Dear O'Abby: Do I need a lawyer if I have an agent?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm agented and my agent has just sold my book to a publisher!  I'm super excited, but also want to make sure everything is being done properly, so I'm wondering if I need to get a lawyer to look over the publisher's contract?  Or is that something my agent does?  Not ever having been in this position before, I'm not sure...

Do you have any advice?

Best Wishes,

Contracted

Dear Contracted,

Congratulations to you and your agent for selling the book!  How exciting!

In terms of getting a lawyer, it's one of those things you are perfectly welcome to do, but if you do, there are a few things you should think about.

Firstly, let your agent know you are doing this. Agents often have previously-negotiated contracts with publishers they can use as a basis for any new contract and an outside lawyer isn't going to know what has already been discussed.

Secondly, make sure the lawyer you hire understands publishing or they may want to try to negotiate things that are standard in the publishing world.  Like most industries, there are things unique to publishing that can't be changed and it's better to have a lawyer who understands these things.

But generally speaking, while an agent is unlikely to object to you hiring your own lawyer to look over a contract, it isn't really needed.  Agents are (or should be) experts in reading and negotiating publishing contracts and as your advocate, will be looking for the best possible terms for you and your book.  They are far more familiar with the publishing landscape and any specificities of the industry than most lawyers, and also of any new trends moving through.

So my advice is to save your money and trust your agent unless there is something you see in the contract that sends up re flags.  And even then, I'd talk to your agent about it before you rush out an hire a lawyer.

Make sense?

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: What happens if my agent dies?

 Dear O'Abby,

Please don't think I'm being morbid, but after an agent I've followed for most of my writing life died recently - she wasn't my agent - I have been wondering what happens to clients if their agent dies.  I assume there is some legal process, given how intimately involved an agent is with an author's finances?

Can you let me know?

Best wishes,

Not-that-morbid.

Dear not-that-morbid,

That is a good question!

The first thing you need to do if your agent dies is review any contracts you have relating to your partnership and any books your agent has sold.  In some cases the contract will state that obligations are with the agent as an individual, but in many others, the contract will be with the agency.

If the contract terms are with the agency, it is very possible that you and your work may be passed on to another agent within the same company.  If the contracts are with an individual agent, then their share of any royalties etc belong to their estate.

This is one of those situations you really need an agent to help you sort out where obligations and financial matters lie. Or at the very least, a lawyer familiar with publishing. If you are with a larger agency, it may be that the agent you get passed on to is not the best fit for your work in the longterm, but it is easier to negotiate an exit from working with them once all the legal and contractual matters have already been handled than to try and unravel them all alone.  

It may be that the old agency will continue to receive royalties and statements for any books sold by your former agent, and that you will continue to have a relationship with them into the future, even after you sign with a new agent or agency.

If your agent is a sole-trader, you may need to work with a lawyer to negotiate payment directly from the publisher (less the agent's fee that will belong to the deceased agent's estate).

If you haven't sold anything yet, or have a new project currently on submission, the most important thing to get is your now-deceased agent's submission list so when you secure new representation they have a record of editors and imprints that have already been approached.  

These steps are very similar if your agent doesn't die, but leaves agenting for a different career.

Hope that helps!

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: What questions should I ask on The Call?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm kind of reeling!  After over a year of querying my novel and numerous requests for fulls, I have three agents wanting to have a call with me.  I'm excited, but also terrified.  All three are agents I'd be interested in working with, I think, so I'm wondering if you have any ideas on questions I should ask to make sure I pick the one that's best for me and my work.

Any ideas would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks so much!

Called

Dear Called,

Firstly, congratulations!  Getting to "The Call" is such and exciting moment.  And yes, terrifying. 

In terms of questions to ask, a lot of it depends on what you are personally most concerned about and what is most important to you in an agent.  So here are a few broad categories of questions you may want to ask, depending on what you are wanting to find out.

1. Stuff about your book - why they like it, how submission-ready they think it is, how many rounds of revision they think it needs.

2. Questions about their editorial process - editorial strengths, the style of their edits, how they like to do edits, who decides when to stop editing and send out.

3. The submission process- do they have an idea who they want to submit to, how many editors they will approach, whether you get any input into which imprints/editors they sub to, how many rounds of submissions they will do, if they will share their submission list.

4. Communication - ask about their preferred method of communication, how often they will be in touch, how long it will take for them to respond to questions, if there are any periods where they won't be communicating.

5. What happens after a book deal - how involved does the agent want to be, what happens if there is a dispute between the editor and the writer, does the agent/agency help with marketing & publicity.

6. Subsequent books - when do they want to see new projects, do they want to see projects even if they are not in a genre they usually rep, can you self-publish some books, if you have other completed manuscripts, are they especially interested in one over another?

7. Sub-rights - who handles them, how much say you get in these sales, commission percentage for sub-rights.

8. Any other questions you might have - maybe the number of clients they have, ask if you can see their agency agreement, where they stand on AI in writing, what their future plans are etc.

