Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley, California Office
Yesterday we talked about the intellectual skills our fictional specimen, John Q. Agent, needs to be successful. Today we are going to be examining his eyes. No, we are not actually talking about an eye exam, though eyestrain from too much reading is often an occupational hazard. We’re talking about vision. Dictionary.com defines vision two ways:
vi·sion 1. The act or power of sensing with the eyes; sight. 2. the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur.
Vision is one of the most important skills for an agent. We think of wide, far-ranging vision but believe it or not, sometimes John Q needs to be myopic—near-sighted. He needs to be able to focus on a single project and shut out the world. There may be a gigantic stack of manuscripts to be read and analyzed while a dozen other tasks are screaming for attention. John Q needs to be able to focus on the task at hand whether it is a proposal or a contract. A little myopia will be a good thing.
But it’s even more vital that he have the vision to see the big picture. Some of the most important work he’ll do for his clients is career planning. He needs to have a good grasp of the industry, stay current with trends, read all the futurists and follow the trade journals. He’ll want to keep up with industry professionals and editors.
He also needs to know who’s publishing what. What’s hot and what’s not. He’ll want to be familiar with cover trends and marketing initiatives. He’ll want to be well read, far beyond his clients’ work. Just last week an editor called to ask to which well-known writers I would compare my client with. PR had asked her for a reference point and she drew a blank. An agent has to be well-read enough to answer those kinds of questions.
So. . . eyesight? John Q needs both shortsightedness and the big picture.
He needs “eyes to see:”
- Details
- The Big Picture
- Trends
- Future think
- What colleagues and industry professionals are doing and saying
- Who’s publishing what
- What’s on its way in and what’s on its way out
- What’s working in marketing
It can’t necessarily be taught. It’s often one of those gut things.
But think about it. Is it all that different for writers? It seems like we require some of the same kind of skills for you, right?
Another superb post, Wendy. I agree with you. A lot of what I do as a writer is market research, trying to determine how my work fits into the big picture, who would be interested in publishing it, and trying to gauge trends–which I am not good at.
When I started working in online book promotion–virtual book tours–they were a relatively new animal. Now, my client base includes just as many NY Times bestselling authors as it does those authors published by small presses or those who have self-published. Things change so quickly that it’s hard to keep track of everything.
“It can’t necessarily be taught. It’s often one of those gut things.” – is one thing that scares me a bit. What if you have all the writing skill in the world, but don’t have the gut to feel certain things out? How does that hamper your career? Does that even impact your ability to secure an agent like John Q?
Thanks for your insight.
The insight you all bring to noticing publishing trends astonishes me. Career planning is another important skill for me. I want to know how to best serve God and readers with my words, and an agent’s expertise can help direct what abilities I’ve been charged to steward well.
As a writer it is important to know what books are out on the market. Which ones are doing well, getting good reviews and drawing in the readers. To do that it takes a lot of research, reading books and networking. If there is no market then your book may never see the light of day. It is equally important that the agent know as much and MORE than the writer about the market.
Loving your post this week!
Wendy, as an agent how much do you consider what might become the “Next Big Thing?”
Something that has always bothered me about the book industry is the chasing of trends and the copy-cat effect; which is also one of the reasons I no longer puruse screen-writing….
I believe that all writers understand the need for agents to have clients who have shown the ability to speak to one of the already existing markets for fiction or non-fiction; yet a common lament I hear is how it seems there is no vision for what the industry will (or already is) becoming, which seems to be partially responsibile for some of the hostility directed towards e-books and digital libraries.
For writers, it does appear that there are similarities between the vision required of agents; we need to know who publishes the sort of stories we tell, what venues will attract further notice by people in the industry (which is why even smaller journals and magazines are swamped by submissions) and the evolving nature of language; one might admire Thomas Hardy, but it would be near impossible to sell a book writing like him.
It’s funny, but just before I read the end of your post, I thought, writers need the same skills. We should study and know as much as possible!
As a Christian agent, don’t you also experience a kind of divine serendipity working alongside your conscious keeping on top of the trends etc.?
I know as a writer, very often ideas, people, articles come across my path and very soon after, I find they are just what I need in a project or conversation. I believe God puts things in our paths which, if we’re alert to them, are pieces of the puzzle we’re currently working on. Or has that not been your experience as an agent?