The more things change

Agenting (again)

Hello all! I’m getting a very rewarding influx of new readers who have followed me from the LDLA website - hello, and welcome!

I’ve had the chance this week to really dig into my queries, which has been a fun way to spend time. It’s amazing how little has changed in the last four years—writers are still coming up with wacky ideas and writing books about angels, and there are some projects I ended up requesting that sound really fabulous. It got me thinking about other things that have changed in the years I’ve been industry-adjacent: Romantasy is a thing now, whereas before, selling a book with some tasteful on-page canoodling set in a fantasy world might have been a harder go. (Not for Frozen Crown, though—that book rules, and sold ina two-book deal!) You can publish some truly bonkers stuff, too— I had lunch a couple of weeks ago with an editor at Orbit, who picked up a book called That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon. (Did I buy it? Yes I did. With a title like that, how could I not?)

Publishing is cyclical, so I’m sure in another ten years the romantasy genre will be out, and something else will be in, like cyber-erotica. I guess the only constant in the industry is change—change, and the fact that passionate people will always try to bring books they love to the world.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

I’m about to query agents for the first time, and I’m wondering about the pros and cons of different approaches: Should I think about it like applying to colleges, with a couple of reaches, a couple of safeties, and a couple in the middle? Should I follow a friend’s example and play the numbers game, submitting to 100 agents at once? There’s one agent I greatly admire who once said she liked my synopsis at an agent event and said to submit—since she’s my number-one choice should I submit to her alone first? How long should you wait if an agent doesn’t specify how long till no response means no?

-Anonymous in Seattle

Good question! I’m in favor of casting a fairly wide net, but not too wide. First, a large round of 10ish agents will encompass your top choices and your secondary choices, as well as particular favorites like the agent who asked you to submit. Second, if you cast it too wide, and include agents that you’re on the fence about, if one of those “meh” agents offers before the others, you may find yourself in possession of an offer you aren’t particularly excited about and not a lot of leverage. With regards to giving an agent exclusivity—I wouldn’t, just because that puts a pressure on the interaciton that doesn’t need to be there. A simple inclusion of “We met at X, you liked my synopsis and told me to submit” will be fine!

As for how long you should wait, you should always follow up. Especially if you have an offer in hand, letting other agents know that you have received an offer is not only a courtesy, but could land you with more options than you had before. It also prevents sour grapes; I can’t tell you the number of times I’d reach out to request pages only to learn that the person had signed with an agent weeks before. Yes, we’re slow—but if you keep us posted, we can move quickly if you have an offer!

Definitely also utilize tools like Query Tracker to see the average response time of the folks you’re querying. I’m using QueryManager (the agent side of Query Tracker) for the first time in my new position, and I love it—it’s very responsive and tells me if an author has received an offer, as well as giving me helpful statistics on how long it’s taking me to respond to things.

Hope this helps! Good luck with querying! May the odds be ever in your favor etc.

Got a question about books, writing, or the industry? Want me to address something specific? Fill out this google form, or leave it as a comment on the newsletter!

WHAT I’M READING

I’m dog sitting this week, so I only brought one book with me - Esther Yi’s deeply weird novel Y/N, about a disaffected woman living in Germany who becomes obsessed with the youngest member of a Korean boy band. I found it very hard going at first—the narrator is somewaht deliberately off-putting, but once she commits to her devotion to Moon (the idol) and flies to Korea, the story really takes off. I found myself underlining things last night as I was reading, finding turns of phrase so delightful that I wanted to keep them:

“I’m going to the theater,” I said.
”Are you meeting someone you love? Is he waiting for you?” she asked breathlessly, her tone hard and relentless. “For the rest of the way, will you press your hand against your hear tto feel it burn in anticipation?”
Moon was never waiting for me. He couldn’t wait for someone he didn’t know. It now seemed like such a gift, to be waited for, that I couldn’t believe there had ever been people who’d waited for me, at the corner of this street at that hour, among all the probable streets and times in the world.

It’s more literary than I normally go for but now that I’m about halfway through I’m really enjoying it!

THIS WEEK IN HOCKEY BASEBALL

I didn’t think it could, but somehow the “Shohei Ohtani’s translator’s gambling addiction” story has gotten worse, as this week the FBI pressed bank fraud charges against Ippei Mizuhara.

With Mizuhara allegedly in control of Ohtani’s finances, the indictment states that Mizuhara placed a staggering amount of bets with the player’s money. Between December 2021 and January 2024, prosecutors allege that he placed around 19,000 bets, winning over $142 million and losing around $183 million — for a total loss of around $41 million.

He was able to do this because he helped set up Ohtani’s bank account when he came to the States! He locked Ohtani’s accountant out of the account! This is so bad! Honestly, after Mizuhara is sent to jail, can we make sports gambling illegal again? I can only imagine that down the line we’re going to see Pete Rose and Evander Kane style gambling issues from players.

HOUSEKEEPING

Do you have any questions about the publishing industry? Requests for advice? Thoughts on your recent reads? You can leave them as comments, replies to this email, or fill out this Google form to ask anonymously!

I am open to queries via QueryManager only, which can be found here. Here is my submissions page on the LDLA website, and here is a more detailed MSWL.

My first novel, Marrying In, is available for purchase on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo, and is coming soon to iBooks. If you’ve read it, consider leaving a review—that helps me and the book in the long run!

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This newsletter is a personal project, and the sentiments and opinions expressed here are my own and not those of my employer.