There are obviously a lot of other things you could ask. A good list of potential questions can be found here.

Hope this helps!

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: Can I query publishers and agents at the same time?

 Dear O'Abby,

I've been querying agents for a few months with very little in the way of response, so I was thinking about starting to query publishers that don't require an agent too.  Is this okay to do?  I have found a bunch of publishers who accept unagented manuscripts and it feels like I'll save time if I query them at the same time as I keep querying agents.

Any advice would be gratefully accepted.

Regards,

Unagented

Dear Unagented,

Generally speaking it is not a good idea to query both publishers and agents at the same time.  But if you do, make sure you keep really good records of who you've queried and any responses you get so if you do end up signing with an agent, they don't waste their time submitting your book to a publisher who has already rejected it.

Most, but not all,  publishers who accept unagented manuscripts are small presses, so think hard about what you actually want out of your writing career before you start going down this path.  And do your research before blindly submitting to a publisher that offers ebook only publishing when your dream is to see your book on library and bookstore shelves.

And whatever you do, don't go into submitting to publishers because you think it's a shortcut to getting agent interest if you get a bite.  It rarely works that way as agents prefer to submit books to editors they know and who have a track record with a specific type of book.  Also, agents only get paid when you do, so there isn't a lot in it for them if you've already started contract negotiations.

Which brings me to another point -  contracts.  Publishing contract can be tricky and unless you have the expertise, you could end up signing something that isn't in your best interests.  Better to leave that to an agent who has experience both in reading and negotiating publishing contracts.

So while you can submit to both at the same time, I would strongly advise against it.  I know publishing is slow and that waiting to hear back on queries can be agonising, so my best advice is to get on with writing your next book while you're playing the waiting game.  

Best of luck!

X O'Abby

From the Archives - Dear O'Abby: Can I writer reviews if I'm an aspiring author?

 Dear O’Abby, 

I’ve been getting conflicting advice about whether or not to review books as an aspiring author. Some people tell me I shouldn’t do it because if I give a bad review to a book represented by a publisher or agent I might wish to query, they may have already put a black mark by my name. Others say I should write reviews because it helps to identify things wrong with stories and writing that I can then apply to my own work. 

Do you have an opinion on this? 

Best, 

Confused 


Dear Confused, 

I’ve heard that story about why writers shouldn’t write reviews too, but I’ve never taken it too seriously. Agents and publishers should be mature enough to understand that not every book is going to appeal to every reader and that well-written reviews can be valuable to the author even if they aren’t 100% positive. 

As a writer, it’s important to read critically and reviewing books is one way to force yourself to do so. If you like a book, reviewing it will help you figure out why you enjoyed it. Was it the story? The characters? The way the words are strung together? 

And if you didn’t like the book, what was it you didn’t like? Did you feel the characters acted inconsistently? Was the writing pedestrian? Did the plot fall flat? 

By identifying what you do and don’t like about the books you read, you will find yourself growing more critical of your own writing and you may save yourself a lot of grief by fixing issues long before you send the manuscript off to agents or publishers. 

If being blacklisted by agents or publishers for writing negative reviews is a real concern, there are a number of ways you can get around it. 

Firstly, only publish reviews of things you like. Write the negative ones because they’re often more helpful to you as a writer than the positive ones, but don’t publish them. I did this for a while, calling the review section on my blog ‘books I’ve loved’ and only reviewing things I really liked. I ended up stopping this though, because there just weren’t enough books I loved to write a positive review every week. 

Another way to get around it is to review under a pseudonym or write under a pen name so your reviews aren’t linked to your author name. 

The key thing to remember when writing reviews is to be constructive. Don’t just pile on with a negative rant. Nothing is 100% bad, so even a negative review can mention a few positives to balance out the negativity. Personally, I like to start with something I liked and finish with another thing I liked with all the critique in the middle. Always read what you have written before you publish and think about how it would make you feel if this review was for your own book. 

I would also suggest you don’t tag the author when you publish the review. Not all writers like to read their reviews and if they accidentally click onto a link in a tweet or something and find themselves confronted with a negative review, it could be very upsetting for them. 

So that’s my opinion on whether writers should write reviews. I know other people have different opinions, but if you want to write reviews and if you find the process helps your own writing, why not? 

If you want more information about this topic, Operation Awesome's J Lenni  Dorner has written a very helpful book, Writing Book Reviews As An Author which gives much more in-depth guidance about how to effectively review books as an author. Some of the advice in there may contradict my own, but it's still a valuable resource, even if you are not a writer and want to write reviews.

Happy reviewing!

X O’Abby

Dear O'Abby: What happens if my agency drops me?

Dear O'Abby,

There's been a whole lot of stuff flying around social media this week about a bunch of authors being dropped by their agency after an agent left.  It sounds like an awful situation to be in, and I'm wondering if you have any advice.  I'm not personally in this situation myself - I'm not even agented yet - but this news has brought it home to me just how vulnerable authors are, even when they have managed to get representation.  

