Ask Lucienne Diver! Guest agent arriving week of January 15th

Status
Not open for further replies.

C.bronco

I have plans...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 3, 2006
Messages
8,015
Reaction score
3,137
Location
Junior Nation
Website
cynthia-bronco.blogspot.com
Hello Ms. Diver.

If, after two months pass, I haven't received a response from an agent who accepts e-queries, should I query again via snail mail?
Thank you for your time.
 

Josie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2006
Messages
605
Reaction score
39
Thanks Ms. Diver for visiting us and giving us your opinions.

There are so many questions put to you by my peers on AW Forum, which I had thought about. But I'm not fast enough :)

I am curious what your opinion is about the future of paranormal in the next two years, particularly vampire stories. I know there has been a lot of it published out there.

Do you take paranormal stories?

Thanks for your time.
Cheers, Josie
 

blackpen

Bizzare in Berkeley
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
177
Reaction score
10
Location
california
Popeyesays said:
Why not re-tell them as they might have actually played out-the proto myth rather than the myth? From the point of view of the protagonist, who is just another poor schlup, trying to make a quasi-legal drachma or two.

Regards,
Scott

actually, that's pretty much what i have done, but i STILL don't see such novels on bookshelves
 

dragonjax

I write stuff and break boards.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Messages
3,421
Reaction score
370
Age
53
Location
New Yawk
Website
www.jackiekessler.com
Hi, Lucienne--

Here's a question that's driving me to drink: what's your opinion on there being a traditional HEA in a paranormal romance? Given how the genre is a blend of romance and dark fantasy, is it enough for there to be romantic elements in the story WITHOUT including a traditional HEA (hero and heroine ride off--or fly off--into the sunset/moonrise/what have you), or does that break a trust that romance readers would have going into the story? OR, is paranormal pushing the boundaries on what's normal, let alone traditional, and so the definition of the HEA is maleable (maybe more of a Happily Ever Afterlife)?

Boy, I hope this makes sense. (See the above about this one driving me to drink.)

Best,
Jackie
 

Carmy

Banned
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
1,654
Reaction score
119
Hi, Ms. Diver. Thanks for offering to help us with our questions.

I recently discovered that what I have is not a collection of inter-related short stories but an ensemble, i.e., each story has a different MC but the stories cover ten years in their lives and come together at the end.

How do I present the ensemble as a synopsis?

I understnad short story collections are hard to sell, but are ensembles any easier?
 

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Messages
9,907
Reaction score
1,834
Location
Hiding in my writing cave
Website
www.cathyclamp.com
A rather shy member emailed me, asking if I'd ask a question on their behalf. Of course, I said yes.

"I keep hearing that getting an agent is important, but why? If I can find a publisher myself, what am I paying a commission for them to do? Isn't getting the manuscript to publishers that only accept 'agented submissions' an agent's real purpose?"

Naturally, I have an opinion, but I'll leave it to our esteemed guest for her take on the subject. :)

Also, a question appeared in our main "Ask the Agent" forum (of which this Q&A thread is part.) Click here to see the question. Since it's sort of a related issue, I thought I'd port it over here, (e.g., a common misunderstanding about an agent's role in a manuscript.) This question isn't the first time an aspiring author has confused the roles of an agent and a publicist. In what way does an agent "promote" a manuscript?
 
Last edited:

JVarvara

I'm going to get right to the point with a more personal question.

What is it in a story that makes you go "WOW, this is good"? Which do you pay more attention to the language, writing style, plot line, resolution, character development, or structure? And since I know you're going to say it is a combination of all, which is the make or break?
 

imagoodgurl4

Attack!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 21, 2006
Messages
264
Reaction score
46
Location
Boston, MA.
Hello, Ms. Diver,

Thank you very much for coming here to answer our questions.

I had two for you:

1. When you receive a query letter, is there something in particular that jumps out at you that makes you want to request a manuscript?

