Writing For Your Life Today

 by literary agent Chris Ferebee 

 Chris represents Rob Bell, Shauna Niequist, Jonathan Merritt, and many other popular authors. His clients include several New York Times bestselling authors, winners of various Religion Newswriters Association awards, and a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist.

 This session covers the nuts and bolts of outstanding book proposals. Topics include identifying your match with publishers and agents, title creation, the one-sentence hook, the need and the solution, your uniqueness, audience characterization, platform description, proposal organization and style, and more

 73 minutes including Q&A

– by Jana Burson

I was recently asked if an author should publish without an agent. The quick answer to this is no! But, like most questions, there are multiple things to consider when making this decision.
Taking a step back, most of the major trade publishing houses actually don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts or proposals in the first place. With that in mind, you’re going to need an agent who has existing relationships with the right publishing houses and editors who acquire in your genre to even have your book idea considered.
In the unlikely event that a publishing house does accept unsolicited proposals, you still might be better off with agent representation for a variety of reasons:

• Without an agent, you won’t have a third party looking out for your best interests and it puts you as the author in the seat of negotiator, rather than allowing you to keep your focus on the craft of writing and nurturing your relationship with your editor.

• Unless you are business and contract savvy, you’ll want an agent who understands the legal and contractual ins and outs of publishing so you don’t end up in a less than favorable position.

• If you’ve never published before and don’t have experience with the publishing process, you’ll want someone on your team who is willing to explain things to you and can foresee where you’ll need guidance and assistance in the process.

• While it would be nice to believe that a publishing house would never take advantage of an author who doesn’t have representation, the reality is that you will most likely not receive as good of a deal as your agented peer.

I’ve talked with a few authors during my history in publishing who have been fortunate enough to get book deals without an agent because they either had a personal connection or were approached directly by a publisher. But most of them look back on that experience and wish they had obtained representation before signing their contract. So how do you get an agent? Here’s a good place to start.

Guideposts Books Editorial is looking for a few excellent authors to contribute to a unique annual devotional book called All God’s Creatures. We are looking for animal lovers from diverse backgrounds who can write daily devotion entries that bring together our love for animals (all kinds of creatures—not just pets) and our love for God in refreshing, inspiring, and uplifting ways.

Each devotion is about 350 words total, and includes the following elements:

• A title
• A short Scripture quote, with reference and Bible version, that serves as the basis of your devotion.
• A true personal story of you or someone you know and a memorable encounter with an animal that made an impact on your or his/her life with a spiritual takeaway (250 to 275 words). The best devotions will bring the reader along with you in your discovery, as if a trusted friend is sharing his or her story.
• A short closing prayer, quote, Scripture, or other encouragement. (Avoid instructing the reader, except perhaps to consider or meditate on some facet of the devotion.)

To audition, please submit three devotionals as Word or .rtf documents, using the guidelines above. Your pieces should showcase your voice, your affection for your animal subject, your approach, and your ability to communicate spiritual takeaways derived from your encounters with an animal. Be sure to include your name and contact info in each document.

If you are invited to be part of the team of writers for the All God’s Creatures devotional, you will be assigned several devotions and paid $75.00 per selected and published devotion on a work-for-hire basis. Guideposts will retain full rights to each paid devotion.

Please direct inquiries, questions, and submissions to Jon Woodhams ([email protected]) with All God’s Creatures Audition in your subject line. Deadline for submissions July 24, 2019.

by Tim Beals

Once you’ve secured the services of an agent, don’t expect him to do all your career-building for you. Continue making and using professional contacts, gathering information, seeking endorsements for your work, and building your social media platform. Be polite, straightforward, honest, and businesslike at all times. Sometimes the author-agent partnership turns into a real friendship, but it is first and always a business relationship.

Write or call your agent whenever you need to, but otherwise be patient and stay out of their inbox and voicemail. Instead, your agent will write or call whenever there is news to report. If you have heard little or nothing from your agent, however, it is reasonable to call or write every two months to see what has happened.

Once you have agreed to let an agent represent your next project, provide them with the following information:

• The names of any editors or publishers who have asked to see your work.
• The names of any editors or publishers who have read and enjoyed your earlier work.
• The names of any editors or publishers you do not want your work submitted to.
• The names of any editors or publishers who have already seen and rejected your project in its current (or very similar) form.
• Where, when, and by whom part or all of the project has been previously published.

Don’t expect your agent to make decisions for you. Agents will bring you offers, answer your questions, and make suggestions, but only you can decide what to accept, what to turn down, when to ask for more. Indeed, this is part of your responsibility as an agented author. If your agent does not automatically send you a list of the people and organizations to which your project has been submitted, feel free to request it. Then allow your agent a reasonable amount of time to sell your work. Two to six months is typical.

If you ever have a problem with your agent, write or call them to discuss the issue. Be honest, firm, forthright, calm, and concerned. Remember that your agent has many other clients. Expect them to be responsive and helpful—but don’t expect constant and immediate availability.

Don’t let publishers make an end run around your agent. If you are approached directly about a project your agent is representing, get the person’s name, phone number, and employer, and pass on this information to your agent, who will take things from there. This is not only good business, it’s your legal obligation.

If you want to discuss an idea for a new project, or if you require some professional advice, feel free to call or email your agent. Ask him whether or not he would be interested in seeing your next project. He may decline to represent future projects you propose, but if you’ve been successful in the past, he should welcome new ideas. Simply send each new project to your agent with a brief message, and expect a prompt response.

Are you ready for an agent? Do you want to make beautiful music together? Come prepared, practice your craft, stay humble, and play your part. The right agent can guide your writing, present your work to the right editors, and effectively manage the business side of publishing on your behalf. Many publishers require writers to have an agent, and most successful writers work with one. So be ready to learn and your agent will help with the rest.

Tim Beals, “Agenting 101: The What, Why, When, and Hows of Literary Representation” in Jot That Down: Encouraging Essays for New Writers ed. A.L. Rogers (Grand Rapids: Caffeinated Press, 2017), 116–117.