How do you deal with something like this?

Cordially,

Vulnerable

Dear Vulnerable,

I too have been reading this news and feeling absolutely dreadful for those authors (and the agent in question too, to be honest).  A similar thing happened to me several years ago so I know just how devastating it is to suddenly find yourself adrift, with no agent and no time to prepare for that.  Particularly when you have a book out with editors, or just about to go out.

But, it isn't the end of the world, even if it does feel that way at the time.  Remember, your work is good enough that you got an agent in the first place and that's an encouraging sign.  Unless you're feeling so bruised and disillusioned about your agent experience (or your book is held up somewhere in submission hell with your old agent/agency) there's no reason why you can't jump right back into the query trenches.  If you're lucky, you will have done some edits with your agent and your book will be in an even better place than it was when you first queried it.  Most agents seem to be using Query Manager for queries these days and the form usually asks if you have been agented before.  Check yes and be proud of it, regardless how it ended.

You've done this before and now you've had some experience working with an agent, you probably have a much better idea what you are looking for in an agent.  Use this knowledge to your advantage when you're researching agents and when you have the call.  You know what works for you and what doesn't, so don't compromise.  You also have a far better idea what you want to ask this time around, so make sure you do that too.

If you are feeling too broken to dive back into the trenches, you don't have to right away or at all.  I know I was utterly traumatised by my agent experience and have only recently begun to feel ready to go back into that world after 6 years.  But having an agent isn't the only road to take.  You can self publish if you feel like that might be a good option for you or submit to a small/medium press that doesn't require an agent.  Always remember that it's better to have no agent than a bad one.  

It's your career and your work so you need to make sure whatever choice you make is right for you and maybe being agented isn't it.  It's not for everyone.  But if you do decide to go out again, my friend Dahlia has been through this too and has some very helpful advice here.

Authors can be vulnerable, but if you do your due diligence and make sure you get any contracts looked over by a good lawyer, you should be able to avoid some pitfalls.  

Hope that helps!

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: What does a foreign rights agent do?

Dear O'Abby,

I've seen the term "foreign rights agent" bandied about recently, and I actually don't know what this means.  Can you explain the difference between a regular agent and a foreign rights agent?  And do I need to query both?

Sincerely,

Bamboozled

Dear Bamboozled,

Firstly, no.  You do not have query a foreign rights agent. 

Foreign rights agents work with books that have already been published (or are about to be published) and arrange for those books to be made available in territories outside the original publisher's home.  For example, a book that was published in New Zealand may not immediately be available in the US because the rights to the US territory have not been sold.  A foreign rights agent would broker that deal.

Foreign rights agents may also deal with translators to ensure a book written in English can be accessed by readers in France or Germany or Brazil in those readers' native language.  And that books written in languages other than English are translated and made available to English-speaking readers.

Foreign rights agents have specialised skills and knowledge of the markets in which they represent titles.  And not all foreign rights agents will have this insight into all international territories.  Agents tend to specialise in particular markets and rely on co-agents who have inside knowledge of other markets for sales outside their key territories.  

Markets can be fickle and change often, so a foreign rights agent will be in frequent contact with international publishers to ensure they find the right home for the books they are representing.  Foreign rights agents are also likely to attend international book fairs to check out what kinds of books are being published in different territories.

So, in a nutshell, a foreign rights agent is the middleman between your domestic publisher, and a publisher in another territory.  Some authors prefer to retain their foreign rights so they can engage their own foreign rights agent and work with them directly, while others will assign these rights to their publisher who will then commission a foreign rights agent to represent their collection of titles.

I hope that helps!

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: How do I transition from kids' books to books for adults?

 Dear O'Abby,

I am a kid-lit author with several published MG and picture books to my name.  I have also published a couple of YA  novels for younger YA readers.  I love writing for young people, but the new book I am working on is very different and will definitely be for adults.  

I'm wondering if you know anything about how to transition to this new audience without having to use a pseudonym.  With such an extensive publishing history, I don't want to lose the name recognition even though I'm targeting a different audience.

Yours truly,

Transitory

Dear Transitory,

Darn it!  You've already eliminated the most obvious answer here - to use a pseudonym.  But I understand your reasons for not doing this and respect them.

Firstly, I would ask if you currently have an agent representing your kidlit projects?  If so, do they also represent adult books?  If they do, they will be in a far better position to guide you through this transition than I.  But given you've asked here, I suspect you either don't have an agent or your agent does not represent adult books.

So...  If it's the latter, you need to talk to your current agent.  Let them know that your new book doesn't fit in the wheelhouse of your previous work. Depending on your working relationship, she may be willing to explore new avenues on your behalf.  Or there may be another agent at the agency who could represent your new project and the two agents could work together on your career.

If you don't already have an agent, or your current agent doesn't have any leads for you, you will probably want to query your new book when it is ready.  Research widely for agents best suited to your new work. Make sure that when you query you let the agents know that you have a body of work and (if it is the case) and agent already representing this facet of your career.  This will give you a leg up on authors that don't already have a track record of publishing and working with an agent.

