On Agenting--Professional Spotlight

EG is very pleased to have with us today Agent Extraordinaire, Regina Brooks, principal agent at Serendipity Literary Agency. Regina is truly a renaissance woman and very much a publishing professionals who adapts to the changing times only to find herself and her roster of clients at the head of the curve. So without further ado...Regina Brooks.


What is the most important part of being an agent?

Being an agent requires a great deal of patience, tenacity, and vision. When all these three align, then it requires the ability to communicate with a myriad of creative types. The most important part I would say is RELATIONSHIPS. I enjoy agenting because I take pleasure getting to know the diverse people I meet along the way: whether it’s an illustrator, a financial professional, an activist, or a Madame.

How have agents had to adapt to the changes in the market in recent years, including the changes in technology?

Well agents have now started to become mini-publishers. For agents who come to agenting from an editorial background this transition is not as daunting as it is for those who come from other parts of the business. As a mini-publisher you are required to put on your editorial hat.

In the past agents were rather unknown. They were difficult to find and if you didn’t have a friend with an agent, it was difficult to break through. Today agents blog, tweet, instagram etc. Social media has become significant part of the business. In addition, many agencies including my own don’t accept snail mail. We find authors on twitter, we communicate with our authors on social media. I’ve even explored the idea of having virtual online retreats with my authors since they are located all over the world.

Many agencies are now self-publishing clients' work. What do you think of this practice? Would your agency ever consider publishing client work if it can't be placed with a traditional house? What are the advantages and disadvantages to this?

Here's the thing, if you’ve worked with an author for months to develop their work, you don’t want all that work to go unrewarded. If the author self-publishes independently, depending on what's in the agency agreement, the agency receives no compensation for the blood sweat and tears. So I believe it makes sense to stay coupled with the project besides self-publishing can be very daunting, especially in regards to getting distribution and find an audience. A savvy agent can help with those components of the business as well.

99% of my business maintains the traditional model of the agent shopping the book to a mainstream publisher. There have been a few instances where I have placed the author with small independent publishers who take the hybrid model, where the author is intimately involved in the development and promotion of their book. The ebook or digital model is definitely something we are developing at my agency.

Many agents are also selling digital rights to the digital publishers that are now on the rise. Is this something that's good for the business and authors? Do you sell these rights? When do agents make the decision to sell these rights to digital publishers?

There are a number of models I’ve explored in the digital space:

1. retaining ebook rights and going directly with the ebook distributors, amazon, kobo, apple, etc

2. working directly with publishers who begin with a digital book and then if sales are warranted or the audience requests, we go to print

3. I'm currently exploring genre fiction for the digital market. Mainstream publishers have approached me about some of my authors' works and asked that they develop books for digital first publishing.

4. I've also been approached about short fiction and essay style projects, similar to the kindle singles approach by mainstream publishers. Publishers want to have the right to publish the entire body of work from an author, so they are willing to publish short works as well.

Overall, I think the digital space is definitely good for business. It gives debut writers a chance to publish and to garner an audience. It gives agents and editors greater access to a marketplace of writers they may not have natural entrée to. It also allows readers to have a bigger say in what gets published.

I’ll admit though that it makes the financial business model a bit more difficult for agents. You end up having to do more volume and as you know with more volume the quality of the work may suffer.

You are an author in your own right. How has being an author informed your work as an agent?

To date I’ve mostly written books on how to write and how to get published.

I wrote the book WRITING GREAT BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS because there was no other book on the market at that time that separated children’s from young adult. When I first envisioned the project, “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” didn’t exist. Now there are hundreds of thousands of young adult books and thousands of new authors writing for the genre. It’s very exciting.

I wrote YOU SHOULD REALLY WRITE A BOOK: How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir because I wanted to help people understand how to really sell their stories. Writing and publishing a commercially viable memoir is more than just having an interesting story to tell. The book helps people understand how to get agents and editors excited about your work even if you are a “relatively unknown” author.

I recognize the challenges to getting published, the importance of having representation. I agented my first three books myself. They say a lawyer who represents themselves has a fool for a client. I’ve now come to see that statement holds true for agents who represent their own literary works as well. I understand better the challenges of being creative on call, how research can take three times the amount of time you thought it would, how paramount literary relationships and community are, and most of all how important is it to get out and promote your book and yourself as a writer.

What's the best advice you offer writers?

1. Please be patient. There’s a lot of stop and start during the life cycle of getting a book published. Honor the process and allow each phase of the process its natural rhythm.

2. Don’t take critique as criticism. Revision is key part of the writing process. Don’t let an editor or agents feedback disparage you from realizing your dream of becoming a published author

3. Develop a team. It takes a village to make a book work. (graphic designers, publicists, editors, web developer, photographer, copywriter, etc) Start putting together your team as soon as possible.

Regina Brooks is the founder and president of Serendipity Literary Agency LLC, based in Brooklyn, New York. Her agency has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children's literature. Her authors have appeared in USA TODAY, NY TIMES and the Washington Post as well as on Oprah, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSBNC, TV ONE, BET and a host of others. Writer's Digest magazine named Serendipity Literary Agency as one of the top 25 literary agencies in 2004. Formerly, she held senior editorial positions at John Wiley and Sons (where she was not only the youngest but also the first African-American editor in their college division) and McGraw-Hill.