2. I see on a lot of agents submission guidelines that, in a query, they want you to state your credentials and what makes you qualified to write the type of manuscript you want to submit. I write thrillers/suspense, and I was just wondering what an unpublished writer like myself should put for something like that.

Again, thank you for joining us this week.
 

FloVoyager

Will write for chocolate
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
424
Reaction score
46
I've read a few books and blogs lately on how to write better, and I keep seeing lists of don'ts, like "don't use -ly adverbs," and "don't tell, show," and "don't use the passive voice," etc. Then I pick up my favorite authors (household names), and even their early books break all these rules to some extent.

I'm inclined, therefore, to throw the writing manuals out the window and stick to my instincts.

When you get a submission that breaks these rules, do you automatically throw it in the "Not for us" pile, or do you read it to see if it works?

What about other agents? As far as you know, what do they do?

Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. :)
 

msfiction

Registered
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
13
Reaction score
3
My Question is different...

I apologize in advance for this offbeat question. Since your agency is highly respected and regarded in the SF&F field, I am curious why your agency's Internet domain name resolves to an AOL member account and contains so few graphics, compared to sites of other literary agents.
 

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Messages
9,907
Reaction score
1,834
Location
Hiding in my writing cave
Website
www.cathyclamp.com
I don't know that your question really relates to the agenting business, msfiction, but I'll leave it up and allow Ms. Diver to decide whether to answer it. I will mention that not every selling agency even HAS a website. It's a company by company decision on whether a web presence will benefit their business, or whether managing it would instead take away from the time and capital that could otherwise serve their current and future clients. :)
 

tombookpub

Nonfiction writer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
184
Reaction score
4
Location
Maryland
Ms. Diver, Many thanks for offering advice to us! Here's' my question:
Many agents offer two options for submissions: e-mail vs. snail mail. In some cases, as a first mailing, the agent seeks greater information from the writer via snail mail vs e-mail. For example, I've seen several cases where a simple QL is all that's needed for the initial e-mail contact. Yet, for snail-mail, initial contact submissions, a full proposal with sample chapters is requested.
1) Why is their a diiference between these two? (For example, a proposal could be sent as an e-mail attachment)
2) When these two differing options exist, which submission is best for the writer? Which does the agent prefer?
 

chibeth

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
86
Reaction score
6
Location
Ohio
Thank you for answering our questions, Ms. Diver. I have a couple questions about contracts.

When you take an author as a client, do you offer a contract or do you work on a handshake?

If you do have a formal contract, is it on a book-by-book basis? Or is it a more general contract?

Thanks again.
 

maddythemad

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
2,944
Reaction score
936
Thanks Ms. Diver for answering our questions!

First, I was wondering if someone is a teenager, does it bother you endlessly if they mention it in their query?

And second, if you've rejected someone on a previous manuscript (not me, actually! I'm asking hypothetically)-- do you never want to see anything by that author again? If they query you again for a second novel, would you like them to mention that they'd queried you before?

Sorry if either of these questions is a repeat. Thanks again for your time.
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
It's always helpful to an agent or editor to know your credentials, but you're right, credits from non-fiction don't necessarily cross to fiction -- unless, of course, you're a world-renowned archaeologist writing Clive Cussler type suspense or the country's top heart surgeon writing medical thrillers. A platform or background that gives your work credibility can work in your favor, especially if this will translate to promotional opportunities beyond what a debut novelist can generally expect. Bookstores always seem to look at how an author's last work did, but I'm not sure how much stock they'll put in that from one genre to another.

JennaGlatzer said:
Hi Lucienne, and thanks so much for joining us!

I'm wondering about fiction writers who cross over to nonfiction and vice versa. Am I right in assuming that writing credits in one wouldn't make a whole lot of difference when trying to sell the other? (That is, if I'd written nonfiction books, it wouldn't be of much help in selling a novel?) And as a part 2 of that question, do booksellers pay attention to that when ordering an author's new book in a new genre? (Do they take into account sales of the author's self-help book when the author's debut novel comes out?)