Obviously the whole querying thing is a lot of work and if you feel like this book is a one-off and you probably won't write another adult book, you may not want to do this.  It may also be harder to get an agent for the project because agents tend to like working with writers' careers, rather than single books.  If this sounds like you, there is always self-publishing or even working with a small press that doesn't require an agent to submit.

There are so many variables!

Hopefully this is helpful.

Best of luck with finishing the new book.

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: Do I need an agent to get my poetry published?

 Dear O'Abby,

I've written hundreds, if not thousands, of poems over the last ten years.  I've had some published by literary journals and poetry magazines, but I would really like to publish a collection of poems loosely grouped by theme.  I've done some research, but I can't seem to find any agents who represent poetry collections.  Does this mean I don't need an agent to publish a book of poetry?

All the best,

Poetess

Dear Poetess,

You don't need an agent to publish a book of poetry. There are small presses that are dedicated to poetry and don't require agents.  You can also self-publish your poetry.  Many poets do this very successfully, selling more copies at live poetry readings than they do through more traditional bookselling channels.

There are agents who represent poets, but you may need to search for them.  Poetry collections do not tend to sell huge numbers of copies or generate large advances so an agent representing poetry works for less money, making representing poets less attractive.  If you publish a book of poetry yourself or with a small press, and it's successful, you are far more likely to be able to get an agent than if you are pitching your very first book.

That said, poetry is growing in popularity and some agents are beginning to take notice of this.  Novels in verse are also becoming more prevalent and there are some agents actively looking for more of this type of book.  So things might be slowly changing.

If you have plans to write something else, a novel or a memoir or even a non-fiction book, then you need an agent.  And if you pick the right one, they might choose to also represent your poetry.  But they also might not.  As I mentioned above, most poetry doesn't sell enough to be worth an agent's efforts so unless you have other work that might be of higher value, or you are the Poet Laureate, finding an agent for your poetry will be challenging.

So keep publishing in journals and look around at what other avenues are available to you. Self publishing is a very viable option, especially if you are a poet who does a lot of live readings.  People like to buy books from the person they just saw on stage.  I know the majority of poetry on my bookshelves comes from having bought them directly from the poet.

I hope that is helpful.  Best of luck with your poetry!

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: What about older books?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm so freaking excited!  I have a call with an agent who says she loves, loves, loves my book!  I've been in the query trenches for so long, with several different books, it feels like this might finally be my shot at getting published! I know, I know... I shouldn't be too excited.  It may turn to custard.  But I am prepared for that.

Anyway...  My question is about those other books I've queried in the past.  I still believe really strongly on some of them and hope that by getting an agent with this new book, I might have a shot at getting one of these older books published.  Is this something I should mention on the call?  Or would it be better to wait until I have signed with the agent before I bring these up?

Kind regards,

Cautiously Optimistic.

Dear Cautiously Optimistic,

Firstly, huge congratulations on getting to "The Call".  It's a huge step and you should be excited.  Good luck. I hope it works out for you.

In terms of mentioning your other books, my suggestion would be to wait and see if the agent asks.  In my experience, agents are very interested to know what you are working on and what else you might have available.  Agents are usually looking for authors they can work with across a career, not just on a single book.  So knowing you have written other books, and are planning on writing more, will be music to their ears.

That said, if those other books have been queried widely and never got anywhere, there may be a reason.  If the agent is an editorial agent, she may be willing to work with you to get these books to a point where they are ready to be submitted to publishers, but it may be they will require too much work to get to that point and the agent may encourage you to focus on something new.

Either way, the work you did on those other books is not wasted.  They taught you how to write a book and no doubt made you a better writer.  And even if you don't publish them, there may be scenes or characters or just single lines in them that can be used in future stories.

I hope this is helpful and I have my fingers crossed that your call goes well.  Do let us know!

X O'Abby 

Dear O'Abby: Can I query agents and publishers at the same time?

 Dear O'Abby,

I took part in a Twitter pitch contest a couple of weeks back, and was super excited to get a few hearts!  Upon closer investigation, I discovered two of the people who liked my pitch were not agents, but editors at small presses.

I have been querying agents for a few moths now, but had only a couple of partial requests.  I'm a little wary about sending material to publishers at the same time as agents, but want to keep my options open here, and give my book the best chance at being published.  

So I was wondering if it is okay to send material to these small presses at the same time as I am sending queries and material to agents?

All the best,

Hearted.

Dear Hearted,

Generally speaking it is better not to query publishers at the same time as agents, especially if your goal is to be traditionally published.  Most major presses won't take submissions without an agent attached, and small presses that do take submissions direct from authors are often digital only or have limited distribution.

But at the end of the day, it's your choice.  If you would be happy being published by a small press that may be digital only, or doesn't have the ability to get your book into major bookstores, then go ahead and send your materials.  If you get an agent offer before they have responded, you can always withdraw your submission.

