tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post4896735398331582500..comments2024-03-29T07:29:32.276-04:00Comments on Janet Reid, Literary Agent: "next project" in query-and a nice little rantJanet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-76748242977597368502016-06-01T04:45:57.631-04:002016-06-01T04:45:57.631-04:00I definitely had agents ask about future projects ...I definitely had agents ask about future projects before offering. But that was after they'd read my MS and were thinking of offering, not at the query stage! I don't know why any agent would assume that someone querying a novel only wanted to write one. Surely they know there is no stopping us once we've managed it once. I'd have thought the default assumption was that writers wanted to keep writing and selling and making everyone money and happiness for as long as they can! Sure, it's worth discussing that with the writer to make sure their desire to write wasn't a temporary disease, but not til later.Sam Hawkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05549251130820223139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-29793602092701791682016-06-01T00:23:16.420-04:002016-06-01T00:23:16.420-04:00Bj: glad Little Girl Dog is perking up. Poor littl...Bj: glad Little Girl Dog is perking up. Poor little thing! Elka believes firmly peanut butter is a must-have. But really, she's interested in whatever you've got.Jennifer R. Donohuehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00363886899308588391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-31605962813279029122016-05-31T18:43:09.044-04:002016-05-31T18:43:09.044-04:00Thanks again to all those wishing good health for ...Thanks again to all those wishing good health for my little girl dog. I have bought peanut butter and Pill Pockets (TM). If I switch them up, she may not get suspicious. She's a bit more active this evening. And she's playing up the 'aren't I a cute little sick dog' thing for more attention. Which she deserves, anyway.BJ Muntainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12977414826388000094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-49414366830843231162016-05-31T17:45:26.962-04:002016-05-31T17:45:26.962-04:00I'm supposed to be shutting up, but I had to c...I'm supposed to be shutting up, but I had to comment in support of Craig vis-a-vis name-dropping. Real name-dropping is just casually for no particular reason mentioning that I've met Juliet Grames, Gary Corby's Soho Press editor, or that I've shaken hands with Karin Slaughter (and lived to tell), or that my brother was in a stage play with James McAvoy before Mr. McAvoy was famous. That kind of thing is shameless and reprehensible, and nothing like what you do, <b>Julie</b>. :)Colin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-87644040819580675632016-05-31T17:43:36.114-04:002016-05-31T17:43:36.114-04:00I've seen the, looking for writers with a pros...I've seen the, looking for writers with a prospective career thing, more than occasionally, maybe not spelt out in such explicit terms but I'm thinking, perhaps we're missing some context for the agent's statement here. A line overheard at a conference, relayed through the either and internet, leaves more than a little scope for misinterpretation. <br /><br />My next project is a mystery thriller, with political implications in the Day the Jackal mode: a single mother blah blah blah... I'm not really sure how that kind of thing reads, seems a bit presumptuous to me. I would say though, that if you can fulfil the concomitant expectations, that letting a prospective agent know that you're a dashing colt, fresh from the stables rather than a nag on its last legs, is no bad thing.DeadSpiderEyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07687178085803686186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-19532169330272391812016-05-31T17:18:36.265-04:002016-05-31T17:18:36.265-04:00Julie Weathers, are you okay? I know your state is...Julie Weathers, are you okay? I know your state is half way underwater and your normal frame of mind is stronger than it is now.<br /><br />You can normally tell when I am being facetious. Even if I wasn't there is a difference between name dropping and using a name to give credence to an edifying point. Almost always that is what you do. I have learned a lot from your points and would not ask you to quit.<br /><br />We all participate here in the hopes of learning more. I know that I have and many of those things that I have learned came from you. Thank you.Craig Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07157301156577795781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-78620638150942455082016-05-31T17:00:27.538-04:002016-05-31T17:00:27.538-04:00To answer Sir Colin's question: I've queri...To answer Sir Colin's question: I've queried for YA plenty, and have never seen this kind of restriction. I think Janet's right--a good year in the writing trenches would do this other agent some good.<br /><br />An anecdote I'm not sure is true, but proves a good point--a congressman who hadn't mailed anything himself for decades tried to lick a self-adhesive stamp. <br /><br />People who keep an ear to the ground with what happens on the front lines (much like Janet does with this blog) are the ones who end up surpassing those who remain in their self-built ivory towers. <br /><br />If hell has wi-fi, there's probably a strict fee that also requires signing up for a yearly subscription to either <i>Time</i> or <i>Us Weekly</i>.Karen McCoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02640324898284007337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-447153955778207672016-05-31T16:10:26.762-04:002016-05-31T16:10:26.762-04:00Ah, I need to get a life.Ah, I need to get a life.Carolynnwith2Nshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18394998702410764388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-30417144293085258602016-05-31T16:09:23.476-04:002016-05-31T16:09:23.476-04:00I may have missed this, no time, had to skim:
