Connor Goldsmith

(More properly I consider fiction 'on referral or by solicitation', which includes me saying sure okay here on Twitter, so if you don't have a way of getting a referral feel free to ask here. I am not trying to put obstacles in your way, I just need to stem the volume.) #AskFuse

I also was closed to queries for much of this year, so that skews things a bit. In general over the course of my career I'd say about 75% of my fiction clients have come out of the slush pile. These days I only consider fiction on referral, because it's v time-intensive! #AskFuse

I have a whooooole lot of manuscripts requested out of the slush in my to-read pile, though, so the figure for this year may very well go up before New Year's. #AskFuse

For reference, of my nine current fiction clients: 4 came out of the slush, 3 were referrals, and 2 were people I met at conventions whose shorter-form work I'd already read. #AskFuse

Oh, thousands. How many I sign out of the slush really varies, though. This year only one so far, but in part that's because I did a lot more nonfiction this year, and NF more frequently involves solicitation on the agent's part than fiction does. #AskFuse twitter.com/thelindsayelli…

Voice, plot, and character are the most important things to me, provided you're a strong writer. Line-level issues can be handled in editing. I've had books I sent off with very few changes and books where we rewrote everything together. #AskFuse twitter.com/sarafinn11/sta…

You can absolutely just Google around! An agency will typically have query instructions on their website. These vary by agency & sometimes by agent, so double-check -- & make sure you research the agent, because there are scammers out there! #AskFuse twitter.com/feathersandwax…

This HUGELY depends on genre. In fiction my genre is SF/F, and I'd say in my experience the best cons to meet agents for that are the Nebulas and World Fantasy. Worldcon is also great but it's a lot busier for agents who have clients present. #AskFuse twitter.com/cwbuecheler/st…

That's really your call! I tend to advise against a professional edit unless you really feel you need help. I don't think it's necessary by any means, though it can certainly be helpful! Don't do it because you think it's a box you have to check. #AskFuse twitter.com/MasterOfGum/st…

That said, I think there's still a need for "issue books" that tackle all sorts of marginal experiences. But I think at this point most would agree that presenting a variety of experiences is a good thing. #AskFuse (8/8)

As for the 2nd question: I don't typically do YA/MG, so I can't comment on kids' specifically, but in adult I think there's been a strong shift toward letting marginalized chars have fun instead of needing to Confront Issues. I'd hope that's true across categories. #AskFuse (7/8)

This isn't about agents or editors exclusively, mind you. The acquisition of any book relies on signoffs from higher-ups, sales, etc. You sometimes need a dozen people to say yes, and most of those people won't be personally attuned to whatever marginalization. #AskFuse (6/?)

So I would say that's the biggest problem, is that the industry itself is not diverse enough and it's not enough for privileged people to start maybe repping or acquiring books about marginalized people. #AskFuse (5/?)

I was on a great panel for @MinoritiesinPub hosted by @jbakernyc a full 3 years ago where we talked about this problem, and it has not gotten any better since. You can hear the audio on my website's Media page if you're interested. #AskFuse (4/?)

So part of "what's going on in the industry" is that the industry is inhospitable & does not pay well, so it self-selects, ideally, for a rich kid from NYC who can live w/their parents & work for pennies for years. And statistically those kids are more often white. #AskFuse (3/?)

The problem is that for a lot of white, or straight, or [whatever other majority category] people, diversity is just that: a nice ideal, rather than something they think a great deal about. And overall, publishing is VERY white and very upper-middle to upper class. #AskFuse (2/?)

This will take a thread, so bear with me. This is a topic I'm passionate about, and one of the primary goals of my work since I got into publishing in 2012. I'm thrilled activism from orgs like WNDB has made this a more commonplace ideal... (1/?) #AskFuse twitter.com/ShanaHartmann/…

Tie-ins aren't usually v. lucrative contracts, but they get your name out to loyal franchise fans who could potentially also become loyal fans of *yours*. I only encourage it if you can make time between original projects. You need your own IP to direct the new fans to. #AskFuse

That's called tie-in work (or "IP") and it's case-by-case. If a client is *looking* for IP work, I'll reach out to editors who specialize in tie-ins and ask about their licenses. Sometimes a license (or an ed on its behalf) approaches the author. #AskFuse twitter.com/cwbuecheler/st…

I'm biased, obviously, but I think it's always better to have rep and would recommend having an agent for anything novella-length or longer. It can be tricky to get an agent with only a novella, though, as there aren't a lot of sub options. #AskFuse twitter.com/hatchingphoeni…