Just don't think that you can use an offer from a small press to try and leverage an offer from an agent.  I know writers who have done this, and it has backfired badly for all involved.  An offer from a small press is great if this is what you want, but an agent isn't needed to broker the deal in most cases.  Most small presses don't offer advances, and there is usually very little room for negotiating the contract.  Royalties tend to be low too, and the agent's commission cuts into the author's share without it being really worthwhile for the agent either.  So neither party ends up being happy with the situation.

So think hard before you send anything to these small presses.  Think about what you want for your books and your career and make the choice that's going to make you happiest in the long term.

X

O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: What if I can't offer an exclusive?

 Dear O'Abby,

I've been querying for a while now without much success.  Then out of the blue, I got a full request!  I was super excited and sent it right off to the requesting agent.  Then the next day, I got another full request, but this agent said they will only read exclusive submissions.

What do I do?

I really want Agent #2 to read my MS - she feels like a great fit for my book - but I can't offer her an exclusive because Agent #1 already has it.

What do I do here?

Best, 

Query Confused

Dear Query Confused,

I have experienced exactly this situation before and it sucks. It's really unfair of agents to ask for exclusives because all the advice is to query widely.  And if your query and pages are good, you are likely to get requests from multiple agents.  Which is what you want.

My advice in this scenario is to go back to Agent # 2 and explain that the MS has already been sent to another agent. I would also specify that it is only one, and that you will hold off on sending it out to any further agents for a period of two or three weeks to give her time to read.

She will either agree to these terms or say that she will pass because the book is with another agent.  And if she passes, it's her loss.  Your book could be the next Harry Potter or Twilight, but she's never going to know that now.

Who knows?  Tomorrow you could get another full request, and this time from someone who doesn't require an exclusive.  And if Agent #2 has already passed, you're free to send it out tomorrow, rather than having to explain that you have offered an exclusive to someone else and they will have to wait three weeks before you can send.  By which time their fire for the project might have dropped a little.

Good luck, whichever way you play it.

X 

O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: What do I do if I want to write horror as a romance author?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm a fairly successful romance author with 14 published novels.  My publisher wants more because my books sell reasonably well, but the new book I'm working on does not fit with my/their brand - it's a horror and I'm absolutely loving writing it!  

I do plan to write more romance in the future, but right now I'm really enjoying writing something that almost certainly won't have a happy-ever-after ending, and I'm pretty sure I'll write more like this in the future.

Do you have any advice for how to manage my writing career while writing in two very different genres?

Sincerely,

Horrified

Dear Horrified,

I think you'd be surprised how many writers juggle books across a variety of genres.  The reason you may not know about them is because they write each genre under a different name.

Yes, this is a situation where you may want to think about using a pseudonym.  You obviously have a dedicated fan base for your romance novels, and these readers are probably not also avid readers of horror (although some may be).  It is probably not desirable for your current fans to pick up your new book expecting a delightful, frothy romance only to discover something very, very different.

It's also possible (or probable) that your publisher doesn't handle horror either, unless they are large and have a number of different imprints across genres. You don't mention if you have an agent, but if you do, and they have been successfully selling your romances, they may not have the contacts or experience to sell your horror.

Which is another reason to use a pseudonym. You can query agents that specialise in horror without your reputation as a romance writer hanging over you.  Obviously once you accept representation your new agent will need to know your true identity, but while querying, you can do so with a fresh slate and no expectations.

But talk to your existing agent first (if you have one). It's possible they do have the experience and contacts to handle both genres now, even if they didn't at the time you signed with them.  Or if they are part of a larger agency, there may be an agent there who handles horror and will work alongside your current agent to manage this new strand of your career.

Hopefully this helps.  And good luck!  Do let us know how everything goes, and where we can get our hands on your new book.

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby on what you should expect from your agent

There has been a lot of discussion on Twitter this week about badly behaved agents, so I thought it would be useful to discuss what writers should and shouldn't expect from their agents.

The first thing to remember is that the author-agent relationship is a professional partnership.  The agent only gets paid when they sell the author's work, so in that respect, the agent works for the author.  At no time should an author feel that they can't speak to their agent about anything career related that may be bothering them.

Too often I hear writers saying they feel like they'd be bothering their agents if they email to ask them something.  You should never be afraid to contact your agent.  If you are worried about something to do with your writing career or have questions, you should be able to reach out.

You should also expect a reply.  Maybe not immediately, but certainly within a reasonable timeframe.  Even if it is just a quick note to let you know your email was received, and that the agent has back-to-back appointments for the next three days, but will get back to you after that.

We're all busy.  Most writers are juggling a day job with their writing careers and probably a family on top of that.  Being busy is not a good enough excuse not to communicate.  If your agent doesn't get back to you in a reasonable timeframe, or keeps promising answers to questions that are never forthcoming, it is not acceptable.

