Full one hour interview with Jodi Reamer (Writers House), Kim Witherspoon (Inkwell Management), Robert Gottlieb (Trident Media), Sloan Harris (ICM), Eric Simonoff (WME), Christy Fletcher (Fletcher & Company).
1. Query letters 2. Biggest frustration with film adaptations of books 3. What is the state of authors' power to have more control over the work that gets adapted? 4. There's a huge gap between having an absolute approval and being a consultant on a picture 5. There are two different solar systems: working with the studio and working with a producer 6. Authors have different tolerances for risk 7. There are 5 distribution companies in Hollywood 8. Avoid having negative coverage on your book before submitting it to Hollywood; time your submission before the studios can get ahold of negative coverage 9. Different producers are right for different books 10. There is an economic shift in Hollywood where the big agencies are shifting back to the TV business 11. There is a lot of interest for books in cable now 12. In TV there is not a lot of money for the book (source material); think of it as a big TV commercial for your publishing 13. Publishers don't necessarily want to have film rights on the adaptation of their work 14. YA publishers are constantly chasing yesterday's trend and trying to predict what the next one will be so they tend to overbuy in certain areas like Twilight (paranormal/romance area) 15. In some ways publishers feel like studios e.g. Dystopia (if publishers had their big dystopian series, they don't need another one because how many can you really promote) they get really satiated like studios 16. YA is never gonna end 17. Memoirs 18. Great collaborations make for great rock memoirs 19. There are two kinds of memoirs: writers' memoirs and collaboration memoirs 20. So much of what literary agents take on really comes down to what they're interested in because the whole thing is like a 3-year commitment 21. The best media outlet for selling books are: NPR, The New York Times Book Review, The Daily Review, Facebook, Twitter, talk shows, innate ability of the author to connect with their audience, vlogs, RU-vid 22. It matters that authors know who their readers are 23. Social media skills and writing skills matter 24. Successful bloggers are coming into the publishing business with a leg up because the advertising campaign is already there 25. Blogging and Amazon are gamechangers 26. Literary agents have to have a sense that they can help improve the career of authors 27. Authors, agents and publishers are experimenting 28. Literary agents have an absolute responsibility to be looking at a very specific client and their work and thinking about what's gonna move the game forward (another book deal with a traditional publisher? making something shorter?) 29. Publishing is shapeshifting 30. Really wanting to do it and doing it well is the key 31 A strong point of view and voice and commitment are important 32. Having the kind of passion to back it up is also important 33. Having a big social media following can drive sales forward 34. It's not about timing but about writing the story that you organically want to write next when it comes to sequel 35. The audience are like ugh six months 36. The shorter the piece (350-page novel for example) the faster; you're gaining yourself time with little investment 37. A lot of authors have close relationships with readers now on Twitter 38. Before it used to be publishing 1-2 books a year; now you can publish 12 a year
WOW! A big thank you to The Hollywood Reporter for this roundtable discussion with literary agents. Just one minute in to watching it, and I'm so glad that these 58 minutes at least exist.
Right, we should all be so lucky as to be worrying how much control we're going to have over Hollywood's adaptation of our work...most writers cannot even get an agent to read anything....
The look some shared when talking about the best line in a query letter, which couldn't have been more varied, was like they were in disbelief that someone would think it was good, no less someone in the same field.
Some people really can't appreciate the free knowledge that they're giving. If you find publishing hopeless than you need to reevaluate your process of thinking and take a hard look at the caliber of your own writing.
Learned some things (since times are changing). I liked the term "move the needle". Head's up for me: "Publishers make plans for authors." Thanks for posting...
As a writer this scares the shit out of me. It's terrifying to think these people and the like hold the keys to my dreams. They're not rude just jaded. How do you impress the man or woman who's walked to the end of the world.
Get on Twitter, join the #writingcommunity hashtag and follow loads of agents. And yes, please learn what makes a great query letter. 😁 Agents aren't scary! And self publishing isn't easy street to getting your work out there, it's a ton of work and being able to take criticism. Here on RU-vid, follow The Creative Penn for self publishing, or just for writing as a business. Because that's what it is. Good luck!
I always looked at agents as a faceless barrier. I may never find an agent, but now I know it's personal and a probability. Much like meeting your first love; you have to interact with many people, unless you get lucky.
