This Sunday we're recording another episode of our podcast, Unprintable. And we have a very special guest: Bree Ogden, literary agent, LitReactor instructor, and host of our Ask the Agent column!
Got a question about querying or publishing or agent-hunting you'd like to address to Bree? Let us know here, and we'll try to address it on air!
I think it's common knowledge by now that when querying an agent, it's in the best interest of the author to try to have some publication under their belt. Building of resume of credentials is something that gets stressed around here quite a bit. My question to Bree is: what does/does not count as a credential?
Obviously, names like The Missouri Review and The Atlantic have name recognition, but what about startup mags that have been around less than a year? When she's reading a query that lists off five or six publications she's never heard of, what's her response to that?
To extend Brandon's question: When attaching your publications, should you list all of them, or only the most important? Would it make a difference to an agent if I've published 40 stories in mediocre/tiny markets? Would it be a detriment, or is it ignored until the agent has read the query?
Bree,
It's hard for us writers to be patient, especially when we don't know what's going on. Obviously, most agents aren't going to get too excited about any movement that is less than a sale. How often should we be bugging our agents for updates? Should we only expect news on the big yes or no? Should we push our agents to send out our novels to more and more places, or trust that our agent has placed the novel with the right publishers? We've had a conversation, and have set tiers for our approach, so it's not like we don't talk. With so many imprints under the same umbrellas obviously it's tricky to hit up more than one imprint at a time. I just don't want to be a pain to my agent, but at the same time, I'm pulling my hair out. I've only been with my agent for 8 months, so maybe my sense of time is out of whack? Thanks.
If you've published a novel through a small press and it has done okay (by small indie standards, but not great) is that worth mentioning? Is it better to say "I've published a book but it didn't sell well" than not say anything at all?
How much editorial input should you expect an agent to give?
How do agents treat/view those who have self published? Is that held against them?