The Real Benefits of Working with a Virtual Assistant
May 31st, 2010
By Guest Blogger, Lynda Menegotti
www.InternetMarketingManaged.com
What is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant is an independent contractor that provides professional quality administrative and other specialized services, usually from a remote home office location.
Who Uses Virtual Assistants?
- Authors
- Small Businesses Owners
- Entrepreneurs & Other Professionals
What Types of Services Do Virtual Assistants Provide?
While the services offered vary from virtual assistant to virtual assistant with each having their own unique set of skills and abilities, the following is a brief list of the kinds of services that you can expect to find available:
- PR /Marketing Support (Press Releases, Book Tours, Blog Tours & Speaking Engagements)
- Social Media Management (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Graphic & Website/Blogsite Design
- eNewsletter/Autoresponder Design & Delivery
- Word Processing, Transcription & Data Entry
- Shopping Cart Set-Up & Support
- Affiliate Program Set-Up & Management
- Client Follow-Up & Support (eMail & Phone)
- Audio & Video Editing
What Are the Benefits of Working with a Virtual Assistant?
- You pay only for the time spent “on task” or by project – often saving you money in the long run because you don’t have to pay for things like vacation time or benefits.
- You don’t have to invest in furniture, office equipment, or office space.
- Virtual Assistants often have fairly flexible schedules. This coupled with the fact that you can choose a VA that lives in a different time zone may enable you to work (with your VA) during your “peak performance hours”.
- Virtual Assistants excel at keeping their clients on-track, on-task and working towards their goals.
How Do You Find and Hire the Right Virtual Assistant?
Keep in mind that finding the right virtual assistant is going to mean something different to each person.
Get clear about what you want to delegate. Take the time to think about what tasks and projects you feel you would benefit from delegating to a VA. What jobs are you performing on a regular basis that you seriously dislike? What basic tasks are eating up most of your valuable time but not making you any money? What tasks are you struggling with in terms of motivation, learning curve or perhaps technology issues?
Have fun with this. How often do you get to sit down and make a gigantic list of things you don’t want to do!
Do your homework. Once you have a really clear picture of the kinds of tasks you’d like to start delegating, begin asking trusted friends and colleagues for recommendations. Do they work with a virtual assistant? What sort of tasks does she/he perform for them? Have they had any problems or issues arise?
When speaking with potential virtual assistants always ask for at least three references and samples of their work. Be sure to ask what their hours of operation are, whether they work part-time or full-time, how many clients they’re working with, and whether they work solo or have a team of virtual assistants working with them.
A professional virtual assistant should have a standard contract that outlines hourly rates and payment options, confidentiality, work and product ownership terms, as well as termination procedures.
Top Tips for Ensuring a Happy Working Relationship with Your Virtual Assistant
Tip #1: Be “up front” about your budget.
If your finances allow for only a certain amount of hours be sure to let your VA know so that she/he can keep you updated. Professional virtual assistants are highly efficient and able to get a lot of work done in a very short amount of time, but you don’t want any nasty surprises come invoice time.
Tip #2: Find out what your virtual assistant’s standard operating procedures are.
Many VAs also use project management tools such as Basecamp™ to track projects, deadlines, to do lists, and messages… and clients benefit. How should you assign tasks? How are projects tracked? How will you know when work is complete?
Tip #3: Discuss turn-around time.
Most virtual assistants work from home. They are parents and they likely have more than one client, so don’t expect your work to be completed three hours after you assign it (unless you agree to pay more for rushed work). A 48-hour turn-around time is fairly standard but make sure you ask your virtual assistant in advance.
Tip #4: Find out what emergency procedures your VA has in place.
Unforeseen emergencies are bound to pop up eventually so take the time to confirm how your project will be handled should your virtual assistant be unavailable. What’s the back-up plan?
Tip #5: Consider hiring a virtual assistant that specializes in your industry.
Some VAs are specifically trained to, or have a preference to, work with professionals in one industry or another. Try to find one that specializes in working with authors and speakers so that you can take advantage of her/his experience and the resources she/he may have that are specific to your field.
Tip #6: Think of it as a partnership.
Most virtual assistants get excited about helping their clients succeed. They’re often only too happy to recommend your books, products and services to other clients, thus helping you earn more money.
