How do literary agents who blog, tweet and carouse online find the time to do the real work of agenting: reading, hobnobbing with editors, reading some more and making great book deals for their clients?
That’s what Chris Parris-Lamb, a rising star at the Gernert Company in NYC wonders, and it’s why you won’t find him posting on Facebook anytime soon.
No time for tweeting
“I don’t. I don’t have time. And with all due respect to my peers who do, I don’t really see the point. Perhaps blogging and tweeting does increase an agent’s profile in the world of writers, which might result in getting good submissions that they might not otherwise receive. But if you were one of those writers, once you’d signed with that agent, wouldn’t you want to feel like they were working instead of blogging or tweeting?”
Instead, Parris-Lamb is busy making book deals. He’s been an agent only about three years, but has had exceptional success finding new writers with unusual projects and placing them for big bucks with mainstream publishers. He’s out there doing it the old way. “…You sell a few things at an auction, and you know, you start going to lunch with editors in chief. I really feel like if you hustle, if you put in the time and energy to get out there and read, there’s a lot of good writing and a lot of good ideas. There are books out there waiting to happen.” (New York Observer)
Big-time book deals
Recent deals include: a sale at auction to Scribners for Forbes editor and blogger David Ewalt’s Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It, and another to Little Brown, also at auction, for a debut novel by an editor of the literary magazine n+1, Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding, about love, ambition, family, and sports, set in a small college town. A third sold to Holt at auction for Harvard Business School Professor Anita Elberse‘s Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the (Big) Business of Entertainment.
I met Parris-Lamb recently during a NYC acquisition blitz and was impressed by his intelligence, vitality, and earnest idealism. He agreed to take time out for an interview with the Book Deal, and here’s what he had to say about breaking into the business and moving up in NY publishing:
How, as a young unknown agent, did you find your first clients?
Most of my early clients were ones that I reached out to directly after reading something by or about them. Like Jane McGonigal, whose first book, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, will be published by The Penguin Press in January. I first saw Jane’s name in an ad for the New Yorker Conference in the spring of 2008. It described her as a game designer whose goal was for a game designer to win a Nobel Peace Prize by the year 2023.
Well, that’s a bold statement, I thought to myself. So I googled her and spent a week poring over articles, and reading her blog and other pieces she’d written. A whole new world opened before me. Her ideas were completely groundbreaking—and so I emailed her to ask if she’d ever thought about writing a book. She said she had an idea for a book, and wanted to show people ways that the real world could be more like a game
But Jane had already been contacted by other agents and publishers, and I’d been an agent for less than a year. She was coming to New York in a couple of weeks and was going to meet with agents, but I was determined to be the first. So I asked for permission to fly to San Francisco that weekend for 36 hours to meet her. It was such a crazy request my boss must have decided I really thought it would pay off, so the answer was yes.
Long story short, we hit it off, she decided to work with me, we got a great deal with Penguin Press, and now there’s a fantastic book —”as addictive as Tetris,” according to Publishers Weekly — to show for it.
Given your youth and relative inexperience, why should authors go with you?
Because I’m passionate about their work, understand it and how it fits into the literary/cultural conversation, and have strong ideas about how it would best be published and who would be the best publisher to do that. And because they feel like we’d get along on a personal level.
How do you think the role of a literary agent is evolving and changing in the book business today?
Writers are always going to need someone to advise them and advocate on their behalf if they want to bring their work to a larger readership in a monetized way. We, as agents, need to be more vigilant than ever to make sure our authors’ interests are protected and maximized as the industry undergoes this tectonic shift, with the rise of ebooks and the decline of the traditional model of publishing and marketing books.
What do you think of other agencies or agents who are offering their authors marketing services?
Frankly, I tend to take a cynical view of agencies who offer those sorts of services right now — though the Gernert Company would take that step if changes in the landscape made it necessary. The real value to those agencies lies in advertising marketing services as a way of wooing prospective clients. Strategic marketing and multi-media efforts require a serious investment on the part of a company, and I have my doubts that an agency’s hiring of one or two people, whose positions are paid for through the 15 percent commission of an author’s share of a book’s sales—a pretty small slice of the pie, all things considered—can really be effective or make financial sense unless they’re working on behalf of a very lucrative author—who of course probably gets plenty of marketing muscle from the publisher anyway. I could be wrong, though, and my opinion could change.
Do you find new writers through query letters or among unsolicited proposals?
I don’t have a lot of faith in the query letter/slush pile process to bring me great writers and material, though I do take a look at everything that comes through. It’s incredibly frustrating when authors send emails directly to my personal account, address it “Dear Agent,” and have quite clearly bcc’d every other agent in the business. So I’ve just found it’s a better use of my time to be proactive about finding writers.
Do you find new writers in literary journals and other periodicals?
Yes, I’m a voracious reader of magazines and journals of all kinds, from Foreign Affairs to the London Review of Books to McSweeney’s to Tin House. My favorite, the only one I read cover to cover, is n+1, a print journal of politics, literature, and culture.
What about author blogs?
I probably read blogs less than most younger agents, although there is great stuff out there online—including my favorite NBA mad scientists and one of my favorite authors, FreeDarko, whose second book was just published by Bloomsbury and whose blog is much beloved among sports readers.
What are you looking for right now? Give us examples of your dream books to agent.
I don’t know what I’m looking for until I find it, but three very different writers I love, and who represent three different types of books I’d love to work with, are Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Steel,) Annette Gordon-Reed (The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family) and David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas: A Novel.)
Note: Responses have been edited and condensed
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There you have it, writers. Is Chris Parris-Lamb the kind of agent you’re looking for?
