The Big Bad Book Comparison

I (Amy this time) was chatting with a writer about query letters this week, and we came upon a topic that I often hear about from writers. I’m going to call it The Big Bad Book Comparison.
What I’m referring to is the oft repeated advice that – in query letters or book pitches – a writer should describe their writing by comparing it to other writers’ work that is similar in tone or sentiment. Here’s an example (one I made up):

"In my new romantic thriller, Love in the Killing Fields, Mary Mallone, Irish nurse and blighted lover, follows her lawyer-come-soldier beau onto the battlefields of WWI. The novel is Maeve Binchy meets John Grisham on the front of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms."

Now, there are a lot of issues going on with this example, but let’s focus on the topic at hand:
The advantage of The Big Bad Book Comparison is that it can help an agent grasp the flavor of the writing or the sensibility of the story...quickly (which is helpful in our inbox-overflowing world). It can also catch the reader’s attention. What fan of Maeve Binchy wouldn’t be intrigued by a writer who professes to be Maeve 2.0? Who wouldn’t be curious to see how a new John Grisham navigates Hemingway's WWI landscape?

The disadvantage of The Big Bad Book Comparison is that it can cause confusion – even dismay – in the reader if it’s not executed well. After reading my example, do we really have any idea what this book sounds like? I mentioned Maeve Binchy, so there’s probably a love story. But didn’t I capture that by calling it “romantic”? Sure, there’s a lawyer in there. But does he do legal or military battle? Is it an occupation or an integral plot element? Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms gives us a specific picture of the landscape. But do Hemingway, Grisham, and Binchy belong in the same literary universe? Now, I mean no offense to Ms. Binchy or Mr. Grisham in saying this. My point is that all three of these writers are coming from very different places. How can we reconcile them into the same book?

So, what’s a writer to do?

Here are a few guidelines I’d like to offer. Keep in mind that they are not exhaustive and other agents might have a different view:

1. Stick with contemporary writers. If you claim to be the next Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, or Virginia Woolf, be prepared for your writing to go head-to-head with these literary gods. Literary greats have been venerated by generations of readers and critics, and I don’t think that any writer – no matter how talented – can stand up to that kind of notoriety. If you really must compare yourself to Salinger, then tell us what aspects of Salinger relate to your writing. (In my example, I reference “the front of Hemingway” so I am comparing his setting to mine, not his style.)

2. It’s okay if you compare yourself to a contemporary writer that I may not know. While you should try not to pick writers that are too obscure, you don’t need to limit yourself to best-selling authors alone. After all, an agent can’t know every writer that’s out there. When I come across a name I don’t know, I will either shrug and keep reading or look that writer up on the internet. If the comparison is accurate, you have nothing to lose here.

3. Intriguing combinations are helpful. Outlandish combinations are not. If you choose to make a “ ___ meets ___” comparison, an unusual combination can be intriguing. On the other hand, two writers that have nothing in common can be confusing. How would Binchy’s and Grisham’s writing or story sensibilities go together? What would that hybrid sound like? If you’re not sure, test it out on your friends. Does your comparison bring up more questions or does it clarify? If you find yourself writing “Danielle Steele meets Tom Wolfe,” STOP! This is impossible.

4. You don’t need to make a comparison at all. This is just one in a number of tools that you have to create a convincing query letter or pitch. If it’s difficult to find comparisons that work, don’t use them!

That’s just a start and it’s not exhaustive, but I hope that helps. Thanks for reading!

Amy

What Are You Looking For?

Often when I attend writers conferences the first question I am asked is, “What are you looking for?” You’d think I’d have it down by now. That succinct but illuminating response that perfectly describes my tastes and hopefully reveals a little wit and personality. But I find that the answer I give varies each time, and that I’m rarely satisfied with it. New ideas I’ve never considered before fly from my mouth. For example, “I’d like a post-apocalyptic cookbook. Sort of a Paula Dean meets Bladerunner concept.” What? My God, I think, What am I looking for?

