February 2012
1 post
Stephen Colbert + Ann Patchett
In the midst of my reading and editing manuscripts — my clients have been sending me work non-stop, it seems like — a good friend of mine sent me this video. She knows me too well. I find it hilarious.
December 2011
1 post
Who Left A Tree, Then A Coffin In The Library? →
This is awesome. Mah new favorite thing.
November 2011
4 posts
For Poetry Lovers in NYC
I’ll be attending all of the events on Friday, for anyone who wishes to join me and the wonderful collection of our artistic colleagues, this Thursday and/or Friday.
*** *** *** ***
Thursday, December 1 & Friday, December 2, 2011
Visions Coinciding: An Elizabeth Bishop Centennial Conference
Co-organized by the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study and the Poetry Society of...
"Reasons Not to Self-Publish in 2011-2012: A List" →
In a previous essay, I interviewed four self-published authors I admire, and I examined some of the benefits of that career path. Midway through writing the piece, I realized I’d have to continue the discussion in a second essay in order to fully explore my feelings (complicated) on the topic (multifaceted). You see, Reader, I still don’t plan on self-publishing my first novel, though I don’t...
"i am accused of tending to the past"
i am accused of tending to the past as if i made it, as if i sculpted it with my own hands. i did not. this past was waiting for me when i came, a monstrous unnamed baby, and i with my mother’s itch took it to breast and named it History. she is more human now, learning languages everyday, remembering faces, names and dates. when she is strong enough to travel on her own, beware, she will.
...
Re-Opening to Queries as of November 8th, 5:00...
Due to some unforeseen circumstances that placed extreme limits on my time, I had to close my query inbox.
I am still behind on manuscript reading — to those waiting, I apologize — but things are finally settling down. I’ll be reopening to queries tomorrow, as of 5:00 p.m. EST.
October 2011
5 posts
Closed to Queries
I’m closed to queries until further notice. All queries received between now and whenever I reopen will be deleted unread.
Closing to Queries on Monday
As of Monday, October 10th, at 12:00 a.m. EST, I’ll be closed to queries until further notice.
All queries received at 12:00 a.m. EST or later will be deleted unread.
Exceptions: material requested/solicited via contests or conferences, or queries from writers who have a referral or recommendation from another agent or client. (Please specify this in the subject line.)
Any questions? Ask...
Tobias Wolff's "Bullet in the Brain"
I’ve been reading a lot of short stories on the subway lately, in between editing for my clients and the work that has enveloped my life at the office.
This is another one that I loved. It’s absolutely magnificent, and the ending has to be one of my favorites ever.
It’s also very short — aka, you should read it!
An excerpt (bolded phrases are mine):
Anders couldn’t get...
Meet Teresa Frohock
You can meet the talented Teresa Frohock, author of MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE, if you’re in the Piedmont Triad, NC, area this week:
I’ll be speaking at the Forsyth County Library this coming Wednesday (details here), so if you’re in the Piedmont Triad area and want to pop in and hear me talk about “Writing to Horrify,” please come. I will be talking about the...
Toni Morrison On Writing What You (Don't) Know
[Morrison] challenged her students to go after big, ambitious subjects in their work. “I used to tell them, ‘I know everyone is telling you to write what you know. But I don’t want to hear what you know because you don’t know anything,’” she said, laughing. “Please, write what you don’t know.”
- The Washingtonian
Via my client Leah Raeder.
September 2011
8 posts
Currently Reading?
I’m currently in the midst of three books:
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING
THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE
THE CHILD THIEF
If you have “the next <insert any of the three titles above>,” please send it my way. (Oh, the utter, utter genius they all possess.)
What are you currently reading?
Hannah Bowman: What I'm Looking For--Fiction →
I’ve known Hannah for a while now, and she is fabulous — possesses such a deep, intensive knowledge of good literature, and is a writer, too. Now she’s also an agent with Liza Dawson Associates (which is a fab agency altogether). For anyone who’s looking to expand their querying field, check it out:
hannahbowman:
I’m interested in all kinds of commercial fiction, but...
The Books You *Have To* Read
It is rare for a work of non-fiction to reduce me to pure emotion — in the case of HALF THE SKY, a mix of disbelief, rage, helplessness, and passion.
In the book, journalists (and married couple) Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn — winners of the Pulitzer Prize — trace the current human rights status of women across the world. What they find — and what has been...
Why I Love Margaret Atwood
Read this story.
A snapshot:
John and Mary meet.
What happens next?
If you want a happy ending, try A.
A.
