Literary Agent
Crystal R Gehrt @Crystal_R_Gehrt
@kate_mckean @Jess_Wade If I plan to write a trilogy, is it okay to end the first book with the reader not knowing the antagonist's motivation? If so, do you let the agent know when you pitch? Write second book or wait to be picked up first?Nope, that's not a great idea. You can't sell book 2 until you sell book 1. If book 1 doesn't do well, you might not get to write/sell book 2. Book 1 has to stand on it's own two legs.
Literary Agent
Emily F. Popek @EmilyPopek
@kate_mckean Any tips on building a platform as a fiction writer?Write wherever you can. Better is tangentially related to your book's themes. (Mental health? Feminism? Historical medical quackery? Whatever you got). But just keep writing.
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Sadclown Megan @ThunderTheft
@kate_mckean @FinkHernandez I love both those questions! To combine the two, what tropes are over used in children's books?About a hundred million of them. :) And varies by picbook, MG, YA. But I've seen a lot of overcoming bullying stories and I think we're good there for a while.
Literary Agent
Monadiki @MonadikiFierce
@kate_mckean Do agents only pitch to the big publishers or do they have visions that are bigger, like movies, TV, merchandise etc?Books and movies are two different pitches. We do both. Merchandise is harder because that is most often tied up with movie rights. Book agents usually pitch book first, then movie. Movies don't really want an untested book.
Literary Agent
Lynn(e) Schmidt @LynneSchmidt
@kate_mckean How does one go about querying a poetry manuscript? #AskAgentOooof. There are very few agents who rep poetry. Find them first. But you can also go straight to small pubs who do poetry without an agent. I don't do poetry so I'm not the best resource.
Literary Agent
Troy Wilderson @MizGolightly
@kate_mckean Which is worse: a ten-year-old comp with a comp to another writer or no comps at all? Thanks!#amquerying #querytip
If we still recall that 10yo book, then that's fine. But it's not a strike against a query to have no comps, IMHO.
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Leigh A. Hartman @barefoot4life85
@kate_mckean @BookEndsJessica What do you look for in a writer who's querying their debut novel/novella? Someone who has no awards or accolades to their name?A good book. Awards are well and good, but they don't turn the tide (unless you have, like, a Nobel or something). (I don't rep novellas, FYI.)
Literary Agent
Jess Hernandez @FinkHernandez
@kate_mckean What's a motif or trope you're seeing too much of lately?OMG APOCALYPSE CLIMATE COLLAPSE OMG WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DOOOO. I feel like this was covered in the dystopian crazy of a few years ago.
Literary Agent
Ashley 🏈🍸🌴 @BamaBelle6969
@kate_mckean @GlynnMacN What is preferred - concept where publisher can hire ghost writer, or a fully fleshed out manuscript? Agent or publisher first?Manuscript. Agent first. Some other agents work more with ghostwriters, but I don't.
Literary Agent
Clyde Williams @Choodomir
@kate_mckean What do you think of the new LITRPG sub-genre, and why?It looks great! I'm reading one now. I don't play RPGs so I'm not super versed in it. It's a big part of the culture so I say, bring it on.
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Diana Aleksandrova @DianaAleksand13
@UweStenderPhD Yay. Two questions about comps. Is Tiffany Sly lives her now famous enough to be used as a comp?In *my* world, yes, and there is a film scenario that might work out.
Literary Agent
Vanessa Ford @VanessaFordDC
@BookEndsJessica @debralynnlazar @bookendslit Apologies! Do people who write books in different genres (children’s and memoir for example) tend to have an agent who works in Children’s and an agent who works in Memoir? Or, do they find one agent who does both well?It really depends. My suggestion is find the right agent for the book that's ready to query right now and let your path take you where it may. It might be 2 agents or one that handles all. Try not to predict or plan for what you can't know. #askagent
Literary Agent
Debra Lynn Shelton 📒📚🎼🎵 @debralynnlazar
Follow-up question: do you, or any agents you know, hold it against a writer if they've had an agent (or 2) in the past? twitter.com/BookEndsJessic…I don't and I don't think anyone at @bookendslit will either. There are a myriad of reasons an author might have had multiple agents--a difference of vision, an agent leaving the business, a change in career. We get it. #askagent
Literary Agent
Debra Lynn Shelton 📒📚🎼🎵 @debralynnlazar
I'm now seeking my 3rd agent, & I totally agree. HOWEVER, some agents get lit up abt ur work, but if they can't sell it & r excited by newer clients (new shiny object), may leave u behind. I know I'm not alone w/this experience. Besides a crystal ball, how can writers avoid this? twitter.com/BookEndsJessic…I don't know that you can honestly. Agents, like authors, can have evolving tastes and interests and sometimes that evolution doesn't align. I think you sign on and work toward "forever," but also know that sometimes people change. #askagent