Betsy Lerner

At a Theater Near You

Posted on May 13, 2009 by betsylerner

JUST PUBLISHED:

letters of wcw0001

Three hundred letters from William Carlos Williams to his younger brother with whom he confides his desire to become a great artist. Edited by Andrew Krivak, poet, scholar, novelist and author of A Long Retreat.

ON THE RADIO:

Unbelievable_jacket

Stacy Horn on the Faith Middleton Showhttp://tinyurl.com/StacyFaith

FIVE WEEKS ON THE NYT BESTSELLER LIST: Columbine-1

http://vodpod.com/watch/1546705-maddow-columbine-facts-vs-myths

“ For any reader who wants to understand the complicated nature of evil, this book is a masterpiece.” — Seattle Times

Also this week:

I tried to wear my hair up with a clip. No one said anything so I’m assuming it was a disaster.

We threw a little party for our superb assistant Yishai on the occasion of his wedding next week.

We are booked solid for meetings with foreign publishers and film types who are coming to New York for the Book Expo

Someone who will go unnamed at the William Morris Agency is not returning my call. Unexfuckingceptable.

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FAQ: How Long Has This Been Going On?

Posted on May 12, 2009 by betsylerner

One of my devoted readers writes:

“I have an agent, but I don’t want to seem like a pest. Can you say something about how long it takes (on average) for publishers to make a decision once they have requested a book proposal? I realize there’s no pat answer–I’m just trying to get a feel for how the process works.”

Dear Devoted:

If your project is submitted by a reputable agent, you should get a response within three to four weeks. There are always exceptions. Books can be pre-empted overnight. They can be bought within days. Sometimes the process can drag on for a month or more, especially if your agent is staggering your submission. Long novels can take more time than non-fiction proposals, though The Historian was snapped up overnight.

Many agree that it’s all about the juice, your agent’s and the project’s. But there are also stories of bestsellers coming from unlikely sources. Dan Brown’s agent is best known for representing Drawing on the Left Side of the Brain (or is it the right?) and books about psychology and women’s issues. She is one of the loveliest agents in the business, but not someone you’d necessarily expect to see a thriller from. I wonder which side of the brain is used for counting dollars.

Bottom line, why are you afraid of appearing like a pest to your agent? He or she is working on your behalf. He or she should walk you through the process and answer these questions. And keep you apprised of rejections as they come in, possibly set up meetings for you with interested parties, and generally keep you informed of the submission process.

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The Rules of Engagement

Posted on May 12, 2009 by betsylerner

J. sent a query letter to ten agents. One invited her to send the proposal. Now it’s been six weeks and she hasn’t heard a word. Should she write to the agent? What is the right amount of time?

A few things to consider:

If you don’t have any leverage, you don’t have any leverage.
It’s very easy to get yourself branded as a pest or a pain in the ass. Every publisher I ever worked for would quickly chalk up an author as a nuisance if he asked for too much or too loudly. Unless, or should I say until, you’re a bestselling author you want to be working your charm over your indignation.
People have a lot on their reading plates. Unless you have something with obvious commercial appeal or prestige written all over it, your submission will likely languish on the bottom of the pile.
That said, send a polite note 3-4 weeks after you’ve sent the proposal. It was requested after all.

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The Woodhouse Way

Posted on May 11, 2009 by betsylerner

Continuing to pack for the move, well, at this stage, mostly throwing out crap, I came across the proposal for The Forest for the Trees.

It was sold with the title:

NO BAD WRITERS: An Editor’s Handbook for Procrastinators, Self-Flagellators, Manquees, Masochists, Imposters, and Dreamers — In Other Words, Writers of all Kinds — With Some Tips About the Writing Life and Getting Published.

Moving right along.

I originally got the idea for the book when, as a young assistant editor, I had to write a tip sheet (basically all the relevant information about a book boiled down to one page that pulishers use for their pre-publication meetings. It usually includes a keynote about the book, comparison titles, ISBN, sales track, brief description or key points, blurbs, etc.) for a dog training book called No Bad Dogs.

The author Barbara Woodhouse believed there were no bad dogs, only bad owners. She got into the psychology of dogs and she had chapters with names like: Nervous Dogs, Dogs with Phobias, Dirty Dogs, Living with Mentally Unstable Dogs, and Dogs that Hate Men or Women.

Though I didn’t write the proposal for another ten years, that’s where I got the idea to write about writers’ personalities.

Filed under: Publishing, Writing | 1 Comment »

FAQ: Hard Copy or Email?

Posted on May 8, 2009 by betsylerner

L.K. asks: is it better to send your query to an agent in hard copy or in an email.

Up until a year or two ago, I would have said hard copy. But something has tipped and the letter with the sadly folded SASE seems a little antiquated. I think most agents will agree: send email queries.

The real question is who reads the letters and/or the emails. The agent herself or an assistant or an intern? Unless you were referred by an established writer or client of the agent, the chances are an assistant or intern will screen your letter. I actually read all my mail for two reasons:

1) At sleepaway camp we had a job wheel and every day you were assigned a task such as clothesline or toilet or sweep. But the best job was being the camper designated, after lunch, to get the mail and snacks. I can not tell you how much I loved getting the mail, handing the letters out to my bunkmates, and savoring the letters I received. Somehow, every day when I open my mail at work, I always remember that feeling. Totally queer, I know.

2) I don’t trust anyone to know what I like.