Oka...I may have missed this, no time, had to skim:<br /><br />Okay now, everybody join in...<br /><br />Smut the gabbing dragon lives by the sea<br />And frolics in the lima fields in land called Limalee.<br />Little Colin Writer loved his magic Smut <br />And when he went to bed at night he prayed that Smut shut-up. Carolynnwith2Nshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18394998702410764388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-87642957885952202412016-05-31T15:55:13.662-04:002016-05-31T15:55:13.662-04:00BJ-if peanut butter doesn't work (which it sho...BJ-if peanut butter doesn't work (which it should) our picky Japanese Chin will take crushed meds in vanilla ice cream. Sending healing thoughts.CynthiaMchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12175917641033760408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-36870193538231106912016-05-31T15:00:51.587-04:002016-05-31T15:00:51.587-04:00Meant to add - and it's worth burning up my 3r...Meant to add - and it's worth burning up my 3rd comment for the day to say - BJ, I hope Little Girl Dog feels better fast. Hopefully puppy mouths heal as fast as ours tend to. Poor thing!DLMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08768285199864217885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-81965306232763580322016-05-31T14:39:02.903-04:002016-05-31T14:39:02.903-04:00Holy leapin' weepin' Smut, how could an ag...Holy leapin' weepin' Smut, how could an agent even GET to a full within five days, never mind evaluate it that fast? Gossamer TEC is rolling his giant, jewel-like green eyeballs, and I'm just smacking my head.<br /><br />Good lord, the self-flagellation we indulge and then go around encouraging in others. It's a contagion.DLMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08768285199864217885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-3159199602783921132016-05-31T14:30:21.309-04:002016-05-31T14:30:21.309-04:00"...but youths are, maybe, moreso." More..."...but youths are, maybe, moreso." Moreso what? What kind of a sentence is that?? And I call myself a writer?! I'm sorry. I'm way over my comment allowance, and clearly there are consequences. I'd better stop before the Comment Police make a complete muss of my sentonciz... poo!Colin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-84921412677924332522016-05-31T14:15:56.667-04:002016-05-31T14:15:56.667-04:00Thanks, EM and Arri. Perhaps I should get some pea...Thanks, EM and Arri. Perhaps I should get some peanut butter - Little Girl Dog is very fussy. This morning, I put her antibiotic in a small piece of left-over penne carbonara (tasted like bacon, though I made sure there was none on the penne) and it took 3 tries to get her to eat it. I'm not sure how she feels about peanut butter. I think I'll have to find a few things to try. I'm not sure if her current pills can be crushed. I have to stop by the vet today again, so I'll ask. It was so much easier with Koko, who sadly passed a few years ago. He would eat anything.<br /><br />Thanks Lennon - The vet did that before I even picked the little girl up yesterday. And gave me three liquid doses that should be easy enough to give her starting later today. The antibiotics, unfortunately, are more difficult - she had some injected yesterday, too, but now needs them twice a day. This next week (with the pills and the cone and the pain) is going to be very interesting...<br /><br />(Sorry for hijacking the post. Little Girl Dog is the only thing on my mind today. And yesterday, too, while all that was going on in her little mouth.)BJ Muntainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12977414826388000094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-82869457672550314122016-05-31T14:08:23.492-04:002016-05-31T14:08:23.492-04:00I have an honest-to-Smut (he's an honest drago...<b>I have an honest-to-Smut (he's an honest dragon) real ON TOPIC (sort of) question</b>:<br /><br />Does it seem to be the case that agents who rep mainly MG and YA have more... um... <i>specific</i> query guidelines than those who rep more "adult" (as in "not-MG/YA," not necessarily nudge-nudge-wink-wink-say-no-more-say-no-more-a-nod's-as-good-as-a-wink-to-a-blind-bat "adult")? In other words, is the kind of thing Opie was told more likely to come from a YA agent than a non-YA agent? I ask because it may be reflective of the kind of queries they see.<br /><br />My understanding is that a lot more young people are writing these days, and if my own youths are anything to go by, they often need more guidance on correct procedure--and often need telling multiple times (and even then don't get it... *parental grumble*). Not to say adults are immune from such hard-headedness, but youths are, maybe, moreso. Which of course is probably a bit frustrating for those more mature writers who write YA.<br /><br />Maybe I'm making a bunch of assumptions and making all you wonderful YA writers angry? If so, I'm sorry, and I'll see you on the other side of Carkoon... :)Colin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-74100039199680124922016-05-31T13:53:32.668-04:002016-05-31T13:53:32.668-04:00Sigh. I think if agents truly realized how much wr...Sigh. I think if agents truly realized how much writers freak out about everything, they would chill out on comments/guidelines like the one referenced in today's post. <br /><br />We writers do a phenomenal job freaking ourselves out without an agent's help. Just yesterday a querying writer told me if an agent doesn't followup on your full within 5 days, it means they aren't really interested. The writer's logic was based on observing that when agents sign new clients they sometimes state they couldn't put the book down and contacted the writer within mere days. So says Twitter, the Honest to Smut arbitrator all things true. <br /><br />Now, I read this blog, so I know that's not true, and it STILL momentarily worried me. I can't imagine the tailspin it might cause for someone new to the query trenches.