Agent Q&A - Michael Carr, Veritas Literary

Are there things that bother you in queries or rub you the wrong way?

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Many things will earn an almost automatic reject. Queries that aren't attached to actual books, but of the, "Hi, I'm a writer!" variety. The category I like to call "insane." Anything that mentions Oprah's book club, promises me fame and fortune, or claims that Hollywood will come knocking. These are never connected with good writing.

Similarly, I can't believe how many queries are semi-literate. I'm not just talking about careless typos (although this is an invariably poor sign, too), but where the writer doesn't understand basic grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Nobody would ever dream of putting on a Knicks' uniform and trotting onto center court at Madison Square Garden, expecting to start in an NBA game, but completely unprepared people try this sort of thing all the time with writing.

But none of those things really bother me, so much as make me either shake my head or feel a little sorry for the writer.

What does bother me is unearned familiarity. I'm not so much a stickler that it bothers me when you call me Michael, instead of Mr. Carr, but I can't understand why people sometimes call me dude, buddy, friend, man, or any one of a number of other strangely familiar greetings. About once a day someone will call me Mike in their query letter.

It doesn't make me angry in real life when someone calls me Mike, but my good friends never do. My family doesn't, my wife doesn't. I've never in my life introduced myself as Mike and don't think of myself as Mike. As an agent, my name does not appear anywhere as Mike, so I can't figure out why someone would call me that unless they've made an assumption and are trying to force a familiarity that doesn't exist. This tactic does not work.

ETA: If we've already corresponded, please do call me Michael instead of Mr. Carr. That's perfectly acceptable. Preferable, in fact.

Joslin Dee said:

I just want to throw my thanks-for-being-awesome hat into the ring. This thread is becoming my new favorite!

My question: Do you have a preference about gender of the MC in the YA you represent? Does one sell better than the other?

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Most YA uses a female POV in large part because the majority of readers are female. There's no problem using a male POV as well, but it's a bit trickier to have just a male POV.

rainsmom said:

Stupid question... What does "under consideration" mean? Do you mean that other agents have requested the partial or full or that another agent has shown active interest?

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You don't need to tell me that you're submitting elsewhere (I assume as much), or that others have your partials. I do want to know if there are fulls in front of other agents.

I'm only speaking to my personal preferences, not to any industry standard.

MysteryScribe said:

I see that you're interested in commercial fiction, do you rep mysteries as well?

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Yes, I do. Mysteries in a historical setting and with a little danger (rather than a cozy) probably interest me the most, but I'll consider any type, so long as they are interesting enough.

Collectonian said:

I just write the story my characters give me. I can generally figure out what the genre will be after a few chapters, but it isn't something I aim for when I start writing.

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I hesitate to say this, but if a writer is getting more serious about seeking publication, I would recommend that she start sifting her ideas more carefully before she starts to write. I am absolutely not advising that someone write a YA instead of the literary novel she wants to write, just because she's heard that YA is hot. But every writer has multiple stories that she could write. Why not brainstorm a few of the more interesting ideas and then carefully choose the one that meets in the intersection between interest and marketability.

As an agent, if the first novel I query and (you presumably) accepted was a paranormal young adult romance, would you want to know at the time of offer that I the next two novels I'm prepping are a contemporary Bangsian fantasy and a romance, both squarely aimed at adults?

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Yes, but you must know that the choice could be taken out of your hands. As an agent I'll be trying for at least a two book contract. The publisher is going to want book two to be in the same genre as book one and possibly even a sequel to the first book.

Down the road you'll have more flexibility.

mellymel said:

I'd hate to send my material and have it look out of whack. What are your thoughts?

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You can comfort yourself by knowing that if they are out of whack, everyone else's submission will be out of whack, too. My email is forwarded from the Veritas account to my personal email. 90% of the pages look screwy by the time they get to me.

I don't hold weird email formatting against a writer. I have much higher expectations for requested partials and fulls.

Focus your attention on making your Word document readable and simply use common sense on the query without stressing about it too much.

lilacat said:

How long would you say a contract should take to arrive after the offer is accepted?

