What to Bring to Appointments with Editors and Agents

As a first time ACFW Conference attendee, one of my initial questions about the Conference was what I should bring to be prepared for meetings with editors and agents. I’ve done some research to answer this question, and I hope you will find it helpful as a checklist, especially if this is your first conference as well.

• Bring a one sheet. I might just have an abnormal interest in them, but I actually think one sheets are fun to make. Get creative with these and use them to catch the attention of agents and editors. They should include the title of your work, its genre, a brief summary of your story, a brief bio of you, and preferably a headshot. Try to come up with a cute tag line to put under the title like, “When summer comes to an end, will autumn’s cool chill their love?” Okay, so that wasn’t cute at all, but you get the idea. You might even want to use a quote from your book under the title. Whatever you do, do not forget to include your contact information.

• Bring a proposal. Do your research before the conference and look at the agent or publishing house’s requirements for proposals, then tailor yours accordingly. I’m clearly not an agent, but I can imagine they get a lot of ill-formatted proposals, and as an instructor, I can understand the frustration that must accompany that. Do your homework and pay attention to what the editor or agent wants. You are trying to impress him or her, after all.

• Bring a synopsis. The synopsis will probably be the hardest thing on this checklist to write. It’s difficult to summarize something you’ve worked so hard for so long on. However, it’s important that you take the time to make your summary strong. Research blogs and books for tips on making your synopsis shine.

• Bring your first 2 to 3 chapters, depending on how long they are. Agents and editors will want to take a look at your actual writing, and will be particularly interested in your hook/beginning.

• Bring questions. In her May 21, 2009 blog, Rachelle Gardner of WordServe Literary Agency suggests that you bring a list of questions with you to conference appointments that are long, lasting between 10-15 minutes. The reason? If you know within the first few minutes that the editor or agent is not interested in your book, you can still learn valuable information through the appointment and get some of your questions answered. Rachelle’s blog is full of valuable information, especially for first-time ACFW Conference attendees, so make sure you check it out if you haven’t already. The link is http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/. Rachelle is a very well-respected agent, and you can find more detailed information about all of the points on my checklist, not just this one, in her blog.

• Prepare a verbal pitch. Yes, I realize this is the only point that isn’t parallel with the others. It is also the only point that doesn’t regard some sort of physical material you should bring with you. However, it stands out for a good reason. The verbal pitch is one of the best ways to capture the interest of an editor or agent. You don’t want to sound rehearsed, but you also want to make sure what you have to say is polished. You’ll want to have a short version of your verbal pitch as well as a longer version that will be appropriate for agent and editor appointments. Make sure you introduce yourself before diving into your pitch, and don’t try to tell your whole story. Give the agent or editor enough information that he or she can easily will be intrigued, but not so much information that he or she will be confused. The editor or agent does not need to know the life history of all of your background characters. Think about what’s most important to your story, and use that to your advantage.

Questions for Comment: What questions do you have about meeting with editors and agents? Is there anything about the idea of appointments that makes you particularly nervous?

What to Keep in Mind When Meeting Agents

My blog posts for this week will concern the 2010 American Christian Fiction Writers Conference. For more information about the Conference, click here.

Some of you who are reading this blog may have attended the Conference before, perhaps even multiple times.

However, many of you, like me, have probably never attended a writing conference. I’ve been to plenty of church conferences, and even a conference about teaching university-level composition, but never a writing conference.

My goal is that this blog will provide you will useful information whether you’re attending the ACFW Conference for the first time or the fifth.

If you are attending the Conference for the first time, you probably have plenty of questions about what to expect. The question at the top of my list was how to appropriately interact with agents and editors.

I learned it’s never a good idea to verbally tackle agents and editors in a bathroom or hallway. Good thing to learn before getting dubbed the bathroom pitch girl.

It is, however, acceptable to pitch in an elevator, thus the term “elevator pitch.” I wonder which category the Starbucks waiting line falls into?

Since I’m clearly not an expert on the subject, I asked Etta Wilson from Books & Such Literary Agency if she would contribute her expertise, as she has vast experience as an agent, editor, and even an author. Thank you, Etta, for your contribution to this blog.

What is the biggest mistake authors make when meeting agents for the first time?

This is tough to answer with only one point because so much depends on the author's basic personality and whether or not they feel confident about themselves and their work. It's nearly always obvious when an author has a canned comment ready or is a bit pushy. Agents, like authors, are simply human, and some will work well together and some will need to look more.

