Up Close & Personal: Workshops, Events, & other Services

I am looking forward to working one on one, for a full day with authors during our upcoming Up Close and Personal workshop. 

If you haven't already heard, my Literary Powerhouse Partner, Jo Ann Kairys, and I are offering a full day workshop in her beautiful home on October 20th to specifically help authors ready their submissions package to Agents and Editors. 

This workshop is a one of the kind exclusive workshop, and I think that it will be a lot of fun! In a setting like this, we will not only get to know the author's work and focus on what they need, but we will also get to talk about the industry, learn how to build a platform and market books, how things work, and most importantly, we'll get to know each other! 

The setting will be intimate, so space is very limited. If you would be interested in spending the day with us talking about your work (style, plot, voice, arc, etc.), from query, synopsis, and proposal, to selling your book, and everything  in between, this workshop is for you. 

I think that Jo Ann and I are in an incredibly good position to help authors save money and time that is often misspent in this process, and improve their trajectory directly toward success. 

During my agenting years, and even before that, I have heard of too many stories of mistakes authors make that they wish they could take back. But these can be avoided with proper research when you find qualified professionals to help you. Whether it is us at Literary Powerhouse, or an editor, a consultant, or even an attorney, you need to know that your new hire is qualified to deliver what you need to help you succeed in this industry.

I have added a tab to this blog in order to start sharing the events and workshops offered at Literary Powerhouse, as well as the events that I will be hosting and attending as a Literary Agent. We have many upcoming workshops offered by instructors who are industry experts that are especially great at what they do. These will be added and updated periodically, so if you can't find what you're looking for, please visit the Events page on the LitPow site. Also be sure to sign in for announcements. 

Please note that as a literary agent, I can review your work to consider representing it. In such capacity, and through the Corvisiero Literary Agency neither I nor my agents will ever charge any fees for reviewing or considering your work, nor for advice that we share during conferences, live chats and other events. If you seek to participate in workshops, have work edited or critiqued, etc. you may find these services at Literary Powerhouse Consulting. For legal services and contract reviews, take a look at Corvisiero Law. 

This separability of services is carefully crafted to ensure that all services offered by me and my staffs are clearly delineated and ethically offered to clients. The goal is to maintain proper guidelines as to how work is submitted, accepted, and only when appropriate- billed. An agent should never charge you fees for reading, and they can not require a payment from you to hire an editor to fix your work. It's okay for them to tell you that you need to edit your manuscript before it goes out, but they shouldn't be charging clients fees for such editing after they've agreed to represent it as an agent. 

On the other hand, there is a persistent trend whereby many agents are now finally offering their expertise for hire. In other words, you can hire an agent as a consultant, or for specific services such as coaching, editing or critiques for a fee. This has become increasingly acceptable as long as the fee is not a prerequisite for getting your work reviewed and considered by them. So take advantage of these opportunities, because no one knows the industry better than agents and editors. 

Happy Learning!

~Marisa

Submissions: Package Yourself!

People often ask me why I still attend a number of conferences every year, and how I find the time to do it. Finding the time is the difficult part for me, every time I leave the office and home for a number of days it feels like it all goes to hell in a hand-basket. The why part of this question, however, is the easy part.

I attend conferences for the same many reasons why I offer workshops and do live chats on a regular basis, and why I founded the LitPow Writer's Network Group... its because I enjoy it. I find meeting authors to be very fruitful. These types of interactions give me the unique opportunity to help and and nurture authors, many of whom later become wiser, more knowledgeable and skilled clients. It also allows me to develop relationships with writers that I enjoy working with, and it gives me a chance to get to know them before they actually become clients.

I often say that taking on a client in this business is a lot like choosing a winner on American Idol. Each meeting, interaction and step in the submission process is an episode in the competition. When we find someone who writes well, most agents will also look for the whole package. Can the person write? Are they creative? Do they have more books in them? Are they articulate and presentable? Are they industry and technology savvy? Will they work hard to build a platform or following and push their sales? Are they a good fit for the agency and good to work with? Etc. 

And yes, even though the work always speaks for itself,  to be very successful in the publishing business seasoned agents and publishers will often look for authors that offer the whole package.  It is therefore imperative that as an author you work on all of these things that would make you more marketable, while you continue to hone your craft and prepare yourself to present it all in that neat little package all wrapped up with a bright red ribbon.
This is in no way intended to discourage any author who may be insecure about any of their attributes. I am not sharing these words with you to tell you that you will not succeed if you are not hot stuff. I'm posting this to tell authors what to be prepared for, and to reiterate the importance of paying special attention to how you present, or 'Package,' yourself when you submit your work to be considered for representation or for acquisition by a publisher. 

What I'm saying is that with the proper presentation of yourself and your work, your chances of getting the call and a publishing contract will increase exponentially. 

The proverbial package is comprised of you and your work. These are the things that you are 'selling' when you pitch to an agent or editor. The literal package, however, is made up of the things that you will submit in paper (or electronically) for consideration- query letter, synopsis or proposal, and your manuscript.

Query letters, as short as they are, are considered to be the key to the doorway. Your letter must always be professional, concise, catchy, contain all of the information that is needed by the reviewer to assess your work, and present you in the best light as the foundation of that project. If the foundation is week, anything that is added on top will be more likely to crumble. So when you're preparing your Query, be sure to think about the things mentioned above that agents and editors are looking for, and try to give them what they are looking for. 

Once you've done your best with your letter (and manuscript), I strongly recommend that you have your peers or a consultant critique it and give you constructive criticism. It's always a good idea to participate in workshops, do your research, and to go to conferences to help you prepare. 