Lynda Menegotti is the owner of Internet Marketing Managed, a professional virtual assistance and outsourcing firm. She has worked for the past twelve years helping authors, speakers and other entrepreneurs grow their business and their brand through eye-catching design and creative marketing. Lynda specializes in custom blogsite design, social media management, internet radio and doing all of the little things that free YOU up to do what YOU do best.
Why “Get Off Your Knees?”
May 31st, 2010
By Guest Blogger, John Robinson
www.GetOffYourKnees.org
I have been asked in many conversations, “Why did I title my autobiography ‘Get Off Your Knees: A Story of Faith, Courage, and Determination?” I point out – Get Off Your Knees has become my personal mission statement. I was an uninspired young adult in need of motivation, just like many young people today.
In college, one night a woman looked down at me and must’ve thought I was holding up a line we were standing in together. She took a quick glance, looked at the line and took another glance at me and yelled if I get off my knees our line would move a lot faster. It was a funny statement at the time but became much more.
My mission is to stand up to any obstacle in front of me. As a person with a physical disability, a congenital amputee and 3’9″ tall-I am faced with different physical obstacles from most other people. On a daily basis, I’m faced with items I can’t reach, limited mobility, the need for adaptive equipment as well as a society unaccustomed to physically different people. All of these obstacles can seem daunting to outsiders and for a long time to me.
I am proud to say I’ve learned how to overcome obstacles in an able-bodied world. I have developed a good sense of problem solving which has certainly helped in my business career. My problem-solving comes directly from overcoming physical obstacles.
I look around society today and see many challenges for youth. There are bad influences, low employment levels and a general lack of educational interest. Young people need to be inspired through education to find a way through today’s world.
According to the 2009 statewide New York State Education Department report card, the New York State graduation rate for 2008-09 was reported to be 74%. Over one quarter of New York State youth do NOT graduate high school. Within students identifying themselves as having a disability, the graduation rate is a staggering 45%. What an unbelievable problem!
When I speak to students, I see students looking for a path they can follow. They are seeking leadership and inspiration. They want to believe education is important. It is hard to find for students today. If we as adults are troubled by the economy and society, it’s a sure bet that students are as well.
Recently MSNBC highlighted a young woman – Kiera Brinkley – who lost all four limbs due to a blood infection as a child. “She was eager to go to school, ready to try anything,” her mother stated in the article. This is the kind of 
message students – all students – need to hear. It can only help raise the 74% graduation rate to a better percentage!
For me, overcoming obstacles meant getting and using my education. I am proud of what I have learned and hope to continue to share the message with students, educators and businesses. “Get Off Your Knees” has been my mission statement and a positive message to many. I hope it continues to inspire people that we all have the ability to stand up to obstacles in front of us.
To aspiring authors, I urge you to Get Off Your Knees and stand-up to the challenge of telling your story. You are your best motivation and inspiration. There is a world out there ready to share your experiences; all it takes is your effort!
Good luck.
Making Sense of the Author’s Challenge: How to Do It All
May 31st, 2010
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, Radio Show Host of “Your Book Is Your Hook!”
www.YourBookIsYourHook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about what’s stopping you from writing and marketing your book.
I often hear from authors that they just can’t figure out how to do it all: the writing, the marketing, the building of their platform, the online presence, the offline appearances, much less getting published and just getting the book out the door and into the market in the first place.
Too many times, I see authors stop three feet from gold. Even the Chicken Soup for the Soul® guys (Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen) took 18 months to become a bestseller with their first book. They then went on to become Guinness world record holders for multiple millions of books sold.
But it didn’t happen in a day, a week, a month or even a year.
The way to streamline and manage the whole process of getting your book out there is to create an environment of patience, organization, action and results.
Patience is what you need to have in order to take on the challenges of a book. It will come in handy when you are writing it; learning and determining how to market it; submitting queries and proposals and handling rejections from agents and publishers; and while finding the best outlets for your project to shine in.
Organization comes from scheduling your activities so you are not all consumed with your project to the detriment of your business, family and your own personal well-being. It also applies to selecting which activities to do first and understanding what will bear fruit more quickly versus those items that will take more time to blossom into benefits.
