What I plan to read on my vacation

by Jane

It is always so difficult for me to choose what I want to read while away on a real vacation. I have so little time to read for pleasure that picking the perfect titles is incredibly challenging. My family and I are going away for eight days after we close up shop for the holidays and there will be plenty of time for me to go through at least three books.

I thought I’d share with you what I’m taking with me. BUT, if you have any other ideas I would love to hear what they are and why you recommend them:

Mockingjay—the third in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I have just finished the second book and cannot read another thing until I finish the trilogy—so this is definitely the first on my list.

The Room by Emma Donoghue. Ever since I first read a description of this novel, I have wanted to read it. And Jim and Lauren in our office loved it. Those are the two very important reasons why I am definitely taking this one along.

The Ghost Writer by Robert Harris. The idea of this book is really intriguing and since we work with so many ghost writers, I know I am going to enjoy this one. Plus, of course, Miriam loved it—which in itself is a great reason for me to take it along.

In between, I am looking forward to reading Playing with Fire, the manuscript from my client Pam Constable—a book about Pakistan which we have very high hopes for—and the manuscript for Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François’s new book Pizza and Focaccia in Five Minutes a Day, which was just turned in to the publisher and is bound to become another bestseller for the authors.

I figure that should keep me busy. I’ll also try to fit in some sleeping and eating and, of course, golf.

A very happy and healthy holiday to you all. We will be back in the New Year with some exciting new things to share with you.

That intimidating book proposal

by Jane

For the last several months, many of us here at DGLM have talked about the necessity of preparing solid book proposals. A strong proposal is so important because it not only helps the editor and publisher to know what you are doing, it actually helps you, the author, to focus on your subject and the market you are trying to reach.

Many feel that doing this work is an “unnatural” act, and I admit that it can be very difficult. Once it is done right, however, it can be a very effective tool for everyone.

We work very hard with our clients to help them create their proposals. We send them basic instructions, sample proposals and then we review and comment on each draft until we feel the material is ready to be submitted.

Because we think this part of the publishing process is so very important, I thought I would share our basic formula for putting together a non-fiction proposal.


The proposal is broken down into several parts:

The first is the Overview. This begins with a brief dramatic anecdote which is meant to get the reader, in this case the editor at the publishing company, into the material. Immediately after this anecdote, you should describe in two or three sentences—no more—what the book will be about. This is followed by another brief paragraph on why it is being written and then another on why you are qualified to write it.

After this, you need to describe the different groups of readers who will buy your book—both demographically and statistically. The more numbers you have here the better.

The final element of the overview is a comparative section where you compare your book to others that would be found in the same place in the bookstore. In each case, book by book you must provide the author, the title, the publisher and the year of initial publication and, book by book, you need to tell us how your proposed book will be as successful or more so.

The next element of the proposal is the Annotated Table of Contents. This consists of chapter heads and no more than a couple of sentences on what each chapter will contain.

Then we need at least One Sample Chapter that matches a chapter described in your annotated table of contents. (I always suggest an early chapter, but the contents cannot repeat anything that has previously appeared in the overview of the proposal.) The sample chapter is meant to do two things: show off the writing and tell us things we don’t already know.

Finally, there should be a more formal narrative Bio of the author.

This is followed by links that serve as Support Material—reviews of previous books, recent articles by and about you from national publications, a schedule of speaking appearance, any national media appearances, etc.


So there you have it—my holiday present to you. I know this isn’t easy, but as I said, once this is done right, it is incredibly helpful in not only selling the proposed book but also in writing it.

Naturally, as always, I am open to answering your questions.

Elaine

by Jane

Elaine Kaufman, the owner of the famous literary salon, Elaine’s restaurant on New York’s Upper East Side, died on Friday after suffering from chronic heart disease for the last five years. She was not only an incredibly important person in New York’s publishing world, but she was also an important person in my life.

