How Our Authors Get to the Front of the Submission Line

How Our Authors Get to the Front of the Submission Line

How Our Authors Get To the Front of the Submission Line

Have you ever wondered if there’s a way to get your query to the front of the line and out of the slush pile? Let me tell you about how Mary Murry, one of the Writing Gym VIP Writers, got her manuscript past the submission pile altogether–and directly into agents’ hands.  Mary has been working on perfecting her historical fiction manuscript for years. She finished it in our writing bootcamp while on our England retreat, and was ready to publish and live the author dream.

Like many writers I know, the publishing process felt more daunting than writing.

 

After much success in our bootcamp, Mary decided to take the next step and enroll in our Publishing Mastermind course:

Step 1 was to send Annalisa–our resident writing coach and editor–her manuscript. Annalisa read the manuscript multiple times, and worked with Mary to perfect her craft, making sure her manuscript is in alignment with current industry standards and trends. Step 2 was to sit back, relax, and let Annalisa call agents in our network on Mary’s behalf. Annalisa connected Mary with agents who are particularly interested in Mary’s genre (historical fiction), and have a track record of publishing our authors. And that’s it.

In just two steps, Mary had gotten her manuscript to the front of the line and in the hands of the right agents. 

That’s the kind of work we do for our writers so they have more time to focus on what’s really important: writing and living the author dream. Want to learn more? The Writing Gym is accepting select writers to join our community of successful, published authors. If you’re serious about publishing in 2020, let’s chat. Drop yourself into our calendar here to talk to a member of our team and learn more about our program.

How To Fast Track To Publishing With The Writing Gym

How To Fast Track To Publishing With The Writing Gym

How To Fast Track To Publishing With The Writing Gym

 

This week I received a manuscript in the mail from one of our Writing Gym members, Mary, and I’m so excited to take a look over it. Let’s take a moment to congratulate Mary. 

She has written so many pages with us in the Writing Gym, and has entered the next stage of the process by joining the Publishing Mastermind.

People ask me all the time, “How is it that you work with authors?” “What is it that you do?”

Once someone joins the Publishing Mastermind, I begin to lay down the foundations for you to become a published author.

For example, Mary is about to enter the Publishing Mastermind’s reading period. During the reading period, I read her entire manuscript not once, not twice, but several times. In addition to reading her manuscript, I’ll help Mary tell the best story she can while maintaining her voice and integrity as an author. But, I’ll also be looking at her manuscript from an industry perspective. 

 

What exactly does the industry perspective entail?

Well, it includes what types of books are selling now, and what kinds of conversations I’m having with publishing house editors, acquisitions editors, and agents. 

When a manuscript is ready, I pick up the phone and start calling agents I know are interested in this kind of thing.

Let’s use Mary’s work as an example, as I happen to know it’s historical fiction set during World War 2. I’m going to start calling agents I know are interested in historical fiction and say, “Hey, I’ve got this manuscript set in World War 2. Here are some things that Mary’s doing. What are your thoughts on that? What are you seeing in terms of what is being acquired right now, and how can we position this?”

What happens with these conversations is those agents become interested in that novel once we’re finished revising it.

We set up a system where Mary will get to the front of the line with her manuscript, because of the conversations with agents and the foundation I’m lay for her.

Once I finish reading the manuscript, I begin working with Mary in the revision phase, and finally, we can pitch it to the industry.

Mary has gotten the attention of an agent, and has gotten to the front of the line because of the conversations I’ve been having with industry professionals on her behalf. 

There’s no shortcut to publishing, but there is an accelerated way.

And that’s what we do over in the Writing Gym: getting you connections based on a quality manuscript that publishing houses and literary agents are looking for.

 

Do you want to accelerate your progress?

Are you tired of getting rejection letters from agents?

Are you unsure if it’s your query, your manuscript or synopsis holding you back?

Are you ready to do something that works? 

 

If that sounds like you, I’d love to chat with you.

I’ve made some time in my schedule next week to chat with writers who are serious about getting traditionally published. Let’s chat.

Until next time. Happy writing.

What are Literary Agents REALLY Looking For?

What are Literary Agents REALLY Looking For?

What are Literary Agents REALLY Looking For? 

 

One of our Writing Gym Podcast guests, Jeff Kleinmann from Folio Literary Management, recently shared with us what it’s like to be an agent and some of the things that happen behind those closed doors.

Before that, we asked Jeff how and why he became a literary agent. 