A literary consultant or coach will also help you prepare your package - or should we say to package yourself, before you are ready to send things out. A good consultant will also be able to help you with the actual novel, from editing to classifying it, to telling you whom to pitch it to and how. Be sure to research anyone you find before you hire them and ask for recommendations when applicable. 

Next month, my Literary Powerhouse Consulting (LitPow) partner, Jo Ann Kairys and I are offering a full day workshop called UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. During this exclusive workshop we will be helping a handful of authors with their submission packages, pitch preparation, marketing know-how, etc. LitPow, Writer's Digest and other great companies offer many terrific workshops that are awesomely helpful and usually fun. 

These types of workshops and attending conferences are instrumental to helping authors prepare themselves and their work for success, and often facilitate introductions to agents and publishers that you would otherwise not have access to. So find a conference or a workshop near you (or online) to help you get ready for submissions and on your way to success.
Happy Packaging! And Happy Autumn!
~Marisa

On Editing: That's THE WORST Advice I've Ever Heard!

The topic of Editing came up in a recent discussion in a LinkedIn author's group that I belong to. The members discussed their issues with editing, finding editors, and how difficult it is to edit one's work. Somehow this conversation was concluded when some members stated that agents and publishers would help the author edit their work. A person in particular said that as long as you do the best you can, they can't really expect more from you and that Agents and Publishers would help you get your work ready for publication.

Although that sounds like sound advice, it is the WORST advice I've ever heard! The statement is accurate in that you should hand in the best possible work you are capable of producing, and it is true that the publishing house will assign an editor to work with you to get the ms ready, BUT this statement is hugely misleading. Why? because doing your best for most authors may not mean that your work is ready for publishing... and all that it will get you is many rejection letters and waste your time. 

This was my response to the group: 

I'm a literary agent and have seen a truly wide scope of editing skills from the almost perfect Manuscript to things that I can't even read past page 2. I will tell you though that there are many editing services out there and consulting sources such as Literary Powerhouse that will really help you when you feel that you can't trust anyone else with your baby. 

However, I respectfully disagree with comments that editing is no longer needed. If you get a sub par manuscript to an agent, they will decline it and tell you that it is not ready. If you are fortunate enough that an agent will take it on, they may then turn around and tell you that you need to hire an editor to get it ready to be sent out to publishers...*

It is true that when the work gets to an editor they will work with you to edit the work, but this does not mean that they will help you get the manuscript ready. More often than not, this means that they want specific changes that they think will make the book more marketable, and if the MS requires lots of editing they will decline it because it's "too much work"... I'm just relaying this from personal experience and it doesn't mean that this is always the case, but I've been around long enough to know that bad editing is distracting to those of us who read a lot, and often just can't make the time to take something on that isn't ready to be put out there. 

* I would like to Note that forcing clients to hire editors after we take them on is not our policy at the Corvisiero Literary Agency. We do not take on work that needs extensive edits. If we love a concept, but the work isn't ready, we ask for a rewrite. We do not force clients to hire paid editors.

My advice is simple. Yes, do your best always, before anyone sees your work. Then give it to an experienced writer, or professional editor, to clean it up and catch the things that you would just skim over. Lets face it, after you've read your work a million times, your eyes do tend to miss things. Attend conferences and workshops to learn tricks and get professional critiques of your work. You are never too good to continue to hone and improve your skills. After the editor has had a go at it, and you've incorporated all of your learnings into the manuscript, you then give it to a hand full of qualified beta readers to give you unbiased (and free) critiques. These things can be done in any order that works best for you.

Once you've considered all the comments that you were given and made the necessary improvements, then you can say that you've truly done your best with this project, and that it is ready for submission. Doing your best means improving your knowledge and skills, and having professionals and savvy colleagues help you. It does not mean that you write a novel, and look it over, and whala, you're ready to send it in.  It means that you must do anything in your power to get that work to be the best that it can possibly be. 

This will make the difference between a rejection letter and a publishing contract.

Happy editing!

~Marisa

Authors Behaving Badly Part II: Oh My GOD! Who is this diva!? And how did I end up here?...

I'd like to start by giving a special thank you to everyone who responded so positively to my last post. You are all right, when you say that I should not have wasted my time with that impolite author, and that my time would have been better spent with someone who would be more receptive to help. Unfortunately, I don't always know how people will react. Though there are often signs of the evil ego monster within popping out with ready tentacles, sometimes people do surprise me. So I make the decision to give my time on a case by case basis, when I have something to say. Even if in the back of my mind I know that it may not go well, I can still sleep at night knowing that the author did not fail because I failed her. As a person in the business with some knowledge to share, I often feel like I have a duty to say something to nudge people in the right direction. Actually, I'm like this with everything... my family and friends can attest to my pesty opinionated ways. ;) Sometimes it's welcome, sometimes it isn't... and that the way it is.

Now to more Author's behaving badly. As I was writing the prior post, my mind kept going back to one of the first writers I ever worked with. She was friend who used to be semi famous at one point in her younger version, and she carried this sense of entitlement with her thereafter even though it is no longer, if ever, warranted. This friend is an author, whom I met years back when I was writing my first book. We shared manuscripts and helped each other out. When I started agenting, she was one of the first people to submit work to me. Knowing her work and being a friend, naturally I took her on right away.