Over the years, my response to this question has varied from, “a lusty beach read,” to “meticulously researched historical fiction” to “a fast-paced international thriller” to “anything with an animal in it that makes me cry.” I’ve described myself as a lover of magical realism, a die-hard romantic, and a sports-junkie. And, to be fair, all are true. One reason I love my job is I’m able to read across several genres and learn about a breadth of diverse subjects. My projects have included mysteries, literary biographies, spirituality and self-help, and even an illustrated gift book.

I like mixing it up. It keeps my work fresh and fun, but I can understand how this might make it more difficult for writers to know which projects are right for me. I have an agent friend who is fond of saying, “How can I know what I’m looking for until I’ve seen it?” Fair enough, I think, but can’t we be any more helpful? Is it possible to give a more accurate idea of what we agents do and don’t want without being Negative Nancys?

Well, the answer might be no, but I’m going to give it a shot. Here are a few items on my current wish list:

1. Mystery novels that break free from being purely genre books by incorporating a particularly fascinating setting, or historical research, or a unique plot twist. A perfect example from my list is Rebecca Cantrell’s A Trace of Smoke. I loved the book’s setting (1931 Berlin), and was also intrigued by the heroine’s situation – that she was a crime reporter writing under a man’s pen name. I wanted to know more about her life.

2. Novels that hit that sweet spot between commercial and literary fiction. By this I mean well-crafted stories with strong plots. Beautiful prose isn’t enough. There must be a gripping story, filled with tension, emotion and suspense. Think Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife.

3. Sophisticated Young Adult Novels with the potential to cross over and attract an adult audience. I am mainly interested in contemporary settings and protagonists in the 12-16 yr age range.

4. Lively, fun nonfiction that feels edgy and current. I would love to find a strong pop culture or pop reference title. I want quirky! Of particular interest are Do It Yourself titles that might explore topics such as home brewing, urban farming, etc.

5. Serious nonfiction with a strong intellectual bent. I’m looking for authors who are experts in their field. Award-winning journalists, college professors, notable scientists… I would welcome projects with academic origins as long as they have enough accessibility and commercial appeal to attract a broad mainstream audience. Think Malcolm Gladwell or Jon Krakauer.

And a few items on my Desperately Seeking Not to Receive This list:

1. Any fiction that could be described as “quiet.” As Cormac McCarthy proves, literary fiction can be big, loud and tough like any other genre. I’m not seeking major pyrotechnics, but I should feel drawn into a strong story within the first ten pages. No flowery prose please. Lyrical is okay, flowery is not.

2. “Misery Memoirs.” Examples of memoirs I love are Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight and Reading Lolita in Tehran.

3. Thrillers with plots based on terrorism or American politics. No hardened cops, FBI or CIA agents who team up with beautiful young protégés, please.

4. Fantasy. I’m facing the truth; it’s just not for me. Unless you’ve written something bleak and fascinating and post-apocalyptic like The Hunger Games, the Handmaid’s Tale or Never Let Me Go. In that case, I want to sign you immediately.

5. Novels from an animal’s perspective. I have one on my list that I love, and I’m not seeking any more. I do love animals though, and wouldn’t mind more nonfiction about them!

Please note that the items on this list are subject to change, and through our handy new blog I’ll try to keep everyone posted while avoiding reporting every fleeting whim (Vampires in Tudor-Stuart England). Thanks for reading and till next time!

Elizabeth

The Plunge

I sat politely and listened, my eyes following the faces of my new agent friends as they weighed in with enthusiastic stories of how many hits some client’s podcast received, or of the great new project they’d discovered through Twitter. We were seated in a big round booth in a cocktail lounge in Chelsea. It was September, and I would be moving to New York just after Christmas. The young agents I sat beside would be my new friends in the city. They seemed hip, sleek and plugged in, and I was pretending I knew exactly what they were talking about. Outwardly, I appeared engaged. Inwardly, I wanted to crawl under the table with my martini and sulk.

Social media? Blogs? Tweeting?! Fine for them, I thought. Not for me. I was interested in books. The old kind – with spines and paper. What did Facebook have to do with great literature? Nothing, I scoffed. I could barely say Twitter without my lip curling in disgust – it seemed the worst kind of narcissism. Who needed to know, in 140 words or less, what I was up to at any given moment? And blogs…don’t get me started. It was bush league journalism. Not for serious readers. Serious readers spent hours pouring over the New York Times every Sunday morning as they worked off their hangovers with nine cups of coffee or bottomless mimosas. I didn’t turn to the internet for real information. I used it for email, WebMD (I feel feverish – Ebola Virus!), and to peruse the occasional online J.Crew sale.