“Oh, it’s a huge mistake,” Jeff joked. “My career is not normal. I’m actually practicing intellectual property law and I happened to share offices with a literary agency. I would read manuscripts for the agency, and the first one I read ended up being sold for $100,000, and then I did a seven-figure deal with the author soon after. I worked with them back and forth but received no credit, and I thought that maybe I should seriously consider pursuing this path. And that’s where I am today. ” 

Jeff doesn’t believe that there are any low moments in his work. Recently, a book he worked on was on the best-seller list for a while, a memoir he worked on received a deal to make a series with Netflix, and so on. With such great accomplishments, it’s no wonder literary agents are as respected as the authors. 

However, there’s this myth out there that agents are these stuffy people who seem to enjoy rejecting authors and their manuscripts. I know that’s not true.

 

So, what’s it really like to be an agent?

 “It’s totally true,” Jeff stated.

“We own the Herald Ober Associates, which is one of the longest and oldest agencies in the country. It was established in 1929 and they represented William Faulkner, Agatha Christie, Langston Hughes and so on. Back then, anytime the phone rang, agents would say the standard: Thank you for calling. We are not accepting any new submissions. There is some sort of feeling that all this agency wants to do it to stay away from writers–which was kind of cool. But I think most agents aren’t at all in that world,” Jeff explained.  

One of the problems that Jeff finds in many writers is they submit manuscripts that aren’t ready.

“We see a lot of unsolicited stuff that isn’t ready to go. And because of that, we get to be protective of our time. To prevent us from slogging through 20 manuscripts that aren’t ready yet, a lot of us put up barriers. We want to make sure the writer is ready to go–and the only way to make sure of that is if they have gone through the right channels to get their manuscript ready.” 

I asked Jeff what he is seeing in the publishing industry, and he shared an important distinction between traditional publishing and self-publishing. 

“The split between those two really is the voice,” Jeff stated. “It’s the ability of the writer to be distinctive in the way they write. If you have distinctiveness, then it seems like you’re going down the trade route–the traditional publishing route. If you are maybe less distinctive, your book might be more commercial. It’s going to be more focused on plot rather than the writing itself. These books tend to be self-published, or non-traditionally published.” 

Indeed, not everyone has to go through the traditional route. Some people may realize that self-publishing makes more sense to them than going to a big traditional publishing house. 

As a literary agent, Jeff certainly receives a lot of manuscripts and other submission materials.

 

What kind of elements in a submission makes him feel excited?

There are three elements that I look for. The first, and most important, is the writing. Every word in the query should sound mastered, should feel smooth and distinctive. Authentic. The second is premise. What is it about the book that would make me want to pick it up and read it? The third is credentials. Is the author speaking regularly? Are they a part of a literary community? Do they have an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) from a prestigious program? These are things that make me think they are serious writers.” 

 

What about things that don’t impress agents like him? 

“I used to read query letters with my daughter,” Jeff started. “When she was just four years old, I would read these letters to her like a bedtime story. When the letter is boring, she’d ask me to go to the next one. And, you know, having a four-year old judge a query letter is really useful. If I’m not interested or enthusiastic about it, then I just go to the next one.”

It’s definitely important for a writer to catch the attention of an agent with their query letter. If they don’t feel interested, they will go through them quickly and find other things to do. I always tell my writers that they have 30 seconds maximum to impress an agent. 

“Things like misplaced apostrophes,” Jeff continued, “passive voice, try-hard language, clumsiness of language–all these sorts of things end it for me. Before submitting query materials, authors should proofread their submissions.” 

It may seem unfair, a misused comma having the final say in the agent’s interest on your manuscript, but it “says to me that the author didn’t proofread their submission well enough,” Jeff finished. 

 

It’s one of these things that make agents seem very unapproachable, but I asked Jeff what it was he wished that writers knew about agents. 

“We almost see ourselves as the front-liners. Before your book gets to the publishing house, we really try to get the book in its strongest shape. But sometimes, we deal with authors who want to do their own thing. In reality, we want an author who would listen to us. And so, the question is: do you actually really want to hear somebody else’s opinion and are you actually going to make the changes?” 

Jeff was working with a writer whose book he loved so much, he read it twice. But he noticed that the writer seemed to be writing two completely different books. 

“I told him that he has to change the last part to fit the first part, or the other way around. The first part was just wonderful, but it didn’t fit the second part. He didn’t want to change anything. Maybe the second half of the book is the book he really wanted to write. But in order for the whole book to make sense, both parts have to make sense first.” 

 

What about for unpublished writers–what kind of thing should they know before sending anything to an agent?

In my line of work I see many aspiring writers send in materials that are half-cooked, not yet ready. And thank goodness they come to me for help, because I help them cook it. Jeff agreed. 