Neither is withholding information about what is happening with your book on submission.  Before your agent takes your book out on submission it's important to discuss with her how much feedback you want from the editors she's pitching.  Some writers just want to know if it was a pass or not, while others want to see exactly what each agent said about the book.  Whatever it is you want, your agent should supply.  It's critical you know where your book has been pitched and to who.

Communication - or lack of it - seems to be the biggest issue writers have with their agents, so I believe it's something that should be discussed before signing the agency agreement.  If you're not great on the phone, or on Zoom, make sure your prospective agent is aware of this and is willing to communicate primarily via email or text. It may also be worthwhile to discuss how often you want to be in touch.  Obviously when you have a book on submission you will probably need to communicate far more often than you would while you're revising or editing or writing something new.

When I had an agent, we decided monthly check-ins were fine when we weren't on submission or in the midst of an edit to get the project submission- ready and that worked really well for us.  We also agreed that most communication would be by email because of the time difference between New York and New Zealand.

If your agent isn't communicating with you the way you want to be communicated with, or you feel that they are withholding information or not being transparent with you, then it may be time to consider ending the relationship.  There is nothing to be ashamed of in this scenario.  It is better to have no agent than to have an agent you don't trust or who is not being proactive in providing you with information about what is happening to your book.  

Many writers end up having multiple agents through their careers, and this is not necessarily a sign that they are demanding or difficult to work with.  Agents leave the profession, and sometimes this leaves the author high and dry if there is no one else at the agency willing or able to take them on.  The relationship that seemed so perfect at the start may not run as smoothly as both parties hoped.  Or the writer may just want to move in a direction the agent does not feel qualified to support.

Your agent is your advocate and her role is to champion your work to editors and to help you make the best possible decisions about your career.  If she isn't fulfilling those roles, it doesn't matter how much you like her, or how good she looks on paper, or how much you enjoy being able to say "X is my agent."

I've already said it, but I'll repeat myself:  having a bad agent is worse than having no agent.

So don't be afraid to speak up and ask for what you need.  And if you don't get it, don't be afraid to terminate the relationship before it destroys you..

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm hoping you will have some advice for me because I find myself in kind of a tricky position.  I have an agent and we've worked really well together on three projects over the last five years.

But she's leaving the agency and agenting to take up a new role.  None of the other agents at her agency look after books in my genre/style, so she has suggested the best thing for me is to terminate the agency agreement so I can start looking for new representation ASAP.

I'm kind of devastated by this.  It took me over five years and three books to get an agent in the first place, so for this to happen feels like a huge blow to me personally and to my writing career.

What should I do?

Yours,

Agentless 

Dear Agentless,

I sympathise with you.  I have been in a similar situation and know exactly how crushingly disappointing it can feel.  

But I also think it's a common misconception that writers find an agent and they ride off into the sunset together and live happily ever after.

It's not uncommon for writers to have several agents over the course of a career, so the situation you find yourself in is not at all unusual.  Writers leave agents, and agents leave agenting.  It sounds like your agent is being very supportive of you finding a new agent in that she understands there is no one within her current agency who would best represent you and is freeing you up to look for someone who can.  Think how much worse it would be to be handed off to another agent within the agency who doesn't like or understand what you love to write!

You've had an agent now, so you know you can write a query that grabs attention.  You didn't mention if your current agent managed to sell any of the books you worked on with her, but if she did, then you know you can write a book publishers want.  So you're in a much stronger position now than you were when you were querying five years ago.

It's probably best to query new agents with a new project, a clean slate, if you have one.  Once you have a relationship, then you can have a conversation about what best to do with the books you worked on with your old agent that may not have been sold.

Be honest with the agents you query and let them know the situation.  Make sure your current agent lets you know what the status is with any of the books you've worked on together. She should be able to let you know which editors they have been pitched to so your new agent won't waste time submitting something they have already seen and rejected.

I know it's hard, and the idea of diving back into the query trenches can be terrifying and soul destroying.  But try to think of it as a new opportunity.  A fresh start. A new set of eyes on your work.

It's okay to feel sad.  Any relationship break-up is difficult.  Feel free to wallow for a day or two.  Eat chocolate and drink wine (responsibly of course) and cry in front of trashy Netflix movies.  Then get to writing the killer query for your new book you know you can write and get out there and nab yourself a new agent.  

You know how to do it.

Best,

O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: Should I enter Pass or Pages?

Dear O'Abby,

I see you guys at Operation Awesome are running a Pass or Pages competition later this month.  I've always been reticent about entering contests because I've never really understood their value.  Can you tell me why I should enter?  Or not enter?

Yours,

Contestable.

Dear Contestable,

Entering contests is a purely personal choice.  You don't have to, by any means.  Traditional querying of your manuscript or sending it directly to small presses or self-publishing is equally valid.

Contests are supposed to be fun.  If you don't find them fun, then don't enter.

Pass or Pages is a little different from some other contests in that Operation Awesome asks a panel agents who represent the genre the contest is focusing on to judge the entries and provide feedback.  If your query isn't working out there in the trenches, it might be a good opportunity to get professional feedback on why it isn't working.  Ditto your opening page.

