#a literary agent.... in MY inbox???

[writingquestionsanswered]

hey i just saw this happen online, but basically an agent PUBLICLY asked for someone to write the concept of a querying author, and basically said the author wasn’t strong enough of a writer but the concept was really good. here’s the link incase you don’t know what i’m talking about. my question is, how on earth does a querying author protect themself from this?

Agent Tweets Concept of Rejected Query

Oof.

Well, consider this a developing story because the literary agent in question seems to have deleted their Twitter account, presumably due to the fallout... Literary agents are supposed to adhere to confidentiality guidelines and professional standards that demand discretion when discussing specific details about rejected queries and manuscripts. Rejecting a query because the opening wasn't strong enough, then tweeting the concept via comp titles and entreating others to write it better certainly doesn't feel discrete, respectful, or confidential. I think there are those in the publishing sphere who would argue that "comp title x comp title" doesn't constitute "specific details," but it's less about that and more about the breach of trust, not just for the querying writer but for any querying writers who--like you--are left wondering if their concepts are safe in the hands of the agents they query.

And, regardless of the argument against comp titles constituting specific details, I think it's fair to say that the more unique the comp titles, the more specific the concept would be. Yes, you could still give a specific concept to three different authors and get three wildly different novels, but that's not the point. The point is this writer had a unique concept, and now it's in the hands of the public.

Aaand... I think some would further argue that since the writer didn't use the comp titles in their query, it shouldn't count as a breach of trust, but if that was their concept, that was their concept. From an industry standpoint, I think there's no question this will be seen as unprofessional behavior by most, and it will be interesting to see how this shakes out over the coming days.

Having said all of that, I genuinely don't think this is a common occurrence, so I don't think it's something you have to worry about when querying. If things were getting a little loosey-goosey in terms of literary agent confidentiality guidelines and professional standards, hopefully this will serve as a wake up call that discretion and respect are still very much desired by querying writers.

Do me a favor? If you see further development, would you let me know? I'll keep an eye out, but I don't use Twitter so I might miss something. Thanks, and potentially stay-tuned! Update: KT literary, the agency who employed the agent in question, has "parted ways" with them and is reaching out to affected clients to discuss their representation options.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[geek-fashionista]

A Business Proposal

A little while ago, I posted an interest poll for a series I'm planning. Since many of you responded that you were at least curious, I come today with... limited information. Limited, because the novel version of this series is currently being read by a literary agent.

But I've always felt that this story was too big to be contained in book format. Under a traditional publisher, I would lose the rights to my own property, so if they didn't want to see more of it, that's that for myself and the characters and the readers who fall in love with the characters. Self-publishing is harder. It needs to be a collaborative effort between writer and readers if it's going to succeed. Thus, I turn to the only audience I have with my "business proposal."

(Note: If you've been around long enough, you might recognize some of these characters from posts that have since been deleted.)

~*~

Working Title: Trainwrecks Length of Series: 8 seasons Length of Seasons: 24 episodes, 12 main and 12 bonus, posted biweekly. (Each season will last three months.) Episode Length: 1000-2000 words Setting: Seattle, Washington and its surrounding towns, between the years 2004-2015 Genre: Contemporary, YA to New Adult

Trainwrecks follows a diverse group of six best friends from high school to their mid-twenties, with all the romance, heartache, college and career decisions, and confusion that entails. Our main cast:

A bubbly, fat Puerto Rican girl with a passion for art and matchmaking (Ages: 14-25)

Her adopted, Argentinian brother, who is adept at music and pretty much nothing else (Ages: 16-27)

Their childhood best friend, an Asian/British/American guy who hides years of trauma behind a flamboyant and overbearing personality (Ages: 19-30)

His ill-tempered younger sister, who has just moved back to the United States from London after their parents divorced fifteen years ago (Ages: 14-25)

An equally bad-tempered Hawaiian/French guy with a love of photography and a hatred of bullies (Ages: 14-25)

The coolest, most beautiful Chinese girl you'll ever meet, who is fighting a sex addiction after a history of abuse (Ages: 16-27)

Main episodes will be written in story format. Bonus episodes will be in epistolary format: MSN chats, text messages, letters, blog posts, and eventually Twitter posts. Y'know, cuz Twitter didn't exist in 2004.

