Question  and Answer with Miriam Kriss

Originally posted on Work in Progress on July 14, 2006

Okay, folks, here it is--the moment you've all been waiting for. Miriam Kriss answers your questions, in painstaking detail. Verbal gold, people. Right here.

And for the record, Ms. Kriss stayed up until very early in the morning to give us these answers, so I'd like to extend to her a huge thank-you:

THANK YOU, MIRIAM!

Okay, here goes, straight from Miriam:

Heather asks: What are your personal pet peeves in regard to new submissions?

Miriam: I get frustrated when people clearly haven’t read our submission guidelines. We ask to see 1-3 chapters. This gets super frustrating if they make reference to our website, where the guidelines are spelled out.

Bonnie asks: What is it that first sparks your notice when reading a submission?

Miriam: It’s definitely the author’s voice. Like falling in love at first sight. I can fall in love in one line. That doesn’t mean I won’t fall out of live with the next one, but a killer opening goes a long way to catching my attention. Rachel’s debut novel STRAY, for example, starts “The moment the door opened I knew an ass-kicking was inevitable. Whether I’d be giving it or receiving it was still a bit of a mystery.” Gave me shivers.

Bonnie would also like to know: What is your opinion on a writer who chooses to write in more the one subgenre, or conversely, a writer who wants to focus solely on one subgenre? Do you have a preference one way or the other?

Miriam: I don’t have a problem with an author writing in more than one subgenre but it’s important for her to think about what her brand is, what a reader can expect to find when they pick up a book with her name on it. If the voice is vastly different or if there is some other reason the audiences wouldn’t overlap, she should probably use a different name for each sub-genre.

Also from Bonnie: Is there one piece of advice that you would most like to impart to writers?

Miriam: Write what you love. Write what you’d write whether anyone read a word, just because you need to write it. Write the book that only you can write. Then step back and look at the market. How can you make what you love something that a large number of people will want to read? If you can achieve that synergy, you can sell.

Susan would also like to know: Have you or Irene seen evidence that historical fiction will continue to do well for a while?

Miriam: Historical fiction is still a strong trend, although they’re beginning to run out of underdeveloped real life women whose stories are just dying to be told. In some ways it’s harder because it was a fairly safe formula for a while there, but in others it’s very freeing, as it opens up the what’s acceptable.

Naomi says: I graduated from university last year with a 2.1 in Creative Writing. Obviously I'm very proud of this, but is it worth mentioning to agents in query letters? Or would it just be so much unnecessary waffle?

Miriam: I’m afraid it’s not very helpful. In general, unless there’s some reason a given fact would help sell your book, it’s better to leave it out. In a query letter you have only a single page to capture a reader’s attention. You’d be better served doing something with that space that highlights your voice if you don’t have any special qualifications or platform.

Yolanda asks: I was wondering if you accept more than one query from the same person, or is it better to wait for a response before submitting again?

Miriam: It definitely pays to wait for a response, after all we may say yes, but we’re not going to reject you because you’ve already submitted. If we haven’t answered yet chances are we haven’t looked at it yet.

C. Rooney asks: Is your agency accepting non-romance manuscripts?

Miriam: Yes indeed. You can see a full list of what we represent by looking at our website: http://www.irenegoodman.com/. In general, if it’s commercial fiction, we represent it. One of Irene’s passions is Historical Fiction, while I’m fanatical about Urban Fantasy.

The future of Urban Fantasy:

Susan asks: There's been a lot of talk lately about urban fiction being a "trend", on a strong but temporary high like chick lit. Do you think this is true, or is it just the creation of a new genre, where the best will continue to be popular?

Rinda asks: I was told a week ago by a multi-published friend that she'd heard the Urban Fantasy craze was over saturating the market and going to be over soon. I know I still love them, so I'm wondering about your thoughts.

Josephine says: I'd like to ask Miriam what she thinks of the Urban Fantasy trend. Is this something that will last a bit? And what about dark Paranormal? I see a lot of Urban Fantasy and darker Paranormals (vampires and angels) making their way into TV and movies right now, some even being revised in a new markets like HEX from the BBC making its way to America. I'm wondering what Miriam thinks will be the trend character-wise such as vampires, angels, gargoyles, witches or whatever else, in the near future.

Miriam: It’s important when considering this question to remember there’s a distinction between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. Right now the romance publishers are having a lot of success with paranormals and there’s a lot of crossover. But Rinda’s friend is right. The market is reaching a saturation point. Not that I think the stars of Paranormal Romance are going anywhere, but the glut is going to kill off most, if not all, of the mid-listers. Might take a little while yet but it will happen.

Urban Fantasy on the other hand, as a sub-genre of Fantasy, has deeper roots and a longer track record (Laurel Hamilton is up to book fourteen, Jim Butcher’s up to eight and Charlaine Harris is on book six). I think this sub-genre will have a longer life, in part because Fantasy is as a genre less prolific than Romance. Because there are fewer slots to fill at a Fantasy imprint the editors have the luxury have being pickier. And I’m with Rinda, I still love them. Aside from the authors I’m fortunate to represent (and I have a lot of clients I’m extremely proud of in this genre: Rachel Vincent ;), Keri Arthur, Lilith Saintcrow, Jenna Black and Vicki Pettersson), I’ve read two new Urban Fantasy authors this year that have just blown me away: Patrica Briggs’ MOON CALLED and Karen Chance’s TOUCH THE DARK.

Part of what’s driving this, especially in the entertainment industry as a whole, is that the geeks are taking over the earth and that includes all of us fan girls. So yes, Buffy’s still off the air and I still need my fix.