Elaine Kaufman was a huge supporter of writers of all kinds and of those of us who worked with them. I remember well being taken to Elaine’s by my father, Oscar Dystel, then head of Bantam Books, when I was a young girl and he was one of her regular patrons. And, I remember, when I finally followed him into the publishing biz, spending considerable time there.

We had our DGLM holiday dinners there; I took many authors there for dinner over the years, and I held my own family celebrations there—the last one being a high school graduation party for my son Zachary last June, which Elaine helped me to plan.

Elaine was larger than life in every way. She was generous (everyone knew that she would pay for the dinners of writers who were down on their luck); she brought people together (she introduced me to Jerry Brown, California’s new and former governor and to Scott Rudin, the award winning film and theatrical producer); and she was constantly opining on one thing or another. Yes, she was enormously generous in every way—several years ago she gave my husband and son tickets to opening day at Yankees Stadium—and, I believe, an important icon in our community.

Elaine Kaufman will be missed by all who knew her, me included. One obituary said on Sunday, “New York will never be the same.” So true.

What were they reading?

by Jane

 

Whenever I go away and am in a place where people are relaxing—on a beach, say, or sitting by a pool—I always look at what they are reading. Up until now, I have been curious as to the actual books, fiction or non-fiction and then what titles within those two categories. Is it science fiction, romance, mystery? Is it history, politics, biography or memoir? I can learn something from this kind of research in terms of what people are interested in and I can then use that information in searching out projects to represent.

This past week, my husband and I went to Florida to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family and I decided to do another kind of research, although I was virtually certain as to what the result was going to be. I decided that once I got through the body scanner or the pat down in security at the airport, that I was going to walk up and down the aisle of the plane I traveled on to see how people were reading, if they were reading. And I was absolutely sure of what I would find out.

First, much to my surprise the pass through security both going and coming was relatively painless; after all of the warnings over the last week and the threatened slow down at the check points, I was not looking forward to the experience; but as luck would have it, none of what was predicted came to pass, at least as far as we were concerned.

Now, on to the actual research. I went through each of the two planes I took and even perused the waiting areas before boarding and I found that almost everyone who was reading a book was reading an actual book and not using any kind of electronic reader. On the plane going down, I saw nobody with Kindles or Nooks or any other reader, but my husband, who helped me with my research, told me he saw two. There were at least 150 people on the flight down so, two readers certainly was surprisingly few. On the flight back which held as many people, I saw one Nook and one person reading on an iPad—everyone else who was reading a book was reading a hardcover or paperback.

I had truly expected the total opposite. With the enormous increase in the sales of e-readers, and e-books and knowing how easy it is to travel with an e-reader, it just seemed to me a no brainer that these would outnumber print editions. I couldn’t have been more mistaken and I am really surprised.

I wonder, would you have predicted as I did or not? And what, dear reader, do you think I was reading?

A time to be thankful

by Jane

I know it might sound trite, but each year at Thanksgiving I consider all that I am thankful for. This year is no exception.

Of course, first and foremost I am thankful for my wonderful, supportive husband Steve, my two beautiful children Jessica and Zachary, and my incredible three-year-old granddaughter Elena. Without each of them, I wouldn’t have the energy to enjoy my career as much as I do. They really do complete me.

I am thankful for my father Oscar Dystel, a publishing legend who has just celebrated his ninety-eighth birthday and whom I talk with every day.

I am thankful for my incredible colleagues at DGLM: Miriam Goderich, Michael Bourret, Jim McCarthy, Stacey Glick, Jessica Papin, Lauren Abramo, John Rudolph, Stephanie DeVita and Rachel Stout. They are incredible people, industrious, smart, thoughtful, and a fabulous team.

Without our talented and prolific clients, we wouldn’t be here and I am thankful for each and every one of them every single day.

And of course, I am so thankful and appreciative of all of you who follow our blog and give us such great feedback throughout the year. Your advice is invaluable and your supportive comments so very appreciated.

