Fast
Five with Agent Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency
Kristin
Nelson is the president and founder of Nelson Literary Agency. She is also on
the faculty for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the SCBWI fall conference
scheduled September 19-20, 2015. Registration can be found here: Follow this link or type in:https://rmc.scbwi.org
Hi, Kristin.
Thank you for serving
on the faculty for the upcoming RMC SCBWI fall conference and for agreeing to
this interview. I want to let our participants feel like they know you before
you pull into the Marriott’s parking lot, so thank you again for taking time to
answer the following questions:
Here’s some info I
hijacked off Kristin’s website:
Kristin Nelson
Being an avid reader practically since birth,
I’m equally happy reading a Pulitzer prize-winning literary novel for my
book club as I am reading a sexy historical-romance. I established Nelson
Literary Agency, LLC, in 2002 and over the last decade+ of my career, I’ve
represented over thirty-five New York Times bestselling titles
and many USA Today bestsellers. Although I’m a very nice
Midwesterner, I’ve heard through the grapevine that editors call me “a
hard-working bulldog agent that will fight for you.” What a compliment!
When not busy selling books, I’m quite sporty. I attempt to
play tennis and golf. I also love playing Bridge (where I’m the youngest person
in the club). On weekends my husband Brian and I can be found in the mountains
hiking with our 12-year old rat terrier, Chutney.
I’m looking for a good story well told. How you tell
that story doesn’t need to fit in a neat little category. For specifics, check
out the examples on the SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES page, follow the clear directions posted there, then
submit a query directly to:
Kristin was one of the first agent bloggers, and her blog
PubRants is still going strong. You can visit her site at: http://nelsonagency.com/pub-rants/
ICE BREAKER: Where is your favorite hiking spot in
Colorado (and does Chutney love it, too)?
 |
| Kristin and Chutney |
KN:
Ha! If I revealed it, then it would probably no longer become a favorite spot! J However, I can say that I love the country and the hikes around
Crested Butte. Everywhere you look, it’s scenic. And there are literally a 100
hikes to do and all worthy.
1.
On your blog PubRants,
you post an article titled #querywin A
Middle Grade Novel Sparks Memory. You talk about how you requested a full
manuscript from an author, because you were instantly captured by the voice of
the narrator. You say, “As I was reading, it made me recall exactly the
way I thought when I was that character’s age. And I had forgotten that I had
felt that way when I was that age. Right there, that’s brilliant writing at
work.” I assume that voice was in the few pages of the
manuscript submitted, not in the query itself. Am I correct? KN: This is kind of a yes and no question. Because for our
submission guidelines, we ask for a query letter and the first 10 pages of the
manuscript within the query email itself. That way if the query captures me,
I’ll read the opening pages. If the opening pages grab me, then I’ll request
the full. So it was the sample pages within the query that caught my attention.
Secondly,
what are a few additional #querywin tips? I know your blog covers query tips in
depth (everyone should read Kristin’sblog!)
and you tweet tips regularly at #NLAquerytip, but for purposes here, please
provide a few of your favorite quick pieces of advice beyond rookie stuff like spelling
(Kristin, not Kristen), personalization (Dear Kristin, not Dear Agent), and how
authors should please (PLEASE) read submissionguidelines.
KN: My pleasure! Here is my quick and dirty secret to writing a
terrific query letter.
1. Nail the pitch.
2. Know that the pitch is not a summary of your entire novel. In fact,
you only need to look to the first 30 pages of the manuscript to craft your query
pitch paragraph. The writer’s inciting incident should happen within those
first 30 pages. [The inciting incident is the plot element that happens that
starts the story forward. Without it, there would be no novel. Note I say it’s
a plot element. Not a theme. Not a character.]
3. Craft the pitch paragraph around that inciting incident.
4. Last but not least, the pitch should read like a teaser blurb you’d
find on the back cover of a book jacket (or on the inside flap if reading a
hardcover).
2.
You have been an early pioneer in many
activities—taking your agency paperless (before it was the
 |
| This month's featured digital book |
cool thing to do),
blogging, tweeting—those activities may be common now, but you were one of the
first. It seems you’re a trailblazer again with the digital arm of your agency.
Please give us a brief education about this direction.
KN: The short story: in 2011, several of my authors were having
their rights reverted to them and wanted to get the material back out there but
didn’t have an easy avenue to do so. That’s originally why we created NLA
Digital LLC. It’s a supported environment that helps our clients self-publish
their backlist content. In the last couple of years, that platform has now
morphed to help our clients self-publish frontlist materials—some of which were
shopped to traditional publishers and weren’t bought.
In 2014, we expanded NLA Digital LLC once again to allow successful
indie authors such as Carly Phillips and Ava Miles to come on board as guest
clients and have access to the lucrative Library market through NLA Digital.
One key difference to know is that NLA Digital is not a publisher.
Authors and clients are not granting any rights to us. They maintain full
control of their rights at all times. We simply provide access and a supported
environment to digitally self-publish and to have a Print-on-Demand edition
available.
Our clients and guest authors, on average, make $3000-5000 a month
in royalties from self-publishing through NLA Digital. Some make over 10k a
month.
Nice work if you can get it, right? It’s a solid living completely
outside of traditional publishing.
 |
Misty The Proud Cloud
by Hugh Howey |
3. Your client list
in the children’s category shows you represent writers of Young Adult and Upper
Middle Grade novels (and you do not take queries for nonfiction or for
memoirs).
 |
| SHIFT by Hugh Howey |
If
you have a client who writes YA and picture books, would you represent those
picture books, or would that client find a different agent for those sales? KN: I would definitely rep them and have done so. Hugh Howey
did a picture book last year. It’s just that I won’t take on a NEW client with
that project.
