Writing and Selling the YA Novel (22 page)

Here's another word problem to illustrate my point: If an author sends out ten query letters, and each large-size mailing envelope cost nineteen cents and the postage cost sixty-seven cents, and within each envelope there is also a self-addressed return envelope that cost ten cents with another stamp on it that cost forty-one cents, how much did the author spend on all ten submissions, not including paper, printing costs, and gas for his car?

Answer: $13.70

This may not seem like a lot, but you will probably send out far more than ten query letters over the course of the submission process. It makes much more sense to target your queries to individuals who are interested in the type of work you're submitting than to blanket the held with submissions that will only get returned.

QUERY LETTERS

Right about now, you might be thinking, "What is a query letter anyway?" Important question. Here's your answer:

A query letter is a letter sent to an agent or editor asking if she'd be interested in reading your manuscript. Query letters are generally limited to one page, and they are a standard business letter telling the person you're addressing a little bit about your book, your credentials as a writer, and anything else you think is appropriate to include. Query letters are your way of introducing yourself and your YA novel to agents and editors— and we all know how important first impressions are.

A large part of my job at Curtis Brown, Ltd., included reading query letters, so I can definitely give you some pointers as to what works well and what does not. Let's start with the positive:

• Be professional.

• Keep your letter brief.

• Pay attention to presentation, making sure your query is clean, well written, and printed on good paper.

• Make your first line matter.

• Follow the rules. If an agent or editor requests a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE), make sure you include one.

• Include every writing credential you can claim. If you wrote for your college newspaper, mention your numerous published articles.

• Mention any connections you might have with the person you're sending the letter to. If you met him at a conference, or if you have a mutual acquaintance, put that in your opening sentence.

• Reference other YA books the editor or agent handles if they're among your favorites. This is a nice way to personalize your letter, showing you've done your research and have common tastes and interests with the person you're submitting to. (Helpful hint: To find out who represents your favorite authors, check the acknowledgments in their books to see if the author has thanked her editor or agent. If you're an SCBWI member, look for their publication called
Edited By A House-by-House Listing of Editorial Credits.)

• Mention if you are submitting to more than one agent or editor simultaneously.

• Take time to make sure your letter is as perfect as it can be.

Here are some things you should NOT do:

• Don't reference your parents, your children, your grandparents, or your students (if you're a teacher) as the reason you believe your work will sell. Everyone has people who love them and will support their work no matter what, and even though you might know that your teenage daughter is a tough critic, putting this in your query letter won't help sell your book.

• Don't try to be gimmicky. Yes, you do need to grab an agent or editor's attention, but you should do this by making sure your letter is well written and makes your book sound irresistible.

• Don't pitch a book you haven't finished writing yet. Not only is a timely submission important should an agent or editor request your work, but you want to leave plenty of time to edit. Rushing through a first draft in order to fulfill a request probably means you've blown your chance to impress someone who liked your premise.

• Don't try to sell two books at once. Query letters are limited in space, so you want to use every word wisely. It's very rare for an editor or agent to take on two books by a new author at the same time, even if you present them as a series. Pitching two books at once makes
you
your own competition. It's also likely that if one book sounds like a possible fit but the other one doesn't, both books will get rejected because the agent or editor will think that overall you might not be a good match. If you do have a series in mind, include one sentence that says something to the effect that, "If you like my book, I think it would make a fabulous series."

• Don't compare your book to
Harry Potter
or the current #1
New York Times
YA bestseller. Why not? Because everyone else will. You want your book to stand out as unique, and these references are so common they automatically lump your book in with the pack.

• Don't mention past rejections or other books you have written that you've not been able to sell. Start fresh and keep things positive.

• Don't submit to several people within the same publishing house or agency.

• Don't resubmit the same work to an agent or editor who has rejected it unless it has been so substantially revised as to be considered a new work.

• Don't include your entire manuscript unless it's been requested.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

So what happens if you get a bite? You've crafted the best possible query letter and an agent or editor writes you back and requests that you send your manuscript, or a partial sample. What next?

First of all, pat yourself on the back. Any time you hear from an agent or editor—even if it's just a handwritten note on a form rejection letter—it's good news. It means your query letter stood out and the idea for your novel sounds compelling enough that it warranted his personal attention.

Next, take a deep breath and remind yourself that a request from an agent or editor doesn't seal the deal. He still needs to read your work and decide it's the right match. Your job from this point on is to remove any obstacles that might stand between you and a contract.

The first obstacle is timely submission. Once an editor or agent requests your work, try to send it in a timely manner. Strike while the iron is hot. Believe it or not, we routinely requested material at Curtis Brown, Ltd., that arrived weeks or months after we asked to see it. By that time, the original query letter was forgotten, filed away, and the enthusiasm that prompted us to ask for the manuscript had dissipated. In its place was a lingering suspicion that the author had just finished her book and we'd be receiving a lightly edited first draft.