Most of it believe ot or not Gov controlled through project Mockingbird or MK Ultra. Look them up they a all CIA operations and most people want believe things are controlled by the Government. Even Walt Disney and Stan Lee are associated with government and have always been great source of government propaganda. Walt Disney him self was Highly involved early and late in his career with the military so dont be surprised when your not selected. Its a controlled system and they fight for freedom they say by controlling it but are actually blocking freedom from EVER HAPPENING!
I wonder how many of these people have actually written a novel or even attempted writing one. I also wonder how many of them read for leisure and not just for work.
I scroll down, see the complaints bellow my post and realize the people who complain the most can't even spell let alone write a book! One is quoting Witherspoon and misspelling her name, the other can't tell the difference between to and two. Are you guys kidding me? You don't even need an agent, you can self publish via Amazon, but if you are looking for one be ready! Get an education, experience writing for magazines, enter a few contests and then look for an agent. If your book is worth a shit you'll only waste your cash self publishing, so I suggest you take some English courses, then, tackle a novel. Seriously. I just called Ripley's and hell, they don't believe it either!
As someone who managed to get a really great agent through a cold query and edited manuscript, yes it can be done. It's hard, it feels stacked against new writers without credits, but it's possible (I got full requests from at least two agents in this video). They're not "vanity agents", they're human beings doing their jobs. Maybe become a better writer and write a better book instead of coming here to hate on people in publishing?
Exactly. I agree with every word here. Btw awesome video, really shows that every agent is different, and putting them into the same basket and cursing them is extremely unfair thing to do because you only have to write one good query letter, while they have to read hundreds of bad ones on a daily basis. Big respect to them ^^
Jeremy Szal those haters made me depressed and i refused for ten years sending queries just because of people like that discouraging me. thanks to them i experienced a burnout and depression and now i am recovering from that. it was my fault to believe those whiners
@48:00 here mentions demand for novellas and other mid-level word lengths. Does anyone have specific suggestions re: agents or publishers who are interested in this market?
This is very interesting, thank you THR! I think before you want to become an author you need to asked yourself this: "do you write for money or do you write to get your stories out there?"
This is the million dollar Artist challenge of a lifetime you want and need both .. some control, otherwise it a roll of the Dice that your story will be on the screen. You'll spend years telling people, that was my book, but the story was noting like it... ei like they said 'The Godfather' I never knew there was a book to that movie, did you?
So if the author, producer, and the studio are all on the same page, the movie will be true to the book. Readers and movie goers will be satisfied. Total success for all. But first, finding that perfect agent that will love your book and will sign you.
He doesn't. He comes up with the ideas and outlines them extensively. Then he works with other writers -- who get credit on the cover (and money, of course) -- who write. They have lots of meetings, and he does lots of rewriting. The people who have worked with him rave about how wonderful he is to work with. This model is the only way he (or anyone) could turn out as many books in a year as he does. He's a workaholic!
The Memoir market 28:31 "Who is the big 'get' in the memoir field? 28:55 ? Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Jodie Foster, Morrissey, Bono, Prince, Springsteen, John Taylor of Duran Duran, J.K. Rowling, Thomas 'Hannibal' Harris, Ryan Murphy, Quentin Tarantino, Maria Sharapova... Someone please sign up these big names!
There's too much emphasis on turning books into screenplays. Yes, it's a business model and realistically that's what leverages the value of a manuscript, but when the expectation of that leverage factors into the creative process then why? Why wouldn't that be a problem that resists the literary value of a text? I just wonder how much utility there is in playing shows only for the gatekeepers. It's not that way in the recording industry, but in publishing, agents and publishers are very hands-off about anything that writers are producing that they release on their own. And so, writers write for gatekeepers, rather than literary value, because they're afraid to make agents confront the issues. As a result, retail suffered from a protracted consolidation and it makes me doubt the traditional roles of agents and publishing houses.
