Guest Blogger: Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency
February 23rd, 2008 by Edie Ramer
Expectations: What’s reality got to do with it?
Or Boy are YOU a killjoy!
I am an optimist. Ask anybody who knows me. I expect that good things are going to happen…that hard work will eventually get rewarded. Now sometimes this expectation flies in serious conflict with one of my most important tools as an agent: The reality check. As much as I’d love to make everyone around me feel good, my job isn’t to, uh, blow sunshine up my authors’ respective skirts, so to speak. I think that doing so does an author a great disservice. It isn’t a sexy part of my job and it isn’t really as much fun as fielding an offer or finding out that one of my author’s books has been kissed by the cover art fairy (go figure!) but it is really important. If you can’t count on your agent to tell you what’s what, who else is going to do it?
When the book of your heart is a hard sell, I have to tell you realistically what kind of reaction I expect. Maybe it IS a long shot and that is ok. Personally, I love to take risks. I love to pitch material that is daring and envelope-pushing but let’s be honest, that kind of thing can often be polarizing. If you have one of those love-it-or-hate-it kinds of manuscripts, I think you have to tread carefully and with your eyes WIDE open. Maybe this isn’t something that will likely land at the dream house with the dream editor with the six figure deal. Sometimes that is just the way the ball bounces (shocking, I know!) Sometimes you don’t get exactly what you want. Sometimes you bend and compromise. Sometimes you don’t. How can you make the right decision for you if you don’t have it straight? Quite simply, there is a time to be a cheerleader and a time to be plainspoken. I can’t promise the moon–it isn’t mine to give.
There is so much to making a sale that doesn’t have to do with the MS itself and there is no use pretending that isn’t so. Luck, timing, circumstances are all contributing factors. Then, there is marketability and actual talent. Making a sale is this amazing confluence of factors… a constellation where every star is in the right alignment.
Hope is great. I have LOTS of hope, but we all have to base our decisions on what is real and it is my job to show that reality to my authors. Sometimes reality is harsh and sometimes it’s cold, but if I do my job, you can put on a jacket (maybe one of those hats with the ear flaps and a fuzzy muffler) and whatever comes your way won’t be such a big deal. You will be prepared to handle the good, the bad and the ugly and THAT I can feel good about.
Laura Bradford
Bradford Literary Agency
14 Responses to “Guest Blogger: Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency”
Laura, I love it that you don’t say not to write that book that’s different, you just warn that it might be a harder sell. That it’s not what the market is eager to see right now. I know a lot of writers who have written that heart book, and it’s sitting under their bed. But there are also writers who are getting the six-figure contracts they probably wouldn’t have gotten for the safe books.
It’s a gamble, with months of the writer’s time — and your agent’s time trying to sell it — at stake. Knowing this, different writers will react different ways. So it’s important that their agent tell them up front.
I dunno, Laura. You did a pretty decent job of roping the moon for an author I know and love.
But I appreciate your stars in alignment analogy. There are so many factors, which is why having an honest relationship with an agent informed enough to give you the good bad and ugly of the current market and where your book stands is vital.
Thanks for the reality check.
Laura,
Great post for “out of the lines” writers. Plainspoken is a good thing. You’ve “told it like it is” without crushing the spirit.
Are you accepting submissions for “out of the lines” manuscripts? : mrgreen :
Judythe
Well obviously I didn’t delete the spaces like the directions said. Not enough tea this morning.
Laura, informative blog! I’m sure your clients respect your honesty. At least they know you wouldn’t have taken them on in the first place, if you hadn’t believed in their talent.
Laura, thanks for being our guest at MM. I personally value honestly and as much information as possible so it sounds as if you are doing an amazing job.
Laura, hi!
I think we all know when we’ve written a book that doesn’t fit the norm, and an agent told me such a book was a slam dunk would not have my respect. So, tho it may not be the fun part of your job, I know your authors must appreciate your honesty as well as your optimism. There’s always the hope those stars will allign – for the author and for you!
Thanks for a marvelous blog!
Light,
Nancy
La Vida Vampire
April 1, 2008
http://www.nancyhaddock.com
Laura, your candid approach is so darn refreshing. Reality does bite, and telling it straight sounds cold to many, but it’s better than sitting in the dark wearing rose colored glasses.
Great blog! Anyone with you as an agent has a real keeper. And thanks for describing what I wear five months out of the year.
Laura, your honesty is one of the many things I love about you! I like dealing with reality–good and bad–and I think most authors would really like to know exactly what they can expect from a manuscript.
Hi Laura
Thanks for spending this glorious San Diego morning answering our questions. I’m a realistic optimist, so your philosophy is music to my ears.
Your website and Publishers Marketplace seem to indicate that you represent a lot of erotic and paranormal romance. I write single title romantic suspense. Are any of your clients RS authors? Are you interested in representing ST RS?
Thanks again for being with us.
Diane
Thank you for joining us at MM and for sharing some very interesting insights.
I agree, Laura. It would be a great disservice to an author to give him/her false expectations. You have a very realistic view of this business and I’m sure your clients appreciate that.
I’m also interested in knowing whether you’re in the market for paranormals … a genre that near and dear to my heart.
Welcome back to MM, Laura.
You know, I think most authors would appreciate an honest appraisal of their work. At least that way they won’t be expecting the stars, when its more likely they’ll be getting a small, dark moon. . . or in some cases a black hole.
Even discouraging news is helpful. It grounds us and prepares us for what’s ahead.
Thanks, Laura. I enjoyed this…just I believed I would when Edie mentioned you’d be addressing the readers here.
I’ve been remiss in my quest for an agent, and now with three requests from the same house (three different editiors) I find myself in a pickle. While I’m not interested in the moon, I’d sure like to know if I’m headed in the right direction.
Brit
Hi Laura,
I agree, it’s important to have an agent who will tell you what’s what. People can tell me how great it is after the ink is dry on the contract and all edits have been made and there’s nothing else I can do to fix it. That’s the time someone can tell me I rock, until then I just want to know what to do to make it better.