This month, Schmooze Central hands the reins over to the
delightful
Cassandra Federman.
Take it away, Cassandra!!
On Wednesday March 11th, the Westside Writers
Schmooze spoke with five published (that’s right, PUBLISHED) authors! Our
panelists included:
-
Nicole Maggi – YA Author,
The Forgetting and
Winter Falls, (First book in the
Twin
Willows Trilogy)
-
Sue Ganz Schmitt – Picture Book Author,
Planet
Kindergarten, The Princess and the Peanut, and
Even Superheroes
Get Diabetes
Interesting side note:
by way of a super-happy coincidence, the five authors participating in
the panel had vastly different
experiences on their paths to getting published.
Let’s begin the Q & A!
(Disclaimer: Answers are paraphrased and should not be
considered direct quotes.)
How did you all get your agents? And how did you know
they were right for you?
EC – Has had three
agents. As she improved her
writing, she “upgraded” her agents.
She used Publishers Marketplace to
see who was selling Middle Grade books well. The top 10 MG agents were her
targets!
“Go
to workshops!” She met her current rep through the Highlights Foundation
Whole Novel Workshop.
NM – Has had the
same agent for 10 years! Nicole’s agent helped her discover her voice as a YA
author. They met at the Historical Novel Society Conference. She
also recommended attending conferences, “They help you get off the slush pile.”
KJM – Doesn’t have
an agent. He went to publishers directly and made sure to cite his experience
as a teacher for over 30 years. (Use whatever edge you have!)
He made the mistake of sending out
his manuscript before it was ready. It got rejected. Then he reworked it,
selected 4 more publishing houses, and got it published by Star Bright
Books.
Now his book is in Barnes and Noble
and Kirk is over the moon!
SGS – Self-published
two books on her own: The Princess and the Peanut and Even
Superheroes Get Diabetes. She worked in
marketing for years and knew she could sell these books without an agent
because they had a niche market. (That’s the best situation for
self-publishing. Make sure to have a niche book, then go to the big companies
involved in that niche and sell lots of copies to them!)
For her third book, Planet
Kindergarten, Sue wanted an agent. She
reached out to friends over social media. That didn’t work out great. Then she
selected 40 agents and reached out to them. That failed too. She reached out again over social media and finally struck gold. “Don’t
give up!”
TH – After years of
writing, she finally wrote a
book that matched her taste. It was at that point she knew she could reach out
to agents.
She
searched SCBWI for blog posts, interviews, and anything that had to do with
agents. She read and researched A LOT!
She also used Query Tracker to make
sure she targeted the agents that were right for her book.
“Timing
and luck is a big part of when you sell.”
What was it like when an offer was made?
 |
Schmoozers listen with rapt attention to
the stories of the "big moment." |
EC – Just got an
email. The book had been on submission for 4 months.
She controls how much info her
agent gives her about where they are in the submission process. She doesn’t
want to hear if her book is getting rejected or if it is close to going to
acquisitions. She only wants good news once it is definite.
“GOING TO ACQUISITIONS” is when
editors take the book to their bosses and sell them on the idea. Oftentimes the
book goes to committee (editorial committee) first, then to acquisitions, where
they discuss the potential sales and marketing.
NM – Winter Falls
was on submission for 6 months before they decided to go with a
smaller press called Medallion Media. Medallion bought the first book in the
trilogy. They bought the second and third soon after.
The Forgetting was only on submission for 2 months.
Agents send the book out to all
their connections first, then to smaller presses. If it doesn’t sell, then you
and your agent may decide to discuss self-publishing.
KJM – Got an email
directly, since he had no agent. He cautions writers to make sure their
manuscript is as good as it can be before sending it out and burning contacts.
SGS – Made sure to
retain all Film/TV rights in her contract, as she wants her book to become a TV
series.
TH – Got an email
informing her of the two-book deal. When your agent recommends a deal, you take
it (however you feel about two-book deals). Doesn’t mind hearing about
rejections.
How much editing and adjusting do your agents/editors do?
What’s the editing process like and how much time do you get for revisions?
EC – Got big picture
adjustments first and was given one month. Then went through 5 more
turnarounds, each allowing 2-3 weeks for changes.
NM – Got 3 weeks to
turnaround The Forgetting, then it was done!
Winter Falls had already gone through 18 months of notes with
another publishing company before the book was dropped and it went to
Medallion. Not many adjustments were needed at that point because so much had
already been done.