Prior to her publishing career she worked as an aerospace engineer and made history as the first African American woman to receive a bachelors of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from The Ohio State University.  She is a graduate of The School of the Arts High School in Rochester, NY.

She is the author of Essences Magazine’s quick pick children's book, NEVER FINISHED NEVER DONE  (Scholastic) , WRITING GREAT BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS (Source Books)  the forthcoming title YOU SHOULD (REALLY) WRITE A BOOK: WRITING, SELLING AND MARKETING YOUR MEMOIR ( St. Martin’s Press) and a well received blogger for the Huffington Post. Brooks is also on the faculty of the Harvard University publishing program and has served as faculty on the Whidbey Island Writers MFA and Western Connecticut MFA  Low residency programs. Brooks is also on the faculty of the Writer’s Digest University, Harvard University publishing course, The Discovery Channel’s Media Boot Camp for Doctors, the Whidbey Island Writers MFA program and teaches annually at more than twenty worldwide conferences.   She has been highlighted in several national and international magazines and periodicals, including Forbes, Media Bistro, Writers and Poets, Essence Magazine, Ebony, Jet, Women on Writing, Writers Digest Magazine, The Writer, and Sister2Sister magazine, Publishers Weekly, The Network Journal,  Rolling Out, and  Ebony Magazine. 

She was named 2010 Woman of the Year by The National Association of Professional Women. A New York Urban League Rising Star Award winner and a 2004 finalist for the Stevie^TM Award for Women Entrepreneurs, Regina Brooks is featured in books such as The Guide to Literary Agents and the NAACP nominated Down to Business 10 steps for Women Entrepreneurs, and How to Build a Platform.  She is also listed in International Who's Who under the categories of Professional Management, Technology, Entrepreneurs, and Engineering.

In November 2010, Brooks partnered with Marie Brown, of Marie Brown and Associates, and Marva Allen of Hue Man Bookstore to launch a new publishing imprint called Open Lens.

Further, Possibiliteas is the brainchild of literary agent and tea enthusiast, REGINA BROOKS  who believed that tea—the world’s oldest performance-enhancing beverage—could have a beneficial effect on her clients—writers, artists and other creative professionals who were looking for fuel for their creative fire.

She is a pilot and cofounder of Brooklyn Aviation  as well as a member of the Association of Author Representatives and New York Women in Film and Television. 

Ms. Brooks is the founder and co-Executive Director of Y.B. Literary Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization designed kindle a passion for literature within high school students and an appreciation for the possibilities and opportunities that reading can provide.     www.ybliterary.org

LINKS OF INTEREST

http://madamenoire.com/119242/episode-13-regina-brooks/

http://wow-womenonwriting.com/49-FE1-ReginaBrooks.htm

  

www.serendipitylit.com                                                                       www.possibiliteas.co
 @serendipitylit                                                                                    @teaforcreatives

 

 

Sample of Workshops and Talks

Workshops

How to Productize Your Intellectual Property

A book is a product, but so are other types of intellectual property. Do you have a lot of creative ideas? This workshop will help you to figure out how you might be able to turn your creative ideas into products that help to inform, educate and entertain people. When you are finished with this workshop, you'll have even more creative ideas than you had when you entered, and you'll have new ways to turn them into intellectual property products!

You should really write a book

Are you planning to write a book? (Or, you've published one already.) This workshop is designed to help you become a bestselling author by implementing specific strategies to help you build your publishing, media and speaking platform. Whether you are already an author or not, if you have plans to write a book, this workshop will help you to become a successful author. Today writers need to know how to succeed in the new media and literary marketplace. This comprehensive workshop is all about maximizing your work and creating a writing career. Regina Brooks take participants step-by-step through the success checklist for the getting-published process. From content-creation to contract; focusing on both craft and career, you will learn essential secrets to getting published.

Brand Building and extending your reach.

Are you an expert? Should you be? Are you ready to move on to bigger venues with larger audiences? Do you have an important message to share with others? If so, this workshop is for you.  Regina Brooks will focus on strategies for getting your ideas into the New York Times, Huffington Post and other prestigious newspapers, how to write for blogs, and strategically develop your content and contacts. Will include strategies for extending your brand through social media, and tips on attracting a literary or speaking agent!

Talks

Writing Your Way into Relevancy

Listening to your Muse One whisper at a Time

Writing an Undeniable Book Proposal 

Writing Great Books for Children and Young adults

 

Don't Pronounce The G by James D. King

EG is very pleased to have here today James D. King, author of Ghost Burglar: The True Story of Bernard Welch, Master Thief, Ruthless Con Man, and Cold-Blooded Killer and his very funny rumination on the literary agent. Prepare to chuckle...

As an author I have asked myself what in the hell does an agent do? I answer myself because I live alone: the agent’s job is to find a company that will publish my product and pay me for it. I use the term, “product” advisedly. A book is a product and has to be marketable. It can be argued that a novel is a non-essential entertainment product like professional football or daytime television. It has to be good and entertaining. Note that I am excluding reality shows which are neither good, nor entertaining.