I wish each and every one of you a delicious holiday and, if you have time, I’d love to know what you are thankful for.

Time doesn't matter

by Jane

So, this week I talked with a number of editors in our business who are complaining about recent poor bookstore sales and it caused me to consider again how our industry is changing and how I wish publishers would begin to “rethink.”

Traditionally, books are launched and shipped in a certain season and then, in subsequent seasons, these books are considered “backlist” and hopefully continue to sell (with virtually no support from the publishers). So, if the book doesn’t “take off” in its first few weeks, the publisher literally abandons it and moves on to the next one.

The beauty of this new “electronic publishing age” is that books are always there and available. And they can easily continue to be publicized and promoted during the course of the year with very little additional cost and effort. Publishers, in the acquisitions process especially, are totally losing sight of this phenomenon and they certainly aren’t taking advantage of it.

If a novel, say, which contains a story line about breast cancer and also takes place in a highly trafficked summer vacation area is published in March, there is the initial publicity for the book. But then there can be a solid push in May or June because of the location of the story and then again in October for Breast Cancer Awareness month. And this can go on year after year. The novel doesn’t just have one season.

I am currently trying to sell a book with a graduation market; but it is also a great gift title. Publishers are passing because they say that there are too many books aimed at the high school or college graduate, but to my mind that is limited thinking. Why not take advantage of the enormous marketing ability of the internet and not only publish this for that graduation market but also for September when kids leave for school and for Christmas? And what about birthdays? Why just limit the publication to a single event?

Time simply doesn’t matter any more in our business. Backlist can become front list again at a moment’s notice. If only publishers would realize this. I think they simply don’t take the time to consider the inherent possibilities that electronic publishing affords and that, I’m afraid, does matter.

What do you think?

Go Blue!

by Jane

This weekend I went to my very first tailgate party and college football game. Both took place at the University of Michigan where my son is a freshman.

The party started at 9:30 on Saturday morning and continued until the game began at noon. There was absolutely no food served during the gaiety (much to my surprise) but we did have lots of fun and so I decided that I would share some pictures with our readers.

 

The game experience was truly amazing. The stadium holds about 120,000 people and it was almost filled on Saturday. Fortunately, after three overtimes, the Michigan Wolverines won 67 to 65, the highest score in Michigan’s history, I believe.





Still, being me I had to check out the bookstores. Since Ann Arbor is the home of Borders, I visited that and a couple more. (Can’t stay away from the biz!) Next time I go back, I will make sure to turn our clients’ books so that they face forward on the shelves.

For now, though, Go Blue!

The publishing lunch

by Jane

One of the “legends” of book publishing is the publishing lunch. In fact, this has traditionally been a time for publishers and agents, or editors and agents, or editors and editors, or agents and their clients (or potential clients) get together and talk about ideas and industry gossip. It can be very productive and it can be fun. It can also be educational.

This week, I decided to go down memory lane and describe some of my more interesting publishing lunches (unfortunately for my readers, those with whom I broke bread will not be identified by name, to protect the innocent—and me).

Years ago, there were those editors who as part of their employment contracts had “accounts” at The Four Seasons restaurant, one of the most exclusive in New York. I remember being invited there a number of times by various editors who had such arrangements. Unfortunately because the “Grill Room” where we sat was so filled with celebrities, I was so busy gaping that I could rarely concentrate on business talk.

Then there was the lunch I had with one of the icons of the publishing industry. This happened many years ago and I was delighted that he had invited me after I had sold a novel to one of his editors for quite a large advance. But, I was so tongue tied and he was so unforthcoming that I wound up spending most of the lunch telling him how I had stopped smoking. (It didn’t help—despite numerous health problems, he still smokes to this day.)

There was a lunch I had early in my publishing career with the head of an imprint at a large publishing house where my host proceeded to have seven drinks. I was astounded, especially when he easily managed to exit the restaurant without passing out.