Rinda asks: Do you ever take on authors with one completed novel and more in the works? Or do you prefer authors with more than one completed novel?

Miriam: Writing is just like anything else, people tend to get better at it with practice. Very few people’s first novel is going to be publishable (I’ve heard Nora Roberts has her stuck in a bank vault somewhere), but I’m not going to reject something because it is a first novel. I take people on because I love their voice and I believe the project is marketable. While I never take someone on only for one project, it is where we start and whether they already have something else in the drawer isn’t going to be a factor in my decision.

Anon-in-a-million asks: I just had a publisher request my paranormal romance/urban fantasy....Yikes. Now what? Should I start querying agents or just wait and see what the publisher says?

Miriam: By all means, start querying. That way if the publisher comes back with an offer you’ll have done all your home work and already have your work at least in all of your dream agents’ slush piles. You can and should be picky about who you have represent you. Remember, we work for you. So start querying. You can start with me.

Sara says: Writing a synopsis is one of the most frustrating tasks I have ever undertaken, and my feeble attempts to produce a clever query letter leave me more than a little discouraged...anything you would share on this subject will be greatly appreciated.

Miriam: Ah, the query letter. One page to convince that bored editor or agent that your book out of all the hundreds they’re sifting through deserves a second glance.

The basic formula for a query letter: Letterhead (with your contact information), heading, introduction, book (genre and title), short synopsis (preferably showing writing style), any qualifications (including letting me know if any editors have asked to see fulls or the like), mention you included a SASE, thanks, and closing. All while retaining your distinctive voice, but without resorting to a glitter pen.

There, that’s it. You don’t even need to follow this formatting, provided you include all the information. Remember it isn’t the brilliance of your query letter that’s going to make someone want to read more. It’s your characters, plot and writing style that are going to do that. The query letter is only a vehicle for conveying them. You want it clear and readable. You catch your reader’s attention with your writing, not how it’s presented.

Actually, that’s one reason we don’t request query letters in our submission guidelines. We ask for partials (a cover letter, 1-3 chapters, and a synopsis) not because we want you to waste stamps but because until we see pages we know nothing. (Cover letters follow the same format as query letters. Just expand the line letting me know what you’ve included and you’re set.)

Synopses can drive even the most experienced and talented authors crazy. How to condense a 300 page novel to 1/100 the size? How can a reader possibly appreciate every nuance of your painstakingly crafted story in 2-3 pages? Simple, she can’t. But that’s not what a synopsis is designed to do. A good synopsis lays out all the major plot points of your novel without belaboring any of them. A great synopsis does this while retaining some flavor of your novel.

In order to capture your reader’s attention, it pays to start strong. Just as with your manuscript, the perfect opening can help draw your reader into your story. The first paragraph of your synopsis can be a bit more expansive than the rest of your synopsis, which should be tightly written. So start out with a bang. From there you want to make sure you stick to only the major plot points. You can eliminate any subplots, minor characters or individual scenes that aren’t turning points for your plot. Things should get reduced to their essence. Some people like to use the paragraph for each chapter rule as a guide.

Not to pick on Rachel again, but I think her synopsis for STRAY did all these things admirably, so here’s the beginning:

Faythe Sanders is a graduate student and a closet shapeshifter, thriving in the company of her friends, her books, and her completely human boyfriend. But when a trespassing stray tries to stuff her into the trunk of his car, Faythe’s inner kitty is no longer content to curl up in one quiet corner of her mind. The cat wants blood.

Faythe defends herself and wounds the stray, and is damn proud to have done both. But just when she’s ready to celebrate her hard-won independence, her Alpha father sends Marc—his second-in-command and Faythe’s persistent ex-lover—to bring her back into the Pride.

Remember the synopsis is a marketing tool, and one that doesn’t get thrown away when you find your agent. She’ll use it to sell the book to your editor, who in turn will use it with her boss to get you your offer, and when the book’s sold, she’ll use it to help the sales force sell the book to the book buyers. A book is constantly having to be “resold” at every step of its production and a great synopsis can help make that happen. (A personal note from Rachel here: I had no idea about any of this!)

~Can you all tell that this is one topic I’ve given workshops on?~

And Rachel would like to know:

Have you ever advised an author to walk away from a deal?

Miriam: Yes. This doesn’t happen often but sometimes an offer comes along that isn’t going to move the author forward, isn’t going to help build their career and might even hurt them. In that case, yes, it’s time to walk away. I’m happy to say this is far more likely, though still infrequent, in a situation that’s inherited (either because the author had already submitted to them before signing with us, or because they were already published by the house) than when we’ve submitted the work to the editor. Having the ability to walk away and really mean it is a powerful tool, and authors should never be so caught up in getting a deal, any deal, that they give that up.

Do you see any real benefit of conferences for unpublished writers?

Miriam: There are some real benefits, but they may not be the ones you expect. If you feel like you know very little about the business side of publishing, a conference may be helpful. If there’s a specific editor at a house that doesn’t accept unsolicited submissions you want access to, appointments may be helpful. If you’d just like to feel people are taking you seriously as a writer for a least a weekend, get thee to a writer’s conference. It’s important to have a game plan for what you want to get out of the conference before you go. All that being said, I don’t think they’re at all necessary to be published.

Have you ever signed a writer from a conference?

Miriam: I’ve signed exactly two writers from conferences. But one of them I met in the bar.

How do you find most of your clients? Slush pile? Reference?

Miriam: I’m a young and hungry agent, and at this point I’ve gotten almost exactly half of all my clients from the slush pile (there’s gold in that there pile!).

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