Just the Facts, Ma’am

In my day job, fact-checking is paramount. You’ve gotta be a nit-picker if you want to make it there. So it makes me itchy when I find errors in published material, like a magazine.

If one particular mag’s astrologer wasn’t so spookily accurate, I’d stop buying it every week. More and more howlers are slipping through. Last issue, there was the headline “Unchartered waters” instead of “uncharted” and they’d spelled The Who‘s Pete Townshend’s name without an “H”. They’re using hyphens where they shouldn’t (“high-school student”) and solidifying compounds where a hyphen is vital for clarity (“topranking”). I know – it’s a travesty.

In his blog, Style & Substance, the Wall Street Journal‘s Paul Martin challenges readers to spot the paper’s daily flubs. I could spend hours of my two-week holiday here, but I really should get a life.

Agent Matchmaking – with Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown Ltd.

(I’m sorry about the broken links! I’m trying to fix ‘em.)

The search for a literary agent who’s right for you starts here. Meet San Francisco-based Nathan Bransford of the well-respected Curtis Brown Ltd literary agency. His clients include Rebecca S. Ramsay and Brad Geagley. He’s professional, smart, gracious, responds to queries promptly, knows the market, and he just might be your perfect agent match. (Just don’t accidentally send him private emails that were meant for your sister.)

1. What was the first project you sold and to which publishing house?

The very first book deal I handled was a reprint deal for four of John Preston‘s books, which I sold to Cleis Press. Preston was a pioneer in gay fiction. Curtis Brown had represented him until his untimely death, and continues to represent his works on behalf of his estate. Young agents are often given the responsibility of handling reprint deals, and this is the first one that came my way.

2. Please list the types of projects you specialize in.

I am a bit of a generalist, and I’m interested in a wide variety of genres, including literary fiction, commercial fiction (including mysteries, suspense, science fiction and historical fiction), narrative nonfiction, sports, politics, current events, pop culture and, if that’s not broad enough, I also include a caveat for anything else I happen to like.

3. On average, how many new clients do you take on each year?

I’m a young agent and am actively building my list, but I am also very selective about who I take on, so this complex formula results in two or three new clients a year.

4. What’s your average response time for queries, partials and fulls?

I almost always respond to queries within a day, sometimes quicker. Partials usually take me a week or two, and fulls can take between two and three weeks.

5. Tell us about the wackiest query you’ve ever received? If you haven’t been lucky enough to get such a query, how about the best query ever?

I have definitely my share of wacky queries, although I’d hate to make fun of an aspiring writer so I’ll dodge that question and go for the “best” one instead. The best one I received was from an LA Times bestselling writer, and let’s just say when I saw “LA Times bestseller” in the subject line I was extremely excited. I was even more excited when I opened up the email and saw that his work was right up my alley.

6. Are you in favor of lower advances/higher royalties?

This depends a great deal on the particular project and publisher, so I don’t know that I have a standard opinion on this one.

7. How often do you keep in touch with your clients?

It depends on the needs of the clients. I’m always available when my clients need to reach me, but how often I speak with them depends on whether there are submissions or negotiations underway, or if things are quiet.

8. Have you ever taken on an author whose work you adore, even though you know there’s no market for their book…yet?

No, I only take on clients with projects I think I can sell.

9. You have a soft spot for clients who…

Are as professional as they are talented. Luckily all of my clients fit this description.

10. You shriek when authors…

I shriek when aspiring authors don’t take the time to research the agents they are querying. There is a wealth of information online, and you would be very surprised at the number of authors who don’t take the time to Google the agents they are querying and personalize their query letters.

11. I don’t have time to…….., but I’ll roll up my sleeves and do it if…..

I don’t have time to read all of the manuscripts on my desk and in my inbox, but I’ll roll up my sleeves and do it if I work a few twelve-plus hour days.

Thank you for your time, Nathan!

If Nathan sounds like a good (professional) match for you, please head to his MySpace profile for details on how to query him. I recommend reading his witty, insightful blog first, which you’ll find here.

Okay, I’m at a complete loss. Blogger wins again. Try these:
http://www.rebeccasramsey.com
http://bradgeagley.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Preston
http://www.cleispress.com/submission.htm
http://www.myspace.com/nathanbransford
http://www.nathanbransford.blogspot.com

Getting to Know You

While Miss Snark advises her devoted Snarkings to query widely when looking for that special agent, she also recommends you research, research, research before you draft that “Dear Agent” letter.

Don’t be one of those people who queries a literary agent just because you like the agency’s moniker or they have a nice website. (Although, I do love the name Harvey Klinger. Fortunately it’s a great agency that reps YA.) They’ve got to be more than just a pretty facade.

If you’ve written the mother of all fantasies, don’t query a crime-lovin’ agent just because they sold one fantasy novel in 1989. The reason they may have had that sale is because a client who normally writes crime saddled them with their one and only 1,000-page fantasy novel and by some fluke it struck gold.

You want to find out what projects the agent would climb Everest in stilettos for. Or more specifically, you want an agent who knows the market and loves your genre. You want to know how they operate and who their clients are. So how do you know what an agent wants if you don’t exactly get invited to all the good publishing parties?

There are some terrific resources on the Net to help you find a good match these days. And I don’t mean rsvp.com.au. AgentQuery, AAR, Absolute Write, Preditors & Editors, Publishers Marketplace, agent blogs, writer blogs, etc, all give you vital clues. But also sniff out interviews, where you’ll get more than the usual brief bullet points on what an agent likes/dislikes.

I found these great interviews by Googling agents’ names + the word interview. Thanks go to the people who actually conducted and posted these interviews. Take a good look around their sites for more useful info.

Michael Neff’s interview with Maya Rock of Writers House.

Gawker’s interview with Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown, New York.

Alma Fullerton’s interview with Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown, San Francisco.

K.L. Goings’s interview with Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown, New York. (Yes, there are two Gingers at CB, and they’re both lovely.

Stephanie Rowe’s interview with Irene Goodman of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

Gena Showalter’s interview with Nephele Tempest of The Knight Agency. (Bless you, Ms. Showalter, for giving the pronunciation of Nephele! I’d always wondered…)