I would encourage aspiring writers to have other people read their book. I would really make sure, from page one, that everything is clear–that there is something at stake and that the action is absolutely driving the story on the character’s desires.” 

Finally, I asked Jeff one tip he would give to aspiring authors.

“Ask somebody you trust, someone who reads a lot, to read your book. If your mom is a very gifted reader, ask her. Have them cut any words from the page they feel is unnecessary and pay them money. Real money. It is scary, but if you don’t want to pay up you have to make sure that your book is really tight, that it has narrative movement, before you have a different pair of eyes look at it.”

Thank you for your time Jeff. 

How to Land your Ideal Literary Agent with Jeanne Covert

How to Land your Ideal Literary Agent with Jeanne Covert

How to Land your Ideal Literary Agent with Jeanne Covert

Jeanne Covert, a screenwriter and a member of the Writing Gym, came to us with a finished novel–a script that she novelized–after hearing conflicting information from different editors. 

Jeanne Covert

“A lot of the information they were giving me conflicted with a lot of things we do in film, especially when it came to the suspense and the pace. I was used to a very, very fast pace.”     

I took a brief look at her manuscript and, in her words, told her what exactly she was doing wrong and how to correct the situation. 

“And [coming to Annalisa] was the very best decision I’ve ever made. After working with [her], I saw what the editors were trying to tell me, but they didn’t know how to tell me because they didn’t understand screenwriting. But [Annalisa] did. It was eye opening the way she explained how elements in screenwriting translates over to the manuscript.” 

And [coming to Annalisa] was the very best decision I’ve ever made. 

 

Before the Writing Gym, Jeanne experienced a lot of frustration from the conflicting messages she received from different editors. But with the Writing Gym, she experiences a change. 

“Now I feel like I know what I’m doing. I feel like I understand the craft.” 

As a screenwriter, Jeanne worked more with the visuals. She enjoyed the pace, the action, and the internal development of her characters involved in films and writing for film. But at the Writing Gym, she also developed a love for writing novels.

“Now, I’m beginning to grow in love with the words, not just the visuals.” 

She’s also noticed an improvement in her screenwriting and marketing materials for a film. “No matter what kind of writing I’m doing, I can tell there’s been a huge increase in my skill.” 

As far as I can tell, this is a pretty good bang-for-your-back. Jeanne fell in love with writing and experienced a huge increase in skill and confidence. Besides these other accomplishments, we are celebrating two very exciting things for Jeanne. 

First, I just got off a meeting with her top-pick agent, who requested a script from her. 

“There was a manuscript request involved, which was extremely exciting to me because he is closed to queries at this point in time. So, even though he would be my top-pick agent, he’s not accepting unsolicited queries. It was off-limits until [Annalisa] was able to talk to him.”

Second, Jeanne received another manuscript request from a different agent–from a top agency, William Morris

“Because William Morris represents more media than just a novel writing,” Jeanne started, “I wanted them to represent me. I thought they would be a good fit for me. And it’s very exciting for me because you usually have to be recommended to that agency in order to get an agent to read your manuscript.” 

How does it feel to get two manuscript requests from two top agencies? 

“It is absolutely very, very exciting because as a scriptwriter and as a reader for a producer, I read a lot of scripts. I know what it’s like to be inundated with submissions. It’s exciting for me to have the scripts requested because that means it’s not just in that pile that piles up on their digital desk. I’m very excited that at the same time it’s like, is this really happening?”

It is exciting, indeed, and such a huge accomplishment. We asked Jeanne if she had any word of advice for the people at our Facebook group, Write to Publish

“There’s so much I’ve learned. But one of the things that I really value that we do in the Writing Gym is how we work on our mindset. What many people may not know is that I have a dissociative identity disorder. And so one of the things that I have been working on for years is rewiring my brain. The way that the Writing Gym is conducted and the way that Annalisa works with us helps with that. We are constantly doing things to rewire our brains so that we’re more creative.” 

“I’ve been doing all of these things for years, so it’s not like they were new to me, but all of a sudden I’m doing this with a group of people and we’re kind of all in the same place and we’re all supporting each other and we’re all doing these things. I was shooting light years ahead on my mind work. And I just, I can’t express how wonderful that is. ”

It is so great to hear that Jeanne found this kind of value in the work we do at the Writing Gym.

What she would say to anyone thinking of joining our Writing Gym?

“I would say join,” she stated. “A lot of people don’t realize it takes a lot of work and effort to be at the professional level.” And she’s right. Even people who have master’s degrees are not at the level where they can be professionally published. “You don’t necessarily have to have a degree, but you have to have the knowledge. And this is one of the things I really discovered with the Writing Gym.” 