It is also a good chance to get a peek into the personal tastes of the judging agents.  Maybe you think another entry in the pool is remarkable and you'd pick it up in a second if it was on the shelf in your local bookstore, yet one of the agents tears both the query and the opening pages to shreds.  This might be something that indicates you and this agent might not be a great fit, so you might decide to cross her off your querying list.

Alternatively, this might be something that gives you a fresh perspective on your own work, a kind of lightning moment that makes you realize something you thought worked well, really doesn't.

At the end of the day, I'm not going to tell you whether you should or shouldn't enter Pass or Pages or any other contest.  All I can say is that I've received a lot of really great feedback through competitions, met a lot of other writers, some of whom have become valued readers/critique partners, and felt much more connected to the writing community as a result.  I've even received full requests, offers of representation and for publication through contests, so for me, they seem to work.

If you do decide to enter Pass and Pages, we'll look forward to reading your entry!

And good luck!

X O'Abby

Why NOT to query agents who don't represent your genre

Querying can be extremely frustrating. Odds are, eventually you might get to the end of your "agents to query" list without signing with anyone. At that point, sometimes it seems like the thing to do is to branch out a little, maybe query an agent whose interests are only tangentially related to your MS. Or maybe you see a cool agent post on Twitter that they're looking for something specific, and you want to work with them. You wrote high fantasy and the agent is looking for low fantasy - they're both fantasy, that's close enough, right?

[Image: "Well yes, but actually no" meme]

Agents have manuscript wish lists and interest lists for a reason: that's their area of expertise. You wouldn't take a motorcycle to a mechanic who only works on trucks. In the same vein, agents explicitly state what genres and age categories they're interested in (and often what they don't want to see) not only because they prefer to read that sort of work, but also because they have connections in that type of literature. That is their field, and as querying writers, it's our job to respect that.

It's not only a bad idea to send a manuscript in a genre an agent doesn't represent, it's unprofessional. It's like saying to the agent that you know they have preferences, but you're choosing to ignore them. Angie Hodapp at the Nelson Literary Agency said it best:

"Dear Agent: I read on your blog that X doesn't work 99.9% of the time, but I believe my novel might be the exception." #doubtit #pubtip

— Angie Hodapp (@angiehodapp) June 30, 2015

At the end of the day, you shouldn't query an agent who doesn't represent your genre. Period.

Dear O'Abby, I Have an Agent, But...

Dear O'Abby,

I got an agent around two years ago after querying a YA romance.  It sold to a publisher and will be releasing early next year.  Now my agent is asking me for a new book and while I have written two more, they are both adult sci-fi novels, which is what I actually love to write. That YA was something I wrote in two months, pretty much just to see if I could.

I have no real desire to write another YA romance, but my agent isn't interested in my sci-fi at all.  This is really disappointing because I queried two sci-fi novels before I wrote the YA and never got more than a handful of requests.  I'm not sure what to do now.  I felt like I'd made it when I finally got an agent, but now I feel like I'll either be stuck writing books in a genre I'm not that interested in, or back in the query trenches.   Do you have any advice?

Sincerely,

Maybe Agented

Dear Maybe Agented,

First up, let me congratulate you on your upcoming release.  That's exciting news and you should celebrate it.

In terms of your problem, did you tell your agent when you had your initial call with her that YA romance wasn't your primary genre of choice?  Did you let her know your other books were adult sci-fi and writing those books was your passion?  When looking for agents to query with that YA, did you look for agents who also rep adult science-fi?

It's important that your agent knows these things.  If you didn't mention them in your call, is it something you talked about later?   If not, it may be time to have a frank conversation with your agent.

Some authors who write across genres have two agents, one for each type of book they write.  If you think there's a possibility you might write more YA romance, you could stay with your current agent for those books, and ask if she would be happy for you to query your adult sci-fi and find a different agent to rep that.   There may even be another agent within her agency who reps sci-fi and could take on selling those books for you.

But you do need her blessing to do this.  You can't go out and query your sci-fi novels without telling your current agent.  And if you really feel strongly about not writing more YA romance and this is what your agent specializes in, you need to have that conversation.  It may be time for you and your agent to part ways.  There's no benefit to either of you in staying together if you're not writing what she sells, and she doesn't want to sell what you're writing.

Hope this helps!

Good luck with the upcoming release.

X O'Abby

Dear O'Abby: Can I write reviews if I'm an aspiring author?

Dear O’Abby,

I’ve been getting conflicting advice about whether or not to review books as an aspiring author. Some people tell me I shouldn’t do it because if I give a bad review to a book represented by a publisher or agent I might wish to query, they may have already put a black mark by my name. Others say I should write reviews because it helps to identify things wrong with stories and writing that I can then apply to my own work.

Do you have an opinion on this?