The main series (8 seasons, 24 episodes each) will be completely free to read and delivered directly to your email inbox. There will be character artwork, a bio page to keep track of everyone, a tie-in Tumblr account for memes, Spotify playlists for each character, and helpful things like family trees and relationship charts as well. Each season will have its own key artwork---cover art, if you will.

In addition to the completely free story, there will be extra content for paid subscribers and Patreon patrons, including but not limited to:

Sneak previews/early updates

Side stories

Back stories

Character and universe development notes

Entire AUs with different relationships or different genres

Money raised will either go towards paying artists or towards my student loans. And if the series gets really popular, I intend to launch a Kickstarter for physical copies that will include all the artwork and maybe some bonus items as well.

That's my business proposal. If you like it or have questions, comment on this post, scream in my inbox, chat me---do whatever but do it vocally because I need to know you're out there. And then, feel free to follow my Substack for updates.

[nanowrimo]

The Art of the Pitch

When submitting your manuscript to an agent, your pitch letter is the first thing they read. But with hundreds of emails pouring into agents’ inboxes every day, how do you get yours to stand out? Author Jeff Herman has some tips:

On any given day, there’s a massive surplus of desperate manuscripts clamoring to fill way too few opportunities. It resembles hordes of famished zombies ripping at the walls and doors where a remnant of agents and editors have found sanctuary. This helps explain why the barriers to your success seem to be unreasonably extreme, not to mention insensitive and discourteous. The harsh process is a form of self-preservation for the gatekeepers. However, access is possible; sometimes you just have to reframe what you’re seeing.

Countless manuscripts that merit publication will spend eternity in the clouds because the authors failed to get agents and editors to read them. From the perspective of the gatekeepers, unsolicited manuscripts are a burden until proven otherwise; they’re an ever-accumulating digital landfill that’s humanly impossible to process and cope with, or even think about. But it’s within every writer’s power to change the math for themselves. 

The following guidance doesn’t promise to be the cure, but it does promise to meaningfully elevate the odds that your manuscript will be requested and read. My advice is the consequence of reading more than one-million pitches covering everything you can imagine.

1. Don’t be boring. Boredom causes attention to shut down. The letter should be as entertaining, compelling, and alluring as the body of work you want to read. Too many writers treat their pitch letters like job applications; imagine having to read hundreds of those a day.  

2. Don’t waste space. Avoid filler. Keep to a single page with short paragraphs (eyes detest densely packed sections). 

3. Use lively and relatable descriptions. Make descriptive lines count with language that transmits visceral and dynamic images. Imagine movie trailers.

4. Get to the point by the second line. Don’t wander into the weeds or try to be a pen pal. 

5. Say exciting things about yourself. For example, “I’m a third-generation serial killer.” Or, “I’m a former President of the United States.” (However, only share things that are true!)

6. Don’t compare your work to bestsellers. It might make you appear arrogant or grandiose. Do a little research to find the titles that best match your work. 

7. Don’t reveal how many years you’ve been trying to get someone to read your pitch, let alone your work. Don’t reveal how many thousands of times you’ve been rejected so far. Don’t expect strangers to care about your aspirations from the goodness of their hearts.  

8. Be softly immodest. Show you're a winner in ways that say it for you. Highlight your accomplishments, don’t hide them. Success tends to gravitate to people who know how to personify a successful image. 

9. Don’t stereotype yourself in ways that could undermine your chances. For instance, there’s no reason to say your age unless it’s germane to the book. (Ageism is frequently an elephant in the room, and unfortunately, publishing isn’t an exception.)

10. Keep trying. Consistently showing up and doing the work regardless of how you feel will get you far. Writing and publishing is a game of long ball that rewards tenacity and resilience. 