Very enlightening. I, myself, am a self-published author on Amazon's Kindle/KDP. I have queried agents in the past (both rejected me) and Amazon's KDP has been a HUGE blessing to me. It enables me to "publish" my books without going through the process of querying/editors/publishers/agents. No royalties yet. But as plenty of other authors can tell you: "If you're in it for the money, you're in the WRONG industry". I whole heartedly agree with that saying. I do this because I love it. I love Fantasy, I love coming up with stories, I love thinking up characters/settings/story lines. It takes awhile, yes. I need to write, edit myself, pay a professional editor based in LA (I live in NorCal), format it, pay a graphic designer to come up with the cover illustration once I've thought of it and then upload it. Afterward, I pay a high school friend to create a RU-vid video promotion for the book. If you are interested, here is a link to the promotional video: "A Daughter's Revenge". First in my four book Fantasy series "Elf Sisters". Available on Amazon's Kindle/KDP. Only $2.99. Also available through Amazon on paperback. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ivpqxhW_y00.html
A study done by entertainment-securities attorney, John W. Cones, finds that 70 - 80 percent of the top three executives in the MPAA studio/distributors are "politically liberal, not very religious Jewish males of European heritage." Given this, why is there such little diversity in the executive ranks when many are calling for more diversity in Hollywood? Could discrimination (cronyism, nepotism and favoritism) in the executive suites be the cause of the lack of diversity at the talent, crew and conglomerate levels? Does a narrowly defined "control group" of executives only green-light movies that appeal to their interests, values, cultural perspectives and prejudices? Is this why Hollywood studios and New York networks are promoting a liberal agenda and suppressing conservatives? Is this why Hollywood is promoting European style- socialism and anti-Christian values? Is this why Hollywood is promoting the Globalist Agenda Trump is working to roll back? MAINSTREAM -- a 4-part mini series NOT "coming to a theater near you" addresses the lack of diversity in Hollywood and its repercussions on a democratic society. Get on high quality DVD at www.mecfilms.com/mainstream.html or watch at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-evYyDsmSzdo.html
So many nasty comments, oftentimes in terrible English as well. I have nothing against agents, nothing a all. They exist for a reason. Let me tell you a secret - you are unlikely to get an agent if all you do is write nasty comments about them. Work on your craft, your grammar and spelling, plotting and your attitude... then write a great book and try to find an agent. Or self-publish. Easy enough these days, especially if you don't need illustrations. I'm not looking for an agent, but if I was, I wouldn't complain about them and then expect to find one. Life doesn't work that way. Sorry for bursting your bubble.
Anna Maledon Children's Author I worked through slush piles for 3 major magazines and can tell you that 99% of people have no business writing. Out of 1000 manuscripts about 900 are terrible, 99 are just okay and 1 _might_ be publishable with several rounds of editing. Finding a great piece of writing is about 1 in 5000. I say that because I went through about that many each year and could only find about 1 that ended up published. Sometimes I found none. Self-publishing is mostly a road to nowhere and does nothing but suppress readers’ eyes from those more deserving. Booktubers sell a fantasy and to date none can write worth a shit: _Zenith_ anyone? Creative writing classes or degrees are worthless and usually a _tell_ that the manuscript you’re about to read is formulaic junk: garage sale sorrow, dead parent, sexually misbehaving professor, suicide... I hate to say it but storytelling is a [conceptual] talent underpinned by genetics and experience. Too many without either are trying to jump the hierarchy and get eyeballs on their junk. This is why it’s decidedly important to give honest criticism to unestablished writers when they are foolishly chasing this one-in-a-million _career._ Otherwise it ends up damaging them and the ones deserving of GoodReads without perpetual clutter.
@@maliceburgoyne495 I agree about the talent. You either have it or not. And yes, there is probably plenty of rather poor self-published books out there, but I wouldn't go as far to say self-publishing is a road to nowhere. Sure, this is not for everyone and not everyone is good at writing BUT there are some people who make a good living at it. But that is a minority, of course. I'm not surprised by the numbers you mentioned. I write picture books and I belong to quite a few writers' groups on Facebook and have noticed that average parents are not very critical and they seem to like books that most traditional publishers would not publish. Most parents are not editors so they don't judge picture books very harshly so it is possible to make good money with so-so books. I've just found out that Fifty Shades of Gray was self-published, to begin with.
Good rebuttal. I phrased that _self-publishing_ wrong. I meant what the dearth of talent’s done to Amazon et al. The guy publishing 50 books a year needs to be stripped of his dream until some semblance of worth is proven. I’ve read a couple good self-published books of fiction.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens the day Amazon figures out that hoards of bloggers are self-publishing crap at max-forward speed and figures out a way to cut them out of the picture. The publishing industry is certainly bloated and broken in some ways, but it has also figured out how to survive. I suspect many good books have been lost to both slush piles and online self-publishing.
Becauseself publishing is a massive amount of work and time that takes away from writing time. Why hire a builder if you can build your house yourself? Time and money. If you are writing more you are doing what you love and are probably making more money in the process. No one becomes a writer to do advertising, cold calling, doing all the edits manually etc.
