Chris Richman Agent at Upstart Crow Literary

Hi guys - I'm back and looking forward to connecting with everyone again.

Who ever comments this week will be entered into a HUGE ARC drawing contest. Just to say Happy New year!

I have done a few conferences with Chris now and I adore him. He's as funny as he is smart. And he knows books. Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Stearns as well. Enjoy!

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Hi Chris. Happy New Year! For those who don't know you, tell us about yourself as an agent.

I’m an agent at Upstart Crow Literary, focusing exclusively on books for middle grade and young adult audiences. I consider myself extremely picky with the material I take on, but this selectiveness allows me to have more time to spend on my small list of clients. I guess I fill a few different roles as an agent: I’m a cheerleader (I spread the word about the book and cheer it on), an editor (I typically work with writers on revisions before sending a project out), and a big brother (I offer advice and act as the author’s protector when things get tough, fighting the battles so the author can focus on the writing).

I love that you help in the editorial process. How do you support your authors in their marketing efforts? What do you feel is most important in promoting books? What doesn't seem to work?

I tend to support my authors’ marketing in two ways: the first is by acting as a sounding board. While I don’t actively go out and pursue marketing opportunities for them, I typically discuss their ideas for independent marketing, and weigh in on what I think is worthwhile and what isn’t. I’ll offer advice based on what I’ve seen work in the past and will sometimes brainstorm ideas. I’ve even sat in on marketing meetings with publishers. The second is by acting as the aforementioned cheerleader. I talk up my clients’ books on Twitter, Facebook, at conferences (sometimes I will mention the projects I work on in speeches and request that the booksellers carry copies), and everywhere else people will listen.

The most important elements in promoting a book, especially for debut writers, is to make sure an author is making personal connections. Whether it’s with booksellers, or parents, or with other writers, it’s definitely helpful when an author is more than merely a name on the spine of a book. There’s a difference between someone saying “Here’s a book by Joe Smith. Never heard of him” and “Oh, I remember meeting Joe Smith! He came into the store and was so friendly” or “I met Joe at a conference.” The truth is, if you don’t have a big marketing effort put forth by the publisher, there’s a strong chance people won’t know who you are when you’re a debut. And with the internet, it doesn’t always have to be in person. Twitter, Facebook, and email an allow a writer to connect with people directly. People just have to remember that they’re competing with loads of people for this same space, which is why occasionally thinking outside of the box for unique marketing opportunities can be important, too.

What doesn’t seem to work is when an author tries to force things, or steps too far outside what they’re comfortable with. Do what comes naturally—if you’re not a people person, and the idea of approaching a bookseller to talk about your forthcoming work terrifies you, stick to what works for you.

What do you (agents) go through during submission time? We hear about the angst with writers, do agents have the same feeling?

We definitely get affected by the ups and downs of the submission process, but probably not nearly as much as writers do. After all, this is what we do for a living, and the longer we’re an agent, the more times we go through the process, whereas it will be the first time for many writers. Plus, although we have a personal stake in the success of each project, we’re less apt to take responses personally, since we weren’t the driving force behind the creation of projects. It helps, too, to approach it as a business.

Yes, we’re invested in the stories and the writers who craft them, but we also know it’s professional. Sometimes writers can lose sight of that. With that being said, there’s definitely a level of anxiousness that comes from going out with a new project, and excitement when we find a great home for a story.

What is the most exciting part of acquiring a book? What is the hardest part about wanting a book?
Because acquiring a single book is only the first step in what will hopefully be a long relationship, what’s most exciting isn’t the book itself, but everything that comes after, from more books, to eventual sales, to a long and fruitful career. First time writers often focus so much on getting an agent as this momentous goal, but from our side, it’s just the beginning.

The hardest part about wanting a book is knowing that, with the growing number of agents out there, there’s a good chance we’ll be in for a dog fight. Part of the reason I’ve become more and more picky as I’ve gone along is to make sure that a writer knows I’m very serious when I do make an offer to represent a project. Hopefully that works in my favor!

What are you looking for? What are you seeing too much of?
At the moment, I’m really interested in books that feel classic. I’ve sold a fair number of contemporary stories recently both in YA and middle grade, which is great, but I’d like more books like Jacqueline West’s THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE series that feel like they could have have been published 25 years ago, or 25 years from now. Books that have a timeless quality about them, so they’re still relevant going forward.