I stirred my drink and thought about our beautiful home office in Tiburon, which I would soon be trading for a shared space in Midtown. The Tiburon office exuded old-school cool – bookcases lined with hardbound classics extending to the ceiling, a stone fireplace, and leather chairs perfect for reading. Not to mention the view of the
San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge peeking through a curtain of fog in the background. The home office reflected the dignity of a bygone era, and the prestige of some of the agency’s great clients – Faulkner, Henry Miller, Aldous Huxley. I was completely comfortable there. Actually, I was ecstatic. It was exactly the space all us English major nerds dream of landing, when we actually pop our heads above whichever Joyce or Woolf novel we’re mesmerized by, to think about the real world. As far as I was (and still am) concerned, it was
book heaven.

But I was about to leave this heaven, and the publishing world, along with the rest of the nation, was about to enter an economic downturn that would shock us from our armchairs. In the months to follow the conversation that always seemed to play softly in the background, the one about the death of publishing and books as we know them, would be turned up full force. Suddenly the topic on everyone’s lips was how to evolve and survive. The unanimous answer from every corner from the Association of Authors’ Representatives to the New York Observer was to embrace new media, in particular the e book. Running from the wings to save us like an overeager first year medical student with shock paddles was Jeff Bezos and his fancy new Kindle. I was skeptical.

I tend to be a little slow to embrace change. I’ve found that many of us book people are. We gravitate to old things, dusty shelves, stationery, lockets and pocket-watches. We wear tweed in non-ironic ways. We refer to our first dictionary the way most people talk about a cherished family pet. I challenge you to find a publishing person who doesn’t own at least one pair of argyle socks.

But there we all were, in a real disaster situation as respected editors were dropping like flies and houses like Houghton-Mifflin were announcing – gasp! an acquisitions freeze. The landscape was bleak. I, like many others, decided to sit up and step up to the 21st century. Luddites no longer, we were willing to try anything, because, after all, we cared deeply about books and we would do whatever it took to preserve them. If a chorus of industry professionals was now saying that having an active online presence would boost an author’s book sales, then golldarnit, my clients would be on the interweb by morning!

So, it is now that I screw up my courage to deliver to you this first ever blog. These days I’m an active member on Goodreads.com and Shelfari, and even dear old Twitter. I have an unhealthy obsession with my Kindle. Just yesterday I managed to use “tweet” as a verb and keep a straight face. There may be hope for me yet.

If there’s any real message I’d like to deliver from this little tale, it is that if you are a writer and you aren’t already active on these social media sites, it’s okay. Feel no shame – there’s hope for you too! If you’re feeling stubborn and resentful and thinking of crawling under your computer to stage a Twitter-boycott, gently push those feelings aside and just give it a go. As Stephenie Meyer’s editor at Little, Brown said to me recently, while shoving a copy of Twilight into my hands, “Resistance is futile!”

But if that’s not a compelling enough reason to give it a whirl, I’m here to tell you that all the social networking really does work. For better or worse, the days of reclusive authors mailing their masterpieces to New York and then retreating to their mountain cabins while the next brilliant idea gestates are over. It is an absolute
truth that the success of a book depends in large part on the willingness of its author to promote it. We have at our fingertips, and mostly for free, an unprecedented new array of options with which to promote ourselves and our material. Let’s use it. Get that cabin wired!

I found myself back at that same bar recently, with the same
wonderful agent friends. They are gems, and I am lucky to be part of such a great community. One of them pushed a stylish lock of dark hair from her forehead, arm bangles jingling, and proclaimed, “I’m excited! We’re at a pivotal moment in publishing, and I feel energized.” Goody Two-Shoes, I thought. Really? You’re excited? You know we’re not on a panel now, right? But as my envy of her wide-eyed optimism slowly disappeared along with the contents of my cocktail, I realized her attitude is absolutely right. No fear! Now is the time to be taking risks and exploring new territory. Why fight it? We just might like it.

By Elizabeth