She wanted me to represent (sell) a novel that I had not read yet. Now let me preface this by telling you that when I first started agenting, Chuck Sambucchino featured me on his Writer's Digest blog. Because of Chuck's introduction and other things that I was working on, I was quickly flooded with 200 queries per day for a while. It was a lot of work, and it was all so new. Needless to say, I was busy and overwhelmed. So when my friend submitted her 'new' manuscript to me, it took me a while to read it. When I say a while I mean a few weeks, which by any standards is not long at all. Sometimes it takes a year for us to get to a manuscript because of the crazy volume.

The day after I got the said manuscript, the client sent me a message asking if I'd had a chance to start reading the manuscript. I responded that I had not, and that it would probably be a few days. After a few days she called me to see what I thought of the manuscript. I apologized to her and explained that I had not had a chance to get started on it yet because of all of the submissions that I was going through and other things that I was working on. She was a bit put off by this, and reminded me that I had agreed to read it and had told her that I would read it in a few days. After patiently telling her that I would do my best, we ended the call.

A week later, I had started the manuscript but had not finished it yet. When I started reading it, to my surprise, the manuscript was sub par and just not ready for publishing. So I started making comments to the ms as I went along to try to help her fix it. Of course, this meant that the reading was going even slower than usual because I was now putting together a critique, if not editing her work. I was about half way through when I received her e-mail inquiring as to the status again. I did not respond right away because I was diligently making head way. When I responded I told her that the ms would need editing. She was not happy to say the least. Upon reading the e-mail she called my office and left a 'not so nice' message with my assistant, basically saying that I should have been done by now and why would she need editing when she herself helps others edit their work for a living!

Yikes! "Seriously?" I asked Alexis at the time, who said that the client was rude to her. I called her back right away and said, "What's going on? Why are you so upset?" I said a couple of things about Alexis' reaction to her attitude that she did not acknowledge at all and instead went right into telling me how to manage my time! She said that I should have been able to read the full manuscript in three seatings of about an hour each.

I took a deep breath and explained to her about all of the work that I was putting into her manuscript and that I had bypassed all of the submissions and other manuscripts in queue to be read so that I could speed up her process. I also explained that I wasn't speed reading her novel, that fantasy novel of this length (about 115K words) normally takes about 8 hours without the comments/edits.

The only part of her response worth repeating, so that you know how far she actually took this, is "Just remember Marisa, I'm the talent, and you're working for me..."

Oh My GOD! Who is this diva!? and how did I end up here?...

Well, if you know anything about me, by now I have smoke coming out of my ears. This time I didn't even bother with the deep cleansing breath. This time I just calmly said to her. "I completely understand how you feel now. And I want you to know that I have finished reading your manuscript." At hearing this was happily says, "Oh finally!"

Ignoring the comment and feeling more resolute I added, "So I have good news and bad news." Without giving her a chance to say anything I continued, "The book needs editing, but with the comments I made for you on the draft you should be able to fix it, and have a good book."

Still clueless that she'd behaved so poorly with me and my assistant, she says, "Great, that's all you needed to do." (What?!) "So what's the bad news?" Her complete lack of awareness and egocentrism gave me that little extra kick to not even buffer the blow for her. "I will not be representing this book or you as your agent," I finally said.

Believe it or not, she was shocked. Especially when I explained the reasons to her. In a nice way I told her that our personalities would not work well together and that I didn't appreciate her attitude toward my assistant, me, or her disregard for my time. I told her that my goal was to work with clients who understand the business and appreciate my efforts, skills, and opinion.

After this incident she has begged for me to read her work again, and to take her on as a client several times. Unfortunately, now I know her true colors and the bridge had burned to the ground. It's not going to happen.

What this person failed to understand is that, no matter who you are, your agent is your partner. She or he will help you, guide you, share information, and when your work is ready, sell it for you. In the mean time, the agent isn't really working for you. Yes, your agent is accountable for her actions, but it doesn't mean that you get to boss them around or make demands. If that were the case, you'd be paying us on an hourly basis for all of the hours spent on your work. But you're not. When we sell the book we both earn money. This is something that many people fail to understand. Shows like Entourage and others showing how movies stars treat their agents are very misleading. That isn't always the reality, especially in publishing.

 The moral of this lengthy story? In short, as my mother used to tell me, "always treat people the way you'd want to be treated". Appreciate their work, their time, their feelings. No one owes you anything, and you must earn what you get... and even then, it's no excuse to behave badly.

Happy behaving!

~Marisa

Authors Behaving Badly: How authors miss opportunities to learn and connect

The other day my Agency received a query that was, lets say, subpar. It was lacking in format, skill, and organization. The author did not follow any of the rules for writing a good Query letter. It included marketing plan information, and failed to tell us the genre and word count of the manuscript. Not to mention that the plot was barely comprehensible within all the self-proclaiming accolades and an endorsement from Chloe, the manager of a Barns & Noble. 

My Agents declined this query by telling the author that his story is not what we are looking for at this time. Naturally, this clever author wrote back a two page e-mail about how short sighted agents are and that our agency is typical, and callous, etc, etc, etc.... sigh

This made me unhappy on multiple levels. First let me say that we at the Corvisiero Literary Agency seriously, and often to a fault, try to help authors as much as possible. Unfortunately, given the volume of queries that we receive, it isn't possible to tell every single author exactly why they are declined and how to fix the shortcomings. So it is inevitable that not everyone will be satisfied. 

However, once in a while, someone comes along with an inferiority complex and upon rejection they go beyond the, "I'll get this published with out you" disgruntled response. This week we had one of these such incidents... The author wrote back a fairly obnoxious letter addressed to me personally... so naturally I had to respond. 