Thanks!
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
Response for Irysangel

My husband calls me a "mystery slut." I love a mystery, love forensics, love suspense – in all genres. The fantasy novels I represent tend to have conspiracy and skullduggery. My romances tend to have a bit of a mystery or an intriguing paranormal element. My sf often reads like thrillers. I also love quirky, but it can be very difficult to pull off and stay believable. What I can't stand: logic gaps. If I can't suspend my disbelief, I can't fall in love with the narrative.

Irysangel said:
Hi Lucienne!

You represent a variety of books from romance to SF to everything in between. Is there a particular sub-genre or plot device that you have a weakness for? Something in particular you can't stand?

Thanks!
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
Response for Waylander

It's best to stick with whatever an agency or publisher's guidelines list so that you're not counted out for lack of research. However, if the guidelines give you the option of including material, I strongly recommend it. Often the difference between merely okay and =wow= is in the voice, which is very difficult to get across in a query letter.

waylander said:
Thank you for dropping by Lucienne

I would like to know your view on whether to include the five first pages of the work in a query letter as advised in some quarters.
 

writerterri

It's a dorky day!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 28, 2005
Messages
6,706
Reaction score
3,998
Location
Good'ol Southern California *quakes*
Hello Lucienne!

I don't have anything to put in my credentials. What else do you look for in an unpublished house wife of three, when it comes to querying?

Thanks in advance,

Terri (writes in children's genre)
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
Response for December Quinn

Unless you can give me a really new twist, I'm kinda jaded about marriages of convenience and inherited house stories. That said, I can think of some published examples of these storylines that I've loved, but the point is that they've been done and it takes a lot to make them fresh and convincing.

As far as what I'd like to see…. I feel like I've found a couple of those "books I wish someone would write" recently – PROM DATES FROM HELL by Rosemary Clement Moore (debut, March 2007), which is Veronica Mars meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, BOBBIE FAYE'S VERY (very very very) BAD DAY by Toni McGee Causey (debut, May 2007), which is a non-stop suspense and laugh riot featuring a Cajun trailer-trash beauty queen having the worst day ever, a dark and wonderful new fantasy series by paranormal romance bestseller Marjorie M. Liu forthcoming in 2008. I could go on and on. The short answer, though, is that I won't know the next thing I'll just have to have until I see it. I wasn't really doing mainstream literary/commercial fiction until I read Charles R. Davis' moving ANGEL'S REST. As far as trends, it's better to lead than to follow. Like fads, it's difficult to predict what the next big thing will be. My Magic Eight Ball says "wait and see," but I think it's just taunting me <g>.

DecemberQuinn said:
Hi Ms. Diver,

Thanks so much for coming.

I wondered, is there anything you're really tired of seeing? Any type of character or plot point you're just not interested in anymore?

Conversely, what are you particularly interested in seeing? I know it's a bit like Irysangel's question, but I'm more curious as to where you see the genre heading in the next couple of years, or what books nobody's writing but you wish someone would (Nadia Cornier posts these sometimes on her blog, as do the ladies at BookEnds. I wondered if you had thoughts in that direction as well.)

Thanks again!
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
Subsidy and self-publishing

Christopher Paolini's bestselling novel Eragon was originally self-published. So, yes, I'm willing to look at novels that have been self-published and I know that others are as well. To me the biggest obstacle to this format is overcoming expectations. Generally when a publishing professional sees a bound book that hasn't been printed by a major house, their expectation is that the author tried and failed at conventional routes previously. This may not be the case, but it is a bias you may have to overcome. Also, a bound book seems much more immutable than a manuscript and psychologically, the reader may expect it to be closer to print-ready than an unbound script. All of that said, the most important things are the writing and storylines themselves. If a reader falls in love with the material, the format won't matter a whit.

As far as subsidy et. al., I strongly urge anyone considering this path to check out the publishers on the www.anotherealm.com/prededitors site before committing to anything.

Cathy C said:
Hi, Lucienne!

