Compiled by Nikki Duncan

Fisherman’s Wharf, The Golden Gate Bridge, Aquarium of the Bay, Chinatown Walking Tours, and of course shopping tours are just a few of the things to be done in San Francisco. Until July 30th.

The time is rapidly approaching for agents, editors, and writers, aspiring and published, to descend in droves on the great city of San Francisco. That’s right. RWA Nationals will liven up San Francisco this year. Lives will be changed, friendships will be formed, imaginations will flourish, insights and perceptions will be broadened, and dreams will abound as freely as they did when we were children.

It’s an exciting time that you will remember the rest of your life, but there are some important things to keep in mind that will help you get the most of your experience. Workshops, book signings, hallways, elevators, and meals are supreme places to learn what’s new to the marketplace, what editors and agents are looking for, who in the industry you are like, and where your book(s) will fit.

One agent, Nathan Bransford with Curtis Brown Ltd, recently stated on his blog that, regardless of their differences, many agents can agree “on the increasing necessity of authors building as much of a platform and network as possible and on how at the end of the day there are no hard and fast rules in this business.”

So, listen to Nathan’s experience. Use Nationals as a time to “build a network you will be able to draw upon in the future.” Make new friends. Strike up conversations with published authors. Invite an editor or agent to share a table with you or to join you in the bar for a drink. Wipe your mind of the questions “What’s in this for me? How can this help my career?” Instead, approach each conversation and introduction with the attitude of “What does this person have to teach others? What can I do for this author?” Break out of your protective bubble, remove the focus from yourself, and open yourself up to the possibilities. You never know what could happen.

Cynthia Sterling, in a recent release of her newsletter, shared Senior Editor of St. Martin’s Press Jennifer Enderlin’s four-point checklist for deciding whether or not she wants to work with an author:
1. Do I love this author’s writing?
2. Do I like working with this author?
3. Is this author reliable?
4. Does this author sell?

While an author who meets all four criteria is great, three out of four is pretty good. If the author meets none of the four, that’s not the author for her. (And yes, she is still looking for a big, really sexy western historical romance.)

And if you wanted to know what goes on in an agent’s mind while they’re reading your query letter, here’s a bit of another post from Nathan Bransford’s blog:

“Once you’ve set aside the idea that there’s only one reason for a rejection, the query points system (at least Nathan’s) begins to make sense. Now, just FYI, I’m not sitting at my computer with a pen and scoresheet, but here’s what’s happening in the back of my mind as I’m reading a query.

Let’s say you have to get to 10 points in order to for me to request a manuscript. Here are the categories, which I’m scoring 0-10:
~ Professionalism (appearance of query, spelling of name, personalization, absence of strange pictures)
~ Book Idea (presentation of hook, marketability, writing style/quality, resonance with me)
~ Qualifications (writing credits, celebrity status)”

For example: “For the average querier out there, you want to earn points however you can. Sure, you can break the rules if you want, and if your idea and writing makes a perfect 10 you may find success. But your odds are so much better if you earn as many points on the “professionalism” scale as you possibly can. I have requested a large number of partials where the idea did not immediately strike me (let’s say 3 or 4 points), but the query letter was so impeccable (8 or 9 points!) I wanted to check it out.”

While Nathan, and no one else that I’ve seen, has stated so on their blogs or sites, I find myself wondering if agents and editors have a similar process going through their minds as they’re talking to you at conferences either during a pitch or a chance meeting. We know they’re always on the look out for that next great author they want to represent, so is it unrealistic to think that our behavior would be a key in making them look that much closer at us?

Now, to shift gears a little, here’s an update on happenings in the market.

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Senior Editor Shauna Summers is looking for ‘big, contemporary romance’ for Bantam Dell.

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Dianne Moggy, director of Global Single Titles at Harlequin Books, says HQN is looking for contemporary romance, sexy historical romance and romantic suspense. Mira is also looking for romantic suspense manuscripts.

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Tom Colgan of Berkley Prime Crime has no plans to cut back — the imprint is doing well.

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Betsy Mitchell, Editor in Chief of Del Rey Books, said they plan to increase their offerings of ‘female-oriented’ science fiction and fantasy.