If an author attending the ACFW Conference wants to approach an agent outside of an official appointment setting, for instance, at an agent table during meals, what is an appropriate way for the author to do so? What kind of information about his or her book, including how much information, should the author give in this kind of informal setting?

Assuming the author knows something about the agent's preferences (fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or historical), he/she should have a couple of enticing summary sentences in mind about the work and their background. Occasionally an author can make a strong impression by noting a personal connection with either the agent or another client of the agent, but it should be legitimate.

What are some important things for authors to remember when forming a pitch?

While a pitch should be memorable, short, and honest, authors should not be crestfallen if an agent declines to see the work. There are many reasons why an agent may be unable to pursue a particular novel, and it could be for the author's best interests in the long run.

What kinds of materials should authors bring with them to agent appointments?

I like to see a proposal, 3 or 4 sample chapters, a brief synopsis, and a bio. That may seem like a lot for a brief appointment, but it can save a lot of time later if I'm interested.

If you could give first-time conference attendees any advice about meeting with agents and pitching their work, what would it be?

Believe in your work and be kind. We're all in this together, and the writing and publishing of wonderful reading is a high calling for all of us.

Questions for Comment: If you have attended the ACFW Conference before, do you have any advice for first-time attendees, especially regarding appointments with agents and editors? If this will be your first time attending the Conference, what questions do you have about it?

Elijah Moments

This post is not necessarily writing-related, so I apologize for that, but I wanted to share.

Matthew 16:10-13

The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?

Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

I think it's easy sometimes, at least for me, to read passages like this one and respond with something along the lines of, "Yeah, you legalistic, pagan Pharisees. You were so worried about the rules and regulations that you were blind to deeper spiritual truths. So glad my own faith is more sophisticated."

Sounds a little conceited written out, but, don't we have that thought process all the time? When I was reading these verses earlier tonight, though, I was struck by the spiritual blindness that they implicate.

But the thing is, we're not blind. We're just closing our eyes.

The religious leaders of Jesus's day did not recognize John the Baptist, or Jesus for that matter, as the dynamic spiritual leaders that the Old Testament prophecies about. Why not? Because they were expecting the second Elijah to come, look, and act in a way that fit perfectly with their own assumptions.

Thing is, God has a way of working beyond the wildest stretch of our assumptions. Sometimes His plans, His purposes, do not look like we expect them to.

The problem is, we get so caught up in waiting for our own expectations to be fulfilled that we close our eyes to what God is doing in our lives. We don't recognize our own Elijah moments because they don't always look like the Elijah's we've dreamed up for ourselves.

Have you ever had a time in your life when God has stretched you to take off a spiritual blindfold and recognize His will as different from what you expected it to be? Why do you think we're usually more comfortable imagining our own Elijah moments, asking God's approval for them, rather than seeking the dynamic and legitimate work of God's Holy Spirit?

What Makes Inspirational Fiction "Inspirational"?

Have you ever read a book that you really enjoyed but that seemed just "clean" rather than "inspirational," only to find that all the characters come to know the Lord at the very end of the book? If so, you know how frustrating and forced feeling such an ending can be for a reader. It is also my opinion that these types of endings make Christianity feel artificial, like a stamp to place on something (book, person, etc.) in an attempt to label it, perhaps even so it will be more acceptable for a CBA market. This artificiality is disheartening to me because it betrays the actual nature of Christianity as faith that challenges us from our inner being to listen and love Christ every day.

Are you struggling with how explicit you ought to be about Christianity in your WIP? If you are writing inspirational fiction, it is vital that you include faith-based elements. However, you also don't want those elements to feel forced or preachy. How do you strike a balance?

What I am learning to do is to let those faith-based elements rise organically from within the plot. I think about my friends who are not Christians when I write my scenes, and I ask myself if they would say the inspirational elements seem forced. Notice that I didn't say I ask myself if these friends would agree with the inspirational elements, because that is another issue entirely. You don't want to shy away from complicated topics just because someone might disagree; someone will always disagree.

While a few scenes where your characters are either in church, at a Bible study, or having a very clear spiritual conversation with good friends can provide an opportunity to put actual Bible verses in your book (which is always a good idea), you have to build the foundation for these scenes to give them more impact. Otherwise, it's like killing off a character I hardly know versus one that I do: readers just don't care very much. On the other hand, I still remember scenes from Robin Jones Gunn novels that I haven't read in years where the characters had God-encounters, and those scenes still stick out to me because I was so invested in the characters. You have probably have similar memories from books you love.