Jeff Herman is the author of Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents, 29th Edition and coauthor of the acclaimed Write the Perfect Proposal. He has presented hundreds of workshops about writing and publishing and has been interviewed for dozens of publications and programs. His literary agency has ushered nearly 1,000 books into publication, including many bestsellers. He lives in Stockbridge, MA. His website is www.JeffHerman.com.

Based on the book Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents, 29th Edition. Copyright ©2023 by Jeff Herman. Published by New World Library — www.newworldlibrary.com.

Top photo by Andrew Dunstan on Unsplash.

[bettsfic]

just a little update!

i won't be posting chapter 8 of Before the Suns Rise today—it needs more work than i remembered and i've been really busy with the fanauthor workshop and ofic and my family is putting together a garage sale and

i finished a novel! and i'm very eager to get in a round of revisions before my agent reads it at the end of the month. this is the first novel i've written that fits neatly in the box of a literary fiction debut and i think it actually has a shot at existing in the world. so that's exciting.

i also have a bunch of writing asks in my inbox which i plan to get to soon. a couple of them are subjects i've written about before so i wanted to be able to link the related posts, but then i couldn't find the posts. so that prompted me to update the writing advice masterdoc, which is kind of an arduous endeavor. i hope to have it done by the 15th, though, as well as a new issue of my newsletter (on revision? maybe?)

once things settle down a little i'll be getting back to organic chemistry! i also really want to finish my alice in borderland fic. and hopefully BSR chapter 8 will be up next week.

[rinnysega]

I love being cringe and celebrating my OC’s birthday 🥳

Gus has really grown over the past year and a half - from a one note bully in the first chapter of a fanfic to the heart and soul of my debut novel (which I really do consider to be some of my best work yet 🥹). I hope once it’s finished, I have an opportunity to publish and share it with the world and let this character shine in his own story outside of the Encanto 💕 it’s what he deserves 👏

By this time next year the manuscript will be finished and in the inboxes of literary agents 🥳

Some little Easter eggs 😘⬆️

[writingandsleeping]

Hi writeblr!

Looking for an editor or book coach? Beta reader? Sounding board? I’d love to speak with you!

With five years of literary publicity and freelance editorial experience as well as a Master’s in Publishing & Digital Media from NYU, I am highly qualified to help in any way you may need along the writing path, from drafting and revising to querying and agent-hunting. My editorial skills are strongest with character development and world building. I am a stickler for the details that truly paint the big picture. I’ve worked on every editorial level: conceptual, developmental, line, copy, and proofing. Additionally, my extensive publicity career gives me insight from several perspectives, most notably, agents’ and the media’s. All together, I will not only view your story as a fellow creative but as a salesperson, allowing me to help you hone your story into your imagined dream with strong consideration to marketability.

I am genuinely open to any project. I have experience editing nonfiction (memoir), fantasy, science fiction, and poetry. Personally, I love to write historical fiction and literary fiction.

My inbox is always open if you’re interested in hiring me—and I am very flexible on pricing. Please know that I wouldn’t charge at all if I didn’t have to afford rent and cat food.

[corktheauthor]

Had a bit of a blow today. I was told the second half of my manuscript, which I thought was ready to be sent of to literary agents, was a great "rough draft" (it's draft 5, it's not supposed to be a rough draft). As a result, I'm doing an AMA to cheer me up and distract me from my sadness. (Yes, my inbox is always open for AMA. But today it's extra open). Please, send me an ask if you feel like it! I'll respond as soon as I can. Love you all <3

[typewritersandtentacles]

Submitting to literary agents is like DMing someone on a dating app. I haven't been this stressed about talking to someone since I slipped into my husband's inbox.

[literaticat]

Why do agents like phone calls so much? It seems unique to that profession, I don't see that much phone enthusiasm from other industry people. I feel like from a logical standpoint email is much more efficient if you pitch something or talk about edits or something since you've got an overview and don't have to remember it all?

??? do they ???

I don't think agents particularly "like phone calls" much more than any other group of people does -- some like them, some are indifferent, some loathe them I'm sure. Some editors like them, some are indifferent, some loathe them I'm sure.

