Today the Insecure Writer's Support Group is glad to welcome Mark Gottlieb, a literary agent for Trident Media Group. Trident Media Group is the #1 ranked literary agency on Publishers Marketplace. We're discussing query letter deal breakers, audio rights, and author promotion. Welcome, Mark!
1. What mistake in query letters are deal breakers for
you?
There are many mistakes that I’ve seen in query letters,
but I will name just a few that would absolutely deter me from requesting the
manuscript from an author.
- Submitting queries for novellas, short story collections,
poetry or textbooks will usually turn a literary agent off, as most literary
agents do not represent such things. Publishers tend not to buy from literary
agents in those areas in the first place.
- Word count is also very important. Traditional book
length is 80-120K, and commercial fiction tends to be in the 80-90K-word range.
Going outside of normal book-length will not produce good results for an author
querying a literary agent for a shot at going into major trade publishing.
- Writing within struggling genres such as cozy mysteries,
erotica, or urban fantasy is also another way to turn a literary agent off in
the querying process. We tend to be weary of that at Trident Media Group.
2. You used to hold the position of audio rights,
which doubled the annual sales volume for Trident Media Group. Why should
writers pursue audio rights for their books?
Once an author has a portfolio of books with publishers,
audio can end up comprising around 10% of an author’s overall income, and that
is nothing to scoff at. Audio books are also another entry point for readers to
discover an author. Most audio book listeners are loyal to audio books but
sometimes overlap with a general reading audience preferring to read from text.
Certain readers that may be elderly or disabled, or just plain too busy to sit
down with a book might also prefer to listen via audio recording.
3. Trident Media Group excels in supporting its
authors and marketing its titles. What can authors do to further promote their
books?
Beyond what a publisher or a literary agent can do in
marketing/promoting and author, it is important for an author to understand
that they are very central to this process, since ultimately readers will want
to hear directly from the author when possible. I encourage clients to build
author websites, blogs and to beef up their social media presence, via sites
such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, Reddit Author AMAs, etc.
Performing readings/signing, speaking at conferences/workshops and reaching out
to local publications and libraries is key, as is appealing to highly
established authors for advance praise. Writing to online
blogs/podcasts/YouTube channels, etc. for review/interview attention is also
very good. Sometimes I might even recommend a book publicity firm to a client,
but that can cost a couple thousand dollars/month in the few months leading up
to publication. Ultimately, there’s no small drop in the bucket, since
everything an author puts into marketing/promo, they will get back in sales of
their book, especially if the book falls into the right hands of a major
publication, celebrity or film/TV company, which can be marketing gold.
4. What is your average day like as a literary agent?
The interesting thing is that there really is no average
day in the life of a literary agent, or at least there shouldn’t be, for when a
literary agent’s days begin to stagnate and look the same, then that person’s
career is in trouble. Every day that I walk into the office, I think of ways to
try to reinvent myself in a way to make myself competitive, while improving the
careers of the authors I work with in creative and innovative ways. Every day
should not be about drudgery—life is an adventure. Of course there are a few
things typical to most every day in the life of a literary agent, such as
reading query letters, meeting/calls/lunches/drinks with editors and publishers
as well as clients, pitching manuscripts to publishers, meeting with film/TV
companies to adapt books for the screen, attending conferences/workshops,
looking for new talent, etc.
5. Describe your ideal project and/or author you’d
like to work with.
An ideal project would carry an important social message or
moral to the story, and while not only being beautifully written, it should be
accessible or have some aspects of commercialism to the writing, even if it is
literary fiction. I also look for authors that have good writing credentials
such as experience with writing workshops, conferences, or smaller publications
in respected literary magazines. Having awards, bestseller status, a strong
online presence/platform, or pre-publication blurbs in-hand for one’s
manuscript is also very promising in the eyes of a literary agent.
Bio:
Mark Gottlieb attended Emerson College and was President of
its Publishing Club, establishing the Wilde Press. After graduating with a
degree in writing, literature & publishing, he began his career with
Penguin’s VP. Mark’s first position at Publishers Marketplace’s #1-ranked
literary agency, Trident Media Group, was in foreign rights. Mark was EA to
Trident’s Chairman and ran the Audio Department. Mark is currently working with
his own client list, helping to manage and grow author careers with the unique
resources available to Trident. He has ranked #1 among Literary Agents on
publishersmarketplace.com in Overall Deals and other categories. Trident Media Group
Question to Readers: What is your favorite way to promote your books?
Question to Readers: What is your favorite way to promote your books?
IWSG ANTHOLOGY UPDATE:
Hero Lost
Mysteries of Death and Life
An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology
Can a lost hero find redemption?
What if Death himself wanted to die? Can deliverance be found on a bloody battlefield? Could the gift of silvering become a prison for those who possessed it? Will an ancient warrior be forever the caretaker of a house of mystery?
Delving into the depths of the tortured hero, twelve authors explore the realms of fantasy in this enthralling and thought-provoking collection. Featuring the talents of Jen Chandler, L. Nahay, Renee Cheung, Roland Yeomans, Elizabeth Seckman, Olga Godim, Yvonne Ventresca, Ellen Jacobson, Sean McLachlan, Erika Beebe, Tyrean Martinson, and Sarah Foster.
Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these twelve tales will take you into the heart of heroes who have fallen from grace. Join the journey and discover a hero’s redemption!
Release Date: May 2, 2017
