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..

Why You Need a Newsletter

Welcome back to guest blogger, A.P. Fuchs!

The Internet is a painfully crowded place, especially these days. I remember in the late nineties when the Web was starting to take shape. There were some basic websites and, well, that was about it. Communication on-line was pretty much email. Now look at us—everyone’s on-line, we’re all shouting, and social media is the main form of communication.

Unfortunately, there’s just too many people and these days, with every one and their monkey writing a book, there’s too many authors and it’s near impossible to get noticed. Sure, it happens, and some authors build a sizable and—keyword: pragmatic—social following, but for the most part, many struggle in this area.

Newsletters bypass all the number games associated with social media, the whole like-for-like and I-follow-you-you-follow-me tactics, and all the rest. (Which are pretty much useless because those are about quantity not quality.)

Productive numbers are where it’s at and newsletters, by their very opt-in nature, cater to that. Do you want to know who is truly invested in what you do? Start a newsletter.

It’s focused marketing: sending out communication and information to people who have chosen to hear what you have to say. Actually, I don’t even like to use the word “marketing” in this case because that totally devalues the point of a newsletter, which is connecting with readers who genuinely care about you in return.

Look at the word itself: newsletter. It’s a letter, not a brochure.

Sure, your newsletter numbers might be smaller than your Facebook likes, but they’re quality numbers, which have more value than just a high like count. The people who have chosen to receive a newsletter from you are the same people who are more likely to get a copy of your book because a genuine interest in you has already taken place.

There are so many ways to go about doing a newsletter, some of which are:

▪ The Plain Jane promo newsletter.

This is the kind that only goes out when an author has a new release. It’s not about communicating with the reader, but simply selling to them. I find these shallow; see the newsletter work breakdown above.

▪ The monthly update newsletter.

Typically something sent out once a month, this is the newsletter where the author says what’s going on with them, where what project is at in the production process and to promote a book(s) or event or something.

▪ The weekly newsletter.

My personal favorite and the kind I run, which I’ll get to in a moment. The weekly version can be like the monthly one, just sent out weekly. Or it can be about creating a dialogue with the readers and talking points of interest, usually to do with writing or books or entertainment.

My weekly newsletter, The Canister X Transmission—presently in its second year—has four main points: writing/publishing/marketing tip of the week; book/comic spotlight from my catalog; creator spotlight focusing on indie and mainstream creators who’ve impacted my career; rant of the week, which is basically a positive or negative thing depending on what’s been heavily on my mind for the past seven days.

I also offer a free thriller e-novelette download if you sign up.

The benefits:

▪ regular connection with readers who actually want to hear from you

▪ exercise in self-discipline to maintain the newsletter schedule, which then trains you to keep deadlines for other projects like, um, your books

▪ an opportunity to market work to readers without spamming, which can lead to sales options outside of the usual channels

▪ a chance to encourage and inspire others

Ultimately, newsletters make the on-line world a smaller place and, frankly, in today’s obscenely overcrowded rat race society, it’s sorely needed. It’s a chance to quiet down, meet with a reader, and open up about what’s going on on your end. And you’d be surprised. Readers respond to newsletters with their thoughts, questions and more.

Beats an overcrowded social media channel any day.

About the Author: An independent writer and cartoonist, A.P. Fuchs has been part of the underground publishing scene for twelve years. He is the author of more than forty books, loads of comics, short stories and poetry, and has a weekly newsletter called The Canister X Transmission, in which he currently discusses publishing and marketing tips, past work, indie creator spotlights and whatever’s on his mind that week. Heck, he’s so passionate about writing and publishing he even wrote several books on the subject, one a collection of the first year of his weekly newsletter, another called Getting Down and Digital: How to Self-publish Your Book. Plus a few others. Sign up for his newsletter at www.tinyletter.com/apfuchs and get a free thriller e-novelette out of the deal, and be sure to visit him on-line at his main hub at www.canisterx.com

6 Essentials for Co-authoring a Book

Tonight, I launch my third book!

Over the past couple months, I've written about a collaborative project--what I've learned from co-writing a novel with author, Christine Steendam. I'm very pleased to say we finished The High-Maintenance Ladies of the Zombie Apocalypse. Think The Walking Dead meets Sex and the City. We had it published and ready to go by our goal--Central Canada Comic Con weekend. We did some pre-launch sales at the con, so there are a few people out there who already have the book in their hands. But, tonight is the official launch. I can now look back on this completed project and tell you what I've learned.

Essentials for co-authoring a book:

1. Communication. The ability to convey ideas, especially during the outlining process is essential. No one can read minds, so if communication is poor there are bound to be upsets.
   
2. Flexibility. As with any novel, sometimes the story can go in a direction you did not anticipate, and this is compounded by more than one creative brain on the project. You must be able to roll with changes and adapt. 
3. Openness. This runs alongside communication. If you're afraid to be open about how you feel about story ideas, especially talking to your partner about an area of the book that needs to change, this would be a tough process. You must be open to sharing your thoughts and hearing your partner's thoughts in return.
   
4. Drive. We had a goal and were both driven to meet that goal. Because our drive to finish the book matched, we were able to work well together. Had one of us been more driven than the other, it might have caused problems.
5. Trust. I trusted that when I sent a piece off to my partner, she was working on her piece without prompting from me. I trusted my partner completely, which minimized stress.
6. A good editor. With two different people writing, we found there were multiple continuity errors. Thank goodness for editors! He caught those errors and brought them to our attention, while at the same time allowing us each our voices.
   

Now, on to collaborative marketing, but that's a blog post for another day.

Get your copy here: THE HIGH-MAINTENANCE LADIES OF THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

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Melinda Friesen writes novels for teens, but her alter-ego, Melinda Marshall, writes zombie fiction for grown-ups who still like to have fun.