The Referral: A Success Story

By now I'm guessing that a lot of you have seen Roni (the Fiction Groupie's) big news, but if not go take a look. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Done? So now you know that Roni signed with my wonderful agent, Sara Megibow, earlier this week. Pretty darn awesome right?

What makes it even more cool is that I had a tiny hand in matchmaking Roni and Sara. Roni gives a pretty detailed description here, but the short version is that I knew Sara wanted more romance writers and I knew Roni wrote romance. I'd read a few excerpts of Roni's work on her blog, and I knew she could write well.

I wrote a few emails, and then I got to giggle and squee when Sara wrote me to tell me she loved Roni's work and do it again when Roni wrote to say she liked Sara's notes. It was fun, and it was a great diversion during my summer of very little productivity and lots of not fun things. I'm so happy for both of them and I'm hoping they'll have a quick sale once revisions are done.

I've been thinking about why Roni came to mind when Sara asked if I knew any talented romance writers, and these are my thoughts:

1. Roni has a GREAT blog. Really. It's one of the first blogs I started following and I think it appeals to writers of all genres. Her posts are helpful, well written and informative and the look of her blog is very professional.

2. She posts occasional excerpts. This is something I've haven't done much because to be honest, when I see long excerpts (and sometimes short ones too) on a blog I usually skip it, especially if the blogger posts excerpts daily or weekly. BUT, I'll read excerpts if they are part of a blogfest I'm participating in, or if I feel like the blogger is a friend.

3. And that brings me to my last thought: Roni isn't just a blogger, she's a blog participant. She reads other people's posts and comments, she gives back with contests and critiques, and she's approachable. She's the kind of blogger that makes everyone feel like a friend.

I have no doubt that Roni would have found an agent regardless of my referral, but I hope it made the process a little quicker (and the WAIT is the worst, right?)

Have any of you agented writers given your agents a successful referral? Are those of you who are not yet agented making the most of your blog presence?

Another Visit From My Agent

Hey everybody! I'm still on my month-long blogging break but my lovely agent, Sara Megibow, offered to share some notes from last month's referral experiment and I knew you'd find them interesting. Enjoy!

Dear readers and writers -

Thank you for all the wonderful submissions referred by Natalie last month! I've had a delicious month reading romance, romance, romance! Just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and for considering me in your agent hunt.

Here are the results:

I read 75 partials (still have a few in my database, but not many)

I asked for 3 fulls

if I sign any new clients, I will definitely let Natalie know

Of the partials that I read, there were three main reasons for passes - I thought I would share my notes in case it helps. These notes are not true of all submissions of course, but were more of a general observation.

1) stories that opened with dialogue in which the purpose of that dialogue was to "explain" the story to the reader:

ex. (and I am making this example up - it's not taken from any real submission)

Chapter 1

"Fred, how could you? You know that mom and dad sent us here to Wisconsin specifically so you could learn how to get along with others and stop fighting!"

"But Sally, I've just had such a hard time since mom's cancer and I don't like anyone here in Wisconsin anyway"

To me, this feels like an awkward way to introduce a story to the reader, so it was one reason why I passed on some partials.

2) occasionally, I saw examples of weak writing right up front. Yes, as an agent, I could "edit" this kind of thing. But, if I see it up front, then I'll gamble that it's throughout the book. An editor at a publishing house would pass on a book for weak writing and therefore so will I.

ex. (again, making this up)

James looked out across the mesa. James picked up his coffee cup and took a sip of the hot liquid. He didn't know what was next in life, but he felt overwhelmed. James felt like this a lot.

Obviously, no submission is perfect. But, if I saw too much of these kinds of mistakes (poor use of pronouns and "telling" the reader what James is feeling instead of showing us), then I would pass on the sample.

3) data dump. This is the number one reason that I pass on projects submitted to the agency in general. I know it's really hard to integrate backstory and get the reader "into" the story. But, editors will only read 30-50 pages before nixing a work, and that's how important those first 30-50 are. So, there is no room for datadump especially upfront.

ex. (again, not taken from anything specifically)

Gretchen was an only child and the last chance for the Duchess to produce an heir. She's been sent to boarding school, trained to perform, pampered, educated, pushed and prodded. And yet, she was 22 and single. Her mother was losing her patience and Gretchen was losing her confidence. Really, there was only another month until her 23rd birthday and her mother was insisting on throwing a big ball in an effort to attract suitors.

I hope my thoughts and notes are useful and I wish you all Happy Writing!

Sincerely,

Sara Megibow

Nelson Literary Agency

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/SaraMegibow/

www.nelsonagency.com

Good stuff, huh? I've struggled with all three of these things. My first manuscript was a lovely little story that began with a gigantic info dump. I did learn a lot from writing it though and I'm glad I didn't give up after the first attempt. Practice. Practice. Practice. The more we write the better we get!

I hope you all have a great July and I'll see you in August.

A Visit from My Agent Sara Megibow

*As of Tuesday, June 29, Sara will no longer be accepting referrals from this blog post. Thank you to everyone who sent queries and partials. Sara said she read some excellent queries and pages and even requested a few full manuscripts. She'll probably do another guest post soon about what worked and what didn't. Thanks again!

Well, I said I'd only be blogging once a week, but that was before I got an email from Sara with some news I knew you'd want to hear. I'll let her tell you all about it.

Dear Natalie's readers -

My name is Sara Megibow and I have the true honor of being the literary agent representing Natalie and her writing. It is my privilege to be working with such a talented, hard-working and passionate writer!

Natalie is being kind enough to allow me to post this message to all of you - thank you.

So, here goes...I am on the hunt for romance writers. If you have a completed romance novel of about 100,000 words, please send me a brief query letter before the end of June. Let the floodgates open - I really, really want to read your work!

The project must be complete, not represented by another agent and be in any sub-genre of romance except category or inspirational (yes, this includes young adult, fantasy with romantic elements, paranormal, etc). Email me at query (at) nelsonagency (dot) com with a note in the subject line saying "referred by Natalie's blog" and a 2-3 paragraph overview of the work in the body of the email. Yes include your website or blog address, no don't include sample pages, synopsis, headshot or attachments.

You can find out more about me and my tastes at www.publishersmarketplace.com/Members/SaraMegibow

and more about our agency at www.nelsonagency.com

Happy writing!

Sara

I hope you'll enjoy this little referral. If you have questions feel free to ask in the comments section.

*This just in: The 100,000 word guideline is for adult romance. YA should be quite a bit shorter.

**This offer will be good for at least a week or two, so there is no rush to submit today. :)