Sean L You can outsource most of the publishing work for affordable rates and still have time to write. Plus, as a self published author on Kindle, you keep the rights and most of the profits.
Lean Life Coach you won’t get anywhere self publishing. If you’d like to make money then find a literary agent to get published. If you just want to give your book away to the 5-15 people who you’ve told about it then by all means self publish. Self publishing costs more money than most people have if you want an audience.
There is a TED talk where the speaker who is a screenplay editor mentioned very interesting feedback he's heard about: "your work is both, good and original. The problem is that the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good."
Is it possible to represent an author and their novel that you are close to ei .. authors Secretary, is there a more professional title for this person other than Agent?
I will watch to learn and be a more informed writer and reader. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that the ratio of POC authors to white authors is disproportionate to the population. Observing this confirms that every time a POC does publish a book, let alone make it on bestsellers or literary awards lists, I will support them and celebrate their success against the odds.
gosh! I'm not good with waiting.. I have a piece of personal writing I started this morning. I am utterly excited and elated that I finally started writing this book. ive had this thought for about 5 years now. so, I would be doubly excited if you can give feedback to this small piece of writing Draft "Depression, suicide and addiction was my life" My life, my mind was in shambles. I say such a harsh word, because it was a harsh life full of molestation, depression, suicide and addiction. I have to say, today I am truly hopeful. Not like the hope I feel when I play a number a hope I hit! (Laughing) It's hope of feeling that I finally in a place that nothing can stop me from my happiness. Whether that be helping others, traveling, just doing what you love. I'm 53 years old. Yes, I am a late bloomer. With just about everything. I didn't realize how secluded my life was, growing up. I am youngest of 6. With my mom and dad. A little about my dad. Most of which I was told as I became an adult. Dad was a true rolling stone. Gato (A Kat) he was dubbed the nick name because of all the galvanizing he'd venture out to. Like jumping out of a window because he was being chased by a gilted husband! He was a Kat alright! My dad loved women. Big, tall, short. Didn't matter. I was told a story that he took my older brother to a strip club. Don't know how true the story is, but that's just one of the stories that were told to me. Just to give idea how dad felt about women. Dad served in the Army in the 1950's. He received an honorable discharge. I haven't found out why the discharge though. I haven't found interest until now, since he's no longer here. I remember the day he left his wife and 6 children and didn't return. I know today he didn't know how to be a dad, because he wasnt taught to be. He was taught to be a provider. Let me get back to the day he left. It was an ugly day. I don't mean a rainy day. Not that I remember if it were. But I sure felt like it. This is part of My True Story. thank you evelyn O.
Most of them sitting there who didn't took a chance on shopping "We need to talk about Kevin" are those kinds of agent that created the crap we have in our book society today. Those YA of endless teenager love stories that really sucks! Those card board character that feeds the minds of the teenagers and no, it ain't the other way around. Mainly those silly John Green and Twilight senseless plot lines and the other writers that just copies the formula again and again. That is the beauty most of the agents sitting there creates today. Truthfully no one takes risk, I get it, risk is bad for business. But damn that agent who took a leap on "We Need to Talk about Kevin" cos that's a danger call, and she went for it. Pretty uncommon story there, that's bravery. *HatsDown* Mean while others keep producing what other house are churning, piling really dumb plotless fictions and nonfictions. And also, let's just face it, this is a roundtable ego-fight amongst them. Oddly enough the men behave a lot better than the women. You can almost see how they can't stand each other, fighting to speak from the inside.
@Thelongmanable Uh. I think the problem you are having is this: you named your book after a very common profession and then self-published... on the internet, no less. That means that nobody is searching for your book, as there is no hype. Google works by popularity and adverts, of which you have gained none. Also, I couldn't find your book in the one place you specifically said it existed. Also, also, I am really not sure where you get the 'Jewish author' thing because I couldn't personally name even one and I always read avidly about my favourite authors bios and suchlike. My advice is this: if you have a book worth selling, take it to an agent.
Sorry but it's not blocked. I found it instantly using the ISBN. You named your book one of the most common search terms on the web and it has no cover, so nobody bought it. If you had a big publisher behind you you might have sold a whole bunch of copies that way, but without one you just don't have the reach to get to the top of google. It's that simple really. If they didn't want your book to be seen, they just wouldn't give you a listing full-stop.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you are schizophrenic. It's the only explanation I have for that last post of yours where you make a crazed handbrake turn from talking about how Amazon is out to get you to calling me a terrorist sympathiser. I don't agree about the Harry Potter stuff either as I've just gone and read the lawsuit claims and think them frivolous. I have heard nothing from you except paranoid crazy conspiracy theories that are 99% gibberish. I'm not trying to offend you by saying this, I just don't much care about being polite to you since you are ranting at me and calling me a terrorist. The truth is that your book is still very easy to buy, it just did really really poorly and nobody read it. That's a shame, but that's also life. Unfortunately, I think you need psychiatric help, and I'm going to block you.