...Well, I didn't have to, and most of my colleagues and clients think that I'm crazy for taking the time to address these things, but I guess that this is part of what makes me. I like to help people. So I wrote the following response:

Dear John,

It has come to my attention that your story was declined by our agency because it does not fit our list. When an agency says this to you, it simply means that we either are not looking for your type of story at this time because they are not selling, or because we have too many of them, or it means that we don't like how you presented it- meaning that the story itself did not sound interesting. I am personally writing to you because you and I had previously communicated, and after seeing this, I am honestly upset that my agents failed to notice that from your query and that you received such generic response.

Unfortunately, when we work with thousands of stories, it is sometimes difficult to provide as much feedback to each deserving author. I'm sorry about that. I think that your skill has potential and that the story could be interesting. And given different circumstances, I would have liked to read your work. However, after reading your e-mail I have to say that I'm dejected by the disparaging tone of response. I'm sorry that you are disappointed, but publishing is a tough business and we as the readers of your work, and the people who will enthusiastically sell that work, have to choose things to represent that truly touch us, appeal to us, and capture our interest. Reading thousands of manuscripts per year otherwise would be torture! Also, there are several books out or about to be released with a common theme (from what we gathered from your query) in the market. So that's the reason why would not it add you to our list. 

On another note, your query also lacked the formalities of standard query letters. The format made it difficult to assess the value of your story or understand the plot and genre from what you wrote. Your blurb sounds like a synopsis and it is difficult to understand. You also don't have a catch phrase, a genre, or word count. I'm sorry to say that your query letter will not help you get this book represented. You're right about the marketing comment, but wrong to have included all of that info in your letter. The query letter is not a proposal. And no one will pay any attention to Chloe from Barns & Noble's comments even if she thinks that you are the new Stephen King. Choose the words carefully. Remember that less is more. If you go to WritersDigest.com, LiteraryPowerhouse.com, and my blog you will find lots of tips and workshops available that will help you work on this. I hope that this is helpful to you. 

Best of Luck!

Marisa

So how would you react if you received this letter? Would you be satisfied with the answer? Would you go look up the suggested resources? Would you ask how you could change your letter to make this more interesting? Would you take advantage of having the agent's ear and ask if you could fix it and resubmit it? Would you appreciate that the agent took the time to read all of the correspondence and replied to you even though you were so rude to her without knowing that she hadn't even been the one to decline your work? 

I guess I'm still too gullible, because these are the sort of responses I expected. Instead, I received an even longer e-mail from this 'gentleman' with disparaging words and commentary about how he is so much smarter than agents and that all we have to do is decide to sell something to actually sell it, and that we don't have to love the book!

These are the only 2 out of 27 bullet point comments that I had the patience to read in this letter before responding to him, this time with a much shorter response which basically told him that he has too much time on his hands, and that he should better utilize that time to learn to write a query letter. 

Alright, alright... this time I wasn't polite at all... I also told him, "get off your high horse, it has stiff legs and it will get you NO where." 

Then I marked him as Spam. So he will never get a chance to resubmit to our agency again. Although this should be as satisfying as 'defriending' someone on Facebook, it wasn't. It was bitter sweet. 

It made me sad actually, because this author, with a potentially good story, is wasting his time on fighting back the decline letters instead of learning from the feedback. This means that he will have a very hard time selling his work, or even getting it read, simply because he is too proud to take a step back and reconsider his query letter. He looks down upon and resents agents, and does not understand the business. His inflexible attitude and bad behavior are his proverbial horse. 

In my case, it's just as well, because clearly he is not the type of person I want to work with. And I'm not alone in this thinking. In fact, not many of my colleagues would have bothered to reply at all. But I am who I am, and I hope that one day my feedback will help someone get that right agent or that big deal. 

My advice to you is to learn from anyone qualified who is willing to help. Don't get caught up in your feelings of rejection. Use every contact as an opportunity to move forward. Your goal is not to get even, or to get the last word in. Your goal is to get published... that's when you get the last word! ;)

All my best,

Marisa

It's in the Details: Mastering the little things to hook the big fish

You've heard the expression, "It's in the details." Although it is important to see the big picture and to have set goals, I find that the details to getting a novel published are just as important, and often more difficult, for authors to master.

The details I'm referring to are the things that many authors don't know anything about before they set out to write a novel...things like writing a query letter, researching and pitching to an agent, finalizing their manuscript, preparing their synopsis or proposal, following etiquette in all of the above, etc.

How do authors learn how to do and prepare all of these things to get their work noticed and published? The answer is dedication, skill, and research. They can read multiple books on each one, attend conferences, join writer's critique and networking groups, hire a consultant, etc. All of these methods are good and should not be ignored as sources of great value. 

In order to help authors with their preparation process, I have started offering workshops and coaching sessions at Literary Powerhouse Consulting. Last month I offered a video chat Query Critique workshop, during which we read author's pre-submitted query letters and critiqued them. We engaged in several very fruitful discussions about the issues as they came up, and the participants were able to ask questions and provide input as we went along. Four of my agents in training also participated and provided some wonderful insights! Overall it was a great success. So much so, that I'm already planing the next one.

This week we are offering the HOW TO FIND AND KEEP THE RIGHT LITERARY AGENT Workshop. This workshop will also be an interactive video chat, where we will go through everything from when one should start submitting their work, to how to get the work ready, how to research agents, what agents do, to how to get their attention, and much more. This workshop will be a key opportunity for writers not only to learn a great deal of information, but to learn it directly from literary agents.