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Too long. It's a slow, slow business at every step. This is the sort of thing your agent won't mind discussing if you want to drop her a quick email and find out if there is a hold-up.

Also, keep in mind that signing the contract doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have a check in your hands the next day.

And does a low advance indicate the publisher won't be as interested in promotion?

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No, and keep in mind that some of the most important promotion has nothing to do with how much money the publisher is willing to spend on your behalf. Any publisher has to decide which of your books they want to push with the buyers. I've seen books with a modest advance get an unexpected push and get higher than planned print runs.

The reverse is rarely the case, however. A big advance usually means a commensurate level of promotion. You don't spend half a million dollars without putting some muscle into promotion. The stakes are higher.

aekap said:

An agent (who I would be thrilled to work with) emailed me in early December after receiving my full to let me know she was really enjoying my MS, and to let her know if I had another offer. She emailed me again a few days later to let me know she had gotten second reads, that the reviews were positive, and that she was just waiting to discuss it with the head of her agency. I assumed that I wouldn't hear back until after the holidays, but it's been over a month now and I'm starting to wonder what's happened. On the one hand, I'm sure both the agent and her boss are terribly busy and I don't want to be a pain, but on the other hand, I'd like to know if I should continue querying (I'd planned to send out another batch sometime in January).

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Scratch the holidays from your count and it has only been two weeks. Given that she sent two different emails and it sounds like she's already read it, I think you'd be justified in sending a jog letter in another two weeks or so.

This part is pure speculation, so take it with a grain of salt:

Reading between the lines, it sounds like this might be a junior agent who needs to get her boss to read and sign off on a project before signing. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as a junior agent can be just as selective as a more established agent (don't forget that her reputation is on the line, too), and she might actually be more aggressive in her marketing efforts.

The problem is that you have no idea how busy the boss is at the moment. She could be terribly backed up, so you might still have a wait on your hands. My advice is to be patient and send out a few more queries. You don't have an offer until you have an offer.

StephanieT said:

I know you said you're interested in most historical settings, but are there any you feel are especially hard sells? Mine is set in the ancient world which isn't quite as hot as say, the Court of Henry VIII.

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Some things are going to be more accessible than others. For example, there will always be a market for WWII, Civil War, Revolutionary War, Roman, etc., because people have a little bit of knowledge. History is like art or architecture, or theater; a little bit of background knowledge really enhances enjoyment. Also, since most readers are of European background or at least live in a Eurocentric culture, and people know more about Europe/Middle East as a result, you should keep that in mind.

I do think that there's a lot of fascination with Chinese and Japanese culture as well, although people don't have as much background, so you'll have to work harder to establish your setting.

Just some things to keep in mind.

sheadakota said:

Mr. Carr- in your opinion, does having a published E-book(or two) help or hinder when submitting to an agent. I have heard both - that a publishing cred is always good and that mentioning you are e-pubbed can work as a disadvantage to the author- what are your thoughts on this?

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Sorry, I realized I skipped this one. I don't think it hurts or helps. Some e-pubs have value and others are worth less than nothing, and most are in between. The problem is I don't know what most of them mean, with a few exceptions. As I said earlier, if someone has a print credit, even if modest, it means someone put up money to get your stuff out there. That means something.

Quantum1019 said:

Mr. Carr,
I just wanted to publicly say what a class act you are. I queried you and you responded quickly and politely. Although you chose to pass on my project, you gave me some great encouragement and complimented my writing style, which was something I needed. You have my sincere gratitude for your comments. And thanks again for the informative answers to all the questions here.

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Thank you and that's something that I needed. I got two angry emails today to rejections. The complaint was that I was too fast. One was even to a requested partial that was quite excellent in the first chapter but bogged down. I was right on the fence as to whether or not to request a full. I gave what I thought were some helpful comments, but they weren't taken as such.

Please everyone, if someone gives specific advice, take it as a good sign, even if they seemed to have missed the point. Every time people argue or get angry they increase the number of agents who stick to form rejects or simply reject with silence. That doesn't help anyone.