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AuthorMBA Q&A with agent Jessica Faust
© 2007 AuthorMBA -
All rights reserved.
originally posted
2/23/07
AuthorMBA is delighted to welcome literary agent Jessica Faust,
co-founder of
BookEnds, LLC, for a very special AuthorMBA Q&A feature. Those of
you who are regular blog readers may recall that we featured Jessica's
business savvy posts to her agency blog (bookendslitagency.blogspot.com)
on the AuthorMBA Best of the Biz report. After seeing her in action on
her own blog, we knew we wanted to bring her aboard to pick her brain
about career planning, branding, marketing, and much more.
Jessica has graciously agreed to answer your career and business
questions today, so don't be shy about taking advantage of this
wonderful opportunity. Welcome, Jessica!
AuthorMBA Q&A
CAREER PLANNING - How do you
approach career planning with your clients
How hands-on do you
like to be?
As hands-on as my clients need me to
be. For some that might be reading and editing/commenting on manuscripts
(whether sold or going out on submission), for others it’s negotiating
and career planning. Each author is an individual and all my authors are
very different so it’s impossible for me to treat everyone in the same
way or work with them in the same way. But I will do everything from
edit a sold manuscript, and of course those I’m selling, to reworking
proposals, career planning, brainstorming for everything from book ideas
to publicity, meeting with publishers, play therapist, etc.
What steps might you take to help your
clients grow their careers?
I like to have career planning conversations with each client at least a
couple of times a year to discuss where her career is now, where her
career is going and what I can do to help achieve goals. Again, each
client is very different so these conversations could involve everything
from what she wants to be writing to where we should submit to sales and
marketing plans, negotiation points or even new book ideas.
How impressed are you by clients who
take a proactive approach to their career planning?
Very. I think it’s essential to be proactive and I certainly think
clients who take their career in their own hands are the most
successful.
BRANDING - How does a writer’s brand affect your business
dealings?
How does a writer’s “personal brand”
(image and reputation) and “writing brand” (differentiating the work)
factor into your decision to represent him or her?
For fiction, not at all. I’m more interested in the writing itself and
the brand potential or the hook. In other words, how does this book
stand out from others in the genre. What makes it strikingly different,
marketable, and brandable (yes I made up that word). Nonfiction however
is a different story. With nonfiction I’m very interested in who this
author is and his brand and credentials.
How do those brands impact your ability
to market clients to editors?
Greatly. For fiction we discuss hooks extensively and a hook leads into
a brand which is what an editor is hoping to get. For nonfiction, an
editor is looking for an author who can sell the brand for them.
What role do brands play during
contract negotiations and in developing effective marketing campaigns?
A great deal. When selling nonfiction editors are paying for the
name/brand. So the bigger name an author has, the better her brand and
credentials, the more an editor will pay and the greater potential
they’ll have for marketing. For fiction they are usually paying for
brand potential. If they’ve had success with something similar and can
see branding yours in the same way they will probably pay a little more
and then market the book more aggressively to the same audience.
MARKETING - How important do you think it is for writers to
focus on PR and marketing?
How much does a writer’s marketing plan
for a book or series affect your interest in representing him or her and
influence the way you ultimately market the work?
When it comes to fiction or narrative nonfiction (ie memoir), none at
all. While I’m certainly interested to hear about any ideas an author
might have, when I first make the decision to offer representation it’s
based entirely on my knowledge of the market as well as the author’s
voice, writing style, and hook. If the book is nonfiction a great deal
of my decision is based on a marketing plan. I don’t need to know
necessarily that the author is planning a five-city tour, but I do need
to know what potential marketing opportunities the author brings to the
table (this is critical when selling non-narrative nonfiction). Does the
author do regular workshops and does he have a schedule? Has he made any
media appearances or is he featured regularly on TV, radio or in
magazines? All of this is critical to the success of the book.
How much does a client's willingness to
actively promote a book or series affect your ability to sell him or her
to an editor or impact contract negotiations?
It can. It depends what the publisher sees for the book. Truthfully
though, the publisher doesn’t usually ask these questions because they
assume the author will be willing to promote the book.
What role do you play when a client
hires a contract publicist to complement the publisher’s efforts?
I play middleman if necessary. My biggest concern is that the author is
not spending money to have a publicist do things that I think her
publisher should be doing. I encourage authors who hire an outside
publicist to talk with me about everything she might have planned before
making a commitment. Together I think we can determine what tasks the
publisher can and should be doing and where it might be worthwhile to
spend the money. I will then go to the publisher with the proposal. The
important thing to do in these situations is ensure that the two
publicists are working together and not against each other.
SALES & DISTRIBUTION - What role do you play on the distribution
and sales side of your clients’ careers?
Where do you focus your energies?
It depends what I can do. Often we can make suggestions to the publisher
for alternate distribution or sales options—specialty stores that
connect to the hook/brand for example.
How aggressively do you lobby for
specific retail placement strategies (special displays)?
It depends on where the author is in her career, but if she’s in a place
where displays can be valuable than it will certainly come into a
conversation with her editor.
How do you track your clients’ numbers
after release?
I call the editor for regular sales updates.
WEB SITES - In what ways do you think a web site can enhance a
writer’s career?
When you read work you like—from
published or unpublished writers—do you review their web sites?
Yes and sometimes I review Web sites before even requesting more work.
When working with your clients, do you
discuss marketing ideas for their web sites to increase traffic and
build a strong readership?
Absolutely! We’ll discuss everything from possible design ideas to how
to make a site most effective and then yes, general marketing ideas.
What is your perspective on using a
personal blog as a marketing tool for writers? Does your view change if
they are unpublished vs. published?
I think blogs can be a terrific resource and tool, but like everything
else they can quickly become time consuming. If you make the decision to
start a blog it’s one you need to stick to. There’s nothing readers will
hate more than a blogger who isn’t committed or flakes out after a few
months. I also think you need to be cautious about what you’re blogging
about. Remember, a blog is a public forum and probably not the best
place to blast an agent by name just because you didn’t like her
rejection, or gossip about an editor you met at a conference. Blogs are
easily misused and it’s important for bloggers to remember that if it’s
in your pen name it’s in the name of your business and you shouldn’t
post anything on your blog you wouldn’t want your mother, best friend,
biggest fan, editor or agent to read. You also shouldn’t post anything
you wouldn’t feel comfortable sitting down and talking face to face with
any of these people about. That being said, I do know a number of
erotica writes who will never tell their mothers what they write so
maybe your mother can be excluded from the list.
 About Jessica Faust
As a literary agent and cofounder of BookEnds, LLC, Jessica Faust
welcomes the challenge of representing published and unpublished authors
in both fiction and nonfiction. Jessica began her publishing career as
an acquisitions editor for both Berkley and Macmillan and has been able
to take her editorial background and experience with her to BookEnds.
More information on Jessica and BookEnds can be found at
http://www.bookends-inc.com/ or
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com.
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