Due to high demand, I will be scheduling these two workshops again in the near future. They will be listed in the Events/Workshop Calendar on the LitPow and Corvisiero Literary Agency sites. I have a number of other very useful workshops in mind that will teach authors everything they need to know before submitting their work to an agent or editor for consideration. We call these workshops the "IT'S IN THE DETAILS SERIES," and promise to post their descriptions on the website as soon as possible. I will make announcements when they are up, or you can check in periodically. 

I do hope that you make the time to check these out, and continue to learn as much about the publishing industry as you do about your writing! 

Happy Learning!

~Marisa

The Corvisiero Hierarchy

Our new Literary Agency is flourishing. Our staff has grown since March and we plan on more expansions as everyone finds their place and are ready to take on more active roles. You may have read that we have created a new hierarchy that is unique in the industry. We now have a position called Agent Apprentice. The Agent Apprentice position is one step below that of the Jr. Agent. Both positions mean that the Agent is in training. The only difference is that an Apprentice is not representing his or her own clients just yet. We have also been fortunate enough to be joined by three wonderful interns who are so clever, industrious, skilled and hardworking that I'm sure will do very well as Agents soon.

Thanks to a lot of hard work, excellent prospects, and a magnificent staff, I am happy to say that things are starting to work like a well oiled machine. We have reviewed and responded to many many queries, taken on some wonderful new talent, sold many books; and we are in the process of pitching many clients and reviewing lots of manuscripts.

If you submitted a manuscript to us since March, or to me before that, and have not heard back yet, that is probably good news. It means that your work is still being considered. It may also mean that it was lost to spam or during the transition from the L. Perkins Agency to the new agency. If you submitted before March and have not heard back from us at all, you may want to resubmit your work. Please take a look at our submission guidelines before ever sending in your work to make sure that the agent you want to target is taking queries. For more information about our growing staff and our clients, please visit our website at Corvisiero Literary Agency.

We are also offering occasional workshops through Literary Powerhouse Consulting, so be sure to check those out. I'm teaching a few myself! You can still sign up for the "How to Find and Keep the Right Literary Agent" Workshop by e-mailing us or follow the instructions on the site.

If you haven't already, you should join the LitPow Writer's Network Group. My staff from the agency and from LitPow are there on a daily basis, and host genre specific Live Chats almost weekly. This week we had a Romance Writer's chat with more than 700 comments! Next week we're hosting the YA Thursday Chat. See the Workshop and Events Schedule on the LitPow site. We'd love for you to join us.

So that's all for updates... for now. Next blog post will be a substantive one about Publishing Contracts...

Happy writing and reading!
Marisa

Brenda Novak's Annual Auction for the Cure of Diabetes 2012

Every year Best Selling Author Brenda Novak and her Co Sponsors organize an Online Auction for Diabetes Research. Since the foundation's inception Brenda has raised over $1.3 million dollars through these auctions, and donated all the proceeds towards research for the cure of diabetes. This year, I have had the pleasure of being personally acquainted with Brenda through a wonderful mutual friend, Pierce Mattie of Pierce Mattie Public Relations and was invited to help out.

Through The Corvisiero Law Practice, the Corvisiero Literary Agency and Literary Powerhouse Consulting we have gathered our team and clients to offer donations to this great cause.


We are donating the following:

Corvisiero Law- Two Contract Reviews and Legal Entity Formation

Literary Powerhouse- One Hour Consultation

Corvisiero Literary Agency- Two Query Critiques

Cyndi Papia- Website Design with all the bells and whistles

Stacey Donaghy- 50 page Manuscript Critique

Dean Sault- Kindle

Dr. Beverly Adler- Signed copy of her book My Sweet Life: Successful Women with Diabetes

Please go bid on our items!! :) 

Visit Brenda Novak's Annual Auction for the Cure of Diabetes 2012 and contribute to the cause. You will be amazed the the absolutely fantastic and unique gifts that you will find there. This is an amazingly run and sponsored project, and we are very proud to and humbled to be a part of it. Thank you Brenda Novak and Pierce Mattie for making this happen. Best of luck!

We hope that you visit the site and make a bid!

Happy bidding
~Marisa

Literary Agency and LitPow: Up to Speed.

Hey folks... lots going on here! This post started as a brief hello on Facebook this morning, but it as it turned out, I had lots of catching up to do and lots to say... no surprise to anyone on that later note I'm sure ;). I'm sorry that I haven't been been doing as much social media interacting as I'd like, but with the launch of the new Corvisiero Literary Agency, the new Literary Powerhouse Consulting site and the Growth of my law firm The Corvisiero Law Practice, I've been a little occupied.

At the Agency, we are in the process of creating... a process. Yes, lots to do to get the machine going. My two Jr. Agents, Jordy Albert and Brittany Booker, are fabulous and are working the butts off with reviewing queries, reading manuscripts, pitching clients, etc, etc. We have two new interns Stacy Donaghy and Brittany Howard, who are now actively reading manuscripts and have started to get little 'projects'.

I am busy with coordinating, preparing my current clients to sell, and selling. Many of my clients have submitted new project to me too, so I'm busy reading those. I'm also working with some contacts to bring in more talent to the Agency! And are still considering bringing in more interns, but I'm holding off on that because that is still more work for me (in managing). So if you're wondering why I haven't read your ms or why you haven't heard back yet... now you know. As always clients come first. I have lots of work to do with them before I take on new projects. But you should know that in spite of the crazy schedule, I have been reading every day, here and there, and have put some things aside for serious consideration. Some of you reading this may be very happy, very soon ;) Click here to see the Agency's new Facebook Page.