There was the bestselling restaurateur and cookbook author who begged me over lunch to introduce her to one of our hugely successful celebrity clients so the cookbook author could learn the secrets of the celebrity’s success (they had actually met several years earlier before the celebrity client was a celebrity but the restaurateur had not thought to pay attention to her at the time).

A week after my lunch with one of the top editors at a major publishing house, she called me to make a lunch date having completely forgotten that we had just had one. Nice!

There was the lunch I had with a good friend and wonderful editor at a major publishing house who told me ruefully that he could no longer take me (or anyone) to lunch as his t&e budget had been all but eliminated. (How silly, I thought, the lunch expenses have to be the least of a publisher’s worries.)

And then this past week when I lunched with one of the top executives of a major publishing firm who predicted the end of bookstores and publishing as we know it by this time next year (nice and cheery).

But hey, there are also hundreds of wonderful lunches where solid ideas are cooked up and good business is done It all goes into the mix of making our business so much fun.

Who would you want to be?

by Jane

So October 31st is a date I can never forget because it is my father’s birthday. It’s also Halloween, though, and a time when we all, young and old, at least think about who or what we might want to dress up as. Last week I saw a list of the most sought after costumes for this coming Halloween and guess who was at the top? Lady Gaga, of course.

But that and these two blog entries that Lauren forwarded to me made me think about what literary character from a book—fiction or non-fiction—I would want to be if I were to don a costume this year.

It didn’t take long for me to choose Cleopatra. After all with Stacy Schiff’s upcoming book Cleopatra: A Life being touted everywhere and given the queen’s fabulous make-up and clothes, becoming her for a few hours would be great fun. The question would be whether my husband, Steve, would agree to be Mark Antony?

I wonder what literary characters our readers would like to be and why; so please join the Halloween fun and let me hear from you.

The two Ms. Rachels

by Jane

So there is good news and bad news at DGLM. The bad news first:

Our dear Rachel Oakley has had to depart. Originally from Australia, Rachel was well ensconced in our company and doing a superb job. She had even signed her first client. In short we all loved working with her.

Sadly, about four weeks ago, Rachel learned that her father, who lives in Australia, is critically ill and so she is leaving the States to be with him during this difficult time. Because she doesn’t know how long her stay will be, we were forced to accept her resignation.

And then came the new Rachel—our good news!

Rachel Stout is a graduate of Fordham University here in New York with a degree in English and has always wanted to be in book publishing. After a year working in the retail clothing business (the perfect background for our very fashionable office) and pursuing publishing internships, she has joined our team. We are absolutely delighted to have her, and I hope all of you will welcome her to our staff.

A welcome to the new kid on the block!

by Jane

Over the last couple of years, due to the deteriorating economy and a lack of advertising revenue, many of the nation’s major newspapers have dropped their book review sections. We have all watched this with great sadness (much as we watched the closing of so many independent bookstores over the past fifteen years) as the fewer book reviews consumers can read, the less they will be inclined to search out new and interesting authors and their work.

So, I was absolutely thrilled yesterday when I opened the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal to see their new Book Section. Not only are there lots of interesting and well written reviews, but there are also articles about bestselling authors (Jeff Trachtenberg, for example, writes about Philip Roth) and pieces about subjects like writers’ retreats and how blogging has influenced the economy. There is even an op-ed (sort of) on the Kindle and its effectiveness and another on writing.

All of this is very exciting and I can only hope that this new section will be hugely successful so as to encourage other major market newspapers to rethink their decisions to eliminate their book reviews.

What do you think?

The "curse" of the trade paperback

by Jane

Over the years, there has been a kind of stigma attached to a book if the publisher’s plan is to issue it originally as a trade paperback. In fact, this is something I have never understood.

Sure, the royalty rate to the author is lower if it is published as a trade paperback, but if the hardcover doesn’t sell—or sells a fraction of what the trade paperback will sell—the difference between the hardcover and the trade paperback royalty rate really doesn’t matter.