“If I was going to spend the money getting my MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) or spend the money on the Writing Gym, there is no question that I’d put that MFA money into the Writing Gym. The MFA may or may not get you where you want to be. But the Writing Gym, the work we do in the Writing Gym, gets us to where we want to be.” 

“I’ve had other writing coaches in screenwriting and whatever, but [Annalisa] bats for us harder, stronger, more than any other writing coach I have ever worked with.”

Thank you Jeanne for your kind words and for celebrating with us. 

Until next time, happy writing. 

The Quickest and Easiest Way to get a Literary Agent even during COVID-19

The Quickest and Easiest Way to get a Literary Agent even during COVID-19

The Quickest and Easiest Way to get a Literary Agent even during COVID-19

 

People in other writing groups on Facebook ask: “What are agents doing these days?”

And, like most writers’ groups, people who have never actually met an agent in their lives are weighing in with conjecture. Well, I talk to a lot of agents every day, and I’m here to tell you what’s actually happening in the publishing industry while we’re shut down, so to speak.

Many of us are stuck at home. What are the agents doing? Well, many are taking advantage of the opportunity to read more. A lot of the agents I talk to are thinking, “This is great! I’ve got more time to read!”

The other thing I’ve been seeing is an increase in contract offers. They’ve got more time to read and make offers. Many of them are working from home. They’re getting on the phone with authors and holding interviews. Did you know that that happens?

Before you get offered a contract, you get interviewed to see if you’re a really good fit. There have been a lot of those happening, and I’ve seen numerous contracts coming through in my circle , in my sphere of writers, and others that I know.

Recently, I was talking with Jeff Kleinman. You may have heard of him. He’s a co-founder over at Folio Lit, an agency every author would love to have represent them. Jeff himself has multiple New York Times best sellers on his list.

Here’s what happened during that conversation: one of our Writing Gym members, Aaron, has this great literary piece he’s put together. So right there, on the spot, I was able to tell Jeff about Aaron’s work. And Jeff said, “Great. Send me the first 50 pages.”

Are agents still looking for high quality manuscripts? Are they still making offers?

Absolutely.

Are publishing houses still making deals?

Absolutely.

I can tell you what happened for Aaron. Like most agents, Jeff Kleinman has one of those submission forms where you put your query, or whatever it is that they’re looking for, in and eventually you hear back. Aaron hadn’t heard anything in a while. Since I know Jeff, I was able to call him up and check in with him about the status of Aaron’s materials. It turns out that he wasn’t able to receive Aaron’s materials.

But guess what I can do? I can send the materials straight his way. And I did.

I reached out to Aaron, got a copy of his query that he had sent to Jeff, zipped it over to Jeff and, like, quite literally 19 seconds later — if it was even that long — he got a request for the first 50 pages!

So, that’s the power of the Writing Gym.

That’s the kind of thing we’re doing for our writers.

If you’re tired of spinning your wheels and not getting any results and being frustrated and wondering how you can get an agent, let’s chat. You can drop yourself right into my calendar and we’ll talk about where you are, where you’d like to go, and how you can get there.

Until next time: Happy writing!

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How do I Find a Literary Agent?

How do I Find a Literary Agent?

How to Find a Literary Agent

“How do I find a literary agent?” 

This is something writers ask me a lot, because they are really frustrated in the process of finding an agent since it involves a lot of rejection. For those of you who don’t know about how the process works, the first step to getting traditionally published is to find a literary agent. 

Each agent represents a different genre. As you can imagine, they receive a lot of manuscripts and many of them get rejected.  This whole process is not easy. Many writers who have been rejected come to me for help. They ask me “How do I get an agent?” “What is the process?” “Why do so many people in the Writing Gym have such a high success rate of getting an agent?” 

You may have already heard of my story on how I found my literary agent. I found my agent in the first round of submissions. I sent out my first 20 or so letters and within 24 hours I got a positive response–this almost never happens. This system I used for myself is the same kind of system that I use for writers over in the Publishing Mastermind

Many of you already know that I speak with many literary agents everyday about what is trending in the marketplace right now. So you know that I have the latest and up-to-date information about getting published. At this time last year I talked to one of my agent friends and she gave me an exciting news.

She was opening a new literary agency and wanted to work with the writers from the Writing Gym. She knew the quality of writing that’s coming out of our programs specifically sought out our authors. We talked at length about how our writers can best be represented in their new literary agency. 

How do you get a literary agent? Well, you can do it the long, arduous way–you can keep sending out letters and take about three years until you can find an agent. Or, you can join the Publishing Mastermind and work with one of the agents that I talk with every week. 

If you’d like to talk with me about how you can publish your writing, click this

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