How
many queries did you receive last year, and of those, how many new clients did
you sign?
KN: Over 36,000 queries last year. I only took on one client. But
this year, I’ve taken on three so far.
4.
How much importance do you place on
authors needing a social media platform, and if you consider a platform
extremely important, which forms of social media do you recommend? KN: For me, it’s all about the writing. If the writing is
wonderful, it’s easy enough to help someone to build a platform or social media
presence. That part is not rocket science. J
5.
I recently attended the SCBWI
International conference in California where Wendy Loggia peppered a panel of editors
with a series of questions (you may have a leg up on these questions, since you
were in the audienceJ).
I’m asking you and all members of our RMC faculty to pretend they’re on that
California panel—picture Los Angeles, the sun warms your face, and you’re about
to dash out to the pool bar and order something exotic, but first you must dazzle
the audience with answers to the following questions:
a. What hooks you in a manuscript? KN: Losing myself in the writer’s unique voice.
b. What
turns you off when reading a manuscript? KN: Writing that isn’t quite ready for an agent to read. And
remember, I’m not saying the writer won’t ever be ready, just that he/she isn’t
there quite yet. Writing is a craft and can take years to master.
c. What’s
on your #MSWL (for those of you on Twitter, #MSWL is where agents and editors
post their Manuscript Wish List)? KN: I honestly have
no idea. Not until I start reading that special novel. Then wham, the
realization hits that this is the one I’ve been waiting for. For example, when
I took on Stacey Lee for UNDER A PAINTED SKY, I certainly didn’t have in mind
that I needed a young adult historical western with two girls cross-dressing as
boys to disguise themselves on the Oregon Trail. That would never have come up
on a #MSWL! I didn’t know I wanted it until I started reading. Then I couldn’t
live without it.
Kristin is looking for a good story well told.
How you tell that story doesn’t need to fit in a neat little category. For
those looking for more specifics, the below might be helpful:
- Young-adult and
upper-level middle-grade novels in all subgenres
- Big
crossover novels with one foot squarely in genre
(Wool, The
Night Circus, Gone Girl)
- Literary
commercial novels
(Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Major Pettigrew’s Last
Stand, The Art of Racing in the Rain)
- Upmarket
women’s fiction
(Keepsake, My
Sister’s Keeper, Still Alice)
- Single-title
romance (historicals especially)
(Ravishing
The Heiress, The Ugly Duchess, The Heir)
- Lead
title or hardcover science fiction and fantasy
(Soulless, Game
of Thrones, Old Man’s War)
Please remember that I do not look at submissions
for nonfiction, memoir, screenplays, short-story collections, poetry, children’s
picture books or early reader chapter books, or material for the
Christian/inspirational market.
Submission Guidelines
Please note that NLA’s submission
guidelines have changed!
Please remember that submissions are accepted via
email only. Because all queries and submissions are tracked (in case a
response needs to be resent), no queries by snail mail, phone, in
person, or through social media, including Facebook and Twitter.
How to submit your email query:
1. Start
by making sure NLA represents the type of project you’ve written. See
details outlined below.
2. Open a
new email and address it to querykristin@nelsonagency.com.
3. In the
subject line, write QUERY and the title of your project. This will
help ensure that your query isn’t accidentally deleted or caught in our
spam filter.
4. In the
body of your email, include a one-page query letter about your project
followed by the first ten pages of your manuscript.
5. No
attachments please! Because of virus concerns, emails with attachments are
deleted unread.
How to Send to Kristin
Response Time
I read
and respond by email to each and every query sent to me. Expect a quick
response to queries (within 5 days). Occasionally, it may take longer.
If
you have not received a response after two weeks, then something might have
gone astray in the cyber world. Is your email account still active? Are emails
to you being spam-filtered? My reply to you might have bounced or been deleted.
You might want to resend your email query.
If
you have submitted sample pages to our submission database per our request,
please remember that a response can take up to two months. As with queries, I
will email my response to sample pages electronically, so keep an eye on your
spam folder.
We all know kids
love CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS and the CHARLIE JOE JACKSON books. But why? And furthermore, why are these
books embraced by the reluctant reader far and wide? I propose it’s because they’re
packed with quick and engaging page turns, chapters with ample white space, and because
THEY ARE FUNNY.
Another book for the reluctant reader
recently crossed my path, and trust me—it will make kids “crack” a smile,
especially with a name like THE BUM BOOK. Authors Dawko and Ditz, and
illustrator Cartoon Dave promise “…piles of poopy poems, cheeky cartoons and a
butt-load of other stuff that will crack you up!” Maybe lines like this have you chuckling, or
perhaps this is not your personal choice for humor—but put your taste aside for
a moment and consider the notion that a book like this may be the key to engage an unwilling
reader. It's the perfect propaganda to win over another library attendee (insert evil-villain laughter here). Furthermore, there’s some literary merit, after all—Dawko and Ditz
include a poem on using the thesaurus (of course their goal is to look
up other ways to say “bottom” “butt” and “kiester”, but still).
The book includes fun illustrations and write-in activities like connect the long-lost bum (hobo) to their bum (rump). It
also includes the all-important list—Twelve Things to Know About Bums—that's worth
the price of the book alone!
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