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Amy Pierpont, Editorial Director of Grand Central Publishing is very interested in western historical romance. She and Lucia Macro, Executive Editor of Avon would both like to see western historicals featuring real, known historical figures.

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Emily Lawrence, former assistant editor at Harper’s has been hired as associate editor at Aladdin.

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Grantville Gazette is a very interesting, paying market for alternative history short stories. But not just any stories. All the stories center around the alternative universe of Grantville, Virginia, which has been transported to 1632 Germany. From the website “In April of the year 2000, a six-mile sphere centered on Grantville, West Virginia was displaced in space and time to Germany and May, 1631. The inhabitants of Grantville decided to start the American Revolution early; the nobility of Europe were not amused.” The first story, by Eric Flint, has spawned numerous anthologies and the Grantville Gazette magazine. Anyone is welcome to submit a story, but they must be familiar with the world Flint created, and must follow very specific submission guidelines. Payment is six cents a word. If you’re interested in pursuing this, I suggest you first check out http://1632.org/. This site provides a wealth of reference material, tips as to what’s been overdone, things not to submit — everything a writer might want to know. Then go to
www.grantvillegazette.com and familiarize yourself with the submission guidelines. Good luck!

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The Knight Agency is pleased to announce a new TKA family member! Veteran literary agent Lucienne Diver has joined their team. She brings with her a dynamic, bestselling client list as well as fifteen years of experience at New York City’s Spectrum Literary Agency, one of the oldest and most respected firms in the publishing industry. Deidre Knight and the rest of TKA welcome Lucienne as a kindred spirit with her dynamic and vibrant personality and her love of books of all kinds.

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Sourcebooks, Inc is actively acquiring single-title and single-title series Romance fiction (90,000 to 120,000 actual digital words) for their Casablanca imprint. The are looking for strong writers who are excited about marketing their books and building their community of readers, and whose books have something fresh to offer in the genre of Romance.

Sourcebooks considers agented as well as unagented submissions in all subgenres of Romance fiction, including paranormal, suspense, contemporary, erotic romance, and historical (prior to 1900 only).

Queries should be emailed in a WORD file (agents may telephone) and should include:
~ full author or agent contact info (name, address, phone number, email address) on every document
~ brief bio of author including previous books published (including under pseudonyms), sales history (number of books sold to readers, not to publishers), awards and contest won
~ title and word count of proposed book
~ short (2-3 paragraph) synopsis

Submissions can be sent via mail or email WORD file (email is preferred) and should include:
~ full author or agent contact info (name, address, phone number, email address) on every document
~ author bio including previous books published (including under pseudonyms), sales history (number of books sold to readers, not to publishers), awards and contests won, list of other finished manuscripts or books in progress
~ competitive analysis (list of titles that are comparative and/or competitive with yours)
~ full synopsis, including actual digital word count and the ending
~ a header or footer on each page that includes: book title, page number, author or agent name, phone number and email address
~ minimum of 4 sample chapters (preferred for hard copy submissions), or complete manuscript in WORD (preferred for email submissions)

Please send submissions to: deb.werksman@sourcebooks.com

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And again from Nathan Bransford’s blog:

“I’m hearing from non-publishing people in the world of business that there’s a new trend afoot toward politeness, anger management, and a less rigid hierarchy — in other words, in business you can’t really be a jerk anymore.

Is a publisher going to decline to publish a great book simply because the author is a jerk and a handful? Probably not. But when those difficult and nebulous decisions are being made in a publishing house, such as who gets what advertising and who is going to be the lead title and a great deal of complex factors are being weighed, put a great personality in the “pro” column for an author.
Personality counts.”

Even if you are not naturally an outgoing person, if you intend to succeed as a published author, you will have to step outside of yourself even if for short bursts of time. It’s in those times that amazing thins happen.

To learn more about RWA and RWA PRO, visit the RWA Website.

Nikki’s been a member of North Texas Romance Writers of America for close to two years, and has been recognized as an RWA PRO. She’s completed three novels and one novella. She’s presently searching for representation for her first romantic suspense. You can visit Nikki online at www.nikkiduncan.com.

Sources:
cynthiasterling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com
www.sourcebooks.com