Happy Monday Everyone! Today I'm excited to have debut author Diane Magras and her agent Adriann Ranta Zurhellan here with a guest post to celebrate the release of Diane's MG Medieval adventure THE MAD WOLF'S DAUGHTER that released in March. I've heard great things about it.
Questions for
Adriann:
DM: People always ask authors how they first became writers.
And so I’d love to ask you, as an author’s champion and defender whose work
seems incredibly complicated (even more so now that I’ve worked with you for a
while!) how you became an agent. What was the path that you followed, and what
made you know that this was the role for you in the publishing industry?
ARZ: Out of college, my first job
was at The Editorial Department, a freelance editorial company based in Tucson,
AZ. My job was running the “ezine”—which is now called a blog—that interviewed
agents, editors, and authors with questions that might be interesting to
aspiring authors who wanted to break into the industry. Eventually I decided I
wanted to do that instead of
interview people who did that, and moved to New York.
I actually fell into agenting
through an assistant position, which is embarrassing because my grandmother is
a children’s book agent, my grand-uncle is a literary agent, my aunt used to be
an editor, and my mom packaged books. But I had no idea what agents did until I
was doing it.
Now a question for you: When did
you first start writing, and when did you understand you wanted to write for
the public instead of just for yourself? How are those two styles different for
you?
DM: I’ve always told stories, but I
wrote my first novel (it was 150 pages, I believe) when I was 14
years old. I
wrote for years with a faint dream of writing for the public, but I never really
tried until around 2007. I had a brief maternity leave from work when my son
was born, and I decided to use that time to start a novel. (I actually did
write a draft: I write quickly, and my son took long naps.) This was when I
first starting thinking about writing for publication. It took me about eight
years to really understand what that meant, what the publishing industry was
like, what I wanted to write, and to learn to revise. That’s the biggest
difference: When I wrote for myself, I didn’t think about revision or know how
to critically read my own work. Once I figured how to do that, I discovered one
of the most rewarding parts of writing: finding the true depth of the story and
watching the unfolding of characters.
Once I understood what revision
could do for a novel and combined that with the kind of novel that I wanted
most to write (an action-packed medieval adventure starring a girl), I came up
with the draft of THE MAD WOLF’S DAUGHTER with which I queried you.
You’re very kind to querying
writers in that you answer all your queries. That’s generous, and not something
every agent does these days. I assume, though, that there are times when you
read just the query or the first page and set a project aside. What makes you
keep reading?
ARZ: I heard an agent describe reading queries as “channel
surfing” once, and I think that’s an apt comparison. I receive about 75-100
queries per week, and when you’re reading such a large quantity of writing
samples, you have to get fast at knowing what you want. I look for quality
writing, great voice, an author who knows the category he/she is writing into,
previous publications, or some other indication of seriousness about the
business of writing.
Agents are really good at understanding what’s saleable
about any concept, which is sometimes different from things that we simply like. Writers who understand what makes
readers perk up at their book concept have the savvy to integrate this into
their pitch somehow, and understand a query letter is a sales document, not
simply a synopsis of a book.
I understand querying agents is daunting—what was that
experience like for you? How many agents did you query over what period of
time? Did you get editorial feedback between drafts (like I sent you) from
others?
DM: I’d queried two other novels before THE MAD WOLF’S
DAUGHTER with no success, but learned a process: to query in batches of five.
Each time I’d receive a rejection, I’d send out a new batch or two or three,
and when I had five rejections, I’d make sure five more queries were out. (That
kept me hopeful.) I researched agents based on books they’d represented, what
they seemed like on social media, and anything I could find (interviews like
this on Literary Rambles helped a lot!). So that experience helped me approach
THE MAD WOLF’S DAUGHTER with a strategy. As it turned out, I didn’t need to do
all that much querying for this book; you were in my first five. I received
feedback from you and from one other agent in that first batch, and held off on
querying until I’d rewritten the book based on suggestions from you both. Then
I sent the draft back to both of you, as well as to a new batch of five, just
to have things moving. I think I’d sent queries to about fifteen agents by the
time you emailed me about a phone call. And after our call, I knew that I
wanted you as my agent. The whole thing, from my first query to my rewrite to
your offer, took four and a half months.
While we’re talking about queries, what made you request THE
MAD WOLF’S DAUGHTER, and what prompted your offer?
ARZ: I reread your query to answer this question and still think it’s an awesome pitch! I
loved that you personalized your opening paragraph with my interest in “strong female protagonists,” which piqued my
interest, and I wanted to learn more about “medieval middle grade,” which I hadn’t
read much of!
I loved that the first paragraph about the book itself
immediately lead with atmosphere and set-up so I knew what was at stake:
“On a remote and foggy headland,
Grimbol trains his sons to fight, then takes them into battle as the legendary
warriors of the Mad Wolf of the North. Except for Drest. Drest, his youngest,
longs to join the war-band but is only ten and too small to take along.”
I also loved the moral ambiguity the query sets up, which I love:
“If Drest doesn’t reach the castle
in time to rescue her father and brothers, the family who loves her will be
dead. Yet if she saves the Mad Wolf’s war-band, they’ll continue to pillage and
plunder—and will kill the gentle knight she had grown to love.”
You also used great comparative
titles, which showed that you knew this audience and cared about contributing
to it:
“[THE MAD WOLF’S DAUGHTER] is a
dark, coming-of-age story that would appeal to readers who enjoy strong and
nontraditional girl protagonists like Áine from The Witch’s Boy or Piper
from The Mark of the Dragonfly.”