And then there is the thought that trade paperbacks aren’t reviewed to the same extent hardcovers are. While this was once true, I believe this is something that is beginning to change with the rise of book blogs and online publications. Last week there was a very interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal which addresses all of this.

Interestingly, I rarely think it important that we stipulate in a contract that a book be published initially in hardcover; and that is more true today than ever before. More and more, I am finding that when the hardcover doesn’t sell up to expectations, the publisher is choosing not to do a trade paperback at all—and that really limits the book’s sales and hurts the author’s reputation overall. So, I almost always let the publisher lead the way in terms of the format they will publish a book in and when I disagree with what they want to do, I present my arguments and hope they will be heard.

One example that we at Dystel & Goderich have seen of the success of the trade paperback format after good but not spectacular sales in hardcover is Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen, which is represented here by Michael Bourret. The trade paperback has been on the New York Times non-fiction trade paperback bestsellers list for 23 weeks and has sold over a quarter of a million copies. As a result of this, Rhoda’s next book will be far more successful in the hardcover format than this one was.

So, my advice to those authors who object to having their books initially published in trade paperback is to listen to their publisher’s reasons for doing this very carefully. Beginning in this format, which always means a lower cover price, will help increase sales and if the book is successful, the author’s name will be “out there” and a hardcover publication for subsequent books will become more likely.

Of course, I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

A new agent at DGLM: John Rudolph!

by Jane

Today I am delighted to welcome John Rudolph as the newest agent at Dystel and Goderich Literary Management. Previously, John was Executive Editor at G. P. Putnam’s Son’s in their children’s and young adult imprints. Before that he was Associate Editor for Young Readers at Simon & Schuster. He graduated from Amherst College.

John will begin agenting in the categories of children’s, middle grade and young adult—both fiction and non-fiction—since these are categories with which he is familiar. He is hoping, however, to branch out into men’s fiction, pop culture, music, sports and humor.

I am delighted to welcome John to our staff. His profile is up on our website along with his contact information. Feel free to start sending him queries.

Please join me in saying “hello” to John Rudolph.

Giving back

by Jane

Perhaps it’s because it is the Jewish New Year or maybe it’s due to a recent experience, but I have been thinking about “giving back” and mentoring.

Writing is such a solitary and difficult thing to do and when an opportunity to obtain support from an established writer presents itself, it is always very inspiring. Recently, however, I saw this work in reverse and it really made me sad and angry.

I have a client who received some good national publicity, which resulted in my signing him to do a book proposal. The publicity also attracted a well known TV personality and book author who would have been a wonderful support to my client and his project. I’ll call him Mr. P. Mr. P approached my client and offered his help, so the two had lunch. Mr. P promised that if the proposal were sold, he would provide an introduction and, based on that statement, my client added Mr. P’s promise to his proposal. It turned out this particular proposal wasn’t easy to sell, but finally we received a small offer partially based on the promise of a foreword from Mr. P. When my client went back to him just to make sure that, indeed, the promise would be fulfilled, Mr. P agreed but said he would charge a fee that was three times the advance—a totally outrageous amount! Needless to say, the client turned down the publisher’s offer and the project is now dead. What really makes me sad about this situation is that I know Mr. P well, and when he was just starting out, many, many people gave him their support—one of the main reasons he is so very successful today.

On another occasion, some years ago, I remember my client and good friend Gus Lee wanted to get an endorsement for his first novel from Amy Tan. His editor made an introduction between the two and Amy generously provided a quote for China Boy which helped the book to sell. Since then, the two have become very good pals.

I think it is so important to remember, once you are successful as a writer, that supporting others who are coming up only enhances what you are doing. It is incredibly mystifying to me when people who achieve fame and success forget where they came from.

I wonder if you have any thoughts on this subject. I would love to hear them.

