WEbook Blog: A Writer's Resource

Literary Agents Representing Thriller and Suspense Fiction

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The Thriller/Suspense fiction market is healthier than ever. From Ken Follet to Tom Clancy to Steig Larson, readers just can't get enough of their spies, thieves, and tension-packed plot lines. If you've written a thriller or suspense novel, you'll need an agent who specializes in that genre to represent you in your journey to publication.  

WEbook's AgentInbox has 33 agents that specialize in the Thriller/Suspense Genre. That means they already represent T&S authors, have built connections with like-minded editors and publishers, and they're looking for more!

A New Writing Contest: The Micro-Autobiography Challenge

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We hope that everyone had an great Labor Day weekend. With all of those BBQ's to attend, it's possible that you may not have gotten a chance to enter our latest writing contest, The Micro-Autobiography Challenge. 

We've been keeping these challenges fiction oriented, and figured it was time to switch things up a bit. So for this one, we're moving into the non-fiction realm. Even better, you get to write about yourself! The details:

The Micro-Autobiography Challenge

Write an EXTREMELY short autobiography, max 75 words.

The goal here is to convey the essence of your life in a very short space (yes, Twitter inspired this challenge). Full sentences and proper grammar are not required. A long period of inner reflection to determine what life experiences were most important to your formation as a person may be required.  

To submit, start a new chapter in this project. The deadline to ender is Friday, September 17 at 4 pm.

As always, the WEbook editorial staff will pick our 3 favorite endings and award the authors free entry to PageToFame. 

If you need some inspiration before diving in, check out the winners of some past challenges, or some of our writing tips.

Good luck! 

The New Slush Pile: Benefits and Drawbacks

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Here’s a daunting figure for aspiring writers: most literary agents receive 100-300 queries per week. Of those, they usually request extra material from 1 or 2 writers, at most. Out of that coveted request pile, agents typically only take on a handful of new clients per year.

So, basically, the slush pile odds are not good. If you take a look around places like Slush Pile Hell, or un-agented author websites that advertise their litany of rejection notes, it can seem like getting signed is impossible. Futhermore, it doesn't help anyone feel better to read the streams of articles about the entertainment industry’s universal belt tightening in their search for new writing talent.

Despite these foreboding signs and predictions, I do not believe the slush pile is dead, nor is it a futile climb to nowhere—it’s just changing with the times, like everything else in publishing. And in some important ways, it’s changing for the better.

Remember the old-school query process? Authors found agent addresses in Writers Digest, printed their queries on some stationary, mailed them in with an SASE enclosed, and crossed their fingers. It was a lonely and slow moving process.

Things are different now. Almost all agents accept queries via email or through online submission forms. Even better, some agents check there email continuously throughout the day, and may respond to queries much more rapidly than before—sometimes even within minutes! It’s also a short online skip and jump to find a database of agent contact info and submission guidelines. Basically, access to agents is often easier, faster, and more transparent than it was, say, ten years ago.

However, with this ease of communication comes a substantial increase in the number of queries agents receive. For writers, this makes it all the more important to write a concise, eye-catching query letter. This need played a key role in the design of our AgentInbox application’s online interface, which helps writers quickly display the unique elements of their project to interested literary agents. I believe that, for better or worse, querying will continue evolving into a more streamlined and efficient process as agents explore ways of moving through their slush faster.

Yet, with all the changes that are taking place in publishing, some constants remain: if a writer understands the current market, is persistent and strategic with their querying efforts, and (most importantly) has a good manuscript that engages readers, they stand a good chance at securing representation from an agent. To catch that glimmer of hope and some inspiration from the bottom the slush pile, (if that’s where you’re currently standing) check out some success stories (from WEbookers too!) and remember, they all started in the same place.

I'm interested to hear from writers as well. How do  you feel about the changing agent submission process and slush pile?

—Ardy Khazaei, President of WEbook 

Ardy is a veteran of the digital media world—both as an entrepreneur and a corporate executive, including six years at HarperCollins Publishers where he was the SVP of Electronic Media. Go here to learn more about him.

Finding Ideas for a New Novel

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Every few years, a writer or prognosticator of some repute declares the death of something monumental: originality, fiction, physical books, etc. Last week, Wired magazine declared that the “Web is Dead” on the front of its print edition (though they first released it on their website, go figure). As I troll around for a new idea for my next manuscript, I can’t help but wonder if there are any left. Clearly, if I listen to the “wisdom” of those “in the know,” I’m in trouble. If new ideas, print and now the web are all dead, well, I guess there’s no point in even trying to write, yeah?

I certainly can’t write a love story now that Romeo & Juliet has been written. Can’t write a road trip book after Don Quixote (which was totally ripped off by Kerouc in On the Road and Che Guevera in The Motorcycle Diaries, fyi). I’d try my hand at sci-fi but after Neuromancer and, frankly, anything by Philip K. Dick, what’s the point?

I’m not black but I couldn’t write a story about race anyway, because it wouldn’t be as good as Invisible Man (which certainly “inspired” White Teeth by Zadie Smith) or, dare I even say the words, To Kill a Mockingbird. Ditto on being Jewish, because Philip Roth already has the market cornered on that! I’m a white American male, which might be the hardest “genre” of all. All I have to do is come up with a sweeping epic that compares to anything that Faulkner, Hemmingway, Updike, DeLilo, Ford, Foster Wallace and/or Franzen has written. No prob. Will get right on it.

Or, I could simply remind myself that the book business in the U.S. did almost $24 billion in sales in 2009, according the Association of American Publishers. Which means, erm, “it” (books, print, web, originality) is very much alive. Sure, overall sales were down by a few hundred million, but given the economy that’s hardly surprising. And a lot of publishers are already announcing quarterly profits up from last year. Which leaves me back where I started—in search of an idea, a new one, if that’s even possible.

Here’s what I think: maybe there aren’t any wholly new ideas. There probably haven’t been since before there was even written words. People have been falling in love, having adventures, fighting wars, ripping each other off, imagining the future and dealing with crazy families since forever. And yet there are new stories to tell every day. Because the way I tell it will be very different from the way you tell it, even if we’re trying to spin the exact same yarn. And my experience, imagination and voice are what make my story original. And what is originality anyway, but perhaps a new way to spin an old story?

Which still leaves me where I started—in need of an idea. Perhaps all I have to do is find a great classic book to “inspire” me towards realizing my next story. Got any suggestions?

This week’s question: Where do your best ideas come from?

—JohnnyM

John Meils is currently finishing a first novel, tentatively titled The Warring House. He has written for Elle, Men’s Health, and MyTango.com, among others. To learn more about him, visit johnmeils.com.