Action is implementing and doing what you said you wanted to do. Write the book or copy for your website or your weekly blog articles or your Twitter posts. Create your hooks or your affiliate program and produce your videos. These are the steps that take time and thought to craft yet they must be executed in order to move the project forward.
Results are what come from completing tasks. Whether you hire someone to help you so you have more hands on deck or whether you choose to take it on alone, the only road to results is completing one item at a time.
I always like to say that a book is like a puzzle and must be built one piece at a time.
Take on the challenge, stand up and move ahead on your own game board one simple step at a time.
On your journey, pack lots of patience, persistence, planning and perseverance and I promise you, you’ll make it to the bookseller’s shelf and into the hearts and minds of readers everywhere.
Book Publishing Redux
May 24th, 2010
By Guest Blogger, Peter Rubie, CEO of Fine Print Literary Management
www.fineprintlit.com
Most people reading this essay are no doubt aware of how Google and others are trying to make the world’s literature a digital download away. It’s sobering to consider that the collective written knowledge of western civilization is rapidly heading towards the point where it will not only be accessible at the click of a mouse – it can be deleted with similar ease. Which is why Amazon’s recent spat with Macmillan (the parent publisher of Henry Holt, Farrar Straus & Giroux, St Martin’s Press, Tor and Picador among other imprints) over e-book pricing should sound a warning bell about why the fate of the publishing industry is so important. Are we listening?
If you tried to shop at Amazon, or own a Kindle, for example, you are likely already aware that Amazon arbitrarily barred you from buying Macmillan Group books during this spat, and worse, equally arbitrarily removed some Macmillan books from your Kindle. Without asking. And it’s the second time they’ve done something like this in less than a year.
There are three profound changes sweeping through the publishing industry as the real math of publishing evolves, and no one seems to be talking about two of them explicitly. So here goes:
The first change is one you may have read something about. That is the threat to an author’s paycheck from publishers themselves as e-books become more popular. The one industry that is cited most often as the “look out behind you” model is the music industry. But comparisons between book publishing and the music industry are superficial. For a start, pretty much from its inception the music industry has gone out of its way to screw the artists whose work they put out unless the artist became big enough to bully their way into getting a better deal. Little wonder then, that the advent of the digital music file is returning the music industry to the cottage industry it used to be before the advent of long playing records, when the 78 rpm record and its predecessor the printed sheet of music, are comparable to the single track mp3 file that most music lovers are now gravitating to.
Publishing on the other hand, has always looked after its artists with much greater love and responsibility. The problems in publishing for authors come mainly from inefficiencies and incompetence, brought about mainly by the mashing together of many small businesses into global companies. These corporations try, but can barely keep a handle on what they are currently producing, let alone keep track of the details of the 20 year old inventory of publisher x they acquired 10 years ago, especially if they fired all the staff from that company who might have had first-hand knowledge of that inventory.
The second change, following on from this, concerns the publishing industry’s enormous confusion and dismay at how to embrace its evolution from 19th century factories, creating and selling literature in concrete ink on paper formats, into 21st century repositories of literature where books will be ephemerally digital and accessible in a variety of ways.
In the factory model, the physical back list of a publisher’s titles was its economic backbone. Nevertheless, once a book’s ability to sell waned the rights to that book were returned to the creator, often within 5 years of its publication. The author could then seek a new publisher, self publish, revise the book, or do what they would with their book. Nowadays, publishers believe that digitization gives them carte blanche to own the license on that book forever, regardless of how many copies that book continues to sell.
They argue, in effect, that in the digital age, a license to publish gives them the rights to an author’s book in perpetuity, and authors should be grateful for this. They conveniently ignore that claiming a book is still “in print” when the only version available is a digital one can cripple an author’s sales record and ultimately their career. (“I’m sorry,” agents hear all the time, “I’d love to publish this writer but his books don’t sell.”)
The third change reshaping the industry is the evolving nature of booksellers, a group who has remained remarkably silent during current discussions on e-publishing. Whether that’s through deliberate choice, or shell shock at the speed technology is apparently making them redundant is hard to tell. But booksellers are going to have to completely re-conceive themselves. Up to now, they have been opinionated retailers, hand selling books as if they are beloved cans of soup. (“I can highly recommend THAT brand of pea soup, eaten it myself and thoroughly enjoyed it.”)
