The Day the Ice Cream Died

Irv Robbins, founder of Baskin-Robbins and co-creater of franchising, passed away yesterday.

A Galley, a Proof, and an ARC Walked Into a Bar

Once a book is completed and edited, proofs, galleys, or advanced reader copies (ARCs) are typically distributed to book buyers, reviewers, book sellers, sales representatives, and magazines to assist in the marketing and sale of the work. Both advanced proofs and galleys will typically include a summary, author biography, and helpful marketing information on the back cover, and they are released three to six months in advance of publication.

Though the terms ARC, proof, and galley are often used interchangeably, at one time there were distinct differences between them. Galleys were only used in the editing process and were typically low quality black and white photocopies. Proofs were typeset copies that may or may not have artwork that were distributed to reviewers and booksellers to promote the book. ARCs were finished copies that were sent out early for promotion purposes.

Today the differences between the three terms are less clear. The term ARC now appears to be used as a synonym for a proof, leaving only galleys distinguishable because they are typically printed in black and white and without any artwork.

There is a thriving market online for galleys and proofs, which frustrates many authors since edits might still occur before the book is released. These edits might be limited to spelling, but there could also be factual errors that are fixed or substantive editorial changes. In addition, authors don't receive any royalties for the sale of the galleys and ARCs.

Expat Harem on The Today Show

Congratulations to Tales From the Expat Harem authors Anastasia Ashman and Jennifer Gokmen, who appeared on The Today Show last Thursday as part of the Where in the World of Matt Lauer? feature.

My Job Description

My duty as a literary agent is to represent my clients to the best of my ability, and by and large this entails selling the rights to their works.

I do not believe that reading queries and providing feedback is part of my job description (and since I'm my own boss, I'm the final arbitrator of this). I've provided query guidance in the past on this blog, but only as a means so that I get better queries, and I read queries for a single purpose- to get clients in order to sell the rights to their works.

But no matter how irritated I might get over the really, really bad ones (see my post from last Tuesday), I will still respond to every query sent to me through my website, and if rejecting will continue to convey my "this is not for me" response. I do this for three reasons: 1) so that writers will continue to be encouraged to query me in the future; 2) in the hope that writers will treat me with the same professionalism that I treat them; and 3) good karma.

I hope this reassures any aspiring writer out there who thought I might release a tirade of abuse upon them when receiving their query.

Edgar Winners Announced

Best Novel
Down River by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best First Novel by an American Author
In the Woods by Tana French (Viking)

Best Paperback Original
Queenpin by Megan Abbott (S&S)

Best Fact Crime
Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi (Norton)

Best Critical/Biographical
Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley (Penguin Press)

Best Juvenile
The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh (Hyperion Books for Young Readers)

Best Young Adult
Rat Life by Tedd Arnold (Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin)

Mayday!

An appropriate Booking Through Thursday today, not only because of the Mayday = panic, but because I'm flying off to Northern Ireland tomorrow, for a friend's wedding...

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??

And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….

Well, it is entirely out of character for me to go anywhere without a book. I took one walking with my friend a while ago, who was not comforted by my rationale "Well, if you fall and break a leg, I'll have to do something while I wait with you." But I will stretch the mind... what would I do?

Hmm.

I assume the airport bookshop only has aptly named 'airport novels'? Not sure I could force my way through one of them. Perhaps I'd stock up on magazines, and play games in my head, like how many novels by Dickens I can think of in three minutes, or protagonists for every letter of the alphabet. Or perhaps I'd become the only person engrossed with the Saftey Information... Hmm.

This exercise has made me more determined than ever to have a book at all times. Now I'm going to choose the ones to accompany me to Northern Ireland tomorrow.

Getting Paid

Unfortunately, you don't just get a check in the mail the moment you accept an offer from a publisher to publish your book. The contract has to be negotiated, which can take months. Then both parties need to sign the agreement, and then finally a check gets cut.

But according to most agency agreements and agency clauses in your contracts, the check is made out in the name of your agent and gets sent to them. Your agent will then deposit the check in an account, take out their commission (usually fifteen percent) and any expenses they incurred in submitting your work (typically copying, postage, and messenger fees), and then send you your payment. According to the Association of Authors' Representatives, agent members must send payments due to their clients within ten days after it's cleared.

Most agency clauses (including the one I use) state that an agent is entitled to their commission for the life of the contract, regardless of whether the author ceases to be a client. But if you and your agent do part ways, you and your former agent can request that the publisher send the commission to the agent and the rest directly to you.