John and Mary fall in love and get married. They both have worthwhile and remunerative jobs which they find stimulating and challenging. They buy a charming house. Real estate values go up. Eventually, when they can afford live-in help, they have two children, to whom they are devoted....
Nathan Bransford on "Spaghetti Agents"
This is great advice, and I wanted to pass it on.
Read the full entry here.
An excerpt:
And if you’re getting multiple responses of “I like this but don’t know if it’s quite ready” from some agents but then one wants to go out with it immediately… take a long pause and really really think it through. I’m not necessarily advising giving up the bird in...
Man Booker Shortlist
I love seeing the shortlist announced every year — though, I must be honest: I haven’t read any of this year’s shortlist (and only two from the longlist):
Julian Barnes: THE SENSE OF AN ENDING (Cape) Carol Birch: JAMRACH’S MENAGERIE (Canongate) Patrick deWitt: THE SISTERS BROTHERS (Granta) Esi Edugyan: HALF BLOOD BLUES (Serpent’s Tail) Stephen Kelman: PIGEON ENGLISH...
Win Four Fantasies! →
… including Teresa Frohock’s MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE, which was the Library Journal’s speculative debut last month.
More here.
Ann Patchett on Writing
I began Ann Patchett’s (love her — zomg, have you read BEL CANTO? ah-mazing!) newest, STATE OF WONDER, yesterday evening, upon the urging of one of the foreign scouts working out of our office, and had to grin when I saw that Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich blogged yesterday about the very same writer.
I’ll take the easy way out and quote:
Ann Patchett, whose work I’m a...
August 2011
21 posts
"New Economics Rewrite Book Business" →
"Librarians Reshelve 27,000 Books After Virginia... →
Librarians, FTW.
"The Vision Behind MintRight’s Global E-book... →
A tiny bit of insight into the e-book field globally. Whereas the sale of translation rights has always been important — an author might even earn out his/her advance via foreign sales alone before the book is published domestically — the potential for e-distribution in different languages, of either frontlist or backlist titles, adds another angle, another consideration, to the...
"When to Re-Query an Agent" →
A great answer to a very FAQ, from literary agent Rachelle Gardner.
"The Expository Opening" →
Some great examples of expository openings that work well, from my client Lindsay Smith.
Novelist Jodi Compton on THIEVES GET RICH, SAINTS...
I could have sworn that, once upon a time, I reviewed Jodi Compton’s third novel HAILEY’S WAR (Crown/Random House, 2010) on my blog, but after a post-by-post search of my archives, I found that I never did. *gasp*
Now I absolutely must tell you about it.
About HAILEY’S WAR, from Booklist:
An army brat, Hailey Cain left West Point near the end of her fourth year and became a...
MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE The Library Journal Debut...
Remember how MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE received a starred review from the lovely Library Journal?
Well, it went on to be the journal’s sci-fi/fantasy debut of the month! You’ll have to scroll to the very bottom for the full review.
Congrats, Teresa!
The verdict, again:
This exceptional, dark historical fantasy debut should particularly appeal to fans of medieval fiction, tales of...
#WriteOnCon: "On Compactness" →
The value of making every word count.
Conferences '11-'12!
I’ll be attending a number of conferences and judging some contests over the next several months. Here’s a current list:
FIND ME IN 2011
**Contests**
★ 2011 Unpublished Beacon Contest — Contemporary Series Final Round Judge
**Conferences**
★ WriteOnCon — August 16-18
Ninja Agent and a guest post.
★ Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2011 Colorado Gold Conference — September 9-11
...
1 tag
W. W. Norton: Mine Own Phil Levine →
Love this little excerpt. Good poetry makes every day just a little bit brighter.
wwnorton:
The greatest thing, he said, was presence To be yourself in your own time, to stand up That poetry was precision, raw precision Truth and compassion: genius
I had hardly begun. I asked, How did you begin He said, I began in a tree, in Lucerne In a machine shop, in an open field Start…
Starred Review for MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE!
The Library Journal gave MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE a starred review (★)!
This exceptional, dark historical fantasy debut should particularly appeal to fans of medieval fiction, tales of holy warriors, and fantasies that feature strong women characters.
Such wonderful news.
You can buy the book in numerous different outlets, including your nearest bookstore.
Currently Reading?
I’m finishing up a client’s new manuscript — which has me high on adrenaline because it is SO GOOD — and in terms of the published:
Romance / Courtney Milan’s novella UNLOCKED — so far, classic Courtney fabulous (lush, beautiful writing, and characters you care about deeply)
YA / Tabitha Suzuma’s FORBIDDEN — also amazing (characters that pop off...