KJM – Only got notes
on specific words, but no major changes.
SGS – Agent helped
with some minor edits. Once they got an offer, she went through 2 more months
of editing.
TH – Agent helped
with big picture edits. First edit was 11 pages of notes from her editor, and
she was given 3 months to turn it around. The editor helped with small details
over the course of two more large-scale edits. Then it went to copyedits (to
check for typos, facts, consistency of rules in your story, etc.)
COPY EDITING is the last place
authors can make major changes to their books. After copy editing comes FIRST
PASS PAGES, usually given to the author in PDF format. Once authors get these
pages, they cannot make big changes because the book is formatted for printing
purposes. Typos can be fixed, but nothing can be done that would extend text
onto a new line.]
How did you end up with your illustrators? How did that
process work?
KJM – Sent his
publisher a DETAILED list of art notes, which he didn't know was a major
faux pas. He is grateful they chose the amazingly talented artist, Sarah
Vonthron-Laver, whose illustrations are absolutely wonderful!
SGS – Received a
list of potential illustrators to choose from. Since she wants her book become
a TV series, she selected an illustrator who was also an animator. The one she
chose wasn’t available for 7 years, so she suggested an illustrator/animator
that she’d met at an SCBWI conference. He was available and it worked out!
EC – Got a say in
her cover artist. She liked the artist who did Doll Bones and
they were able to get her. (The artist, Eliza Wheeler, is a member of SCBWI
right here in LA!)
Tell us about the marketing process. How much do you have
to do and how much does the publicist help?
EC – Your editor
sometimes helps get blurbs from other authors you wouldn’t otherwise be able to
get. Blurbs are very important and helpful to new authors.
They are great to have for promotion if your trade reviews
take awhile to come.
Fall is the worst time for a debut
author’s book to come out. They get overlooked, as it is the time of year when
well-known authors release their books. It is also harder to get blurbs
from other authors at this time.
 |
| Our esteemed panelists - many thanks! |
NM – Publishers send
out ARCs (Advanced Reader Copy) to get reviews and blurbs.
KJM – Does presentations at various schools, since he has
lots of connections there. His publishing Company, Star Bright Books, is on the
East Coast, and has been very supportive and helpful by marketing and promoting
his book worldwide.
SGS – “The amount of
promotion/marketing you have to do with a self-published book and a
traditionally published book is the same, except with traditionally published
books, they take care of all the big stuff.”
She did a flashmob book launch at
Barnes and Noble!
She
also created a book trailer by hiring someone off of Fiverr.com, a FANTASTIC marketing tool! “You can hire anyone
on there to create something for you for only five dollars.” Make sure you draw
up a contract and retain the rights of whatever you have created.
NM – Smaller houses
can be great for marketing. They have fewer books and you receive more
attention from the publicist.
TH – Told her
publicist that she was going to the ALA (American Library Association
conference) with her debut group, and they offered a signing at the Penguin
Booth. It’s definitely worth asking for these types of events even if it’s not
part of the official publicity campaign. She paid for it herself, but they
loved the idea.
Follow
the Nerdy Book Club on Twitter. They
are an influential group of librarians and teachers!
All the authors print their own postcards, business cards,
and other marketing materials. “Build a good relationship with the poor,
overworked publicists!” Help them by self-promoting and coming up with
inventive ways they can help you! You want them to love you!
That about wraps up the Published Authors Q & A. Hopefully, you learned more about the
process of publication and picked up some useful tools for the future!
 |
| Cassandra Federman |
HUGE thanks to (the really rather lovely, doncha think?) Cassandra Federman taking copious notes during the panel and somehow wrangling
an amazing amount of info into this blog post! Charlie had to take to his bed
even thinking about the effort involved.
And when he saw how concise and informative her writing was, he seriously
considered a move to Borneo. However, given that this would have required him
figuring out where Borneo was, he chose instead to roll over and go back to
sleep until the next schmooze.
Be sure to join us for the next Schmooze on Wednesday April
15th where—
We Interrupt Our Traditional Publishing Trajectory…
--We’ll explore eBooks, aps, self-publishing and
other new-fangled and fabulous ways of getting to your readers.
***PLEASE NOTE: The April’s Schmooze has been pushed to
3rd week due to Passover.
This in no way implies that the fact that it is both Charlie and Karol’s
birthday month should be “passed over.”
Until then, keep passing the open windows,
Charlie & Karol (…and Cassandra!)
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