How Agents Build Writing Careers
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- Literary agents Jessica Faust and James McGowan talk about the benefits of having an agent by your side while building a career by talking about the things agents do besides negotiations to help authors.
BookEnds is dedicated to making publishing a book traditionally a more transparent process, and it starts with these videos!
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Jessica Faust’s love for books is what first brought her to open BookEnds Literary Agency. It is her desire to be an advocate for all authors that pushed her to create her blog, the BookEnds UA-cam channel and to maintain a vibrant presence on Twitter.
Jessica is proud to have grown BookEnds to an agency that represents authors of all genres for children and adults, allowing her to reach more readers and help more authors and illustrators achieve their dreams.
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James McGowan is a Literary Agent at BookEnds and writer for children. He began working with the agency as an intern in the summer of 2015, and basically never left. He represents a talented group of authors and illustrators working in everything from board books to middle grade graphic novels. He also works in adult nonfiction, and adult mystery and suspense projects. James is the author of GOOD NIGHT OPPY, which is available now.
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Twitter: bookendslit
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Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
Connect with James: jmcgowanbks
Great video. I trust you guys. When my book is complete in early November, you will be my first submission. I'm sending out to ten agents at a time. My editor is my worst nightmare and my best friend. Her line edits send me into a creative frenzy, and the book gets better. It's the book that could start my career or haunt my bookshelf as I receive countless rejection slips. This is new to me. I have much respect for anyone willing to string words together to create a story to entertain. Kindest regards, Corey. 😊
I very much want a publishing professional in my corner, advocating for me and my book, helping me navigate the unfamiliar waters of the publishing industry. I don't know what I don't know, but an agent does. There's no way I would want to do this alone.
Jessica looked uncharacteristically serious in this video. Hope she gets her laugh back soon. As usual, the video is so enlightening. I don’t need to be convinced but now I know what to point out to my writing friends who are skeptical about agents.
Thank you for your insight. I will continue to write, query, and strive to launch my writing career.
I feel sooo much better after hearing Jessica doesn't read all of every book to consider it read! Also, I feel sooo good that she skims through some reads to keep abreast of the market! I'm thrilled to know it's not just been me all these years! TY📚
My agent coaches me a lot. She's prepped me for a lot of editor/production and legal meetings and demystified a lot of industry jargon. I really appreciate these videos you put out as they help me a lot too. I feel like since getting agented and a book deal I've had to take a crash course in how the publishing industry works, all while trying to get my book finished in schedule, so thank you! IT can feel a bit overwhelming to say the least!
The strength of my agent is her knowledge of editors who buy the types of nonfiction I write. She is in the process of selling my fourth book in four years.If I were starting the agent solicitation process again, I would start with the third list of ten I think would be interested in my book. That group provides invaluable feedback for revising before submitting to your top ten agencies.
Interesting discussion! Especially the part about how you don't need to finish reading a book to have learned what you need to know regarding voice and style. As a writer, I find that frustrating because my focus is naturally on the story, so I want people to read to the end, and I feel they can't know what the book is about if they don't read to the end. I would wonder how an agent can promote my book if they don't know how it ended-which in my case is often a twist ending. For me, the concept that the story and it's outcome aren't necessarily as important as voice and style, is mind-blowing! It also explains why some of the otherwise well-written books I've read over the years had disappointing endings that fell flat. LOL!
I also found your comments about what an editor or publisher is looking for were helpful. A short story I submitted, that to me was about a bully getting his comeuppance with a paranormal twist, resulted in feedback that focused on the demon in the story. The reviewer, while complimentary about my writing, style, voice, and setting...seemed to be fascinated with the demon-as if the story was about her-when to me she was a means to an end. They wanted to know much more about the demon's background than I felt was pertinent to the story, as if the demon was the main character and therefore needed a much more detailed back-story. I puzzled over the feedback for months, trying to figure out where I'd gone wrong, when perhaps it wasn't that I'd done something wrong, but rather that the reviewer was looking for a demon story while I had written a story about a bully. (For me, the story was an exercise in making a very unlikable character, empathetic.)
Anyway, thank you for making these videos. I'm finding them informative and insightful!
I think it depends on the genre to a certain extent, but a good agent is invaluable!
Thanks for all the education from your videos. I appreciate you! Now if only I can get my kid lit published...
Great show-as always, thanks! ❤
Love your videos! I visited your website and it appears no one at your agency handles memoirs. Is that right or did I miss something? Keep up the good work.
Hi! I believe this is true, I think we don't have any agents specifically looking for memoirs at the moment, but that can always change!
I’d love to see a video on your alls thoughts on poetry & how come you don’t represent it! ☺️ love your videos! ❤
I am struggling to find comparable books to mine, as it's a family saga fiction novel, and every family is unique and has their own different problems, so how can I compare my story to other family saga fiction stories?😅
Hi! The plots of books don't have to be the same to comp them-they just have to appeal to the same audience. So, you can consider elements like tone, themes, tropes, etc. when you comp your book. Good luck!
If you didn’t finish the book or skimmed it you didn’t read it. If you listened to the audiobook you didn’t read it. You DNFd/skimmed/listened. Idk why ppl say the opposite but it’s silly and untrue.