With Literary Powerhouse, my partner JoAnn Kairys are in the process of converting the site to WordPress. We hope that this will enable the site to better merge with current big social media plugins and be easier use, with hopefully less glitches. The membership to the LitPow Portal will soon be FREE for everyone! Yes, this is a big step, but we decided that we can better build a fabulous network on the site if you can all log in freely, share with your social media platform and connect easier with everyone. Our LitPow Facebook Writer's Network has almost reached 300 people in less than a month! Our goal is to have this network commune happily and enjoy all of the resources LitPow offers as soon as the site is functional again. With membership you will be able to use the Forum, the social media platform, chat, e-mail, blog, etc, etc. Then if you wish, you can upgrade ($) your membership to the Literary Membership to access the resources, and PowerTools beyond the Portal. We know that this will work much better for you, and can't wait to do our weekly Live Chats and Workshops on the site. And yes, members get discounts to the Workshops of course!

By the way don't forget that tomorrow is the last Friday of the month, that means that we are doing the Live YA Chat. Check out the site and the LitPow Facebook Page for the time and place! The live Chats by genre schedule will be posted soon. We are doing them on a weekly basis. First week of the month- Romance Wednesdays. Second Week- Thriller Mondays. Third week- SciFi/Fantasy/Paranormal Thursdays. And the last week- YA Fridays.

Oh and #LitPow and #CorvisieroLaw are both now on Twitter too! So be sure to follow us! :)

So yes, busy busy, as always... and just the way I like it. ;)   I'm very exited about all of this, and hope that you all stick with me... because together are going to make success seem like author's play! oxox

~Marisa
@mcorvisiero

Taming the Evil Monster! (Platform)

Guest Blogger: Dean Sault

Countless hours spent revising, editing and polishing your manuscript led to query letters and nerve-racking long waits for responses from those literary gargoyles that regulate admission to traditional publishing houses. In a twisted logic, quick rejections become desirable, providing relief from the mounting anxiety of waiting. Then, it happens! One of the literary agents requests a full manuscript reading and actually likes the story. You’re on cloud nine.

Evil lurks just around the corner, though. You and the agent begin talks about representation, and a contract seems imminent. Suddenly, your surging literary locomotive derails! The agent asks about your “platform.” She warns that publishers want to know your credentials. Without a platform, she claims, they’re not going to accept you as an author. Soaring expectations crash under the evil assault of the platform-monster. Why? Because you have no special platform. You’re commonplace. Perhaps, you’re a stay-at-home mom and wife, or maybe, a lifetime insurance broker who spent twenty years kissing customer asses in order to support the family’s needs.

What are you going to do? Hopes fade.

My commoner examples of a homemaker and insurance agent are not random choices. JK Rowling was a stay-at-home mom, on welfare no less, before she and Harry Potter became household names around the world. Tom Clancy was a boring insurance broker before The Hunt for Red October exploded into the book world. Neither author offered much “platform” for publishing companies to consider.

Let’s strip the frightening fangs from this platform-monster. When a publishing company, or literary agent, asks about your platform, what is the real question lurking behind those ominous, red-glowing eyes staring at you from the literary abyss? It really comes down to, “Can you sell books?” Pretty simple, huh? All platforms boil down to the business of selling books. Publishing companies balance potential for profit against money at risk. They are not philanthropic or not-for-profit agencies. Every aspect of an author’s platform must suggest, or prove by historic results, that the author is a good business gamble.

So, what happens if mythical author, Karen Stoddard, wrote the world’s best romance novel, but this is her first foray into the publishing industry? She has no sales history. She dropped out of college, got married and started a family. Her life experience revolves around PTA meetings, soccer cheering, shopping and wiping noses until her spoiled kids get over their colds. She feels she has no platform to offer an agent.

Is she right?

Depends. Let’s start with her “business” experience. She runs a family. That involves all kinds of valuable skills. When she dropped out of college, she had been a police science major and performed volunteer work as an intern in juvenile hall for extra class credit. PTA meetings forced her to stand up and be heard on school issues. What about leadership skills? Yes--leadership! Turns out, organizing that annual PTA Pancake Breakfast makes her an experienced community leader. Now, let’s re-visit her “platform.”

“Karen Stoddard, author of romance novel, Delinquent Love, offers a background in criminal justice with experience in community leadership. Her management skills include organization, scheduling and public speaking. She looks forward to using her life experience and public persona to actively market her books, both in person, and through active internet promotion.”

Sound better? I will admit I was tempted to add “skilled in hostage negotiations,” but I worried that she might have to explain that it meant negotiating with her 12-year-old son for the return of her 8-year-old daughter’s hidden Barbie doll. That might not quite fly if asked.

Here’s the good news. Everybody HAS a platform. It might take a bit of creativity to identify it, but all the publishing industry wants to know is, “Can you sell books?” It is that simple. And, if you don’t have a rich history of marketing-compatible experiences, then go make some. That’s right. You can build a platform over night. Join Toastmasters or volunteer as a teacher’s helper at school. Set up a volunteer-student daycare program at your local community college. Anything you do to show publishers that you ARE a public figure with community involvement will improve expectations of your book-selling potential.

You can also borrow prestige. I know a woman who writes serial-killer thrillers. She set up an internet-based, discussion group for writers in her genre. She attracted the attention of one of the most well known serial killer profilers who agreed to speak with the group on a regular basis. It’s a big deal! Her platform borrows prestige from this guy’s awesome reputation and obvious endorsement.

Have I defanged the platform monster? While your bio can make or break your marketability to publishing companies, if you understand their motivation, it is much easier to build an acceptable platform. Let’s see, how can I redefine cleaning toilets? I’ve got it! “Extensive knowledge of the Coriolis Effect in the northern hemisphere.” (For those who don’t know, flushed water in the northern hemisphere always circles clockwise. It’s called the Coriolis Effect.)