Best,

Confused


Dear Confused,

I’ve heard that story about why writers shouldn’t write reviews too, but I’ve never taken it too seriously. Agents and publishers should be mature enough to understand that not every book is going to appeal to every reader and that well-written reviews can be valuable to the author even if they aren’t 100% positive.

As a writer, it’s important to read critically and reviewing books is one way to force yourself to do so. If you like a book, reviewing it will help you figure out why you enjoyed it. Was it the story? The characters? The way the words are strung together?

And if you didn’t like the book, what was it you didn’t like? Did you feel the characters acted inconsistently? Was the writing pedestrian? Did the plot fall flat?

By identifying what you do and don’t like about the books you read, you will find yourself growing more critical of your own writing and you may save yourself a lot of grief by fixing issues long before you send the manuscript off to agents or publishers.

If being blacklisted by agents or publishers for writing negative reviews is a real concern, there are a number of ways you can get around it.

Firstly, only publish reviews of things you like. Write the negative ones because they’re often more helpful to you as a writer than the positive ones, but don’t publish them. I did this for a while, calling the review section on my blog ‘books I’ve loved’ and only reviewing things I really liked. I ended up stopping this though, because there just weren’t enough books I loved to write a positive review every week.

Another way to get around it is to review under a pseudonym or write under a pen name so your reviews aren’t linked to your author name.

The key thing to remember when writing reviews is to be constructive. Don’t just pile on with a negative rant. Nothing is 100% bad, so even a negative review can mention a few positives to balance out the negativity. Personally, I like to start with something I liked and finish with another thing I liked with all the critique in the middle. Always read what you have written before you publish and think about how it would make you feel if this review was for your own book.

I would also suggest you don’t tag the author when you publish the review. Not all writers like to read their reviews and if they accidentally click onto a link in a tweet or something and find themselves confronted with a negative review, it could be very upsetting for them.

So that’s my opinion on whether writers should write reviews. I know other people have different opinions, but if you want to write reviews and if you find the process helps your own writing, why not?

If you want more information about this topic, Operation Awesome's J Lenni  Dorner has written a very helpful book, Writing Book Reviews As An Author which gives much more in-depth guidance about how to effectively review books as an author. Some of the advice in there may contradict my own, but it's still a valuable resource, even if you are not a writer and want to write reviews.

Happy reviewing!

X O’Abby

The Next Step...

Welcome to December!

Hopefully those of you who were doing NaNo achieved your goals. And even if you didn’t get to 50K, you still have more written than you did on 31 October which is a win  in my book! I surprised myself and managed just under 60K in November.  My book isn’t finished yet, but I figure I have only another 15K or so to go.  I aim to be done by Christmas so I can enjoy my summer holiday (I live in New Zealand so Christmas is in summer) without that hanging over me.

Last week O’Abby had a question about what to do once you’ve finished your NaNo book and I outlined some ideas about revising that first draft (here) and promised we’d talk about the next step this week.  So here goes.

Once your book is revised and polished and your readers can’t find any more major flaws, you need to decide what publishing route is right for you and your book.

If you want to be traditionally published by one of the big publishing houses you will need to find a literary agent as most of these publishers don’t accept manuscripts directly from authors.  There are numerous agents and they all represent different types of books.  Research is required to ensure you find one who will be able to sell your book.  There are a number of websites that can help you with your search.  I would recommend Query Tracker as a useful tool, and for finding our what different agents are actively looking for, MSWL.  Once you’ve found a few agents you’re interested in, I suggest you follow them on Twitter to see what they’re looking for and if you think you might be compatible with them.  Picking the wrong agent is worse than having no agent, so it’s worth going in with as much knowledge as possible.

If you are someone who likes control, self-publishing might be the best route for you.  It’s hard work because every part of the process is in your hands, from editing, to cover design to publicity and marketing.  But you get a bigger cut of the royalties from your sales and you can control when your book releases, what it looks like, the price and pretty much everything else about the process.  I would suggest though, you get a professional editor and cover designer to work with you because readers notice shoddy editing, and a bad cover gives the wrong first impression of your book and can kill sales.

The third option is to publish with a small press.  Most of these do not require an agent to submit so you can contact them directly.  There are a large number of small presses, some which specialize in particular genres and styles and others that publish a broad range of titles.  Some are digital only which means if you’ve always dreamed of having your book on library and bookshop shelves, this isn’t going to happen.  Like everything else, I suggest you do your research before sending your manuscript to any small press.  Some have very limited distribution channels and some only do print copies on demand.  Some have hidden costs associated with their services and should be treated with care.  You will also likely have to drive the bulk of marketing and publicity yourself as most small presses have limited resources for this.

How you publish is not a decision to take lightly, so take your time and do your research.  And don't get discouraged by rejections.  They are just part of the process and while they sting, they won't kill you.  After a while you will be able to brush them off like any other annoyance, as crazy as that might sound to you now.  I can say that because I've had close to 300 rejections in my writing career, and expect more each and every time I send a new manuscript out into the world.

And I'm still breathing!

Feel free to get in touch if you have any follow-up questions.

X O'Abby