You'll want to send your manuscript as soon as possible after receiving the request, but you can certainly take a day or two to glance over it one more time to make sure it's ready to make the best possible first impression. I can generally read my whole book in a day if I need to, and if you have the time available, you might want to do one last check for misspellings, grammar mistakes, and sloppy wording. This is not a time for substantial editing—hopefully you've accomplished that before you started the submission process—but it is a time to look things over with an eye toward polishing your prose.

Check your manuscript format and make sure it meets the following criteria:

• double-spaced

• Times New Roman twelve-point font

• standard one-inch margins

• printed on white paper

• unbound

• your last name and the page number are listed on each page

• pages are clean and tidy

• no blank pages are inserted into the text

Always follow the guidelines for submission that an agency or publishing house provides, even if they conflict with what's written above. You want your work to meet their standards, and showing that you care enough to follow their stated policies will go a long way.

Once your book is ready to be sent out, write a short business letter to the agent or editor thanking him for requesting your material and reminding him of the relevant details of your novel and your writing credentials. Agents and editors deal with many books every day, so it never hurts to refresh their memory.

If you'd like to include a self-addressed stamped postcard with a line written on it that says, "We have received your manuscript," feel free to do so, although I'll warn you, at times your entire submission will end up on a pile until it's ready to be reviewed, so your postcard might not be returned to you until the package is opened. Also, be sure to include an SASE for the agent's or editor's response to your work. Make sure there's enough postage attached if you'd like your manuscript returned, otherwise it will most likely be recycled. Finally, when you put your package in the mail, write "Requested Material" on the outside so it can easily make it into the correct pile.

One question I was asked often when working at the literary agency was, "What do I do if the agent requests a certain number of pages and that page count leaves off mid-sentence or mid-scene? Is it okay to send more pages?" In this instance, yes. Including an extra page or two in order to complete a sentence or scene is generally fine. You might want to politely mention that you've done so in your letter. What's not acceptable is sending out far more material than the agent or editor asked for. He knows what he'd like to see, and it's up to him to decide if he wants to see more of your work based on the sample you've provided.

Another common question is, "When is it okay to follow up once I've sent my manuscript?" This question is a bit trickier. In my opinion, it's fine to follow up on your work as long as you do so politely and you wait an appropriate amount of time before your first and subsequent inquiries. If you haven't heard back from an agent or editor in one month's time and you want to call and verify
receipt
of your manuscript, ask for her assistant and keep your inquiry succinct. It's rare that an agent or editor will have read your book within one month, so you don't want to imply that you're being impatient.

If you then wait another two months after verifying receipt and still haven't gotten a response, it would be appropriate to call again, or to write a brief note asking if she's had a chance to review your work. Remember, you should always be professional during these interactions because how you present yourself will make an impression as to what kind of author you'd be to work with. Difficult as it might be to believe, I used to receive rude, disgruntled follow-up calls, and they almost inevitably prompted a rejection of the author's work. Following up too soon or too often shows a lack of understanding of the publishing field, and who wants to work with a client who is already demanding and difficult?

Should you receive a request for your manuscript from another agent or editor during the time you have it on submission, hold off on sending it until you've heard from the first one, or until you've notified the first one that you're withdrawing your submission. If you've been waiting on that first response for a while, a brief note or a call letting the agent or editor know that there is other interest, and inquiring as to when he might have a response for you, should prompt some action. Avoid submitting your work to multiple agents or editors without letting all parties know—you might find yourself in a sticky situation if more than one agent or editor expresses interest. Every connection is important in publishing, so don't burn any bridges.

NEGOTIATING A CONTRACT

The ideal end result of all this hard work is that an editor decides she loves your book and wants to offer you a contract. If so, congratulations! You've earned one of those few coveted spots on a publisher's list. But before you can proceed to working with your new editor, there's the small matter of a contract.

If you have an agent, it's his job to negotiate the advance, royalties, and terms of your book contract with your publishing house.

What generally happens is that an editor, when interested in buying your work, will approach your agent with an offer that includes the details of all the terms listed above. Your agent will then contact you and discuss the offer. He should take the time to explain what these terms mean and which parts of the offer can be improved. Don't hesitate to ask questions or offer your opinions! This is your book and your future.

Once you've had this discussion, your agent can then return to the publishing house and ask for modifications to the original offer. This process can go on for several rounds of negotiation before the final details of your contract get ironed out. Contracts might then take an additional four to six weeks to get drawn up and mailed to your agent for review.

But what happens if you don't have an agent? Negotiating your own contract is not something I would recommend, even if you have a spouse or a friend who is a lawyer. Unless he's specifically a publishing lawyer, there may be unique aspects to your contract he won't be familiar with. He may not know the industry standards for YA and might make unreasonable or too lenient demands. More than one editorial relationship has become strained before it even started by difficult contract negotiations between an editor and author, or an editor and an author's spouse.

Still, if you do decide this is the best option for you, I highly recommend reading as much about the subject as possible. There are entire books devoted to the subject of contract negotiation. The SCBWI once again provides related material for its members. Look on their Web site (
http://www.scbwi.org/
) for their eight-page document entitled
Answers to Some Questions About Contracts
and their
Sample Children's Book Contracts.