It's really a similar strategy as we take when trying to live out a Christian lifestyle. Passing out tracks at a gas station is probably not going to be as effective as buying someone else's gas.

What are some ways that you have found to incorporate inspirational elements into your plot without those elements feeling artificial? Do you have any examples of books you have read that have done this effectively?

Music Sets the Tone

Hope you all are enjoying your Friday and looking forward to the weekend. This blog will be relatively short because I don't want to belabor an otherwise short topic.

Today I want to encourage you to set the scene, not only for your literal writing, but also for your writing environment. In my WIP, the main character and her best friend just arrived in Hawaii for a vacation. It's not terribly difficult to write about the setting in her everyday life since I made her hometown similar to mine. However, Hawaii is a totally different story. My husband and I went there for our honeymoon, but that is the only time I've been.

So, I thought to myself, why not find some Hawaiian music online to set the mood? Let me tell you, it worked. I feel like my MacBook Pro and I travelled through space to Hawaii for a few hours. I used Pandora.com, which I would definitely recommend because it's customizable and free. You can obviously use cd's and other websites as well.

If you're having a hard time finding inspiration or are simply looking for some extra details for the setting, give music a try. On the internet, you can find music that represents most generations and regions. I hope you find it to be a helpful (and fun) tool.

Pandora.com

Kill Your Adverbs

So, we all know we're not supposed to make our writing wordy, but what exactly makes writing wordy in the first place? Well, one answer to that question is the overuse of adverbs, especially of adverbs ending in -ly.

For instance:

Slowly, Abigail meticulously moves on her newly-sharpened ice skate, becoming somewhat angelic as she goes into a carefully- executed spin.

As a general rule, it's a safe bet that you can delete just about any word that ends in -ly and replace it with a more appropriate word.

For instance, if I were to rewrite the above sentence, I could say:

An angel on ice, Abigail glides on her new skates, then turns into a blur as ice flies up from her polished spin.

Notice how I got rid of all of the adverbs and replaced them with either stronger verbs or images that do a better job on conveying my meaning?

Generally, too many -ly adverbs mean that your verbs aren't strong enough and are relying too heavily on the support of modifiers. Obviously -ly words are okay sometimes (I just used a couple, in case you didn't notice), but it's their overuse that makes sentences clunky.

Studying poetry can help you learn to chose just the right word. I know it has helped me. Here is one of my favorite poems by E.E. Cummings. I got this particular one off of AmericanPoems.com. Notice how each word he chooses (as well as the grammar and punctuation, which I love about him) is very intentional and brings something specific to the poem.

i carry your heart with me

e.e. cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bed

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Finding Inspiration in Everyday Life

So, my husband and I just adopted a new dog from a local animal shelter. He is so precious! I would definitely recommend getting your pets from shelters and rescues, because you are literally saving their lives. Pet overpopulation is such a tragic problem right now. If you are concerned about getting a particular breed or age, you can almost definitely find that at a rescue or shelter. Our new little friend is a purebred Cocker Spaniel and is very young! Check out Petfinder.com or AdoptAPet.com.

Because I feel so strongly about companion animal adoption (both our dogs are rescues), I am writing a subplot into my WIP about animal rescue.

This process with our new dog (currently named Fleming, but his name could change) has given me so many great ideas for my book. Although he is pure sweetness and so much fun to be around, it is a lot of work getting a new dog. We are having to keep him separated from our other dog because he is still recovering from being neutered last week, and because we want to make sure he doesn't have any doggie colds from the shelter that he could pass along to Maddie. Keeping them separated is not easy, nor is it easy trying to spend time making sure they both have plenty of attention.

As you can probably imagine, the new dog has already cut down my writing time a bit. However, he has also given me amazingly valuable life experiences that I can write into my story. It's one thing to describe a scene you are imagining, but it's another thing to live that scene and know what the emotions, the exhaustion, the happiness, the sounds, the time, etc. are really like.

Sometimes I even write about frustrations I am having... for instance, my main character does not like doing dishes!

Questions for Comment: What things do you feel passionate about? Or perhaps even frustrated by? Have you tried writing those things into your stories? Have you found that doing so makes your stories more realistic and colorful?