(And some editors -- not many, but SOME -- are ghosts on email and the only way of possibly getting hold of them is by phone. The same is also probably true of some agents! Not many, but some!)

Anything important that really you need to remember or reference again in the future will come via email. If anything is discussed in a call that requires further action, it should be memorialized in a follow-up email -- and if anyone ever calls you and says "I'd like to offer BLAH BLAH NUMBERS NUMBERS BLAH" (which happens to me quite often!) -- you just say, "Great, can you send that via email! Thanks!"

Personally, aside from weekly scheduled zoom agency meetings which I am not counting in this assessment -- I spend maybe 15-30 minutes per week on the phone, max. If there is the occasional week where I have an hour long call, there are also many weeks where I have no calls at all. I think the same is probably true of many agents.

On the flip side, I could spend easily five hours a day JUST doing email. Not reading manuscripts or contracts, not looking at royalty statements or editing or answering Tumblr questions -- JUST answering and sending email after email after blessed email. (I usually DON'T do it for five hours at a time, because I also do all those other things, but I COULD, and I still wouldn't be done, because it's never-ending.)

The only (ONLY) time I need to have a call or zoom with an author is before I offer to sign somebody -- "The Call" as writers call it -- so that they can get to know me, I can get to know them, and any questions they might have can be answered, etc.

SOME authors, it might surprise you to know, actually do really prefer to call or zoom to have "what's next" chats, and that's fine, I'm happy to do that if they want to, particularly if we haven't touched base in a while, so they can catch me up on whatever they are doing, and vice versa. It can definitely be helpful if you are workshopping ideas or something, because actually, that is an interactive and iterative process. If you are telling me about what your next project is, and I can ask questions and have a real-time conversation about it, and you are expressing your enthusiasm to me -- that might be more effective than a dry paragraph in an email, yanno? Enthusiasm is contagious! (But again, if anything important happens, or there are action items, that's what a follow-up email is for!)

That being said, not every author wants to do that, and that's absolutely fine, too. Aside from The Call and When A Client Asks For A Call, the only time I would ever want to have a call with an author or an editor is A) if it is something sensitive that I don't feel comfortable writing down for some reason, like, I need your social security number, or I need to tell you about a piece of HOT GOSSIP -- OR B) if it truly would be much faster than an email -- like we are having a back-and-forth conversation that needs to be finished quickly, and just picking up the phone and asking the three questions for ten seconds and getting the answers RIGHT THEN is easier than waiting for each of us to type, etc etc. Like please, let me get back some of my day from the tyranny of my inbox and just ask this in real time, thank you.

Finally: Any phone enthusiasm you think literary agents possess is, I promise, absolutely ECLIPSED by the passion that Hollywood people have for the phone. They LOVE to call anyone and everyone, ALL THE LIVE-LONG DAY, including after hours in NY because they are in LA and forget about the time difference. For something, for nothing, for any reason or no reason at all. IF they email, they tend to be extremely brief to the point of uselessness, because, no doubt, they are emailing from their phones in their cars while stuck in traffic. IT'S A NIGHTMARE, ACTUALLY.

[writingquestionsanswered]

hello, i was just wondering if you had any advice for writing vignettes or episodic stories. thank you.

Vignettes and Episodic Stories

I don't have any tips, per se, but hopefully explaining a little bit about what they are will help you better understand how to write them.

The term "vignette" has two different meanings depending on what you're writing. In fan-fiction, a "vignette" is a type of standalone story synonymous with a snippet or ficlet. Vignettes in fan-fiction are typically 1k words or fewer and usually made up of a single scene.

In original fiction, "vignette" can be a type of standalone story, but they usually appear as part of a themed collection of vignettes. More often, the term "vignette" in original fiction refers to a literary device where further descriptive context is provided to a character, place, or event.

As standalone stories, vignettes do not conform to traditional story structure. Since they focus on a moment in time, they do not show the passage of time and typically do not have a story arc or a beginning, middle, and end. And, as is the case with vignettes as literary devices, they are heavily descriptive and meant to appeal to the reader's senses.