One question that comes up here a lot has to do with subsidy POD/self-published titles. Are you willing to represent a novel that has already been offered for sale to the public with an ISBN, but has had less than 1,000 total sales? If so, under what conditions? If not, is there anything the author can do to turn a self-published/subsidy novel into something you WOULD represent (major edits, changing the title, changing the character's names, etc.?)

Thanks!
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
Response to Clara Bow

I mentioned ANGEL'S REST in a previous post. What got me there was the voice. The book begins: "People said he was crazy. He'd come down from Angel's Rest a couple times a week and folks cleared the sidewalks when he passed. Hollis lived alone in a tar-papered plywood shack halfway up the mountain next to the reservoir. Most of the town was scared of him. I was too, even before Daddy died and rumors started floating all over town." Oooh, intrigue.

Then there's Raymond Chandler, who could turn a phrase like nobody's business. His similes…ah, his similes. When Raymond Chandler told you what something was like, you =understood=.

Robert A. Heinlein's THE CAT WHO WALKED THROUGH WALLS has some of the best dialogue of all times, including some wonderful lines about writing I've never forgotten (but looked up anyway to be sure I wouldn't misquote). When the protagonists' new wife asks him why he writes, he says "because it hurts less to write than it does not to write." When she still doesn't understand, the dialogue continues:

"I didn't either, when I took that first fatal step—a short story, it was, and I honestly thought I could quit anytime. Nevermind, dear. In another ten years you will understand. Just pay no attention to me when I whimper. Doesn't mean anything – just the monkey on my back."

"Richard, would psychoanalysis help?"

"Can't risk it. I once knew a writer who tried that route. Cured him of writing all right. But did not cure him of the need to write. The last I saw of him he was crouching in a corner, trembling. That was his good phase. But the mere sight of a wordprocessor would throw him into a fit."

clara bow said:
Thanks for spending time here with us, Ms. Diver!

Any favorite lines or great turns of phrases that have stuck with you from books you've sold? In addition to learning about what type of plots/characters excite you, I'm interested in what style of writing (i.e., craft) excites you.
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
Website

We're actually relaunching the site later this month, but the short answer is that we wanted it to load quickly and be easily accessible even with dial-up. The purpose of our site is not to promote the agency but our authors and to provide information on titles, awards and upcoming books. The new site will also have authors' bios, photos and covers.

msfiction said:
I apologize in advance for this offbeat question. Since your agency is highly respected and regarded in the SF&F field, I am curious why your agency's Internet domain name resolves to an AOL member account and contains so few graphics, compared to sites of other literary agents.
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
Answer for katiemac

This is a good question. I guess that the way to answer it would be to say that the way it's handled in the query would tell me a lot about the way it's handled in the book. It should be said and it should come out naturally – not like a challenge, which may insult the person reading with the implication that he/she has a bias, not the sound of an ax grinding, which lacks finesse. There are also ways of saying something without saying it. The approach taken should be right for the book and the importance of the issue in the narrative itself. Does that help?

katiemac said:
Hi Lucienne, thank you for joining us!

I've seen a few discussions lately that deal with the query letter and a character's sexuality. For example, if a main character is gay but his sexuality has little bearing on the plot, would you rather see this information for the first time in the query letter or in the sample pages? I've seen similiar concerns regarding a character's race.
 

Lucienne Diver

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
3
Great answer, btw. Thanks! (I realized I didn't quote, but this was in response to Cathy C's post #36.)
 
Last edited:

icerose

Lost in School Work
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
11,549
Reaction score
1,646
Location
Middle of Nowhere, Utah
Hi Lucienne,

I have a problem. I write in several genres and mediums. I write both novels and scripts, and in genres of Fantasy, horror, thriller, mystery, a bit of science fiction, paranormal and even some romance from time to time.

What I want in an agent is someone who cares about my career and handles my writing as diverse as it is. Even if it's an entire agency with different agents handling different projects I would be okay with that.

So my question is: are there such agents or agencies that would be able to handle this level of diversity, or will I be left with partial representation no matter who takes me on?

Thanks,

Sara
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.