tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post2692187420353223392..comments2023-09-27T04:48:42.401-07:00Comments on Agent Courtney: OPEN THREAD: Q&ACourtney Miller-Callihanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16225069684616730801noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-28910648100418995952013-06-15T08:35:18.947-07:002013-06-15T08:35:18.947-07:00I love the new tipes of interactions that technolo...I love the new tipes of interactions that technologies allows. Today we can be worldwide connected and knowing each others.<br />It is great for business like the <a href="http://openagent.com.au/" title="Open Agent" rel="nofollow"> Open Agent</a> system, but also for common people who just wnat to have a chat.Tiagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18442456213726675162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-36846302927506146832013-06-07T10:37:56.476-07:002013-06-07T10:37:56.476-07:00Hi Sruthi,
If it's relevant or interesting, t...Hi Sruthi,<br /><br />If it's relevant or interesting, then yes, by all means. A teenager writing YA is not new but is still interesting to readers and publishers. We're also intrigued when a debut novelist is an older person-- say, over 80-- because sometimes the novel has been a work-in-progress for decades, and the "labor of love" shines through the prose. Courtney Miller-Callihanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16225069684616730801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-24816942306405601092013-06-05T21:07:00.401-07:002013-06-05T21:07:00.401-07:00Should an author include their age when querying i...Should an author include their age when querying if it seems relevant? Like a teenaged author writing YA because they might now what teens like to read?Sruthihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18066397142869471943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-36277363826683014522013-02-20T10:30:36.676-08:002013-02-20T10:30:36.676-08:00Thanks for the answer! I'm on the fence about ...Thanks for the answer! I'm on the fence about self-pubbing for myself. It seems like a risky sort of business for an unagented author. If you don't have big sales, it might not help my cause at all. I'd be interested in hearing more about your thoughts on the subject.Kayeleen Hamblinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652280450104899423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-30042141630399504412013-02-11T07:55:23.674-08:002013-02-11T07:55:23.674-08:00Thanks! That's many years of mild irritation p...Thanks! That's many years of mild irritation put to rest! Maybe now you can come to my house and find all the missing single socks.Jenny Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15862464466975261200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-70141909856102431352013-02-08T10:18:21.833-08:002013-02-08T10:18:21.833-08:00Hi Anne Shirley (great name!),
This is a really g...Hi Anne Shirley (great name!),<br /><br />This is a really good question, and one I can talk more about another time. I don't expect my fiction clients to have an online presence at all when I take them on. It's a nice bonus for a publisher if you've already got a big Twitter following, for example, but if you're planning to tweet or blog just to promote your books, it's really hard to develop a following before said books are actually available. So no, if you're writing fiction, you don't need a blog or a Facebook fan page or a Twitter account before you start querying agents. I'd much rather you had no online presence whatsoever than one that cast you in a negative light. <br /><br />Nonfiction is different: there, platform is critical, and publishers (and agents) are looking online and in traditional media (TV, magazines, newspapers, radio) for evidence that you have an established following of people who will buy your book when it's available. If you want to write a diet book, for example, it'd be very helpful to have a monthly column in, say, Men's Health magazine. A platform is a launching pad for the book-- a built-in way to promote the work to its target audience. <br /><br />In your particular case, Anne, it sounds like a pseudonym is a very good idea-- and when you go to build an online presence, you'll want to do so using your pseudonym. (And if discretion is paramount, give some thought to how to carefully separate your "real" identity from your "writer" identity online. Don't use the same headshot for both, for example, or Google Image Search will give the game away!) <br /><br />Courtney Miller-Callihanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16225069684616730801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-65647892252454689942013-02-08T10:10:56.174-08:002013-02-08T10:10:56.174-08:00Hi Kayeleen! I think self-publishing is a great op...Hi Kayeleen! I think self-publishing is a great option for many writers, and a number of my clients have self-published quite successfully. It's a great way to build a fan base, experiment with pricing, etc.-- and sometimes make more money than you might in pairing with a so-called traditional publisher. <br /><br />It's not an option I push on people, because (done right) I think it can be a lot more work than partnering with a publisher, but it does give the author more control over things like cover design and release dates, among other things. Sometimes it's the best option for a book in a genre that publishers see as "too narrow" or a book that straddles multiple genres. <br /><br />I can talk more about that in another post, if you like. <br /><br />As for the e-only route, more and more we're seeing the big publishers (Random House, Penguin, S&S, Harper, Grand Central, Harlequin, etc) expanding their romance lines in this direction. Romance tends to be a little ahead of the curve, but given the success of Carina Press and Avon Impulse, among others, I think we're going to be hearing about a lot more "e-only" deals with major publishers in the near future. I think the e-only imprints are doing a terrific job, though there's no question there's a tradeoff-- you lose some potential readers in not producing a print edition, since not everyone reads in ebook format. (yet?) Courtney Miller-Callihanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16225069684616730801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-72067277904483169162013-02-07T19:52:35.509-08:002013-02-07T19:52:35.509-08:00The other day, I was intrigued by what you said re...The other day, I was intrigued by what you said regarding a potential author's online presence. My non-writing work demands discretion, so I've always kept my online presence limited. However, I've also heard that having an internet presence is essential to obtaining an agent.<br /><br />What do you think? Do agents reject potential authors for the lack of blogs and such?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09525088106588357077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026702090530441760.post-6561479289645933692013-02-07T15:25:20.616-08:002013-02-07T15:25:20.616-08:00How often are you seeing clients go the self-pubbe...How often are you seeing clients go the self-pubbed or ebook only route? Is this something you recommend in some cases?Kayeleen Hamblinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652280450104899423noreply@blogger.com