How do you get your material read or an invitation to send more? BTW, attach the first chapter or fifty pages. Just do it. If the agent is interested in your letter, it will save a step to have the pages attached. Next, do everything you can to make your query appealing before you send it. How? Well, depending on what it is:

get some of the work published before you submit it to an agent. This is extremely helpful, especially if it’s in a well known or highly regarded outlet such as Slate or a national magazine.
develop a popular blog like Julie & Julia or Dooce
give lectures, speaking engagements, workshops, build a following
any media attention will be a huge help
win a prize (enter writing contents)

It used to be that the book kicked off all these things, but in today’s very tough climate, publishers want authors who already come with a platform. If you build your platform and present yourself credibly and professionally in your query letter along with having a great idea (and a great title that in and of itself is a hook), you will probably get responses.

People sometimes like to speculate about whether there are masterpieces out there not getting published because of the system. I’m not one of them.

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Obit

Posted on May 7, 2009 by betsylerner

Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Jackie Gleason, Mike Nichols, Nora Ephron, Arthur Penn, and Lily Tomlin were among Sam Cohn’s clients.

He was an original founder of ICM, his previous company launched All in the Family and The Sting. He brokered a ten movie deal for Woody Allen without studio interference. At one point, 10 movies and 9 Broadway or off-Broadway shows opened with Sam Cohn clients as writers, directors, or stars. “It wasn’t just a money thing for him,” said E.L. Doctorow, “it was about the quality of the project and its potential.”

According to the NTY obit, “He conformed to none of the agent stereotypes: not the oily, luv-ya-baby baloney meister; not the meek and solicitous Danny Rose-like sycophant; not the sleekly groomed, power-hungry packager.” And I wonder why, after ten years of agenting, I still cringe when people ask me what I do.

Sam Cohn went against type: he hated LA, he was a shabby dresser, he was known to chew paper. “Exceedingly selective about whose phone calls he would take and even more so about whose he would return.” No doubt there’s a certain amount of power in not returning calls. Of course, it’s also rude.

I once had a meeting set up with Sam Cohn when I was a baby editor at Ballantine when I was pursuing a hot young comic he represented. My publisher pulled the plug on the project, never telling me why, and I was left not only hanging out to dry, but missing my chance to meet the uber agent. It was devastating for me at the time, though I admit I was scared shitless to meet him. Agh.

And of course, the quote that kills me in the final line of the obit is Nora Ephron’s: “When he got behind you, it was like an army of thousands.”

I think when I get behind my clients it’s more often like a handful of Jewish mothers (not to be underestimated).

My respects.

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Karen Blixen Coffee Garden Restaurant & Cottages

Posted on May 6, 2009 by betsylerner

gods-and-soldiers-cover

Tuesday, May 12, 6 pm reading with Patrice Nganang and others
HUE-MAN
2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd
Between 124th and 125th Streets
New York, NY 10027
http://www.hueman-bookstore.com

Tuesday, July 7, 7:30 pm reading
POWELL’S
1005 W. Burnside
Portland, OR
http://www.powells.com

If you have a chance, treat yourself to a night of superb African writing and celebrate the publication of Rob Spillman’s just published anthology, Gods and Soldiers. And check this out, too.

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Here’s Johnny

Posted on May 5, 2009 by betsylerner

We’re moving in July and need to reduce our 2,500 volume library by about half. This requires nightly interrogations: will I read this book again, will I read this book in the first place, is this a first edition, sentimental value, signed by the author, completes a set, etc. etc. It is painstaking and sometimes painful work, especially when you find an underlined book from college and are immediately transported to the worst days of your life. Well, mine.

Of course, if these were CD’s we’d just be gleefully downloading. And of course, if I had a Thimble, I could buy any one of these books and download it.

Sidebar: I actually found a Sony Reader in the bathroom at work this morning. I still remember the days when a senior editor at S&S would take like twenty periodicals into the bathroom. I guess today’s businessman fires up his Reader when he takes a shit.

Back to the books. I am happy to report that ALL the poetry, poets’ biographies, letters and diaries made the cut. I am happy to report that 2/3 of the fiction stays and what goes should have left long ago. It’s the non-fiction that’s really taking the hit. Though my special shelf of books on depression and suicide will remain intact.

Every time my husband takes a book from the shelf for scrutiny and discussion, he blows the dust from the top of the book much the way Johnny Carson used to blow open the envelope when he played Carnac The Magnificent. I used to love that.

Filed under: Poetry | 2 Comments »

Blue State

Posted on May 4, 2009 by betsylerner

I’m at the Blue State, the liberally named cafe in the heart of Yale Country. Every kid in here is behind a computer. I wonder if they’re doing school work, or on-line shopping, or having e-sex with an assistant professor, which I suspect is the case with the girl on my right who is wearing the equivalent of pajamas (comfy!), Uggs (why?), and knows how to use a tube of cherry lip gloss. I am working on a proposal that hopes someday to grow up and become a book. The yellow stick in my hand is a pencil.

Just a side note, I am usually a superb parallel parker, but for some reason today I got all tense parking in front of Blue State where three guys were standing. And I fucked it all up. One guy even said, “Do you want me to park that for you?” Was that necessary? Then I stayed in the car and did email on my Blackberry until they left. I know, one minute a power agent, the next a major pussy.

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That Perfect Feeling When Time Just Slips

Posted on May 2, 2009 by betsylerner

I read a quote today from Mary Cheever, John Cheever’s 90 year old widow, rejecting the notion that her husband’s inner loneliness was due to his life in the suburbs:

“His was the loneliness of a writer, when he would sit by himself working alone. They all complain about it. It’s not a social craft.”

Sometimes I like to be contrary for the sake of it, but my first thought when I read that quote was that she got it backwards. Writers are lonely pretty much all the time except when they’re writing. The focus, the intensity, the mind engaged — this is not a lonely state.

In my experience, it’s the dinner parties, the award ceremonies, the neglectful agent and editor, the jealous and/or smug friends that are lonely making. It’s the bad reviews or no reviews, the not knowing what to write, the rejection. These are the things that will kill you, along with the gin as in Cheever’s case.