Alan Rinzler

Consulting Editor

  • Home
  • About
  • Author List
  • Services
  • Testimonials
  • FAQ
  • Video
  • Blog
  • Contact

The blog for writers

The Book Deal

Superstar literary agent Sandy Dijkstra: Q&A

August 8, 2008 by Alan Rinzler

Business is booming at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Eleven new major book deals nailed down and that was while Sandy was vacationing in Europe.

So look out, now that she’s back!

Widely considered the most powerful agent on the West Coast, Dijkstra has been called “tough” and “abrasive” with a keen nose for new talent.

A passionate fighter for her authors

I’ve been on the other side of the table from Sandy during some tough negotiations and I can tell you she’s a passionate fighter for her authors. She knows the ins and outs of every contract. She perseveres, she’s relentless, and she walks away with top dollar for her clients.

One thing is certain: when I get a submission from Sandy Dijkstra, I sit up and pay attention.

The agency, based in Del Mar, California, represents more than 250 writers. Its deep bench of blockbuster best-selling authors includes:

  • Amy Tan Joy Luck Club; Saving Fish from Drowning
  • Lisa See Peony in Love; On Gold Mountain
  • Joel Greenblatt The Little Book that Beats the Market
  • Chalmers Johnson Blowback; Nemesis
  • Susan Faludi Backlash
  • Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Mistress of Spices
  • Irv Yalom Staring at the Sun
  • Maxine Hong Kingston Woman Warrior
  • Stephen Prothero Religious Literacy

What Sandy thinks about publishing today

What can we learn about the state of the book business from a top literary agent? I reached Sandy by phone at her offices in the beach town of Del Mar, just north of San Diego.

How’s business?

Absolutely terrific. I just got back from a two month vacation in Europe and found that the three wonderful young agents who work for me had sold eleven major projects while I was gone. Eleven new contracts.

‘I should go away more often,’ I told them.

These were deals for new authors just starting out, for older established authors, for five and six figure advances, some with two or three titles in the contract, fabulous projects at major commercial publishers. So my people are happy, optimistic about selling more books, passionate about what they do. And that’s the future for us!

There’s quite a bit of doom and gloom in the book business this year, as publishers report declining unit sales and profits. How has this affected your operation as an agent?

Well after 25 years in the business, I know that plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. The more things change the more they are the same.

I’ve seen this cycle before. We don’t really know what’s going to happen and personally I don’t believe this doom or gloom is going to last. I can see the bigger picture. The truth is that we’re in an economic recession, real estate is suffering, the price of gas is awful, there’s less discretionary income around.

But what do we really know about the future? Well, we know that baby boomers need larger type books, that’s for sure. We know younger people still love to read but are buying fewer books.

So what we have to do is understand, to meet and grow with these young people, and figure out how to sell them ideas and information they want.

What do you tell your authors about marketing their books?

I tell our authors that they can’t stop working on their book after the first act, after finishing the manuscript and signing the contract. I say they have to go on to the second act or there won’t be any third.

We want our authors to know that they themselves are the first and best advocate for selling the book, and we their agents are the second.

We can try to persuade the publisher to pay attention to the book and do all the conventional things they’ve been doing for years in the national broadcast and print media. But we know that they have a narrow window of concentration. It’s hard to get their attention. A few weeks after publication, they’re on to the next season, the next list of books. So we tell authors to have limited expectations of their publishers.

It’s really up to us – the author and the agent – to keep the book visible, to continue and expand the marketing, to hire a publicist when appropriate, especially to invest in web-based internet marketing. Whilst using all of this, it’s still important to make use of other marketing methods too. For example, social media is one of the best ways for authors to promote their new books for free. As Instagram is one of the most used apps, it might be worth focusing on that platform. Authors could use TaskAnt to help them find effective hashtags to boost their visibility on Instagram too.

How important is web marketing?

Some publishers, like Penguin and Random House, support author websites and blogs. It is, however, still up to the author and agent to keep pushing on this. They have the ability to do that with the help of professionals who can provide tech design and web-marketing services like SEO and pay-per-click advertising for hire. Such professionals can be reached through a simple search for Denver ppc agency or similar searches based on their needs and location.

Moreover, I completely agree with my colleague Steve Kasdin (former marketing executive with Harcourt Brace, now marketing Amazon’s Kindle to book publishers) that authors and agents have a tremendous opportunity now to control marketing direct to readers by going on the internet, building interactive websites, and blogging.

I’ve been recommending Fauzia-Burke Associates, for example, and there are many others.

What are you most excited about now and for the future?

You’re going to be hearing a lot about the San Francisco Opera’s World Premiere of The Bonesetter’s Daughter on September 13th. Amy Tan wrote the libretto based on her novel. Stewart Wallace has written a score with western and Chinese music. It’s going to be fabulous.