I see too much of writers obviously trying to chase trends. Trends are difficult to predict, but often times if people are noticing trends on the bookshelves, like angels or dystopians or whatever, there’s a good chance the trend is already on its way out. Plus, it’ll likely be two years before your book hits the shelves anyway, which means you could now be several years behind the trend.

I prefer writers to focus on writing the best book they can. And then send it to me!

NOTE: Get your queries ready because Upstart Crow is reopening to submissions from on 23 January 2011.

Comment this week and I will do a drawing for 20 different Arcs on Friday!

Marvelous Marketer: Michael Stearns (Upstart Crow Literary)

Hi Michael! Thanks so much for taking time away from your new agency to visit us. First, tell me a little about yourself.

I sort of talked my way into my first publishing job when I was just out of college. An assistant in the children’s books division at Harcourt in San Diego went off on maternity leave, and they needed someone for six weeks. I had no editorial experience—I was a film school graduate who had, at the time, been painting houses for under-the-table money with a crew of illegals. I figured, “Children’s books? Easy!” and wrote a cocky letter that assumed I would be hired. To my eternal surprise, I was hired, despite the letter. I learned very quickly how difficult it can be to publish good children’s books. They kept me around, and eventually I worked my way up and into various director positions there and at Harper Collins before going into the agenting side of things about eighteen months ago. And ten weeks ago, I launched my own agency, Upstart Crow Literary, and we (myself, Chris Richman, Danielle Chiotti, and Ted Malawer) are off to a grand start.


Does your agency have a website/blog?

We have a website and embedded within it, a blog, and both launched at the same time—roughly the end of the first week in August. I do the small work of editing the site when necessary (rewriting copy, such as the landing page letter and the copy in the ticker box), and for bigger overhauls, I have a crackerjack designer I work with, Symon Chow, who has a real genius for creating beautiful things. Right now he is overhauling our author page, because with the addition of Ted and Danielle’s clients, our author list has more than doubled.

My intention is for us to post something to the blog every day—sometimes silly, other times heady, but usually book-and-writing-oriented—because I feel it’s important to be part of an ongoing dialogue with people in the field. Not just would-be clients, but our clients and other writer friends who share a passion for good books and writing. It’s fun.


In your opinion , what are the top 3 things every author should and must do to promote their book?

Having a website is pretty much standard and the least you can do. If someone is interested in you or your work, they will go to the web, and better if you can control the story of what they read there. Building a site isn’t hard at all, but if that isn’t your bag, you can probably find someone to do it for you. As for blogs, they are a fine idea if you remain true to the blog. It can be hard to post everyday, but if your content is not to grow stale, daily posting is pretty necessary, else the blog becomes a bit of a graveyard, something people find in a search and blow the dust off of before moving off and never coming back. Probably the best thing I’ve seen in recent years are the ways groups of debut authors have banded together to promote together the publications of their books. One new author is only of passing interest, but a clutch of them together? Well, that is the sort of thing that might fill a bookstore for a signing. Or be attractive to groups who are looking for speakers.


What things do Publishers expect in terms of Marketing?What does the average author receive or is it different, depending on the book?

The marketing provided by the publisher varies depending upon many factors—the perceived “size” of the book; the response of accounts to the book (many “big” books became less so when booksellers hated the finished product); the author’s track record; the possibility that a book may hook into some zeitgeisty movement or moment or holiday season or what-have-you. There’s a bitterly funny piece in this week’s New Yorker mocking how very feeble some publishing marketing campaigns are, but really, it’s not nearly that bad.

There is a base of support that every book gets. Review copies sent to all the major journals and magazines and television and radio stations who care about books. This is done pro forma, boxes loaded up and sent away. I can only imagine what the offices of these places look like during high season. For some books that inspire special passions, the publicist will call and pitch the title specifically. But getting that kind of dedicated publicity push is rare, because it is time-consuming and expensive. When a book seems to be gaining momentum (starred reviews, impassioned pitches from readers, whatever), publishers often will chase that book with more promotion, to try and get something bigger to happen.

We saw that happen this spring and summer with Rebecca Stead’s amazing When You Reach Me, which is the definition of a grassroots campaign. That book hit the bestseller lists, and it did it because people loved it. Not because there were commercials or subway ads or previews at movie theaters or book trailers or any such folderol. It was about love. The editor and many people in the house sent out galleys with personal letters, or pushed them on readers personally, and readers really responded. And word of mouth carried it up the lists.

Anymore these days, that’s the surest way to market effectively: Do what you can to create positive word-of-mouth. Can you get galleys to big-mouth reviewers and bloggers? Can you get people to talk about your book? What can you do to get people to read and discuss your book?