Episodic stories are a bigger story that are broken into smaller, self-contained stories connected by an overarching narrative or unifying theme. The best way to think of episodic stories is to think of a TV show. Every episode tells its own complete story, but the characters and events are united by a broader narrative. For example, you can watch an episode of The X-Files where Mulder and Scully try to solve a strange missing person case--and that episode will have its own conflict and its own beginning, middle, and end--but the episode is connected to the broader narrative of two FBI agents who are tasked with investigating strange occurrences. And, within that broader narrative, the specific seasonal and series arcs. Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

LEARN MORE about WQA

SEE MY ask policies

VISIT MY Master List of Top Posts

COFFEE & FEEDBACK COMMISSIONS ko-fi.com/wqa

[junekissed]

about me & faq!

[ carrd • my biases • list of mutuals ]

hi, i'm june!

i'm a full-time student majoring in linguistics! my goal is to be a literary agent and work in the publishing field, and writing here on tumblr is a fun way for me to fill my time and be involved in the writing community :)

i've been a k-pop fan since covid in 2020, and svt has always been my ult group! i'm mostly a boy group fan but i do listen to a lot of gg music and i'm trying to get more into girl groups! feel free to come in my inbox and talk to me about any of your faves!

faq...

why are your blogs separate? i really love organization so i like keeping different types of content separate :) for example i will only reblog gifs on my main blog, i will only post sfw on this blog, i will only post nsfw on onlyhuis, etc. each different type of content has its own place. i know this is a lot of blogs to follow but i promise i won't spam your timeline so feel free to follow whichever of my blogs are interesting to you! you have so many blogs!! which one do i tag? depends on what type of post it is! here's a quick explanation: - for anything nsfw: tag onlyhuis - for fics you want me to read: tag junhui-recs - for gifs, visual creations, random things: tag wenjunehui - for reblog games & chain things: tag junkissed when in doubt, tag junkissed! i will see your post no matter what and reblog to whichever one of my blogs it fits :) so don't stress too much about tagging the right blog!

other places to find me...

my writing blogs: • sfw writing: @junkissed • nsfw writing: @onlyhuis • fic recs: @junhui-recs my misc blogs: • kpop gifs & more: @wenjunehui • jun content: @himbohui • bts content: @lattetata • my silly drawings: @junstagram networks! • admin of: @svthub • member of: @k-labels, @kflixnet, @seventeenweeklynet

© junkissed. last updated 12 july 2023.

[rebelpeas]

dude i’m very proud of you for working on your devil town rewrite. i write as a hobby, but none of my stuff has even got close to completion. for you to write an entire 100k fanfic and THEN rewrite it entirely with your own characters and new storylines is just so impressive. i really hope long days like these don’t deter you from working on this project. it’s super cool and i’m very excited for you

god you guys are too nice in my inbox tonight ;-; i’ll start crying again don’t even test me

thank you, man. i really appreciate it. today had a lot of really good parts in with the bad; i have the literary agent of my dreams on a list to submit to early next year. i got a lot done and organized and made a plan to stay on track with the rest. i reminded myself why i love this story so much. so.. yeah. lot of crying but a lot of good too. love u guys

[adamgnade]

