Thinking Like a Literary Agent
This post was originally published in my almost-monthly newsletter.
As we all jump back into our creative work, I wanted to talk a bit about three ways my work as an agent influences my writing, and hopefully pass on some useful advice!
Market Research
It’s certainly an advantage to be constantly reading and thinking about what’s selling, what’s not, what editors are looking for, and similarly what I’m looking for as an agent.
As an author, I don’t write for the market, but I also don’t write in a vacuum.
What you can do as an author?
Follow the manuscript wish list requests (#mswl) of agents and editors, the deals being reported in Publisher’s Weekly, and the books that are being promoted (faced out or end-capped) in your local bookstores. (Caveat that the picture books announced in PW and PM could have been sold six months to a year before, since we wait until the picture book illustrator has been attached to the project before announcing. And of course, anything on the bookshelves today as a new release was bought by the publisher at least 18 months ago with very few exceptions.)
I’m not advocating that you write for the market - the market will shift and change, and more important you’re going to have to spend a lot of time with this book. You want to write it because you’re excited by it!
But if you’re a picture book writer, you might have noticed that the picture book market has shifted to prefer shorter, sparser texts in commercial picture books. Or if you’re a middle grade novelist, you might find that the market is open to middle grades with heavier themes than one might have expected if they aren’t watching the shelves. When you’re looking at the current market, pay attention to both content and form.
It's also important not to look at any one agent or editor’s #mswl as gospel. I don’t represent YA horror, but that doesn’t mean it’s not marketable. (There are multiple BookEnds agents looking for YA horror!)
Editing
As an agent, I’m constantly reading manuscripts for my clients with an editorial, critical eye. But sometimes I realize while I’m editing a client work that one of my own manuscripts has the very same problem! So perhaps I note in a client’s editorial feedback that one character’s motivation is unclear, and then I make a note for my own project and start thinking about how to clarify my protagonist’s sense of logic and driving force as well.
What you can do as an author?
Make sure that you give as many thoughtful critiques as you receive. The better you are as a critique partner, the more you’ll be able to see those same issues in your own manuscript as well.
Be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and actively work to fix those issues. For example, if you know pacing is a problem in most of your work, then read craft books on structure and pacing as you draft and revise.
Career Planning
As an agent, I’m thinking about the best moves for my clients in terms of their long-term career. And while it can be difficult to see some of these things for yourself, when I think about what to write next as an author, I do think about how that might fit into my long-term goals and my mission statement/vision for the kinds of books I want to write and the readers that I’m hoping to reach.
What you can do as an author?
If you have an agent, then this is the perfect discussion to have with them. What do they see as your next best step? Have you shared your long and short term goal with them, and do you have a sense of how what you’re working on now fits with those goals?
If you don’t have an agent, then perhaps that is your next best long-term career move. And if you’re looking and haven’t been successful, then besides the market research above, then maybe it’s time to do some brainstorming with yourself or a trusted, experienced fellow author.
Grab a piece of paper and ask yourself “What do I need to do to make my writing more attractive to an agent or editor?” and jot down everything that comes to mind. Maybe there’s a craft issue that you subconsciously know is a problem but that you haven’t been quite ready to face. Maybe you need to push your picture book concepts a bit farther. Maybe you’ve been receiving the same feedback in rejections and it’s time to take another look at your novel. Sometimes, we know what we have to do, and we just need that extra push to do it.
So make that list. Whether the question is “What do I need to do to make my writing more attractive to an agent?” or “What do I have to do to be happy with my illustration portfolio?” or “What do I have to do to take my work-in-progress to the next level?” - I’ll bet you come up with some pretty great next steps.