What things do you expect an author to do on their own?

A website, but more importantly, to be available, and to have extra content available, and to make yourself a presence on the web and thereby in the world. Michael Grant reads and responds to every review a kid posts of GONE on Goodreads, even if just to click that he read and liked it. That matters. Those readers feel connected—even a tiny bit—to the author, and that will help future books in the series and in generating that word-of-mouth.

I also like authors who have “extras” on their sites, like the director’s supplements on special edition DVDs. I love seeing those scenes that got cut or revised for whatever reason. Yes, it may destroy the fictive dream of the book. But if it is something that someone somewhere may link to, it helps keep your book in a possible reader’s mind.

Corey Doctorow gave away Little Brother online for those who were interested in reading it for free. That is kind of awesome. He wrote something to the effect that his worry isn’t internet piracy of his books, his worry is not being noticed at all. It’s a noisy world out there, and having your audience hear of your book and become interested in reading it is the big challenge.


When evaluating whether to take on an author or book, do you ever google them to see if they already have a web presence or platform?

Do I Google new authors? Sure. Am I looking for the oft-bandied-about-but-never-adequately-defined-buzzword “platform”? God, no. I wouldn’t know a platform if I saw it. Unless you have some renown in another field that will get you coverage and attention “off the book page”—you are a famous chef, say, or a star of The Hills, or the President’s go-to person on education, or whatever)—I am skeptical of self-created platforms. People ask me about this at conferences—”Should I have my platform finished?” “Would you like to know my platform?” But most days, the only platforms that concern me are the ones I can dance on.

Seriously, in web searches I look to see what I can learn about the author—crazy as a soup sandwich? (as Harlan Ellison might say); secret author of porn?; star of her own reality television series? It’s all part of the research to see who I am dealing with. As for “platforms,” If the core audience for your platform is 500 people who read your blog, that’s great but hardly something that will sell a books. If your core audience is, however, five million, then that’s something else entirely.

Be engaged, certainly. But don’t mistake the cart for the horse.

I’m interested in books first and foremost.

Thanks for joining us today!

Thanks Shelli!

SCBWI Midsouth Conference (Part 1 of 2)

This weekend, I am at the Midsouth conference. It is amazing as most conferences are. Here are some of the things I took away from today:

Caroline Cooney - tips on writing character and great stories

• character has to be sympathetic
• characters without friends - know that emotion takes over the plot line
• adults have the habit of taking over action
• must make the logical thing illogical to do
• if you have a conflict - you must know what emotion it is attached to
• every conflict you create takes away from something - be sure it does not take away from main plot line
• If you are stalled - visualize a scene as if on stage as a film director - what do you see, where are you, who is with you
• stay alert to ideas around you and how you can transform the into books
• names matter - cannot have similar names
• action story - needs to have a deadline in the story
• speed counts - learn to write fast
• first draft are always bad
• 3rd person is always better than 3rd person and present tense
• you can do anything for 15 minutes - force yourself to to write, set a time, take paper and pen with you so you utilize every minute. don't wait to get in front of your computer
• books are like pottery - some come out misshaped, some cracked, luckily with books, you can always reshape them

Chris Richman (Upstart Crow Agency) - the agent relationship

A great agent:

• shares your writing
• are the gateway to editors - trust yours will do the right thing
• control the money - editors pay agents who take their royalty and then pay you
• should beleve in your work wholeheartedly
• looks for more than just a sale, looks at your career, writing style
• keeps in contact and keeps you up to date
• know trends
• knows what editors are looking for
• buffer between writer and editor - good news comes from author, bad news comes from agent
• tries to sell your work
• should not charge a reading fee
  

Some agents don't like to tell writers where they are subbing until the book is out. they know the editors and have built relationships. If you take on an agent, you need to trust they are on same page as you and are doing the right thing

ask your agent...

• what is your percentage?
• do you revise? if so how much? what about for this book?
• how many clients do you have?
• Can you speak to any of their clients?
• what genres do you rep?
• who will you sub to?
• where do you see my career?

The original excitement can wane. If things go bad, talk it out first. give your agent a chance to improve before you dump them.

Q&A

• you do not want more than one agent unless you need one for a different genre outside children's.
• when i revise, i need to get the book to a point where I think it will sell. that does not necessarily mean perfect
• some agents are becoming more promotional b/c money for marketing is dwindling

Tomorrow I will post some key takeways from the amazing Cheryl Klien and Caroline Cooney's writing activity.