From the Vault: What we do

Happy summer, everybody!  For the next while, there are going to be some absences from the blog as we take vacations, but we'd hate to leave you guys hanging.  It's no secret that we blog much more now than when we started this baby, and there are far more of you reading than there were way back when.  So we thought we'd bring back some blog entries of days gone by that you may have missed if you just joined us in the last year.  We've cued up enough, but if you have any favorites you think your fellow readers might enjoy, give us a shout below!

by Jane

A couple of weeks ago, a woman came to me for representation. She had been offered a publishing contract by a small academic publisher who had sent her their contract. When the woman saw the contract, she felt many of its terms were unfair and she went to a friend of hers to ask if she should get an agent. The friend advised that “the purpose of an agent is to bring buyers and sellers together. Once a seller has a buyer, then the agent’s job is basically done.”

Frankly I was stunned, to say nothing of very annoyed. We are not in the real estate business – which is what this person, who happened to be a published author – had made it sound like. In fact, we do a great deal for our clients in addition to selling their books, and, as the business has changed over the years, we seem to be taking on more and more of what the publisher used to do.

First, of course, we help authors develop their idea. In the case of nonfiction, we help them refine their thoughts and produce a book proposal, which we then edit very thoroughly. In the case of fiction, we work with the author to develop and outline and craft a well written, saleable manuscript.

When we have a product that is ready to show, we submit the material to a number of publishers simultaneously and often sell the project in an auction; we negotiate the deal with the publisher and explain everything clearly to the author, advising him or her on what we think s/he should agree to. We collect all monies for the author on signing, on manuscript acceptance and at any other time designated in the contract.

I contact each and every one of my clients currently writing a book at least once a month to make sure everything is going well with their project. Too often, I have found that writers are reluctant to come forward when they are in trouble in one way or another.-Several years ago, for example, I found out that one of our novelists’ mother was dying of ovarian cancer. This was slowing her down, understandably, and I had to inform the publisher. As it turns out, the book was over a year late, but I was able to work the new deadline out with the publisher and the result was a brilliant novel. On another, more recent occasion, my client found out she had breast cancer and was reluctant to tell anyone until I called. Again, the delivery of her manuscript was easily postponed.

Of course, when there is a problem of any kind with the publisher, I am there to intervene and be the buffer between the two so that their working relationship can remain a good one.

Once the manuscript is turned in, I make sure the editing and acceptance moves along. Sometimes, we even get involved in the editing process if we feel the publisher is not doing their job. I find out the publishing schedule for the writer and make sure, when there is a cover and page design, that the client has a “say” in how everything looks.

I get the promotion, publicity and advertising projections from the publisher and discuss them with the author if I don’t think enough is planned (and more often than not these days I find myself trying to help the author supplement inadequate publishing plans for the book). In addition, I sometimes work with the publisher on finding the appropriate month in which to publish, especially when my client and I feel the publisher hasn’t given that a great deal of thought.

I review all royalty statements and query the publisher when I see anything my client or I think is unclear or wrong. (Publishers keeping too much money in reserve for returns is a typical example of something we catch often.)

And there are other miscellaneous “above and beyond” situations that always arise: the time I had to have a member of our staff edit one of out novelists’ novels because the “editor” felt it was “finished” and we knew it wasn’t; the time one of our food clients was nominated for an important award and I had to fly across the country to be there with her to make sure she was okay no matter which way it went; the time another client really needed me at her publishing party in LA and I went and returned home in 24 hours. These were all important things to my clients; as a result, they became a priority of mine as well.

After that first book is successfully published, we go on to work with the author on what kind of strategy to use in submitting his or her next idea.

So, in our case at least, my new client’s friend was wrong. Or maybe she was talking about the real estate business...

Originally posted in November 2006.

Letting go

by Jane

One of the really nice customs in publishing is that when an agent is invited to lunch by an editor or a publisher, the editor or publisher usually brings along a book or two from their list for the agent. Sometimes the books are bestsellers, sometimes they represent new voices the publisher is proud of and wants to show off.