Booksellers must embrace the fact that they are becoming more service industry than retailer. The most obvious sign of this evolution is Macmillan’s decision to start selling e-books on what is being called the “Agency model.” (This was the root of the spat with Amazon.) This arcane term means, in effect, that in the broadest of math instead of a bookstore paying Random House $14 for a $25 book, and pocketing the $11 difference as profit, they will act as agents for the publisher selling a $25 e-book for a 30% commission, making approx., $7.50 on the sale.
If publishers start trying to bully authors out of a fair share of the earnings from digital books because they are clinging to outmoded 19th century business models and quietly panicking as a result, or because their corporate masters see taking advantage of an author as an easy way to bolster their bottom line as the back list loses some of its value, then authors are inevitably going to start acting like musicians. They will rebel and start their own companies and this will be publishing’s loss in more ways than just financial.
Despite all the “indie” flavored “publish it yourself” articles to the contrary, the majority of authors need the imprimatur and professionalism that publishers bring to the process, as much as publishers need the talent and professionalism of that rarest of creatures, the writer of good fiction.
So for everyone’s sake, stop pleading poverty to writers, it’s a bit like the old Yiddish joke about the kid who kills his parents, then pleads for leniency on the grounds that he’s an orphan. Once the costs of the e-book have earned out, share the profits fairly with authors and move an author’s royalty share to at least 50/50. Not to do so will inevitably mean that publishers will help establish an author only to lose him or her to that author’s indie publishing company. And then where will we be?
Peter Rubie is a published author and former editor, who is currently the CEO of FinePrint Literary Management, a literary agency based in New York City.
The Key to Multiple Genres, Audiences & Buyers
May 24th, 2010
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, Host of “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Radio Show
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about the genres of your book.
Oftentimes a book fits into more than one genre and category. In fact, when submitting your book to an agent or publisher, they’ll often ask for what genre you feel your book best fits into and then some alternative options for it as well.
Some genres can cover more than one area or category – such as the narrative non-fiction book, a novel of true events. How funny it is that this category, albeit more challenging to write and write well, is often cloaked in the categories and genres of memoir, true crime, travel or other better known bookshelves at the bookseller.
If you look for the narrative non-fiction shelf though, you won’t find it as it doesn’t exist. But the style and presentation of the book clearly does. Just take the well-known books Seabiscuit or Black Hawk Down as examples.
Other categories that often double for your book may be a gift book or a self-help and relationship book and of course there are many others.
To categorize your book and determine what genres it may fit into, simply take a trip to the bookstore – either online from the comfort of your own home or get out and about and pay a visit to your favorite local bookseller. Walk the aisles and search for the categories that you feel best suit your book project. Then pick up a few books that would be found in the same section and on the same shelf. Turn each one over and check out the other categories listed for them. Perhaps the other genres they’re in just might apply to yours.
A book project is organic – and so is the process to categorize it.
An easy way to express your genre is to make a simple hook for your book – like taking two well-recognized titles and stringing them together. A great example of this is when Sesame Street® meets Rachel Ray’s Book of 10: More Than 300 Recipes to Cook Every Day, you get Hungry Girl 1-2-3: The Easiest, Most Delicious, Guilt-Free Recipes on the Planet.
Your book has its own hook. Use the hook to categorize your book and open up a world of multiple perspectives, genres, audiences and buyers for it.
Making the Perfect Pitch
May 17th, 2010
By Guest Blogger, Katharine Sands, Sarah Jane Freymann Agency
www.sarahjanefreymann.com
Pitching in a nutshell is about finding the right words and getting the right person to read them. Often referred to as the elevator pitch, the term has two meanings: 1) You might be on the elevator and happen to meet an agent (or producer) so you want to have your pitch perfected. 2) You have something to say that gets you a “yes” and “the yes might mean to read you, or to be given a card and an invitation to follow-up – accomplished in the time in takes to ride the elevator. Whether you are in an elevator, at a dinner party, at a writers’ conference, it also means be energetic, dynamic, hurry up and get to the point. The best pitches give off sparks, create a moment, or pose a provocative question, just to give a taste of the project. In my book, Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye, my colleague, Sarah Jane Freymann says “If you are able to sum up your entire book with a title or one-line description, that’s gold.”
