Kellie Finley - Romantic suspense ripped from today's headlines!



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		April Newsletter

Centre Stage ~		Interview with literary agent, Jessica Faust of BookEnds LLC.
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KF		Please tell us a little bit about the BookEnds, LLC, literary agency.

JF		BookEnds was founded in 1999 as a book packaging company. At the time, Jacky Sach and I envisioned creating our own book projects and hiring writers, designers and other support people to make them come together. The books would then be sold to publishers. While we had some great successes and enjoyed what we were doing, it wasn’t long before we felt that we were really missing out on some of the books we wanted to be doing, including fiction. So in early 2001 we changed our business model from packager to literary agent and haven’t looked back since. BookEnds now has three full-time agents, Jacky, me and Kim Lionetti and we represent a terrific group of authors. Our specialties are commercial fiction and nonfiction especially in the areas of romance, mystery, suspense/thriller, and women’s fiction. We are also looking for self-help nonfiction in business, parenting, spirituality, health, true crime, pop science and pop culture. For specific areas of interest you should check out our web site.
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KF		Can you share with us some of your journey from being an editor, to book packagers, to an agent?

JF		While I like to say that much of my journey was by chance, I feel instead that it was really what was meant to be. I studied journalism in college and had dreams of being a great reporter. Unfortunately after four years of covering everything from the murder of a fellow student to the Jeffrey Dahmer trials for the college paper I was burnt out before I even started. That’s when I realized that newspapers weren’t for me and it was time to try other things. After graduation I moved, on a bit of a whim, to New York City, after all, if you can make it there...., and got a job for Woman’s World magazine. It took fewer than six weeks for me to realize that waitressing at night and magazines during the day were not my calling so what was next? Books naturally. After sending out five resumes and being asked on two interviews, I got a job working at Berkley Publishing as an editorial assistant for editors who handled mystery and romance, two subjects I had never read much of. And I was hooked. I loved every minute of it and can’t imagine I ever thought of doing anything else. After five years in publishing, first at Berkley and later as an editor for The Complete Idiot’s Guide series, I wanted a change and thought of book packaging. After all, as an editor for The Complete Idiot’s Guides I was essentially packaging. So after a short discussion with Jacky we decided to go for it. And the rest, as they say, is history.
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KF		BookEnds isn’t located in New York, the thought-to-be “Mecca” of publishing; why locate in New Jersey, and do you find it a challenge?

JF		It’s cheaper and there’s no commute. Truthfully, one of the most appealing aspects to starting our own business was that we could set up in New Jersey and eliminate the hour plus commute each way. It certainly allows us to get more things done in the office. Being located in NJ is as good as being in New York itself. I easily get in for lunches or meetings with editors whenever necessary and can attend any other important events. I don’t think it’s been a challenge at all.
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KF		What has been your most exciting moment as an agent—discovering a new talent, working with a NYT best seller, landing a film contract, something else?

JF		I think my most exciting moment was selling that very first book. There’s nothing like validation. The minute we got the offer on our first book we knew that we had made the right decision and it was just dang exciting. Truthfully though I don’t think there is any one exciting moment. There are so many things I love on a regular basis. I love when an author hits a bestseller list, especially for the first time. I love finding something new in the submission pile, and having the author accept representation and I always love selling books. But you know what, there is something really special about selling that first book for an author. I don’t think anything ever beats that.
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KF		What’s a normal “day in the life” of an agent like?

JF		Is there such a thing? My morning is usually spent following up on emails, planning my day and keeping up with publishing news. This is also the time when I’ll write up everything from rejection letters to revision letters. Since most of my reading is done at night or on the weekends, the mornings are the time when I feel fresh enough to take my notes and write them up. In the afternoon I spend a great deal of my time returning phone calls, pitching editors, talking to clients, and putting out fires if necessary. In between is when I can scroll through query letters or pick and choose the proposals I’ll be taking home for the evening.
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KF		What would the “perfect client” be like?

JF		The perfect client would write the perfect book. All of her books are the kind I’m dying to read and make me want to drop everything the minute they cross my desk. She’s a good, strong communicator and isn’t afraid to talk to me about whatever she needs. And most importantly she knows this is a business and treats it as such.
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KF		What compels you to offer representation to a unpublished writer?

JF		Falling in love with the book. Great characters, a great plot, and something that I really think I can sell. It’s a feeling more than something I can clearly define in words.
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KF		How much manuscript editing and coaching do you give to a unpublished writer? To a published author?

JF		As much as needs to be done to sell the book. I am no longer an editor, I’m now an agent and I’m hesitant to do too much editing with any of my clients primarily because the editor and the author have the last say, not the agent. Therefore, when submitting something I will only edit as much as I feel needs to be edited to sell the book. Mistakes or errors that might give editors an easy opportunity to say no need to be changed. For my published authors I’ll edit as much as they ask me to. For some, I never see the material until the published book lands on my desk, while others will ask for my edits to compare against their own and those from their editors.
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KF		Is being an agent predominantly about the manuscript or do you work with career planning too?

JF		I think it’s predominantly about an author’s career. While we work from manuscript to manuscript it should be a building process. I’m regularly discussing career planning with my authors and what we could or should be doing to think about the future and those future goals.
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KF		How important is it for writers to have an internet presence—website, newsletter, blogs, MySpace pages—before being published? Once published?

JF		While it can be helpful I don’t think it’s at all important for writers to have a preference before selling a book. However, once you have that contract in hand I would suggest trying to get a web site and other things up at least 3-6 months prior to publication. This is the time when reviewers, magazines, etc are starting to receive advance reading copies of your book and you want to make sure that if they need more information you have it up and ready for them.
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KF		How important is it for writers to attend conferences—before being published? Once published?

JF		I’m not sure it’s important, but it can definitely be useful. For the unpublished writer it’s a great place to network not only with agents and editors, but also with other authors. These contacts can be incredibly useful when it’s time to choose an agent, submit your work, or try to get in touch with authors for quotes. For published authors it’s much the same. You never know when you might need a new agent or want to try to target a new house. More importantly though, readers love meeting authors and this is a great opportunity to build your brand.
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KF		Are there any current (or future) market trends that you are watching—rise of historicals, saturation of vampires, cross-genre story growth?

JF		I think both historicals and contemporaries are rising and I’m concerned that we’re going to see a saturated paranormal market very soon.
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KF		Any other words of wisdom you’d like to share?

JF		I always like to remind authors that publishing is a business, a wonderful business, but a business nonetheless so while writing can be creative and fun, to really have success you need to learn and embrace the business end of things.
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		Thanks for joining us, Jessica!
		Carpe diem, Kellie



Content of website copyrighted © 2006-2008 by Kellie Finley. All rights reserved.	Last website updates ~~~ April 2008
	Last website updates ~~~ April 2008
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