Is the stress getting to you? A post by Nicole

Yes, we love our work. And yes, we are lucky to be doing something we are so passionate about. But there is no avoiding the fact that this whole business of writing and getting books published can be a very stressful endeavor. 

As a writer, you carefully hone your craft, you pour your heart and soul into your work, you start down the path of seeking representation and getting your book out there…and then inevitably…you wait. You wait for trusted readers to get back to you with comments, you wait for agents to respond to your queries, you wait for editors to respond to your submissions with (hopefully!) an offer, you wait for your book to be published, you wait for reviews and sales figures…and all this waiting can really get to you.

In my years working in the publishing business, I have seen writers, agents, and editors alike who simply cannot take the pressure. Sometimes they give up and do something else with their lives, and sometimes the anxiety gets to them and they end up doing something hasty that they live to regret. Please don’t let this happen to you!

Here are some tips and ideas for these anxious times:

Seek out support
If you are not a member of a writer’s group, find one. Writing is such a solitary business. Sometimes the best way to deal with anxiety and fear of rejection is to seek out other people who know first-hand what you’re going through. Writer buddies can listen empathically and help to calm you down before you unintentionally lose your cool. You can get advice from people who have gone before you, and even better, you can get valuable feedback on your work along the way.

Keep your goals realistic
It’s hard to survive in this business without ambition. Ambition will help you recover from rejection along the way and allow you to bravely put yourself out there again and again. However, there are times when it’s appropriate to rein it in a bit. If you expect nothing less from yourself than an instant New York Times bestseller or critical recognition that you have just written the next great American novel, you may find yourself feeling frustrated.  Keeping your goals realistic will take some of the pressure off the process and allow you to enjoy the small victories along the way.

Don’t hit send on that email!
We’ve all seen the disaster that can result when a person caves to anxiety and sends off an emotional email without thinking it through. I’ve seen many talented writers fall into this trap, destroying potentially valuable relationships with people who really are there to help. Writers seem to be particularly vulnerable to this—maybe it’s because for so many of us the written word has become an important—sometimes our only—emotional outlet. I’m not saying those feelings you have aren’t completely valid or that you don’t have every right to be upset about whatever the issue may be… But it’s better practice to keep electronic communication with people in this business straightforward, brief, polite, and professional. If there’s a delicate situation that needs to be handled, please don’t hit send without speaking with your agent or a trusted friend about it and considering possible repercussions. This brings me to another important point…

Mind your manners
Publishing is a small business, and relationships are important. Don’t forget to be kind, polite, and thoughtful to everyone you interact with along the way. That lowly editorial assistant may not seem to have much clout, but in fact, she may be the one quietly advocating for your book behind the scenes. Also, since publishing tends to use an apprenticeship model, consider this: she may turn out to be one of those big shot people making the decisions one day. Take the time to learn her name, and don’t forget to thank her for the little things she does on your behalf, even if it’s just taking a message or responding to your email.  

Throw yourself into the next project
When you’re stuck waiting, don’t just sit there biting your nails. Instead, why not indulge in an all-consuming hobby that takes you to new worlds and eats up all your anxious thought processes? In other words, write another book! It will be a good distraction, and chances are as soon as you throw yourself into a new project with new characters, your old project will sell. 

Remember it’s not just you
As a writer, you are not the only one sitting on pins and needles, hoping that people will fall in love with your work. Although we may try very hard to project calm and confidence, the truth is nearly every agent and editor I know shares these feelings of anxious uncertainty from time to time. When we agents fall in love with a manuscript and put ourselves out there with an offer of representation…we want you to like us. We may spend the day anxiously checking our email and voice messages, hoping you’ll decide to let us represent you. When we send out your manuscript, we hope editors will fall in love with your work too—and we read into every little communication with them. When editors do fall in love with your work, those editors may anxiously wonder if their offer is attractive enough to make you choose them over some other publishing house. They want you to like them too. Then, of course, we all wait around together, biting our nails, hoping the readers out there will love your work as much as we do and validate all our efforts.

Hang in there! You’re not alone.

My Editorial Notes Shorthand--a post by Gemma

This has been a fun week for us, with Jenny Bent over in the UK with me and Molly, all attending the London Book Fair. We have been meeting with foreign publishers, film agents, and some domestic editors and catching up with our co-agents. It’s been a whirlwind, especially so soon after the Bologna Book Fair, but nothing beats the atmosphere and excitement about the industry you take away from a good fair.

However, now I’m back, and about to head into the editorial cave with a client’s manuscript. I’ve been editing a lot recently to get books ready for the fairs, and I’ve been explaining my shorthand terms to my newer clients. I thought these might be helpful to share, as they show familiar things I see in lots of manuscripts, and would be things for all writers to keep an eye out for. 

Obviously there are the basics – show don’t tell, overuse of adverbs, repeated words, and sentence structures – but I have a few less obvious shorthands. 


Less Is More  - It is always better to give the reader one distinguishing and special detail about something and someone than to bombard them with so many images that they lose all of them. It’s like giving someone directions. You start by saying, ‘turn right at the traffic lights, then cross over, then take a left...’ and then you’ve lost them! (Although they continue to nod like they are listening!) Overload someone and everything is forgotten. For example: 

She had bright blue eyes that sparkled when I looked at her and shoulder length red hair that had to come out of a bottle. It was so vivid and the red tint around her hair line must have meant she probably dyed it recently. She twisted a strand around her fingers and I noticed a deep white scar on her knuckle. I made a mental note to ask her about it when I got the courage to hold her hand. Her purple nails clashed with her deep blue stripy hoodie, something she seemed to realize suddenly. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans and tapped her Converse in a slow beat on the gold stars set into the tiled floor. 