Why is pitching your work so important? Because whether it is for nonfiction, boomer or chick or hen non-fic, reality fiction, faction, nonfiction, stunt memoir, creative memoir, fratire or femoir… it’s the pitch and nothing but the pitch that gets an agent’s attention.
Yes, agents are looking to connect with your work. We read to zero in on the Zeitgeist, seek sales engines and to identify the salient points for the primary audience, the ideal, intended audience, be engaged by the all-important voice and to determine the answer to two pressing questions: Why you? Why now? We deconstruct pitches with the precision of surgeons. We are looking to diagnose the project, and to make a prognosis for the author’s potential …we can only take in elements, spoonfuls of information. A pitch is not the beginning of your book, it is the introduction to your potential as an author.
Many nonfiction writers and other kinds of professionals wonder why there is such a relentless emphasis on platforming a book…
Why?
Publishers need to know from the get-go why your book appeals to readers and how much built-in media interest the book has; the biggest buzzword in the media and publishing world is “platform.”
The industry is very much in transition. LA-based agents have taken the term literary manager to cover the new roles agents play. Agents are acting, in effect, as producers, and taking a more hands-on role in developing an author for the media, and in developing the author’s brand. And agents source talent everywhere…I have contacted writers based on reading airline magazines, bloggers, ad campaigns, brochures and twitterati. Today content from a book is used online, in podcasts, in products, in digital media….from the agent’s point of view, it helps to proudly introduce a client with an e-mail of the author-to-be on YouTube or with accompanying footage demonstrating the expertise of the potential author…footage showing the author in action makes a huge difference in breaking in a new writer. I like to stress how the author will succeed with their book through promotional possibilities and personality. Today we want a full package — writing talent plus promotional efforts. Agents are looking for people who can shine in the spotlight…not slink in the shadows…
The guiding principle is to remember that agents are looking first for a reason to keep reading, then for a reason to represent you…you want your pitch to give crystal clear answers – fast.
Your Query Letter
Imagine you are Atticus Finch arguing for the life of an innocent. Because you are. From the agent’s point of view, your query letter is a plea for life. To get an agent to read past the first few paragraphs your letter must really hit home. A perfect pitch is one that shows talent and content and quality and ingredient X.
What would you say if you were on Oprah? What would you want your listeners, your readers to know about your work? It is always best to lead with strongest points first. Imagine you have five minutes on TV to talk about your book — what are the most engaging, intriguing, seductive or powerful messages or narrative arcs you want to get across?
For a narrative or memoir, think of your pitch as a movie trailer—imagine your setting, your world, your universe for someone who has not lived in it before. You, the writer, are a camera. Put the camera on you, but so we can see…Have you told a story arc? “It starts here, ends there.” A book is a ride, and memoir needs to read as compellingly as fiction.
There is a golden rule in pitching: Show, Don’t Tell. When you hold out a promise to a reader…you want to use the pitch to deliver enough of the flavor of the book to whet the reader’s appetite for more…
Remember your book is on trial. Indeed, an acquisitions editorial meeting is a trial for life for your work. Offer evidence, statistics, sources of recent articles? Point out why readers want this book. Argue your case. What are the benefits or insights or experiences or observations for the reader? What do I do differently after I read your book, what would I not understand or figure out without you? You compete with all of the other information sources: the Internet, other authors, sources and literati.
Many nonfiction writers consider self-publishing. Self-publishing works for you some ways, but against you in others. If you have a means of promoting and selling your book through your own marketing efforts you might accrue numbers of books sold (and better profits than being published by a trade publisher). You might be reviewed, get media attention and so on. If you show a strong track record, a larger entity might want to take the project to the next level, and re-publish, or distribute the book. And, also, the book will quite possibly be the text exactly as you wrote it, no editorial changes whatsoever (which appeals to some authors). Less successful is self-publishing and then shopping the book to agents…because several things kick in 1) Your ISBN# and sales record are tracked, the numbers will not be as high as a leading publisher would like to see. 2) A book from 2002 looks like what the Japanese call “old cake”. It does not look as fresh or current as it might have done five years ago. 3) I presume 58 agents have declined the project prior to self-publishing. Even though we know it may well be untrue, this is a pop-up thought in an agent’s mind. 4) Part of an agent’s job is to locate and secure a publishing contract which always includes the copyright clause. If you have obtained a copyright and ISBN# it signals you might be very difficult to work with – apropos the agency input and the editor’s suggestions which would change the text necessitating a second copyright. We cherry-pick our clients, and want things to progress smoothly and happily for all parties. The previously self-published client brings many complexities to the table, and might prefer to be in complete charge of their book, which self-publishing offers.
