Romance Internship Available!

TBA is looking for an intern who loves to read Romance--all genres, from paranormal to contemporary to historical to romantic suspense-and also New Adult. 

The internship is unpaid, remote, and requires about 20 hours of week a month.   No prior publishing experience required, we are just looking for obsessive readers who really keep up with what's going on in the industry. 

Please send an email to intern@thebentagency.com and tell us why you want the internship.  Please include two very important things:  a list of the last ten books you read and a list of your ten favorite books.  If you have a resume, you can include it, but it's not necessary. 

Thanks for applying! 

Editing ‘As’ and ‘ing’ Phrases--a post by Gemma

As the hungry literary agent sat at her desk and thought about what to blog about this week, she remembered something she’d been noticing in submissions and client manuscripts recently.

Dashing out of the room and towards her bookcase, she pulled a book down from the dusty shelf. As she did, a big black spider fell on her face. Screaming and dropping the book, she jumped from the ladder and raced out of the door. The spider didn’t follow and as the door slammed, he climbed back into his book home, his little heart pounding at the horror of the agent’s bad hair.

Shaking a little, the agent sat back at her desk and pulled herself together. She was on a deadline for this blog post and had to get it written. Typing fast, she dumped all her thoughts onto the page, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

As the clock ticked over the midnight, she typed the end, hoping the post would be helpful to those who read it. Then she finally had dinner.

I’m hoping you can see from the above passage in italics the overuse of ‘as’ and ‘ing’ phrases. One of my favourite writing books, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Rennie Browne and Dave King, talks about overuse like this making the prose sound amateur. They discuss the topic in the section of the book about sophistication – adding a bit more polish and professionalism to your writing. You should notice that the additions of ‘as’ and ‘ing’ phrases above affect the flow of the writing and weaken the sentences. (I won’t lie, it’s not the best piece of writing anyway, but give me a break on that!)

There is nothing grammatically incorrect about using ‘as’ and ‘ing’, but they do take away some of the action. ‘She dashed over to her bookshelf’ is stronger and more in the moment than ‘Dashing over to her bookshelf.’

Of course, you will need to and should use ‘as’ and ‘ing’ phrases in your writing – but as with ‘rules’ about clichés, similes, exclamation points etc., use them with care. If taking out a ‘ing’ phrase means you add ten words and ruin the sentence, then don’t remove it! Just be aware of them in your prose, and if you see more than one or two per page, look for ways to strengthen some of those lines.

There are many ‘rules’ that tell you how and what to write. When I was at school, my teacher was obsessed with us not using ‘And’ and ‘But’ at the start of sentences. But these are used in lots of my favourite books and can really add to the voice and tone if used well. So to clarify, I don’t like the definitiveness of the word ‘rule’ in writing and I don’t like people who are too prescriptive about them. But it is still good to be aware of the rules before you attempt to break them!

If this was helpful, check out my previous editorial tips blog post here.

Also, I was interviewed this week by Middle Grade Ninja about my favourite books and wishlist – click here for that.

How to Fire Your Agent-a post by Jenny

No one likes to talk about it, but the truth is that sometimes it's just necessary to fire your agent. You could have the most successful agent in the world, but it just might not be a fit; you could have an agent that you feel was right at the beginning of your career but maybe isn't right now that you are in a different place. You might have had a great relationship with your agent at first, but things have petered out somehow and you don't really know why. Most of the time it's honestly no one's fault--it's just time.

No one is pretending, however, that firing your agent is easy. At best it's awkward and at worst it's contentious and unpleasant. I have a few tips and suggestions however which might make things a bit easier for all involved. After all, the whens and hows of firing your agent can have a significant impact on your career. Don't let it be an impulsive act, but a thoughtful and considered one.

1. Make sure you're doing it for the right reason. If you've had three agents over four books, it might be some time for a little self-reflection about expectations. It may also be just because you've had some really bad luck, but at the least it should trigger some thought about the way you choose a new agent. Make sure you know what you want and then perhaps do a little research with friends/colleagues on whether or not that seems reasonable and doable. Perhaps then make a list of your priorities and be able to discuss them with a prospective new agent. I can tell you many agents will be wary once you are on your third or fourth or fifth (hey, it happens) agent, so you really want to make sure that you are coming from a very reasonable place on this one.