"B&N Will Stock Amazon Publishing Titles, With... →
Yet another example of the print + the digital coming to a head.
‘Tis more necessary reading.
Writing About Terrible Things
I really appreciate this summary of Donna Jo Napoli’s keynote from this year’s summer SCBWI conference. (For kidlit writers unable to make the conference — or, really, all writers — the conference blog is an awesome resource to follow.)
I think Napoli is right on.
The post reminded me of an adult title I read recently. THE YEAR OF FOG by Michelle Richmond (Delacorte,...
"What Your Favorite Kids Book Then Says About You... →
This is too silly.
Via Laurel Symonds.
Happy One-Year Anniversary!
Last August, I was hired as an agent. That 366 days have passed since I made the announcement blows. my. mind. That in 366 days I have signed some of the most remarkable writers, sold some of the most remarkable books, and celebrated the launch of one of those books blows. my. mind. In the best of ways, of course.
In 366 days the volume of daily emails in my inbox has sextupled. I’ve dined...
Max Gladstone's THREE PARTS DEAD to Tor!
Max Gladstone’s debut THREE PARTS DEAD, in which a first-year associate at an international necromantic firm must bring a recently deceased god back to life before His city falls apart, her only help a chain-smoking priest undergoing an understandable crisis of faith; when the two discover that the god was murdered, their quest for the truth will endanger their partnership, their lives, and...
"Google Plus defines an era of disruption at a...
Whether or not you like Google+ or have yet to try it, its introduction continues the important role that a battle of ideas has in shaking-up and bringing new value to the marketplace. In the best outcome, robust competition in any business domain should have at least one benefactor: you, the consumer.
Google+ raises the stakes in the social computing space. With so many people and...
July 2011
28 posts
Friday 5.
ONE: I saw Friends with Benefits with my three best friends the other night, and it was fabulous — hilarious (oh, so hilarious), sexy, and far more layered than I expected it to be. (And who knew that Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, neither having started in film, would be so great on screen together?) Just one of those really awesome rom-coms that I’d definitely go see again. (No...
On Visualizing Emotion →
Via my lovely client Leah Raeder.
Required Reading: "Agency Publishing and Conflicts...
This post, from novelist Courtney Milan, is required reading — in its entirety. Milan offers a pretty fantastic explanation for why agencies that extend an arm into publishing (which is not the DGLM model, by the way) are unethical, breaching their professional responsibilities and creating conflicts of interest.
It’s easy to trust an agent when things are going well. But we all know that...
A Note on Agents' Email Addresses
You all have likely heard of the cruel hoax played on a self-published author, promising her an agent and a book deal. Victoria Strauss covered the incident here, and writes that one of the “tells” that this was a hoax was the non-agency email address.
I know that this is such a minute detail, but I want to make sure that writers are aware that there are always exceptions. I know of...
"Call for Submissions: Funny Dog & Cat Photos...
I am on the hunt for funny animal photos for a humor book project that’s in the works. Do you have any you’d like to submit? I can’t give away all the project details just yet, but it’s a humor book that combines pet humor and a little silly political humor. I am looking for animal photos—mostly dogs—that are in any way out of the ordinary. They can be wacky, like a dog...
"All in a day's work" →
This is why I love my job. (Really.)
I will have to blog sometime soon about filing taxes for authors either based internationally or with rights licensed in other territories — oh, boy, is it fun to deal with the IRS. <grin>
On Listening to Your Gut + Having Expectations
In the last two months, I’ve heard a few horror stories from friends and acquaintances of mine concerning their ex-agent, who abruptly left the business without any explanation, did not communicate during the terms of her relationships, and in some scenarios led her clients to believe their work was on submission while it had never been sent out.
I became involved when I volunteered to...
Putting the "Epic" Into "Epic Fantasy" →
Great little article/reference. Too often, I pass on a so-called epic fantasy submission because it isn’t epic enough, and this is one instance in which relabeling the genre isn’t sufficient — if you choose to approach a particular story with the intention to capture the entirety of its world and politics, you have to follow through completely; the novel must grow cohesively and...
Three Chances to Win MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE!
ONE
Read about how Teresa and I connected at the Guide to Literary Agents blog (maintained by the very awesome Chuck Sambuchino).
Leave a comment for a chance to win MISERERE.
P.S.: I posted my own version of this story here.
- - - - -
TWO
At The Qwillery:
TQ: Describe Miserere in 140 characters or less. Teresa: A really good book that you will enjoy. ;-) Kidding! Ahem. Here we go:...