Visit Dean Sault's Blog - Inside a Writer's Mind: Enter at your own risk.

The Corvisiero Literary Agency

Yesterday was the Grand Opening of the Corvisiero Literary Agency. We would like to give a special thank you to all of you who have sent us good wishes and goodies. We appreciate the support and look forward to many years of service to our literary community. Our goal will always be to find good talent and ideas, to foster both, to make best sellers out of our clients and to help them enjoy the process.

Writing is an art, but it is also a business. A difficult one at that. The publishing industry is influenced by many factors from pop trends, to economic cycles, to technological advances. Our job is to keep abreast of all trends, developments, and demands of the market and connect our talented clients with the right publishers in order to take advantage of such trends, satisfy the demands and utilize the newest technology  to accomplish our goals... which aren't just to sell books, but to spread the wonderful written word. 

The Corvisiero Literary Agency website is now up. We have included agent profiles, submission guidelines and links to our clients' sites and blogs. We also have a fan page on Facebook, are a part of the LitPow Writers' Network Group on Facebook, and participate on the Literary Powerhouse Forum every day for special events. Please feel free to check them all out and stay in touch! 

~ Marisa

Interview Of Marisa: by Sarah Hoss

Interview with Literary Agent, MARISA CORVISIERO

Thank you for stopping by Heart of Romance. You all know that I am a pre-published author. As with anyone, part of my job is to research all aspects of this career. We all have questions we would like to ask an agent and I have been given the opportunity to do just that and I wanted to share this interview with you.

I would like to introduce to you, Literary Agent, MARISA CORVISIERO, of The Corvisiero Literary Agency, New York.

SARAH- Marisa, Thank you for coming to Heart of Romance today!

MARISA- Thanks for having me!  

SARAH-Let me start off with asking what exactly is the job of a Literary Agent?

MARISA- A Literary Agent’s job is to represent an author and his/her work for the purpose of selling it to the best suitable publisher and get the best possible deal. Although the relationship continues, especially when the client writes anther book that the agent agrees to sell, the agent will guide and advice the client and look out for the client’s best interest for as long as that person is a client. Contrary to popular misconceptions, that’s about it. Some of us are more active in our client’s lives and careers, but the agreement is basically that the agent will sell the author’s book.

SARAH- Not only are you a Literary Agent, but you are also a Lawyer. How do the two go hand in hand and does it give you an edge over other agents?

MARISA- My knowledge base, experience, and skills as an attorney come to play every single day in many facets of agenting. My legal knowledge and contract experience helps me with drafting, editing, and negotiating contracts. The analytical and active reading skills make me a good reader, and an organized problem solver. I also have a Bachelors in International Business and Marketing. I feel that part of my education and business experience also give me an edge in making deals, seeing opportunities, helping my clients with different ventures and ideas for placing them into the right markets with the right editors at the right time; and also to help them market and promote their work, expand their platforms, and build their brand.

SARAH- What constitutes a good query letter?

MARISA- A query letter is the cover letter that is sent to Agents to introduce their work and offer their work to the agent for consideration. A letter should be professional and well written. It should contain the genre and word count of the finished work (rounded off to the nearest K); a brief description of the work in one or two paragraphs of 4-5 sentences each at most. The last paragraph should contain relevant information about the author that shows their qualifications or formal writing training, involvement in the industry (conferences, publications, awards, associations, critique groups, etc.), and their platform if it is significant and relevant to the work they are pitching.

SARAH- What tips would you give to a writer starting the querying process?

MARISA- Do your research. Knowing that the agent is taking queries, how they want submissions made, likes the type of work that you are shopping, and is a reputable agent, are key items that you must know to avoid wasting your time. Give your self the best probability of receiving a favorable response.

SARAH- What seems to be the new trend coming in the next year? Werewolves? Pirates?

MARISA- Editors are tired of the Werewolves, Fae, Vampires, cliché superpowers, etc. They are searching high and low for really creative ideas, high concepts, and well developed character driven stories.

SARAH- What do you expect from an author who signs with you?

MARISA- Any author who signs with me needs to be responsive, open minded, professional, respectful and willing to communicate. They need to understand that we will be partners and that together we will have the best chance of achieving success. They need to be willing to do revisions and at least listen to advice and discuss options in a flexible manner. And they need to be willing and able to work their butts off to meet deadlines and do whatever it takes to promote their work.

SARAH- Okay, let’s switch it around. What can an author expect who signs with you?

MARISA- Any author that signs with me can expect to always get my honest opinion, and someone who will be in their corner always looking to propel their careers forward. We will be business partners in this endeavor and both of our goals will always be to get as many books sold as possible. However, they need to understand that as with any other business, a huge part of being successful is to build relationships. So we need to communicate with each other and foster a bond that will help us present a unified front and a professional image. This will help us to create better relationships with our editors, publicists, and readers.

SARAH- With the trend of authors self-publishing, do you see this as a negative for the author who may later decide to try traditional publishing?

MARISA- Although some still believe that self publishing is a negative or a deterrent to becoming a successful author, I will say that the trend has changed a lot in the past few years, and it continues to change. In the past, vanity press was frowned upon. Now, with so many resources and the ease of self publishing in contrast with the time delays and decreased acquisitions by traditional publishers, many more authors have turned to self publishing. Being self published no longer means that the book is just not good enough or that the author is difficult to work with. It may just mean that the author is willing to spend time and money to sell their book and that they are eager to create a following. So the old perceptions are shifting into a more neutral and acceptable plane. I have recently sent out questions to some contacts at NYC top ten traditional houses and all ten told me that if they love the work and the book has been doing well, they will try to acquire it. The magic number for “doing well” is about 5K book sales! That is not an impossible number to achieve today with all of the social marketing and e-book opportunities that cost almost nothing! I always say, “the work speaks for itself”… when the editors love the book, they will usually not turn it down.