I ended up using a lot of this query letter for my own pitch
letter to editors, which sold the book! So that’s the power of a great query.
Was it hard writing your query letter? Did it take you many
drafts, or much feedback from other writers, before you felt like you got it
right?
DM: I was very lucky to have a team critique partners
helping me out with both my novel and my query letter. I wrote and rewrote and
tweaked that letter several times, but it was actually the easiest query I’ve
written, no doubt in part because of my experience with two novels before, but
also because I knew this novel thoroughly and understood its stakes. Oh, and I
loved this novel more than anything else I’d written! I’m glad my query still
impresses you.
Every writer you call before an offer is hideously nervous,
I’m sure, but doing their best. What do you hope to hear from them during this
conversation?
ARZ: I hope that they’ll be receptive and flexible when it
comes to editorial feedback--the most
uncomfortable calls I’ve had with authors
have been with those who didn’t want to revise their book at all; obviously we
didn’t end up working together! I love talking about an author’s hopes for
their career: future books, what genre they might stretch into (if different
than the book we’re discussing), and what sort of relationship they want with
their agent and editor.
If it’s an author I’m hoping to sign, I hope that we’ll
vibe—that they’ll like my ideas and plans for their book and agenting style—so
whatever anxiety authors feel having calls with agents, I can promise agents
have their own anxiety too!
What sort of questions did you prepare before our call? What
was most important for you to hear from your prospective agent?
DM: There are many lists floating around online about what
to ask an agent during The Call. I cut and pasted between several lists to come
up with the questions that seemed the most important—about your frequency of
contact, your submission plans, how you saw my book—but I didn’t need to ask
many of those questions because you answered them when you were describing your
interest in my book, your style, and Foundry Media. Those three were my most
important questions. But I also felt I had a good sense of what it was like to
work with you from the comments you gave me after that first query. I’d also spoken
with one of your clients, so I had several perspectives on your style.
I’ve had a lot of questions about the nitty-gritty details
of publishing, and you’ve been wonderful at helping me find answers. You’ve often
been like the wise friend on a quest narrative who steps in during opportune
moments and helps out the protagonist at crucial times. How would you describe your role and your
relationship with authors and editors: when you first sign a client, during submissions,
and post-sale?
ARZ: My primary role with my authors is to be their
advocate.
On the front end, this means taking the book as far as I can
editorially and then doing my best to sell it competitively.
On the back end, this means being in their corner throughout
the publishing process. This can mean interpreting contract language, fighting
for a particular cover direction, or plumbing publicists for updates around the
book’s launch. This can also mean playing the bad guy or peace maker—I do both,
depending on the situation, all day.
What has been the biggest surprise for you (good or bad)
after the publication of your debut novel?
DM: A few weeks after THE MAD WOLF’S DAUGHTER came out and I
was working on the sequel, it really hit me that I wasn’t doing this alone. I
have responsibilities, a contract, and deadlines. But I also have readers, and
a whole publishing house helping me reach them. Writing has always been a
largely solitary endeavor for me, and while I still create my work alone, everything
that follows now happens in partnership. It’s been quite the learning process
to see how a book goes into print and is marketed and reaches audiences, and
what my role is in all those parts. It’s been humbling and immensely rewarding to
work with the great teams at Kathy Dawson Books and Penguin Young Readers. So
now that I’ve gushed on a bit, what’s your favorite part of your job?
ARZ: Selling a book I love. That never gets old.
What are you most excited to do next?
DM: I’m excited to go through much of this process again
with the sequel!
DM Bio:
Diane Magras grew up on Mount Desert
Island in Maine surrounded by woods, cliffs, and the sea. She works for the
Maine Humanities Council, volunteers at her son’s school library, and is
addicted to tea, toast, castles, legends, and most things medieval. Diane lives
with her husband and son and thinks often of Scotland, where her novels take
place. The Mad Wolf’s Daughter is her debut novel.
ARZ Bio:
Adriann Ranta Zurhellen is an agent at Foundry Literary +
Media. She represents New York Times bestselling,
award-winning authors, journalists, illustrators and graphic novelists, as well
as many other pioneering creative thinkers and leaders in their fields. She is
actively acquiring all genres for all age groups with a penchant for unusual
voices, unique settings, and everyman stories told with a new spin. She loves
gritty, realistic, true-to-life stories with conflicts based in the real world;
women’s literary fiction and nonfiction; accessible, pop nonfiction in science,
history, and craft; and smart, fresh, genre-bending works for children. She
specializes in books about "cool women doing badass things."
[Links:
Buy links:
Diane is generously offering hardback of THE MAD WOLF'S DAUGHTER and Adriann is offering a query critique for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through July 7th. If you do not want to be included in the critique giveaway, please let me know in the comments.
If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.
If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. and Canada and the critique giveaway is international.
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his
blog.
Here's what's coming up:
Wednesday, June 27th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Colleen Oefelein
Friday, June 29th I'm participating in the I Couldn't Put It Down Giveaway Hop
Tuesday, July 3rd I have an interview with debut author Cindy Baldwin and a giveaway of her MG WHERE THE WATERMELONS GROW and my IWSG post
Monday, July 9th I have an interview with debut author Bree Barton and a giveaway of her YA HEART OF THORNS
Hope to see you on Wednesday!
