Caren Johnson Literary Agency

I’m not sure I mentioned this, but this week is a crazy one for me. I have three conferences I’m attending in and around NYC: BEA (Book Expo America), the Backspace conference and the CTRWA (Connecticut Romance Writers of America) Conference. Leading up to this week I’ve gotten many e-queries of writers attending one of the conferences asking me to consider their work as well as writers who won’t be at the conferences, but still wanted to introduce themselves. I’m expecting a lot more after the conference rush is over. A word of caution: I expect to get many queries after this so please be patient if my response time is a little slow. I’m aiming to get everything read and responded to 3-4 weeks after receiving your query, but that may stretch a bit if I get more than expected.

I’m looking forward to hearing pitches from authors this week and wanted to share some tips to make pitching go easier.

Don’t be scared. I promise I will never tell you that you’re a bad writer or that you should never write again. I would never say something like that! I will say if the book sounds like it would be something I’d like to take a look at or not.

Please don’t recite a memorized pitch to me. I don’t want to be talked at; I want to be talked to. So tell me what your book is about without making it sound like you’re quoting an advertisement.

Please don’t be offended if I interrupt with questions. Questions are good. They mean I’m excited/curious about the project. Since we only have a limited amount of time, I’m going to jump in to find out what I want to know. Also, I want to interact with you. It makes it more memorable for me (and easier to put a face to the query when I see it in my inbox).

Not every story is going to excite me. If I say no to seeing more of a current story that you’re working on, I’m not closing the door to you sending a query for another manuscript if you’ve not found an agent already. Now that doesn’t mean send me a query that pitches six or seven novels that you have ready. I think every novel improves a person’s writing ability (or it should), so I’ll probably want to see your next work. There are exceptions to that rule so if you’d like to offer me an older novel that you think I’d like, feel free to do so. Again, just use common sense and please don’t inundate me with a laundry list of novels you’ve written.

Please email me all material, unless you’ve been specifically instructed to send me your work in hard copy. I have a limited amount of space in my office to keep material sent and I prefer reading material on my computer so please send via email attachment.

Please keep in mind that these are personal likes and dislikes; every agent has them so always do your homework (and read up on the agent you are submitting to).

My ideal pitch would be like this: writer sits down and says, “hi, my name is X.” We exchange pleasantries for 30 seconds. Then, “I have a [romantic comedy, historical novel, narrative nonfiction proposal, etc.] that I’d love to send you. It’s about [tell me what the book is about/will be about in a minute or two]. Pause and let me jump in with questions. They will usually be along the lines of, “who are your contemporaries/who are similar authors? How long is the book? What made you want to write this book?” Then you’ll explain the genius behind your idea and your book. Ideally I’ll say, “wow, that sounds interesting. I’d love to take a look at the first three chapters and a synopsis. Please send it to me via email attachment. Thanks!” Then you happily go onto the next editor/agent you’re pitching to and I happily dream about the book you’re going to send me. We both win.

Now a quick reminder of what I’m looking for: romance (particularly romantic comedy and contemporary romance), mystery, women’s fiction, YA, commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction. Please don’t send any addiction recovery memoirs my way (I just can’t read them anymore, though I used to devour them gleefully). Please don’t send any paranormal romance or romantic suspense my way unless it is high concept and doesn’t contain vampires, werewolves or serial killers.

I’m looking forward to all of the wonderful books I’m going to receive!

I was asked an interesting question the other day by a new author about cover art. Specifically, she wanted to know how much power an author has to veto cover art that they don’t like. The answer is that you don’t have much say in what your cover looks like, but you do have the right to speak up when you don’t like it. Here’s what I mean: the art department gets a tip sheet about the book from the editor. This will tell them what the book is about and who the audience is. Sometimes they will even read the book before setting out to design a cover (this isn’t common though because there are simply too many book covers to design). Based on what they get from the tip sheet and from the editor, they will then come back with a mock cover. Sometimes it is spectacular and inspires awe from the author. Sometimes the author can’t stand it.

If the author doesn’t like the cover they have the option to go back to the editor and express their dislike. This is tricky since the author has limited power to have a cover completely changed. But if the author has a clear argument about why this cover doesn’t fit the book (ie the book is about vampires and it has a picture of a full moon signifying a werewolf or the book is about a woman who loves to shop but there is a picture of a woman cooking), then it is possible to get the cover changed.

My author, Caridad Pineiro who I often brag about, has a book coming out in September entitled South Beach Chicas Catch Their Man. It is the sequel to her book Sex & the South Beach Chicas. Though the word chicas is in the title for both books, the characters aren’t young girls. They’re professional women—one is a chef, one runs a restaurant, one is a lawyer and one is an entertainment reporter. But the first cover we saw for South Beach Chicas Catch Their Man featured four young women laying down on a grassy lawn and laughing. It was a charming picture, but it completely didn’t fit the book. Cari and I were both taken aback by this cover; we went to her editor to explain the problem. The editor warned us that there wasn’t much that could be done since the book was already in production. We went back again and expressed our dismay. The editor went back to the art department and delivered the most amazing cover that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s gorgeous and really embodies what the book was going after—four sexy women going after what they want in life.

The moral of this story is that an author can certainly have a say in what they want their book to look like, no matter what stage they are in their career. But a word of caution: don’t throw a tantrum if the publisher opts to exercise their right for final approval on cover copy (this clause is in contracts unless specifically negotiated out by your representative). But if you make a reasonable case as to why the cover doesn’t fit and point out that it could hurt sales, then chances are the publisher will do their best to accommodate you.

And voila, here is the new cover for South Beach Chicas Catch Their Man:

My author Caridad Pineiro is embarking on a blog tour (which is a great way to meet new readers and fans). She sent me a link to an interview she did with a blogger named Henri. Now their interview was part info session about her exciting Nocturne series (the latest of which is Blood Calls) and part love letter (Henri pines for Caridad and wonders if she has insider knowledge on vampirism). And when Henri waxes poetic about Cari’s raven dark hair and her cute little Spanish accent, I roared with laughter (and since it was 8 in the morning swallowed a large gulp of coffee the wrong way). Caridad doesn’t have raven dark hair or a cute little Spanish accent, but she does have damn good books. Check them out here and check out the blog post here. Caution: do not drink as you read or you too will swallow your coffee the wrong way.

I found my perfect new motivation shoes (motivation shoes—n. shoes that motivate us to move our butts and get our work done in order to justify buying them) and the perfect guy to wear them with…

Don’t be shy. Share your motivation shoes and we’ll ooh and ahh over them too.