To me, this is crowded, and the nicest line about the POV character actually reacting to a description (wanting to be brave enough to hold her hand) is buried in everything else and gets lost. Some writers have a beautiful style with lyrical descriptions, but it’s about finding a balance between keeping your reader engaged and maintaining that style.


Similes – I’m sure everyone knows what a simile is, but just in case, it’s a line that compares two similar things using ‘as,’ ‘like,’ and ‘than.’ So it’s as easy as ABC to look for similes in your manuscript using ‘find’ to highlight the above words. You would make this agent as proud as a peacock and as happy as a clam if you tried to minimize your use of similes like I try to reduce the amount of Diet Coke I drink in a day.  

It’s as clear as crystal to avoid the clichéd similes, but it’s easy to think if you have come up with an inventive simile that you can just use that – and the other twelve you love on that page.  Yes, some similes are fantastic – my client Mo O’Hara’s eight-year-old daughter came up with a great one the other day, ‘as light as air on a diet.’ Remember with similes, when used sparingly, they work really well. When over used they stand out and pull the reader from the story. 


Where’s the noise? – During action scenes, it’s easy to get caught up writing movement and dialogue and forget the noise. What I mean about this, is when explosions are going on and your main character is running away, you need to remember to show this to the reader. Have the main character shouting their dialogue in broken sentences. They would be panting if running, and always when you are stressed, you don’t bother with niceties in dialogue or even finish what you are saying.

Where’s the noise is about external noise – what do the explosions sound like, or the footsteps of the chasing pack? If they are animals, are they breathing heavily, growling, drooling, etc.? Is the earth shaking, is glass falling from windows? Look around the main character and see what else is affected by the action they have created. 

Where’s the noise is also about internal noise - did the explosion hurt the main character’s ears, so they hear a ringing, and only get disjointed half phrases from their friends/enemies? Does the main character’s throat hurt from all the shouting? Obviously if they are running, they would be out of breath. Would they even be able to talk? Use gestures to show they can’t hear each other. 

I always suggest that people read their work aloud, and I think with a noisy scene, you should try and do it with the TV blaring in the background. Can the reader hear the noise? 


Spin on – If like me, you remember VHS, this term will make sense! It’s where a scene is dragging and I just want to fast forward to the next plot point or exciting bit. Mostly this means everything can be cut and that there is a problem with pace. 


So that is a little window into some of my editing shorthand. If they’re helpful, I might share some more in the future. Please pop any questions in the comments.

Deal announcement: Subsidiary Rights Sales

Congratulations to the following Bent Agency clients on their recent subsidiary rights sales:

Spanish translation rights to Yangsze Choo's THE GHOST BRIDE to Editorial Hidra in Spain.

Audio rights to Shannon Greenland's KILLER INSTINCT and Untitled Sequel to Bob Podrasky at AudioGo, at auction.

German translation rights to Lynsay Sands' UNDER A VAMPIRE MOON, LADY IS A VAMP, and THE COUNTESS to Lyx.

Dutch translation rights to Lynsay Sands' IMMORTAL EVER AFTER to Audax.

Russian translation rights to Kathryn Caskie's A SIN IN WHITE to Family Leisure Club.

Query in box, what will you bring me today? post from Susan

It's been awhile since I posted about the kinds of projects I'm looking for right now, so without further ado, here's what I'd love to see in my query in-box.

In general, I’m looking for projects that skew literary, though not at the expense of great plotting – I want something complex and exciting to happen to the characters.

Contemporary, middle grade or YA

I’m a sucker for mother-daughter stories.

If a book makes me laugh, that’s a very good thing. 

I’m looking for a great mystery or thriller.  Give me a lot of creepy atmosphere; hold back on the bloody or gross.

Multiple view-points are hard to pull off, but so rich when they do work.

I’m probably not looking for a straight-up romance, but am not opposed if there are other elements to the story.

Historical fiction, for middle grade or YA

One of my favorite kinds of historical fiction has the main fictional character meeting up with a famous historical figure -- someone who spends time in the company of perhaps Nicholas Tesla, or Cleopatra, or Susan B Anthony, or Marco Polo (or about a thousand others...)

Another kind of historical fiction I enjoy is a retelling from the point of view of a famous (fictional) secondary character, think Dr Watson, as opposed to Sherlock.

Periods I’m interested in: the medieval period, India under British Colonial rule, World War I & II, the Jazz age, Berlin between the wars, Japanese and Chinese history, America in the 1960s and 1970s, Venice.

Fantasy, for middle grade or YA

Strong, unique characters are always important to me, and especially so in fantasy.

I’m a fan of fairy tale retellings, especially ones that use a lesser known tale, and that makes use of the darker threads in these stories.  Some favorite fairy tales are Tam Lin, the Twelve Dancing Princesses, the Six Swans, Beauty and the Beast, and Goose Girl. 

This is true across the board, but especially in fantasy, I'm really looking for original ideas.

Non-fiction, picture book, middle grade or YA.

Some subjects I’m interested in:

Women and girls in history or more recently. 

History of the labor movement in 20th century USA. 

History of K-12 education in US.

Picture book biographies, especially of artists.

The Black Plague and/or plagues in history.

Plant hunters, in history or now.

This is a small sample, and in general, I’d like to see topics and people that haven’t been covered (or covered much) before.

I think it's always helpful to know what I’ve been reading lately:

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is excellent science-fiction.  I’m fascinated by the central idea, which feels very original, and the way it’s developed. 

33 Minutes by Todd Hasak-Lowey is a heart-breaking, true and very funny book about the way old friendships can change, and break, in middle school.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope is an older book, published in 1974.  If you love historical fiction and haven’t read this re-telling of the Tam Lin story set in northern England during the reign of Queen Mary I, get yourself a copy quickly!  It’s delicious.