The Dream Client
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Question of the day for Elisabeth Weed: Elisabeth, First of all, I personally know what a class act you are and I thank you for that. Secondly, my question is this: Is Allison as uber-amazing as she appears to be, or is it all a front? (NOTE FROM AWS: I DID NOT SUBMIT THIS QUESTION ON MY BEHALF! LOL! AND I'M BLUSHING READING HER ANSWER!)
Why, thank you! And thank you for your question as I've been waiting for the opportunity to answer it. Because, Debbie, the depressing truth is this. Allison IS as uber-amazing as she appears to be. There is no front and no faking her total and utter amazingness. Thank you for giving me the space here to give it to you straight. The kind, funny, personable and very real human being that charms you from a blog, is really, truly who Allison is.
And, it just so happens that she is also the perfect example of how to be a star client. I know a lot of you are in the process of finding representation, so, I'd love to take the time here to tell you how (I believe) you can work best with your agent when your time comes.
While Allison is all the things I mentioned above, she isn't just nice and sweet. She's got a real business savvy and is involved in every step of the publishing process. She asks a lot of questions and wants to know what's going on and why. But, for lack of a better word, it's never annoying, because it is all in an effort to push her career and make her books better, either by asking me to read early chapters, or staying on top of marketing and publicity plans and every thing else in between.
All agents operate differently, but I strive to make my relationships with my author that of a team, where by we work together on the day to day tasks. In part because, I am just so busy that I literally can't be on top of everything all the time, but also because two brains working are better than one. And so when Allison emails me to ask me if I've followed up with her foreign rights/film agent/editor, it's never annoying. Either I already have and will tell her, or I haven't because it's not appropriate and thus I tell her to sit tight (which she does not like to do:)) Or I have totally forgotten because I am juggling other authors and a million other things, and her reminding me is a real help. In short, she is a star author because she is her best advocate. However, there is a fine line between being involved with your agent and being annoying. Don't email your agent, just for the sake of it. Or because you think you should. Be strategic. Know that she does in fact have other clients and other things on her plate and wasting her time will only make her not want to respond to you in the first place. I actually had an author who used to send me rapid fire responses to her questions--often paragraphs long. I was getting 7 or 8 emails a day and responding to them took up so much time that I had to ask her to only send me one a day because I just couldn't take it. She fired me shortly after that, which was a blessing for both of us. We clearly weren't working as a team.
The final thing I will add is that, with all of her staying on top of things, Allison also knows when to let other people do their jobs. I often hear her praising her editor, publisher and marketing and publicity people, saying "well, they are the experts, I trust them." And she should. They have the experience and knowledge to know how to do their jobs.
I am lucky to work with many authors who have developed just this same sort of savvy. In this day and age, you need to.
I hope that sufficiently answered your question!
Reader Comments (6)
I've never seen anyone speak so candidly about getting fired. Haha.
I love this post. So many good points in here. Thank you! :)
Elisabeth, Thanks so much for answering my (incredibly insightful) question. I've recently signed with an amazing agent, and I hope we'll be as great a team as you and Allison.
Your star author was ever-so-helpful and encouraging to me along my path, and I will always appreciate that. You two deserve each other, and that's a great compliment to you both. ;-)
Ditto what Lydia said. Your candidness really impressed me. Thanks for being so honest and helpful to us!
Allison sounds like a perfect example of someone who balances being on top of everything without being overly involved and micromanaging. My own agent says the most successful authors are ones who take the time to understand the business of publishing as well as the art and craft of writing, and I have to say, this blog has taught me so much about both. I'm so grateful to Allison (now stop blushing!)
It's so great to hear from an agent! Thanks Elisabeth! And my own agent often tells me to "sit tight" too!
Great post. Enjoyed hearing an agent's perspective since I'll be pitching agents soon for my women's fiction debut novel! Deep breath. Must stop editing and just do it.
Allison has an inspiring career that is taking off at mock speed. I bought TIME OF MY LIFE, which I'm very much enjoying. Thanks, Elisabeth, for giving us a peek into what makes a star client.