Recently, though, an old friend, an editor with a major publishing house, gave me a particularly thoughtful book at our lunch, The iConnected Parent: Staying Close to Your Kids in College(and Beyond)While Letting Them Grow Up.  The book was written with research done at Middlebury and The University of Michigan and discusses how much or little parents should stay connected to their children as they leave the nest. 

The book was a particularly lovely gift as my son is going off to the University of Michigan next week where he will begin his college career. It has been difficult contemplating this separation even though my husband and I of course knew it was coming. Having friends and colleagues who are as thoughtful as this editor was at this time is helping us all to get through this experience far more smoothly.

I have no doubt that reading The iConnected Parent will be instructional and comforting and I am looking forward to it. I wonder if you have any other suggestions for books to help us empty nesters move forward.

The return of the independents

by Jane

When Barnes & Noble announced a couple of weeks ago that they were for sale, the incredible irony of the potential results of such a move struck me. Almost immediately, I saw the very positive ramifications for our industry.

The incredible proliferation of the chain bookstores over the last twenty or so years has wreaked havoc on our business. The chains first and in a very dramatic way caused some of the greatest independent bookstores in our country to go out of business. It was in these individual stores that word of mouth about first time authors and their books would begin to build and spread outward. Many of these independent stores were responsible for creating bestsellers and successful writing careers.

But then the chains came in and knocked the independents out with their discounting and other mass merchandising methods. And these same chains because of their tremendous influence also dictated to publishers which books they should publish. When a chain “passed” on ordering a book, that title died—there was simply no place for it to go.

And then came Amazon, first slowly and then it exploded. Ordering electronically definitely put a crimp in the chains’ style and cost them dearly.

And this, of course, was followed by the development of e-readers and the new era of electronic publishing; the chains were becoming more and more irrelevant as places for books to be bought.

Now, Borders is barely surviving—they just laid off a bunch of staff at their headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And, Barnes & Noble might just be bought by its former owner Len Riggio who, undoubtedly, will take it back to being a much smaller, simpler operation—and continue to sell many items other than books simply because for a chain of any size, books are not as economically attractive to carry as they once were.

But the corner bookstore—and I actually have a wonderful one a block away from my home in New York City—is going to become more of a force. I don’t know yet whether the independents will multiply and grow as they once did—but I am counting on them wielding far more influence on what their customers read than they have in recent years. If this happens, then reading will benefit greatly whether books are sold in hard copy or electronically.

I am really rooting for the return of the independents and look forward to hearing what you think of all of this.

Memoirs don't sell?

by Jane

So I just saw this story about Justin Bieber’s memoir at age 16 (which really isn’t a memoir because that would be ridiculous, right?), and it made me think of a recent experience I had with a project in this category.

We had discovered an author who had previously published a couple of true crime books but who now sent us material for a possible memoir. Her voice was simply superb and I was thrilled as, after all, this is why we do what we do—to find those voices that stand out. The discovery of wonderful writing is what our business is all about.

We helped this writer develop her proposal and I thought we would put it into the newsletter we distributed last May and sell it shortly thereafter. First, though, I thought I would send it to three publishers just to test the waters. I picked three very good publishers and three very good editors. And despite the fact that the material was superb and the publishers and editors were very strong, they all turned down this excellent proposal. Why? Because their marketing and sales people said that “memoirs don’t sell.” At one of the houses I submitted to, the editor didn’t even take the time to read the material.

I found this absolutely shocking, but I wasn’t giving up. I couldn’t believe that in the business of reading people weren’t reading.

And so some weeks later, after the newsletter had gone out and a number of editors had expressed interest in my client and her work, I sent the proposal out to several other houses. We had seven bids at auction and in the end the material ultimately went to Knopf, a terrific publisher. We sold it well. Fortunately there are those in our business who still do read and who aren’t daunted by purely commercial considerations, and all I can think is thank goodness for that!

