Agent Interview: Doug Grad

Books that transport me!

John Talbot, Jeff Kleinman, Dan Conaway, Robin Rue, Amy Moore-Benson, Paula Munier, David Black

My favorite fiction authors include my clients Jeff Shaara, Ellen Byron and Debbie Babbit. Non-clients include Mick Herron, John Sandford, Dennis Lehane, Frederick Forsythe, Hakkan Nesser and the classic mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers and humorist P.G. Wodehouse. Favorite nonfiction authors are all over the place and too numerous to mention!

I've been there and done that. With over two decades as an editor at four of the big New York publishing houses, I've seen it all. And with another 16 years as an agent, I've seen it all from the other side of the desk. I know what makes deals work, relationships click, and books succeed. Yes, so do other agents, but I'm way more fun to work with! If you can't have fun in this business, then what's the point?

Come to a writers conference and pitch me in person. I'm slammed with blind queries/over-the-transom submissions. I'm getting around 7,000 a year. No human can possibly read them all and still concentrate on their clients. Unfortunately, that means many will go into the unread "slush pile." In a year when I have a summer intern, my intern will make a dent in that pile. Without any help, as we said in Brooklyn, "Fuggedaboutit."

Short and sweet. You need to follow the 3 "itys" when writing a query letter. Brevity. Simplicity. Clarity. Don't overload me with plot or character details. Sell the sizzle, not the steak, as they said on Madison Avenue. Make me excited to want to read your manuscript. Also, do your research. Don't send me stuff I'm not interested in and don't represent. Realize that your "unique" idea may be the exact same one as half a dozen other authors. It's very difficult to come up with something original, that's never been done before. So what is an author to do when it comes to plot and character? Do it better! And then sell me on it...

Engrossing. Page-turning. Unputdownable. If I curse you out at 2 in the morning because I can't get to sleep because I'm still reading your book and I can't stop, you've got a winner on your hands. Make me laugh. Make me cry. Make me recoil in horror, or squint at the page because I don't want to see what's going to happen next to my favorite character who is in a tough spot. Transport me to another place, or another time. Put me someplace uncomfortable where I've never been, or make it so welcoming that I want to go there. Write a character so compelling that I will follow him or her wherever they go. Most of all--stay true to the character, respect the genre, don't try to rewrite the rules. Make me a fan--that's why we all love to read!

Huge information dumps--unbelievably long explanatory emails. Terrible writing. Poor spelling. Addressing a query to another agent and sending it to me. Multiple submitting with cc's to everyone else so we can all see who received the submission. General stupidity. People don't do their homework--you have to spend some time researching who you submit to. There is tons of information available, so there is no excuse for being a lazy bum! Again, Brevity. Simplicity. Clarity.

Not much unless it's relevant. It's fine to be a world renowned open-heart surgeon if you're writing about open-heart surgery. It's not really of interest if you're writing a YA fantasy space opera. Common sense dictates what to reveal. Writing a Southern Gothic novel and you live in South Carolina--great! Put that in your bio. Writing a novel about Mohawk ironworkers 80 stories up while building a Manhattan skyscraper and you're a Mohawk ironworker--perfect! Pretty simple, really.

Sometimes you can tell by the query letter/pitch. Sometimes by the first page. Sometimes it takes a little longer. Obviously, with the number of submissions received and the limited time to read, the faster agents can reject something, the better. For us, that is. Don't make the mistake of saving the "good part" for later in the book. The good part (or, one of the good parts) needs to be right up front. Again, do not give us an opportunity to put it down and stop reading. There's nothing worse than reading 100 pages, or 250 pages, or even a whole manuscript only to decide it's a pass. The rule of thumb...if you have any question about its ability to sell, it's a pass. Seriously.

I make them an offer of representation. If I'm lucky, I sign up a new client. Sometimes a good author will get multiple offers of representation. You win some, you lose some. It's a bit difficult to compete in a "beauty contest" with a bunch of other agents. We are all similar, yet so different. Sometimes it comes down to whether your personalities mesh or not. I have an author-agency agreement for authors to look over but I don't force anyone to sign it. I have a handshake agreement with 99% of my clients and it works just fine. But the agreement spells out how we'll work together. Next step--prepare the work for submissions. It might need a round (or multiple rounds) of editing. Sometimes I'll do it, sometimes I'll recommend a freelance editor be hired. Once we have the final manuscript (or book proposal for Nonfiction), then I draft a pitch letter, and put together a submission list. Authors get input on the pitch letter, but the submission list will usually be like looking at a cuneiform tablet--sort of meaningless. As an agent, my job is not just to shape and sell books, but to manage my clients' expectations, and interface between them and their publisher if need be.

It involves dog-walking (my dog, that is), reading, tons of email correspondence, reading, editing, lunch, staring into space (we call that thinking in the publishing industry), watching the occasional stupid YouTube video, and then more reading and email. Sometimes a nap could be involved (the beauty of working from home). Every so often there is a phone call or Zoom meeting. It's nice to break up the day with those. On a trip to NYC, it's go-go-go--breakfast meetings, morning coffee, lunch meetings, afternoon coffee, dinners, etc., then collapse and do it all again the next day. If I'm at a conference, it's panels, meetings, a lot of coffee, yakking with authors, other agents, editors, cocktail parties, banquets, and generally working the room. Fun, but exhausting. I'm usually completely hoarse after three days!