Agent Stalking

by Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL

 Source

You’ve finished the final edits to your manuscript, and your query has garnered great feedback. Now you’re ready to query.

Or are you?

You’ve identified your initial list of agents you want to query, and they all represent your genre. Except, how do you know if these are the right agents for YOU?

Every year, hundreds of writers land representation with agents. And a year later, many of these professional relationships end. Some writers fire their agents. And some agents, to the surprise of the writer, fire their client. Reasons for these terminated relationships vary. Many could have been avoided with prior research.

So, how do you learn more about your potential dream agent without asking the FBI to do a background search (which they won’t do unless said literary agent is on the FBI’s most wanted list)? You stalk them*. But I don’t mean “stalk” them on Twitter two days before you query them. That’s too late. You need to start several weeks in advance, sooner if possible.

Here’s why.

Two weeks ago, an agent (Agent #1) tweeted that she was interested in New Adult books. She explained what she was specifically looking for. This is great information to know if you’re querying a New Adult novel (or will be), since it’s not mentioned on her website.

Agent #2 read this tweet and responded. He complained that writers are asking him about this category at conferences. It was obvious from his tweet that he has low opinion of the category. Good to know if you’re writing YA (which he represents) and NA books. Now you know not to query him if you want an agent who will represent all your books.

Agent #1 replied and explained that she didn’t get the category, either, but she was willing to check it out.

Red Flag #1

Why would you want an agent who doesn’t “get” your genre? How would she be the best advocate for it? That’s like letting a surgeon who doesn’t “get” the function of your pancreas perform surgery on it. You want someone who not only gets your genre, she understands what criteria readers expect to see.

Now, if you really like this agent, because you’ve “stalked” her for a while, and you decide to query her, the above information is important. If she offers representation, you can ask her what books she’s read in your genre and what she liked about them. If she has only read two, you’ve got a problem. Also, make sure she does understand the genre. For example, if you queried her for your NA novel and she tells you NA is really YA erotica, then you need to keep looking. This is not the right agent for you. She’s clueless about the genre.

Or, you might not care either way and decide to sign with her. But at least you’ve made an informed decision.

Let’s get back to the Twitter conversation between the two agents.

Agent #2 tweeted back that he hoped Agent #1 enjoyed the porn that would now fill her inbox.

Red Flag #2

I have no idea how Agent #1 felt about the condescending tweet, but it upset the individual who emailed me the conversation. It showed a lack of respect toward a colleague in the industry. Plus Agent #2 was miles out of the football stadium when he referred to New Adult stories as porn. What is ironic is that his attitude mirrors those of individuals who try to impose book bans on certain children’s and Young Adult books, and this includes some of his clients' books.

For some writers, the agent’s comments aren’t an issue. But for those individuals who don’t tolerate this level of disrespect and close-mindedness, it’s best to delete him from your list. He might not be the best agent for you, because his tweets could be an indication of how he treats his clients and others in the industry.

If you decide to query him, you would do well to check if any of his clients have left him and find out why. The more you know about the agent before you make a decision to sign with him (should he offer you representation), the more likely your client-agent relationship will be long term.

As you can see from the conversation between the two agents, it’s important to start your agent research early. Otherwise, you’ll miss vital information that could impact you in the long term and have a negative (or positive) effect on your writing career.

Are you following agents through any social media sites? What is your primary reason for doing so?

*Stalking in this sense means the legal kind done through social networking. I’m not referring the kind of stalking that will put you on the NYPD’s radar and land you in jail.

I hope this post is a good reminder why it’s important to filter your thoughts when using social media sites. You don’t want to say something that could damage your reputation. 

Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL writes young adult and new adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and blogging addict, and can be found hanging out on her blog.  

Five Dialogue Dilemmas to Avoid

by Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL

Not long ago, I read a self-published novel that drove me crazy. I enjoyed the story and liked the characters, but the author made several mistakes with her dialogue, again and again and again. It didn’t happen every time she wrote dialogue, so she did know what she was doing. Just chalk it up to sloppy proofreading (and the lack of a copy editor).

The mistakes were inexcusable, but they are a good reminder to scour your manuscript to ensure they don’t exist. Some of them are easily missed if you are not paying attention.

1. “I’m hungry.” She whispered.

The question I’m wondering after reading this is what did the character whisper? The author incorrectly punctuated the dialogue. It should have read: “I’m hungry,” she whispered.

2. “I’m hungry,” she frowned.

Frowning is a physical action. It doesn’t describe how the dialogue was spoken. Again, this is a case of incorrect punctuation. The correct ways to write it would be:

“I’m hungry,” she said, frowning.

Or

“I’m hungry.” She frowned.