I’m also excited by what Irv Yalom is doing now. You know he’s been a psychiatrist and professor at Stanford Medical School for decades, writing nonfiction and novels, books for professionals and for lay readers, big New York Times bestsellers like Love’s Executioner, international bestsellers like When Nietzsche Wept, and The Gift of Therapy.

All of his books are having new editions all over the world. His new book about overcoming the terror of death called Staring at the Sun is a bestseller in Germany, France, Greece, Brazil, Israel, Norway, and Sweden, When Nietzsche Wept has been made into a movie that’s soon to be released, he’s starting in on a new novel.

What an inspiration!

Filed Under: Book Industry Trends, How To Get Published, Literary Agent Profiles, Marketing Your Book

Trackbacks

  1. Superstar literary agent Sandy Dijkstra: Q | Club Penguin Blog says:
    August 8, 2008 at 11:18 pm

    […] Read the original: Superstar literary agent Sandy Dijkstra: Q […]

About The Book Deal

Welcome readers.  Let me introduce myself and offer up some credentials for the opinions, perspectives and insights in this blog. In nearly … more »

Working with Alan

I can’t thank you enough!

"Working together was interesting, challenging, and fun. I can't thank you enough for taking my stories and putting them in a comprehensible order, focusing more on my younger, formative days with my parents, and helping me remember great events that added so much to the book."

– US Senator Barbara Boxer. Her memoir, The Art of Tough, was published by Hachette in June 2016.

Figure out how to get Alan on your side

"Figure out how to get Alan on your side. He took my rambling manifesto and helped me hone it into a sharp, funny, culture-changing book featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, the Times of London, and most recently on The Daily Show."

– Lenore Skenazy, author Free Range Kids – How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children Without Going Nuts with Worry.

Enthusiastic, imaginative and razor sharp

"Alan is enthusiastic, imaginative, razor-sharp, concise. His line-editing is specific and actionable; his developmental advice truly invaluable, providing focus and direction to the often chaotic process of writing a first novel."

– David Tomlinson, author of The Midnight Man.

An advocate, friend and mentor

“Alan can tell you at one glance, where a manuscript works and where it doesn’t. More than an editor, he’s an advocate, friend, mentor, and a bullshit detector of the highest caliber.”

–  Celeste Chaney, author of In Absence of Fear

A 5-star Olympic Gold Medal for editing!

"Alan Rinzler has edited seven of my books, and no one compares to his competence as an editor. Everything I write he makes better. Alan knows the business, knows writing and understands a writer’s needs. He has my 5-Star Olympic Gold Medal for editing! I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him."

– Michele Borba, author of Building Moral Intelligence, The Big Book of Parenting Solutions, and others.

Featured Video

view more »

Ask the Editor

Tips for blending in the backstory

Tips for blending in
the backstory
2015-07-28T14:50:53-07:00
Tips for blending in the backstory
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/tips-for-blending-in-the-backstory/

Wake up your readers! How to thicken a plot

Wake up your readers!
How to thicken a plot
2015-07-28T15:29:05-07:00
Wake up your readers! How to thicken a plot
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/another-link/

Memoir or novel for my true story?

Memoir or novel
for my true story?
2015-07-28T20:47:16-07:00
Memoir or novel for my true story?
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/3172/

Is your book in need of emotional glue?

Is your book in need of emotional glue?
2015-07-28T20:51:25-07:00
Is your book in need of emotional glue?
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/is-your-book-in-need-of-emotional-glue/

Can I really become a better writer?

Can I really become a better writer?
2015-07-28T21:05:22-07:00
Can I really become a better writer?
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/can-i-really-become-a-better-writer/

7 techniques for a dynamite plot

7 techniques for
a dynamite plot
2015-07-28T21:17:53-07:00
7 techniques for a dynamite plot
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/7-techniques-for-a-dynamite-plot-2/

What to expect from a developmental editor

What to expect from
a developmental editor
2015-07-28T21:21:18-07:00
What to expect from a developmental editor
https://alanrinzler.com/testimonials/what-to-expect-from-a-developmental-editor/

Categories

  • Ask the Editor (23)
  • Book Industry Trends (81)
  • Book Proposal Critiques (4)
  • Craft of Writing (72)
  • Guts Ball: Editing Hunter Thompson (3)
  • How To Get Published (80)
  • Literary Agent Profiles (11)
  • Literary Destinations (3)
  • Marketing Your Book (33)
  • Memoir (7)
  • Parts of a Book (5)
  • Self-Publishing (34)
  • The writer's toolkit (3)
  • Writers at work (2)

Follow me on

2008-2025 © Alan Rinzler Consulting Editor