SARAH- Jo Ann Kairys and you started a new company called Literary Powerhouse. Please tell us about this new endeavor.

MARISA- Literary Powerhouse is an entity that Jo Ann and I created for authors. The idea of starting this business was an evolution of a demand that each of us was experiencing separately in our jobs. Jo Ann is a children’s book award winning author and a publisher, and like me, she would be constantly approached by people in the industry for advice. So one day during one of our extensive chats about the industry and trends and the lack of homogeneity, consistency, quantifiability, accessibility, and overall practical availability of information that is available in this industry, we decided that we should do something that is helpful and fun for authors. We both agreed that it would also be helpful for us to have one place where we can provide all of these things. So we created Literary Powerhouse Consulting, and started to offer consulting services for anyone that needed it in a professional controlled setting that is separate from our other endeavors and therefore clear of any conflicts or confusion as to what the client could expect.

Then as time went by we started coming up with all of these really useful resources, high tech modules and platforms that we have started to incorporate into our site for the purpose of providing “PowerTools” to folks in the industry that would help them achieve so much more in an efficient and stress free manner. The first thing that we did was put up a Forum. This is an interactive chat board on our site where authors can sign up as free members and enjoy asking questions, posting answers or just reading what others are discussing. We recently added the LitPow Portal. The portal is a literary industry exclusive social media platform that is only available to paid members. Members of the Forum can upgrade these memberships to Literary Memberships at reduced rates to access the Portal where they can use social media platform, chat, e-mail, blog, use the PowerTools and access all of our resources and participate in special events (Weekly chats with agents and editors live, workshops, telecasts, valuable resource lists (publishers, agents, conferences, publicists, contests, reviewers, etc), and tips. We have started filling the portal up with all of these goodies and loading up the PowerTools a little at a time. As we add these things we are working out the glitches and are enjoying the growth and progress the site is making as users have flocked to the site and have been raving about what is up so far. Some of them have no idea that we have so much more planned for them. It’s super exiting!

SARAH- You just started your own Literary Agency. Can you tell us about the plans you have for it and what made you decide to go out on your own?

MARISA- Yes I have finally hung up my own agency shingle. The name is not a very creative one, but it has some recognition- Corvisiero Literary Agency, which I intend to grow into a prominent and quality home for talented agents and authors to succeed together for a long time. Some may say that that’s a smoky answer, but it’s exactly what I mean. I want this agency to be a place that is known for representing excellent work that does well. I want publishers to trust us when we tell them that they have to acquire a certain book. I want authors to know that they will be treated well, with respect and sensitivity to their needs and time. And I want us all to make a happy living while we do what we love!

SARAH- How do you differentiate the two or are they meant to work together?

MARISA- The two entities are completely separate legal entities that provide different services. The agency, as all agencies do, will be a place where authors query their chosen agent to get them to represent their work. In return, we will consider such work as quickly as possible, and if we like it, we will contract the author as a client and do our best to sell their work. There will never be any fees charged to prospective or agented clients for any services rendered. Our agents will earn the industry standard commission of 15% for national sales and 20% of international sales.

In the consulting business our model is different. This business operates much more like a law firm would in that we charge clients fixed fees per project, or on an hourly basis for specific services rendered. If anyone in the industry (an author, agent, publisher, printer, distributors, reviewer, publicists, conference, etc) has a need for a knowledge base or a service to be provided for their projects, or issues they may have encountered, we will give them a proposal illustrating how we can help them and how much it will cost. We often have more than two options in these proposals unless it’s as simple as me critiquing their query and helping them find a good target agent. A more complex project may be editing a manuscript, deciding how to get it published (traditional with an agent, small press, e-pub, or self pub), getting them into brick and mortar stores, helping them apply to the right writing contests, getting them reviews or quotes from people with healthy platforms, and creating a publicity plan. We also help agents organize their submission process; set up publishing companies; design professional websites with blogs, etc. We have a wonderful staff and network that can assist us in many different tasks and projects as the need arise and as budgets permit.

SARAH- Is there anything I haven’t covered that you think would be beneficial to know for authors everywhere?

MARISA- I have type A+ blood. ;) Just kidding…actually it’s true…. But to answer the question, I would love to tell people to check out everything that we offer on our Literary Powerhouse website and become a part of our growing network. We also have a LitPow Writer’s Network group on Facebook that is a lot of fun and a great way to share info with other writers. So far we have about 150 members, including 4 National Best Selling Authors.

SARAH- Last but not least, would you please tell my readers all the places they can find you?

MARISA- Sure! I’m including links… (links omitted by Marisa for brevity)

SARAH- I want to thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today. I know I can speak for all of us when I say that we really appreciate your advice and time. I would like to wish you luck in your future and I hope you have a great rest of 2012!

MARISA- Thank you so much, Sarah. I appreciate the opportunity to share with you and your readers.

This interview was posted on Sarah Hoss' wonderful Blog the Heart of Romance. Check out her blog for an endless array of info and insightful interviews.  http://www.heart-of-romance.blogspot.com/2012/03/interview-with-literary-agent-marisa.html#comment-form

Thanks Sarah!! ox