Do you all read a lot of memoirs?

Welcome to DGLM, Stephanie DeVita!

by Stephanie

Hi blog readers! Now that both Jane and Chasya have so kindly introduced me, it’s my turn to chime in. I guess the best way to begin is to give you a little information on my background here. I may be new to the website, but I’m not entirely new to the blog. In fact, I have actually been puttering around this office for longer than you think.

I began at Dystel & Goderich over a year ago as an intern. I was determined to find myself an internship in publishing, particularly during the latter half of my college career. I hadn’t had much luck early on, so by my third year at NYU, nothing was going to stop me. I applied and interviewed for the internship with DGLM all while living in London, where I was spending the spring semester of my junior year. Fully aware that my geographical gap could create a handicap, I knew I had to be persistent. And luckily for me, according to Lauren, I was persistent enough that it exhibited my determination, but not too persistent that it made her want to burn my application and any remaining evidence of my existence. So with that, I was offered the chance to join DGLM that summer as an intern. The semesters passed, I continued to stay with the agency, and before I knew it about a year and a half had gone by and I had graduated from NYU. Then I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity by Jane and Miriam to take over for Chasya as she looks to begin a new chapter in her life. I knew that the timing was right; I felt comfortable here, and I had spent enough time working on the less essential tasks that I had developed the desire to explore the business further and carve out my own place in it. And as clichés go, the rest is history.

In giving this blog post some thought, I remembered something Rachel had said in her welcome post: “I think the one thing I truly love about working in a literary agency is that I get to see the entire process of publishing, from a rough manuscript to a finished book on the shelves.” I might make fun of Rachel for her love of Vegemite, but her words are very true. I’m very excited to finally get the chance to dive in and take on my own work. My time at DGLM has allowed me to expose myself to an industry I have always wanted to be a part of, and now it’s allowing me to embark on a new journey in my life—one that will allow me to build the career I’ve always wanted.

The bottom line is, I’m excited to take on this new responsibility within Dystel & Goderich, because now I get to hear from you. Yes, you. I look forward to hearing your ideas, your thoughts, your opinions. You all have stories to tell. Trust me, I’ve read a lot of them. But now I’m ready to do something with them. Turn them into the books they deserve to be. There are certain subjects I’m particularly interested in reading, which you can find in my bio on our website. So let me hear from you. I can only rearrange the pens on my desk for so long….

We're moving right along!

by Jane

Over the years, Dystel & Goderich has grown from literally just two of us—well, actually, we did have a part-time person when we began so it was two and a half—to nine. We have also had interns working with us for a number of years and, over time, many have been promoted to full-fledged staff members.

Working at any organization initially as an intern is good for the intern and for the company, in my opinion. It enables the intern to learn whether he or she wants to continue on this career path and at this company and it enables the company to evaluate the intern’s ability and enthusiasm. In the end, the intern system is good for everyone.

Four years ago, I hired one of our interns to be my assistant; Chasya Milgrom had recently graduated from college, didn’t really know what she wanted to do, but thought giving our company and the business of literary agenting a try might be interesting. In fact, over the years, she has done very well—developing new systems for us and growing enormously herself. Last year she began building a client list and also began overseeing royalties (a big job) when Jim McCarthy was promoted to Senior Agent.

Now, sadly for us, Chasya has decided to move on. She will be attending graduate school in an area that she is passionate about. We know she will be terrific at whatever she does and we are excited to watch her succeed.

I am delighted to say that our very bright and energetic intern of the last year and a half, Stephanie DeVita, has just joined us as a junior agent; Stephanie has learned so much about our agency and the business of being a book agent in the time she has been with us that I have no doubt she is going to make a very successful career out of this. She will be taking over the royalties position as well as Chasya’s client roster and has already begun to talk about building a list of her own.

I am always excited when new people come on board and I am especially excited when they are as determined as this young woman is. I know you will hear from her soon and I know you will enjoy it.