The book industry is a business and businesses are supposed to make money. In essence the literary agency-publishing business is like a cow. It grazes, eating manuscripts and authors. From that it produces the milk of profit and out the back end comes books. Think of your book as fertilizing the grass to make it grow so the cow can eat more and make more milk. (Yes, I agree, as analogies go that wasn’t a great one.) 

The book industry money trail starts with the 

literary agent. To keep things simple I'm excluding anything an author may do pre-agent such as buying stamps or number 2 pencils. Literary agents usually specialize in a few related genres such as cooking and paranormal romance. They are, in effect, specialist in certain products. They know what is currently selling and who is currently buying. Knowing what’s hot and what’s not is important to agents as their salaries depend upon it. He, she, or it gets 15% of what the author earns. The math is simple; MB=MM; more books equal more money. Yes, I know Albert Einstein would be envious of that equation.

Therefore the product has to be good enough to compete in a very crowded marketplace. The agent has to believe that your book is so good that Aunt Ethel will forgo buying old Fido a twenty pound bag of puppy chow and buy your book instead. 

The agent has one other consideration, who is the author? The agent knows that after the book is published the author will be called upon to extensively promote the product. The author’s ability to talk about the book, enthuse the audience, generate interest and sell more books is often a prime concern of the publisher and therefore the agent. Of course it is, their jobs depend on it. 

As an example the Romance genre is primarily written by women for women. If a romance author walks into an agent’s office and is a 55 year old, bearded man with a shaved head, tattoos on both arms, wearing torn jeans, a t-shirt with no sleeves and muddy boots (okay, I threw in the muddy boots to be silly) the agent will certainly have second thoughts about taking on this author as a client. No matter how much the agent likes the manuscript she/he has to consider this author's ability to aid in the marketing of the finished product. 

Imagine this guy at a Romance authors awards dinner sitting at a table with a bottle of Bud in his hand, a corsage pinned to his Levi motorcycle club jacket and under it a stick on tag that says, “Hello, my name is Dirty Dutch” How many romance books is this dude going to sell?

In the real, practical world we authors have to deliver a sellable product. We are responsible for the quality of that product and have to represent it in the marketplace. A literary agent is one of the gate keepers to the market. Sorry, but this reminds me of a thing I saw on National Geo channel. It was a nature show about a giant herd of African gnu’s, (don’t pronounce the g), migrating. They had to cross a river that had gate keepers. These gate keepers were crocodiles. Only the strong made it across. The weak, the un-Spell Checked and the unedited did not, especially those that pronounced the g. No comparison of literary agents to crocs is intended. Agents usually have nicer skin.

But times they are a changing.  

Just as the automobile electric starter killed engine hand crank makers, so might the electronic publishing paradigm kill literary agency. Okay, I have to admit that for 30 years or more after the introduction of the electric starter, cars still had a hole in the front grill for an engine hand crank, so maybe it was not a great analogy. Wait, maybe it was. It seems that traditional publishing and e-publishing are running along neck and neck right now and may continue so for another 30 years. Gee, sometimes I amaze myself when I nail one like that.

So in conclusion, (I know you’ve been waiting for this) literary agents are still a necessary evil. Not that agents are evil, well some may be, but they are the rich ones with big clients and you’ll never meet them. Most of the agents I have met are hard-working people trying to do a good job.

Okay, you guessed it. I wrote that last sentence because I’m looking for an agent. Anybody out there know one?

Jim is a native of Washington, DC and still lives close by in the Maryland suburbs. He has held a number of occupations some of which are, taxi cab driver, electronics technician, police detective, antique dealer, school security guard, real estate agent and author.

Jim has penned many articles for periodicals, such as “The Art Theft Archive”, “American School and University”, and the “Maryland Writer’s Association Newsletter.” His first traditionally published book, with co-author, Jack Burch, is “Ghost Burglar”. It is about a case that as a detective Jim investigated. “Ghost Burglar” won the Independent Publisher’s Associations 2013 “IPPY” National Bronze Medal in the True Crime genre.  Jim belongs to two author critique groups, is a board member of the Maryland Writer’s Association/ Montgomery County Chapter and also blogs about his book at www.ghostburglar.com. He also works occasionally at an independent book store.  

Ghost Burglar details the criminal life of Bernard Welch who ravaged the Washington metropolitan area and became America’s most “successful” burglar. It is estimated that in a few years this man stole over fifty million dollars in property. In the process he became a serial rapist and murderer. Welch lived openly in a Virginia mansion and had a summer home in Duluth, Minnesota, both with indoor pools. During his life Welch escaped from two escape proof prisons. Jim was a lead investigator in these cases and over a five year period met many obstacles, both personal and professional until Welch was arrested. One of the twists to this case is that it was responsible for stopping the funding in America of international terrorist groups.

Jim grew up reading science fiction and as a writer it has become his true passion. Since working security at middle and high schools his focus has been on the young and early adult markets. His stories do not contain the high tech aspects that are currently popular in sci-fi movies. Rather, he imagines the future to be a background to display the human ability to overcome problems and change.