To become a full-time nonfiction author consider the following:
1) Authors are paid a book advance by publishers.
Money due from your publishing contract – advanced to you from the ‘book’s bank account’ the publisher sets up for you (called the advance against royalties) – will be paid to you in two or three payments, possibly with the last third on publication. If anything comes up such as a change in delivery date or cataloging the title, your expected advance payment (which you have actually earned) may be delayed.
2) Authors earn royalties
Royalties are paid out twice yearly. If your advance is modest you will expect to earn your income when the book is in royalty. This may take longer than you’d like. It may take time to create buzz, build your author platform, and generate word-of-mouth marketing before you see the title perform.
3) Book sales are unpredictable.
Your book advance will be based on the profit and loss tabulations, research, surveys, bookspan searches that are used to guestimate what the book will earn. If the book advance (or printing) exceeds the sales – no matter how many copies are sold, no matter how well reviewed – the book costs the publisher, and impacts your ability to publish future works.
4) Today’s publishers want author buy-back commitments.
Authors who buy and sell copies of their books outside of trade channels, through grassroots efforts, websites, professional organizations, specialty and retail catalogs, or corporate gifts as deep discount copies for example, are increasingly important to publishers. This can mean investing personal monies up front before recouping through sales of the book.
5) Your author income is separate from your writing dreams.
Income that allows you to quit your day job may come in unexpected and circuitous ways, not the way you anticipated. You may find yourself giving workshops and seminars, participating in readings or academic panels. Many authors are asked to teach, and find new careers in academe. Authors often become go-to girls or go-to guys as talking heads or media experts. A mistake I see authors make is to invest only in The Big Book. Other writing outlets will serve to develop you as a writer and build your platform as an author too.
A literary agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, Katharine has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books.
She represents a wide range of authors in a broad range of categories: She has handled projects for a wide range of clients who publish a diverse array of books. Nonfiction highlights include: The SAT Word Slam; Taxpertise: Dirty Little Secrets the IRS Doesn’t Want You to Know; The House Handbook; Hands Off My Belly: The Pregnant Woman’s Guide to Myths, Mothers and Moods, The Complete Book of Teenage Plastic Surgery by Dr. Frederick Lukash, XTC: SongStories; Under the Hula Moon (as co-agent); The Tao of Beauty: Chinese Herbal Secrets to Looking Good and Feeling Great by Ford model Helen Lee; Make Up. Don’t Break Up by five-time Oprah guest Dr. Bonnie Eaker Weil, Give Me That Online Religion by Dr. Brenda Brasher; Elvis and You: Your Guide to the Pleasures of Being an Elvis Fan; The New Low-Country Cooking by Chef Marvin Woods, The Complete Book on International Adoption: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Your Child by Dawn Davenport; CityTripping: a Guide for Nighthawks, Foodies, Culture Vultures, Fashion Fetishist, and the Generally Style-Obsessed by Tom Dolby, among many others.
She is the agent provocateur of Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye,
a collection of pitching wisdom from leading literary agents. Actively building her client list, she likes books that have a clear benefit for readers’ lives in categories of food, travel, lifestyle, home arts, beauty, wisdom, relationships, parenting, and fresh looks which might be at issues, life challenges or popular culture. For compelling reads in faction, memoir and femoir, she like to be transported to a world rarely or newly observed; for fiction, she wants to be compelled and propelled…
“When writers ask me what I might be looking for in a client I always say ‘fire in the belly’ because as a writer you must always be an impassioned ambassador for your book. To succeed as an author you must find it joyful to share your work with potential readers. It’s comparable to running for office; you must ask for their votes. Today’s authors need marketing moxie more than ever before.”
