News & Reviews

WORD: Authors should ‘long-circuit’ agent search, says Fogelman
by BPM Smith

Authors will have a better chance at landing the right agent after ‘long-circuiting’ their search and narrowing down the field based on genre, a successful track record and personal traits, Evan Fogelman said at the 25th Annual Romance Writers of America Conference in Reno, Nevada. He also noted that the odds for a new author getting published are "better than ever."

"An agent-author relationship is not a marriage or a partnership. Think about the business management aspects of your career. Most authors don't do the necessary background work," said Fogelman, who founded The Fogelman Literary Agency in 1989. The firm has offices in Dallas and Manhattan and plans to open a third office in California soon.

Fogelman suggested authors appraise a prospective agent on their editor contacts, business management skills and ability to help develop the author’s career. "If you feel these three things match and think your relationship will be a profitable one then you’re ready" to proceed with a courtship, he added.

Many authors mis-step when pitching agents because they emphasize personal details rather than their manuscript, said Fogelman. "Pitch your manuscript first, yourself second. Don’t waste time (on biographical information unless) you find a way to talk about your book’s character."

According to Fogelman, an ideal fiction query letter that will garner an agent’s interest is arranged in the following order: it opens with a character and problem; moves to the plot’s description; includes a paragraph on the plot’s closure; and ends with an author’s biography that specifically relates to their manuscript.

"Devote every word to your book so I want to take a commercial chance on your work," he said, adding that The Fogelman Agency receives up to 1,000 queries per week. The large number of writers fishing for representation highlights the importance that authors separate themselves from a slew of pitches with a focused introduction.

Despite today’s highly competitive marketplace, Fogelman noted that the US book industry published 100,000 titles last year, making the odds for a new author getting published "better than ever." In addition, his firm typically sells 80% of its client’s work, with about 20% of its stable previously unsold.

Fogelman said that the hottest projects today are romantic suspense novels while the hyped up Chic Lit market is oversupplied. "There is a huge Chic Lit glut in the market. Everyone writes Chic Lit so now we have too many of them," he noted.

In contrast, Fogelman said that a growing US Hispanic population is raising interest in Spanish language books. He also noted that Latino/Latina Literature (in English) "has a huge following in academic circles but the sales are flat industrywide."

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