In the first sentence, the character is frowning at the same time as she spoke. In the second situation, the character spoke then frowned. You can’t laugh, frown, smack, or wink dialogue. You can yell and whisper dialogue. You can say dialogue with a laugh (“I’m hungry,” she said with a laugh). And you can say dialogue low so that no one else can hear you. Whenever you use a dialogue tag that isn’t said, make sure it really is a dialogue tag and not a physical beat.

3. “Fine.” I spat, jumping up.

When I first read the sentence, I wondered if the character had spat at the other character or if she had spat at the ground. Again, this is example of improper punctuation. The above sentence means something different to what the author had intended: “Fine,” I spat, jumping up.

4. “I’m losing!?!”

The above abuse of punctuation is fine for comics, text messages, and blog comments. It is not appropriate in dialogue. In the above example, the author would use the question mark and show (not tell) that the character is surprised that she’s losing.

5. “I’m not sure that’s—“

The second quotation mark is backwards. The easiest way to avoid this is type a random letter after the dash-em and then the quotation mark. The correct form will appear. Delete the letter and you’re golden.

To avoid missing these errors in your manuscript when you edit, go through the draft once, reading only for dialogue and dialogue tags. This way, you will be more likely to catch the errors than if you are paying attention to a different element, and hoping to notice your typos. If you read the first three chapters and find you are frequently making these mistakes, you can guarantee the rest of the story is riddled with them, too.

Are there any errors in dialogue mechanics that you’ve seen that drive you crazy or that you struggle with?

Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL writes young adult and new adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and can be found hanging out on her blog. 

 

The Emotional Impact of Symbolism

by Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL

©Stina Lindenblatt

One way to create a richer story is by weaving in symbolic subtext. This is also a great way to reveal the story’s theme. I know, you’re now groaning, no thanks to flashbacks to your high school English class. But it’s not hard to add symbolism when you consider how many things in our world have been assigned different meanings. For example, we associate red with passion, anger, embarrassment, danger, power. Crows are symbolic with death and magic. Symbols are also effective when you give them meaning based on your own story. If a character swims in your story, swimming or the water the person swims in might be symbolic, and is woven throughout, further heightening the symbolic subtext.

Subtext works both at a conscious and unconscious level. When we read a book or watch a movie, some symbols will jump out at us, especially if the creators have done a good job drawing your attention to it. With other symbols, you won’t stop to analyze it. For example, if the scene takes place in a room with green walls, you won’t be thinking that the director wanted to reveal the subtext of life. But you can guarantee someone behind the scenes purposely picked that color because of what it symbolized and not because it was her favorite color.

In the first season of Criminal Minds (spoiler alert), there was one episode (Compulsion) in which fire and the number three were important elements to the show. Among other things, fire represents anger and divinity. It was eventually determined that the unsub was starting fires based on the need to test her victims. If they survived the fire, they were free of the wrath of God. The number three (or rather the triad of the number three) would set off the unsub. The creators could have randomly selected any number, but three has a symbolic meaning. In Christianity, it represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  As the unsub lined up the three bottles of flammable liquid, before dousing her three victims with them, she made reference to the bottles as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The movie Sleeping with the Enemy is about a young woman who fakes her death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage. During one scene, the abusive husband hits Laura (Julia Roberts) and she falls to the floor.  Laura pushes herself up to a sitting position, her long red hair spilling around her shoulders, legs bent to the side. At that moment, she reminded me of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. When Laura tries to stand, after her husband leaves, her legs are shaking so badly, she looks like Ariel after the sea witch turned her into a human, and Ariel takes her first steps into the new world. In Sleeping with the Enemy, this image is symbolic foreshadowing. What her husband doesn’t know is that Laura has been learning to swim, to overcome her fear of water. She is a mermaid, so to speak. Soon after, she fakes her death in a drowning accident and escapes to a new life.

That evening, after Laura’s husband hits her, he gives her red roses and red lingerie. They are supposed to represent his “love”, but they really symbolize the physical and emotional abuse (blood, danger) she suffers at his hands. After Laura escapes, she takes a Greyhound bus to a small town in Iowa. As it arrives, we see Laura looking out of the bus window and the reflection of the American flag waving in the breeze. The American flag symbolizes freedom and the home of the brave. A perfect symbol for Laura’s courage and her new life.

Symbols can show up once in the story, or they can be repeated throughout the book. They can be obvious, as what happens when the camera zooms in on the symbolic object, or they can be subtle, nothing more than a mere mention in the middle of a paragraph. Movies are a great place to learn about symbolism, since the director, writers, set designers look for ways to insert it. Most of the time, we don’t notice it at a conscious level. It impacts us subconsciously. But when done well, it adds to the emotional satisfaction we get from watching the movie or when reading a book.

Do you watch for symbolism in movies and books? Do you pay attention to it in your stories? 

Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL writes young adult and new adult novels. In her spare time, she’s a photographer and blogging addict, and can be found hanging out on her blog.