2. Consider picking up the phone and trying to work things out. A few times in my career after I've had discussions with an author looking for a new agent, I've later received an embarrassed call or e-mail from the author saying that when they fired their agent, he/she convinced them to give it another shot. Point being, that why not talk to your agent about problems before giving them the old heave ho. Give them a chance. It may be that they really don't realize there is a problem but would be more than willing to try to fix things.

3. Consider the timing. This is really, really important. Here are times when you don't want to fire your agent, because it will make it much harder to find a new one:
a. you have just signed a six book contract. This means your new agent is going to inherit a whole bunch of work and not be able to get paid for a whole lot of time. Fire your agent before it's time for a new deal, not after.
b. your book has just pubbed. Most likely, your publisher will want to see how the book is doing before buying a new one. In the absence of any sales information, the best you are going to do is get an advance at the same level. Try to hold out for at least a few months to get some numbers and make the new agent's job a little easier and to help them be more effective for you.
c. your career is on a major downswing. Sometimes this one is unavoidable but here's the thing: if you have serious doubts about your agent, but your career is going fairly smoothly, you should still not hold off on terminating the relationship. If you're correct in your concerns about your agent then you should fire them before they have a detrimental effect on your career. You'll have a far easier time finding a new agent if things are going well for you.

4. Did you sign an agency agreement? Consult a publishing attorney to clarify what your rights are ahead of time. Some agency agreements can tie up your rights for a long time and that will play a role in whether or not you fire your agent and when you fire your agent.

5. How are you going to do it? I don't think you should pressure yourself to do it over the phone. The situation is awkard enough to have to stammer through it. Send a polite, kind e-mail or a note. Some agents might disagree on this one but I don't think a call is necessary.

6. No matter how pissed off you are, don't finger point. This is what you say: Dear Agent, I am so grateful for all you have done for me over the years. You have played an instrumental role in my career and I thank you. But I think the time has come for me to seek new representation and so I regretfully must terminate our agent-client relationship. I wish you nothing but the best and I look forward to working with you on our continued business.

In other words, pleasant and vague. You don't need to outline in detail all the reasons you fired them. Here's why. Your agent is going to continue to represent you for a very long time (read for the term of copyright or until one of you dies) for the titles that they sold.  If you're cordial and pleasant that increases the odds that they will continue to do a good job for you. Besides that, chances are they are still good friends with your editor and future editors who may buy you, or may even be friends with your new agent. It's too small an industry to burn bridges unnecessarily.

I know plenty of authors who have left their agents on friendly terms. That's always the goal and it won't happen if you decide to really tell them off before you go.

7. As a follow up to this one, if you badmouth your old agent enough, I can promise you it will get back to them. I'm constantly struggling with keeping my mouth shut, so I feel your pain on this one, but try to keep your complaints to your very closest friends. Again, it's a very small world.

 8. As a corollary to 2., if you possibly can, fire your agent *before* you start your search for a new one.  In agent-land, it's considered the courteous way of doing things.  

 Here are a few links I found on the topic which seemed reasonable to me. In the event of disagreement on this stuff, go with your gut. There is no one path, as I like to say.

http://www.fictionwriters.com/tips-firing-agent.html

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-to-fire-your-agent.html
(RIP Rock star blogger Miss Snark. How I miss thee.)

http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-fire-your-agent.html

Good luck and godspeed! 

Jenny 

Middle-Grade Debut Deal for Lisa Tyre

I'm thrilled to announce a deal for debut author Lisa Tyre!  Lisa has written a contemporary middle grade novel that has everything going for it -- some of the best characters I've come across in a long time, small Southern town setting so real you'd swear you'd been there yourself, and some of the funniest lines I've ever read.  I love this book, and am so happy that we found it a home with Nancy Paulsen at her Penguin imprint!

You can learn more about Lisa and her book projects at her website, http://lisalewistyre.com/, or say hi on twitter: @LisaLewisTyre.

Hooray!

Children's: Middle grade

Lisa Tyre's middle grade debut THE JUNKMAN'S DAUGHTER, in which a twelve-year old, determined to save her family's house from the meddling county, uncovers an ancestor's diary that holds clues to the location of a cache of Civil War era gold, a thief who might be her own great-great-great grandfather, and the hidden history of the Underground Railroad in her town, to Nancy Paulsen at Nancy Paulsen Books, for publication in summer 2015, by Susan Hawk at The Bent Agency (World English).