10:00 Wrong. Bad movies for audiences that haven't read the book has NEGATIVE perception on the quality of the book. Example: Enders Game World class science fiction novel. Utterly terrible movie. Did it help sell books? Nope... This guy's talking out of his ass.
What a bunch of horrible people. Makes you want to write a book and market itself yourself by selling it in front of the liquor store when the guy playing the guitar is not there.
Why da fuck arw they talking about hollywood. Enough with cinema and literature. People should write not searching for a movie deal... Its not even a visual art but auditive
They want fresh and original, but god forbid anything should come over the transom, and not from a known entity. [Gag] That's a sign of someone with no vision or courage--do what's always been done, with the stamp of approval from a known quantity. That's the opposite of "original", guys. And it's why American literature is such a joke these days, and why there's so little diversity in publishing. This group comes across as full of themselves.
50 Shades of Gray getting published astounded me and tarnished my view of literary agents forever. It has to be one of the worst books I was ever asked to read and I could not finish it. Basically, some cynical, greedy exec' thought, 'this is porn and porn sells so I am gonna buy this.' Then another cynical greedy dope in Hollywood thought the same thing and made a movie out of it. 50 Shades has nothing to do with literature, so anyone publishing it had to ignore a lot of factors. It is badly written. Incredibly repetitive. Cynically titillating and, I think, was only published (Apart from the porn aspect) because it fit the current political (In a pure PC sense) climate of "empowering" (Read: "exploiting") females. It also infuriated me. I have read hundreds of works by authors thrown in the slush pile that were far, far, better written. The publishing house that gave that rubbish to the world should be ashamed, but morality has nothing to do with it. It got published by appealing to the lowest denominator in human beings and because it made a select few very rich. OK rant over. Move along. Nothing more to see here. I said, move along.
It was rated worse movie of 2015 which is saying a lot because of crap like Fantastic Four or Oculus. The budget was to high and was a all around flop.
What you have to understand is that 50 Shades was written and self published as fan fiction. The book sold online like mad. Publishing houses love that--they have a ready made book with an audience, a track record and sales. A no brained money maker, and that is why it was sold, printed and marketed. If no one had been buying it, the big houses wouldn't have taken the chance.
I'm sorry but from my experience (limited) the phrase 'Lord of Their Kingdom' comes to mind. Self indulgent, pompous, egotistical name droppers. Isn't it fact every writer (to my knowledge) is told to write short synopsis, long synopsis, tag line and query letter as standard? Yet here one of these experts admits she never bothers reading the Query letter that's often agonized over. How many M.S. have been missed due to interns reading synopsis and not liking them? Did anyone here write for hours and years for an intern to scrap their entire work? For new writers, often without fans or marketing behind them. For those who were not journalists or some form of professional writer...what advice for those? The lady who interrupts a great deal is clearly passionate about her feelings and thoughts; a little too much at times. All I see are those in a command position and enjoy that position over many others. I wonder what education they had, friends, social life? I hear their comments but not really their own ideas, just promotional ones to keep the status quo. If story telling should be anything, it should engaging, intriguing and capturing, enjoyable and memorable shouldn't it? All i see and hear in this group are copies of predecessors from Victoriana spouting the same while drinking fine wines. Sorry, I needed to vent. Maybe I should think of scribbling something...no; thought not.
aussiness74 exactly like I am a journalist but way far away from U.S. and all my credits probably will be discredited cuz they were not in english. so did i just spared half of my life for writing honing my craft in completely foreign language spending hours and hours for an intern to scrap on my work? not only i am frustrated probably self-publishing is better what do you think?
Aydan Qasanova I recommend hiring someone to write for you using your ideas. If you aren’t 100% fluent it will be much harder to write a book that captures the native speakers attention. You can’t hire someone to fix every tiny grammatical error in the book.
Watch the whole thing. The agent you are referring to only talks a lot in the beginning. Besides which, the men end up taking a lot more, but apparently that doesn't bother you.