“How did I choose this career? Well, here is a a vivid moment for me: I went to hippie school in Greenwich Village…(we really did sit cross-legged and sing kumbaya)…and one day the third-grade teacher singled me out, and asked me to read my story aloud to the entire class. From that day to this I have believed creativity and expressiveness are the most exciting things. . .especially when shared.”
Why Literary Agents Are So Picky
May 17th, 2010
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, show host, “Your Book Is Your Hook!”
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about why literary agents are so picky and what you need to know to be ready to work with them.
Literary agents are a wonderful breed. Smart, funny and very much fans of good books and great writing. Whether their focus is on fiction, young adult, health, relationships, romance, children’s or another genre, they are truly dedicated to the proliferation of the publishing of good books.
Oftentimes, authors are confused by agents. They may meet them at an industry conference, pitch their book idea and then be told to follow up with their materials – only to then be rejected and told that the person cannot represent their book.
Some authors take it personally and stop submitting their work. Others continue on and submit to other agents.
Here’s what you don’t know about agents and some myth-busting about this rare breed:
- Not every agent is good for your book. Every agent doesn’t necessarily work with your genre. Some are willing to look at multiple types of books and others specialize. Some agents work in an agency where if it is not their particular genre of choice, they can share it with another agent in the agency. Others work on their own in their own offices and have a preferred genre that they enjoy working with. Some only want books that can be made into films. Others want only cookbooks or health books or really outrageous science fiction or fantasy. Understand that agents come in all shapes, sizes, flavors and genres. Find out what they want to represent so you can determine which ones are right for your book.
- Agents don’t like writing rejection letters. Just like you don’t like getting them, agents don’t like writing them. In fact, if they spent all their time writing each author a fulfilling rejection letter and explaining in detail why their book was rejected and what they could do to improve it, they would probably be out of business because they’d spend all their time writing these instead of representing the authors they have chosen to work with. Many agents now defer to saying that if you haven’t heard from them within a certain period of time, they are not interested. Others will write you a rejection letter – and some are easier to swallow than others.
- They need to earn a living too. Just like the author who wants to get an advance, an agent must be selective about who they want to represent. Their choices are based on books they feel confident that they can properly represent and ultimately get published. This IS how they get paid – when the book is published. Their investment of time, energy and effort in an author’s project is immense. They too need to have an income that they can count on. Like you, their income is based on the choices they make. They even have strict industry guidelines that they have to follow in order to make a living being an agent for you.
- They’re not going to do it for you. So come prepared. Agents do not have time to make your proposal better, improve your marketing and promotional plan (or dream one up) or to tweak your manuscript. They can give you input and direction; however, you as the author must do the work upfront. The best time and approach to agents is when you have everything completed, polished and ready to go. Then be prepared to be coachable. Don’t take anything the agent says personally. They are merely preparing the work you’ve written to be even more attractive to a publisher. Be ready to work with the agent to make the appropriate adjustments so they can move the project forward more quickly. This is easier for an agent to work with – and a much faster route to getting you published.
- It’s not about you. It’s about them. Agents select projects they like, enjoy reading and feel will sell well. They know the publishers and have developed their relationships with them so they can ultimately guide your project into the right hands and publishing house. This is one of the biggest reasons to work with an agent.
- Although an agent is your advocate, be your own advocate first. Too often I see authors take an agent’s word as gospel. Their project sits for too long and they can’t understand why it’s not getting shared with publishers and moving forward on its publishing path. As an author, ask questions. Understand what’s happening in your agent’s office and with his or her time. Inquire about how much attention your book is really being given and what you can do to improve its chances and the agent’s interest in moving it forward.
If you are dissatisfied, then consider moving on to another agent. Be sure to read and understand any representation contract you sign so you know what you have legally agreed to when you signed on the dotted line to have an agent represent you. Before moving on, be certain that you have cooperated and completed the tasks that the agent has asked of you. Move on for the right reasons. It happens. Do it responsibly.
An agent is only as good as the author. When the author is willing to work with the agent, take direction and be coachable, then the agent has a greater chance at crafting the final package to take to the publishers that they feel will work best for the author.
An author and an agent are a team. Be a major league player and work in the spirit of collaboration. This ultimately will speed up your journey to getting published and make for a long-lasting, profitable relationship with your agent.
And that is the way everyone wins.
