a challenge for writers and non-writers with the goal of ultimately writing a complete novel (175 pages, 50,000 words) in one month, from November 1^st to November 30^th.

Painless? No. Good clean literary fun? Yes.

NaNoWriMo takes a “kamikaze” approach to writing. The minute you sign up on the official website, your sole concern becomes not the quality of your writing, but the quantity. It’s designed for all of you out there who aspire to finish a novel, but find yourselves continually with no time to write, or worse yet, writer’s block. NaNo forces you to sit down and simply write, regardless of what ends up on the page. The fun of it all is by the end of the month, you have a novel sitting in front of you. (A novel to which we recommend doing some thorough revising and editing before submitting your work to an agent. Very thorough.)

Whether you’re interested in entering the contest or not, the NaNoWriMo approach could be a worthwhile one to try. Authors such as Nicholas Sparks (who has surely earned the title of Mr. Impossibly Prolific for producing 14 bestselling novels in 14 years) have revealed that they use similar methods for achieving their writing goals. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sparks said that he sets a daily goal for himself of 2,000 words and then writes for five to six hours a day. Whether this is realistic for your life or not (unlike most of us, he has the luxury of writing being his full-time job), the key is to set measures for yourself for how much writing you want accomplish in one day, then simply sit down and do it. Writing is a discipline, and throwing yourself at the mercy of a daily word goal could be a way to fully commit yourself to it.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what ends up coming out after you’ve achieved your goal, since it can always be edited later, but getting into the habit of writing for an hour every morning before the kids leave for school, or heading to a coffee shop for two hours of writing on Saturday afternoons, could be a great way to battle writer’s block and find time to write with a busy schedule. Trying NaNoWriMo next month could be one way to start!

If you’re interested in signing up or for more information on National Novel Writing Month, visit the official site at www.nanowrimo.org.

     Terri Clark Sleepless

            1)      Your latest novel, Sleepless, is a paranormal YA and you note on your website that you have always been fascinated by the supernatural. What draws you to the unexplained?

            Since I was little I’ve always been drawn to the dark and magical. In kindergarten, while most kids were terrified by ghost stories, I was actively seeking them out. And I’ve always sensed, understood, that people are capable of extraordinary things, whether it’s seeing dead people or knowing something’s going to happen before it actually does. Our minds are amazing and capable of far more than we can imagine. I like to explore stories that go beyond the ordinary, sometimes that means dreamwalkers and psychics, sometimes that means fairies and fangs.

            2)      How does your work as a teen librarian affect your writing sensibility for YA?

            I’m very fortunate because I work with so many great teens and when I write, it’s their faces I envision as my readers. I don’t have an anonymous audience like so many writers do. I’m also inspired on a daily basis by the teens who come in. I get to do character studies and get paid for it! And then, of course, there’s having access to a huge collection of YA fiction right at my fingertips. I read, read, read for both my jobs. Truly, I have the best of both worlds.

3)      Do you feel teens in particular respond especially to the paranormal?

            I really think everyone responds to the paranormal—kids, teens and adults. I’ve certainly seen the speculative collection in my library grow by leaps and bounds for all ages. However, there’s no arguing that teens find it especially appealing. I think that’s, in part, because the main characters in teen paranormals often feel they’re misfits. Take Chloe Saunders in Kelley Armstrong’s The Summoning, Zoey Redbird in P.C. Cast’s House of the Night series or Trinity Michael’s in my book, Sleepless. All three girls feel like they’re outcasts, but once they come to terms with their abilities, with who they are, they not only feel better about themselves, they find they can actually make a difference by embracing the very thing that makes them stand apart. And, really, isn’t that what every teen wants?   

4)      Your first two novels, Sleepless and your novella in the collection Breaking Up is Hard to Do are YA. Would you ever consider writing for adults?

            Absolutely! While I’m passionate about YA, and want to continue writing for teens, I’d very much like to branch out into adult fiction. I’m a HUGE fan of Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison and Rachel Vincent, to name a few. I’d love nothing more than to delve into the adult urban fantasy world.

5)      When you write your novels, do you know where the story is going before you get writing, or do develop the plot as you write?

            I do a little bit of both. I tend to plot out pivotal points and twists along the way, but I leave wiggle room for surprises because I like the feeling of a story that takes on its own life and energy.

6)      You were inspired to write Sleepless after an article in the Denver Post about criminals pretending to be insane. Where else have you found inspiration for your writing?

            I get a lot of nuggets from the newspaper, online stories and the TV news. I keep a file of interesting stories, never knowing when or if one of them will come into play in a book down the line. And sometimes ideas come from daydreaming and letting my imagination run wild. I’m a geeky fangirl of the TV show Supernatural and one day I was thinking how cool it would be if I could do a set visit and then I started playing with the idea that maybe the real life story on set was even more supernatural than the show itself and voila! my next book proposal, Hollyweird, was born. Ideas can come from anywhere at anytime, I just try to keep my mind open to things.   

7)      Do you believe that the technology of today (Internet, iPods, video games, etc.) has had an impact on the number of library-going teens? Have you seen a change in the number or age of patrons since you began working as a librarian?

            Oh, yes! Libraries today are not what they once were. Some people are saddened by that, but the truth is we have to keep up with our fast-paced and ever changing society and meet the needs of what people want now. Once upon a time, libraries were all about books, card files and shhing the least little noise. Not now! We have a huge teen population at my library and every evening our computers upstairs are full because teens are either doing homework, playing video games, listening to music, watching You Tube or My Spacing. We really consider our library to be a strong, safe community center, especially when you add in the great number of teen programs we conduct—book clubs, gaming, classes, etc. We also offer an extra-ordinary amount of children, family, adult and multicultural programs. And lest you think people only come to the library to hang out, let me assure you we’re still the primary source for checking out materials. My library circulates well over 150,000 items a month! And that number is continually growing, especially with the current financial strain everyone finds themselves in.    

8 )      You’re busy promoting Sleepless right now. Are you also working on any upcoming writing projects?

            You bet. I was invited to participate in an anthology BenBella books is doing on Ellen Hopkins and her body of work. My essay tackled the topic of secrets—why we keep them, whether or not we should and if they’re more helpful or harmful. I believe that should be out sometime in 2009.

            I’ve also got a number of proposals I’m working on. The previously mentioned Hollyweird is a tongue-in-cheek poke at Hollywood. It has to do with two teens who win a trip to the set of their favorite show where they learn the hunky hero is actually the son of Satan in real life and the only person who can keep them safe is a fallen angel who is working as his personal assistant.

            I’m also writing another gritty thriller like Sleepless. Dead Ringer is the story of Rain Radcliffe and her fight to survive a battle with her doppelganger, an exact look-alike who’s meant to be a harbinger of death, but instead decides to take over Rain’s life.

            And Regan the Vegan Vampire is what I call my Mean Girls meets Nancy Drew comedy. It’s tough enough being the new girl at Legacy High, but when you’re a vegan vampire obsessed with mysteries, you kinda stand out. Then Regan realizes there’s something really, really wrong with the A-list group of girls who rule the school. It’s physically impossible to be that perfect unless you’re doing something supernatural. Guess it’s up to Regan to figure out what they’re doing and put a stop to it.    

9)      What advice would you give teens who hope to become writers?

First and foremost, read and write. The more you do both, the better you’ll get. I also recommend checking your library for programs. We offer a lot of opportunities for aspiring writers, everything from monthly writing clubs to author visits to programs on voice, poetry, publishing and more. The best thing is they’re free!  And of course, we also have a lot of how to books that can help you develop your craft. Writing is an evolutionary art. Your education as a writer never ends.