<br /><br />OP's question is the kind of thing I would generally stick in the housekeeping section, and I would keep it pretty short (this is a stand alone with series potential, I am currently working on my next YA project, etc.).Lucie Witthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08521285162656949602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-51154794272475188132016-05-31T13:33:18.623-04:002016-05-31T13:33:18.623-04:00Everything you write something like this makes me ...Everything you write something like this makes me wish you repped YA. Eric Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09283567940889742918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-31407158988573174162016-05-31T13:29:43.189-04:002016-05-31T13:29:43.189-04:00Haha! I love the rant. And love how you are alwa...Haha! I love the rant. And love how you are always sticking up for the writer, Janet. This isn't something I'd personally get too worried over as a writer, since every agent seems to have their druthers, but I still enjoyed it :) <br /><br />BJ - poor little thing. If the crush/ pb/ cheese trick doesn't work, your vet can prob. give an injection of pain meds to at least get over the first 24 hrs of swelling. Lennon Farishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03570629350169504234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-69846800003968876372016-05-31T12:37:21.644-04:002016-05-31T12:37:21.644-04:00Janet, I just have to tell you that you are so awe...Janet, I just have to tell you that you are so awesome and smart and funny! Your blog is the first thing I read everyday when I turn on my computer. I SO wish you rep'd my category so I could have a chance to work with you. (But you don't : ((((( <br /><br />You are absolutely QOTKUAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06249834842317720927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-88475000404988602402016-05-31T12:08:10.198-04:002016-05-31T12:08:10.198-04:00Colin, mentioning "smut" and "lima ...Colin, mentioning "smut" and "lima beans" together just makes me think of corn smut, aka Huitlacoche (which I learned of from the short running but still available to read web series, "Don't Eat it, Steve!")<br /><br />I think if an agent I was querying asked for this, I (like Cheryl) would just say something like "My other completed novels include book 1 of a werewolf trilogy" or "my other novels in progress are 1. exorcist bikers and 2. ghost whisperer with a service dog " or some such. But, none of the agents I've queried have asked for this, thankfully.Jennifer R. Donohuehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00363886899308588391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-74565109453723532422016-05-31T12:06:16.805-04:002016-05-31T12:06:16.805-04:00I concur. Pill in peanut butter works okay for my ...I concur. Pill in peanut butter works okay for my family's fussy eater.ACFranklinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18142026970098432631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-37899821279856812272016-05-31T11:55:36.703-04:002016-05-31T11:55:36.703-04:00BJ- poor little pup. Have you tried crushing pill ...BJ- poor little pup. Have you tried crushing pill into powder and mixing it with soft wet food or peanut butter? I had to do that with my pug, Frankie when I first got her because she had a couple of teeth extracted. I hope the dog recovers well. E.M. Goldsmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18387494005655553037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-46627419196129061372016-05-31T11:48:35.589-04:002016-05-31T11:48:35.589-04:00I agree with everything Julie said. That doesn'...I agree with everything Julie said. That doesn't mean I'm not going to throw in my own essay. :P<br /><br />As for agents who ask for extra things in a query? Meh. Different agents want different things. I have my regular shark-approved query letter, and in the housekeeping area I put small things that the specific agent says she wants in whatever interviews, articles, or talks I've read/heard from that specific agent. They want a short bio? Sure! They want to know if it's part of a series? Sure! Why not? It's just a few words. I've got millions of those. <br /><br />I don't stress over these things, though. A few words, more or less. No big deal. I stress over bigger things - like trying to figure out how to give pills to a little dog who just had several teeth out without actually grabbing her sore little jaw or giving her something she needs to chew.BJ Muntainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12977414826388000094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-62888251161668671752016-05-31T10:52:32.677-04:002016-05-31T10:52:32.677-04:00Hey, Janet--how's this for a project? A pictur...Hey, <b>Janet</b>--how's this for a project? A picture book: SMUT AND THE LIMA BEANS, the story of how a young dragon learned to come out from under his older brother's shadow. It would teach young children about accepting the skills they have and making the best of them. If we market it as a Smut Picture Book, it will sell like hot cakes! ;)Colin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-45893764235750902862016-05-31T10:51:04.734-04:002016-05-31T10:51:04.734-04:00Jenny C, in hell they won't give you Word or p...Jenny C, in hell they won't give you Word or paper/pencil. They'll give you a stone slab and a chisel . . . but no hammer. You'll also have the option of Libre Office, but without access to the help forum. So, I'd recommend going with the stone and the chisel.<br /><br />For the OP, might I suggest "In addition to this manuscript, I've begun a series about a writer's descent into madness after attending a conference. The working titles are 'Writer Run', 'Writer is Rich', 'Writer at Rest'." [apologies to Updike]<br /><br />And lastly (but not leastly), this made my day, even as it made espresso nearly exit through my nose: "but for writers, this would be a nice job." Well played, Madam.Jennifer Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11626607040139388550noreply@blogger.com