Monday, March 28, 2016

What Do You Want to See From Writers? By Linda S. Glaz




In a nutshell…exactly what we asked for on our agency site.

We don’t want colorful fonts or fonts the size of the Grand Canyon. We want New Times Roman, 12 pt. We want you to tell us exactly who has already seen the manuscript. We don’t want to take you on as a client and find out that you’ve already sent it to every editor in the industry. We want you to lay out your marketing strategies. Don’t tell us that you will start to build a social media and speaking presence. Tell us that you have already built this dynasty and are merely waiting for a fearless leader. 
Tell us you have researched your historic novel for a couple years, and it is now complete and looking for a home. Don’t tell us that you’ll start the research and finish the novel if we’re interested. And please…DO NOT tell us to go to your website to see a sample of who you are and what you do.
It truly is not rocket science. We tell you exactly what we want, what we expect, and you take it from there, using our guidelines.

There you have it. What do we want to see from writers? Exactly what we ask for on our site. If you follow this, you tell us that you already have a professional presence. And if your proposal looks good, you jump to the top of the pile. Welcome aboard.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Ha! That was awesome, Linda! Almost qualifies for "Best Post So Far of 2016!" :)

Linda Glaz said...

Thanks. I know it isn't always what an author wants to hear, but so important in this tight race for a contract!

Unknown said...

Agreed. But more importantly, writers who don't follow guidelines make it more difficult for those who do. It's just courtesy, dear writers.

Linda Glaz said...

Amen. But I will say, it makes those who do really stand out in a good way. It's such a wonderful relief to open a proposal from someone who takes all the leaps and hoops seriously.

Linda Glaz said...

For example, our site says that don't handle profanity, and yet, I just received another proposal loaded with it. That shows me the writer never even went to the site to see what we do and don't want. It's sad as it wastes both the writer's and our time.

Unknown said...

Sigh. Yes... I have numerous agent friends (one, my former agent), so I get it. I've coined a term for this: "Spamuscripts". ;)

Linda Glaz said...

Clever

Unknown said...

Great to read the whole blog.

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