Here’s what happens when your book goes viral

Last month my book After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different was the subject of a TikTok post that went viral. I've been on the receiving end of that before when The DIY Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin' Sad went viral on tumblr, but this has been different. After Big Sad went viral, things got wild for a couple days. The first day I think I sold about 1,000 copies, maybe a little more. The next day was good too, but by the third day things began to slow down considerably. Big Sad still sells around 5,000 or 6,000 copies a year, but a lot of those are through shops and distributors like Ingram and AK Press and the orders placed with me are steady but not at all frantic. These days the fiction stuff does better and I'm glad about that. This round of viral stuff with After Tonight has not slowed down in any substantial way. The first maybe four days were just absolutely bonkers. All the online shops and distributors sold out the first day then my own webstore was hit harder than I've ever imagined it possible. The week it happened, the orders didn't stop coming in. Every minute or so a new one came in. My phone was buzzing out of my damn pocket with notifications. Then it slowed down to, say, 50 orders a day. Still really good. Fifty a day is very, very nice. But then something weird happened. It picked back up again. Now it'll slow down a bit for half a day then suddenly a bunch of orders will just gush right in; often a whole batch of them from the same town (maybe a group of friends?). It goes in these weird peaks and valleys all day, but a month in it's still running strong. A weird side effect is all the extra, unsolicited attention it's getting. There have been multiple requests to obtain TV and movie rights. That part I'm not super into because After Tonight would be a terrible movie or show. The next book, The Internet Newspaper, would make a good film I think, like in a Less Than Zero or Bight Lights, Big City way, but After Tonight? No. My inbox is also full of messages from literary agents and entertainment lawyers. None of which I've answered. I will, I think. But for now I have to get my head straight. So it's been strange and good. If you're someone who has ordered the book because of the post, thank you. What I want most in life (besides being around those I love) is for people to read my books. I'm extremely grateful. I can't stress that enough. It's some real dream-come-true shit. I'm sure it'll stop at some point, because everything does, but for now it feels pretty damn good. -Adam Gnade

[metalandmagi]

There is nothing worse than sending out query letters to literary agents...

Not to be a bitter asshole about real life shit, but literary agents will have profiles that say things like, "Wow, I really wish I could represent everyone. I have so many talented submissions in my inbox right now! I do my best to read and answer any queries, but I'm just so busy~ ❤️🌈🤩"

And then they send you a form reject 15 minutes after you query. So basically it's their way of saying, "Oh, we mean everyone except for you, you stupid bitch. Why would I bother reading anything you send?"

Like I'd rather get no answer at all than a form reject minutes after I send the query...

[writeyouin]

Heyy, I hope you had the spookiest Halloween!! 🎃🖤Honestly, I just stay in and watch a movie each year, did you plan anything fun though? 👻🦇 Since November rolled in, I just wanted to ask, do you think you'll be posting another V for Vendetta fic this year? If not, that's totally cool, I don't mean to be presumptuous! I'm crazy about your writing and will **gladly** reread your works a thousand times over! ❤️❤️❤️ I hope you have the best day! It's getting really chilly here at home, so if the weather's the same on your end, stay warm! 💗

Hey there, oh, I adore Halloween, but it's not very big here in this tiny town of mine. Still, my nephew Luca just turned 2, so I took him out trick or treating for the very first time.

At this age, he doesn't really get it, so we only went to a few houses, but it was very cute. We actually got invited into this old lady's house around the corner because her husband was upset that he didn't see a single trick or treaters this year, so even though we don't really know them, we spent a little bit of time there and it was very sweet. They simply adored my nephew and I think they just wanted a bit of company.

My costume wasn't as good this year as it was last year because I didn't have as much time to put into it, but I still enjoyed dressing up. I was Doc Emmett Brown, and Luca was my little Marty McFly.

After I took him back to my sister, I visited my parents cos my mum isn't very well right now, and we watched the new Haunted Mansion remake. It's only okay as far as films go and I much prefer the original, but it wasn't a terrible film, I guess.

Anywho, with Bonfore Night approaching, I'll try my best to do a V for Vendetta fic, as I have 3 in my inbox from last year. I do love writing for him, I've just not had a lot of time for writing lately, as I'm seeking a literary agent to publish my own novel. I've had 5 rejections so far, but you know what they say,if you fall down 7 times, get up 8 times.

You watch, I'm gonna get published some day, it's only a matter of time.

Anyway, I hope you had a good Halloween, and I look forward to writing more stories for everyone to enjoy 💙 🎃

[amoebaforce]

really disheartening to see all the scammers in my inbox pretending to be literary agents. and it must be so much worse to be the agent they're impersonating!!!!

like imagine you spend 20 years in publishing, building professional relationships with amazing authors, and then some rando steals your name, makes a fake email similar to your work email, and starts trying to scam people out of their hard-earned money. even going so far as to TALK ON THE PHONE with their prospective victims while still pretending to be you. holy shit.

this is why we always google an agency and CHECK THEIR LISTED EMAIL DOMAIN, kids!