I agree heavily with Douglas, above. I think that as the publishing world reacts and changes to the rise of the e-book and self-publishing in general, authors and agents and publishers themselves are having to evolve to survive, much as musicians have had to evolve and search for new avenues to promote their music as the internet and file sharing revolutionised the music industry. I think this is especially true for the authors, who are suddenly discovering new and exciting ways to get themselves out there – blogging, social networking, etc – and the agents are reacting to this in their own and natural way. If the best new authors are on the internet, it stands to reason that the best agents and publishers will go there to find them.
I wouldn’t have a problem with an agent of mine tweeting or blogging, they’re keeping up with the trends and newest forms of media. A tweet takes a second, a blog article a couple of hours at the most. A new generation has arrived!
A balance between social networking efforts and Professional representation of a client is the mark of a great agent. It should be on every list of things to look for in an agent. That said, Chris Parris-Lamb is obviously successful for his clients and company. I find no right or wrong of it either way. I do feel that as the publishing world becomes a more electronic venue, those well place and followed in the ether-world will have a leg up on those that don’t. In a recent interviews, I’ve asked about social networking and its importance to new authors. The overwhelming response is “YES” to its importance for an author with regard to helping market their work. Why wouldn’t the same thing hold true for an agent?
If the marketplace is diluted by tens of thousands of self-E-published books, how will agents and author of note separate themslves from the pack? Electronic “word of mouth” will be a more valuable tool than ever.
I’m not all that sure of the best electronic venue. Twitter is a “drive by” at best and blogs/websites are time intense. The time may be here to hire specialist in these venues to aid agents time management, not unlike how many authors are teaming up to co-author books.
As always, I’ve enjoyed your post Alan.
Doug
“wouldn’t you want to feel like they were working instead of blogging or tweeting?” A-freakin’-men.
CPL–
Gratified to see your comments on authors blogging, tweeting, etc., though it IS time-consuming and a creative challenge to tweet cleverly enough to attract followers!
Thanks, Alan, as always for an interesting post and for your role as my editor. Believe it or not, I’m off and writing (novel #2)–between tweets, of course!
CPL,
Thanks for straightening me out on the Twitter part.
Sheila Cull
Hi all,
I’m not looking to start a conversation in the comments section, but I just wanted to say that I DO very much see the value in authors blogging and tweeting, and in Twitter in general–I didn’t mean to come off as a Luddite in the way I might here (I am on Twitter as a follower, for instance, but I don’t post). I just don’t see the value–to himself or to his company–in a literary agent’s doing it in his capacity as an agent, that’s all. I probably should have made that more clear in my response.
Thanks to Alan for the interview and to all of you for reading.
CPL
Also, is Chris Parris-Lamb the kind of agent I’d look for? Sure. He seems bright, energetic, prepared.
And you Alan Rinzler, I think safely holds the title of the nation’s best editor. It would be in a writer’s best interest to save money to afford you.
Thanks again.
Interesting interview! Thanks.
Every single book I’ve read in the last year I’ve heard about from Twitter. Usually when I hear folks say they “don’t have time to tweet,” it’s because they don’t understand Twitter or the benefit of using it strategically.
But I love the comment from Marilyn — she seems to have struck a good balance. I think a lot of us could benefit from pulling back a little online to focus on our writing. Setting priorities is key!
Thanks for the insight, Alan.
I was really looking toward academic choices.
A writer entrusts so much decision making to their agent,
but if one studied something so far afield from an Author’s work,
be it fiction or non, how qualified are they really to make
some of the determinations they make–in so far as to the quality
of the writing, the complexity of subject matter and the genre
itself?
Long before Ari Gold, The Deal became more important than the
work.
We have grown to accept this, along with videos depicting an
author’s work. Check out Spinoza’s–jaw dropping.
But really, who are these folks? Salesman, dealmakers after
all–even if they are necessary evils.
One can only hope they are at least well and properly educated.
And Leevan, let’s all pray that book-lovers still go to bookstores
to browse and read reviews to find the latest and the greatest.
Book Ads have always been with us, another necessary evil.
Chris sounds exactly like the kind of agent I’d like to have shopping my book. When Symbiosis is ready, I’ll see if he has a blog or website update regarding his interests then.
As for tweeting agents, I can see how it would increase exposure to others in the industry who are tweeting. There’s a line that differentiates what is procrastination and what is networking. Then too, some people prefer phone calls. I prefer emails and tweet DM’s unless it’s urgent.
Blogging and tweeting DOES increase a writer’s profile. Most book-lovers actually pick out their authors from online ads and links to the authors’ blog.
Taylor,
The official company bio at The Gernert Company says this:
Chris joined The Gernert Company in 2005. He was born in Alabama and grew up in North Carolina, where he attended UNC-Chapel Hill on a Morehead Scholarship. Things he likes include, but are not limited to, college basketball, fly-fishing, most forms of musical expression, and novels that engage the reader through both their prose and their story. He prefers queries to be accompanied by a sample chapter or two.
With all due respect to Chris, what is HIS background, educationally speaking?
Most agents are first and foremost salespeople, so what infuses his decision making process? Is he a literary type? Did poli sci spark his undergraduate imagination?
Agent profiles would be greatly improved with a discussion of who they are too.
After all, the decision to work together is a two-way street, and it is perhaps one of the most important ones of a serious writer’s career.
Alan,
This is a super great interview, perfect questions, interesting reading.
I especially liked ‘No time for tweeting’ – “I don’t.”
Sheila
I just noticed your question, “Is Chris Parris-Lamb the kind of agent you’re looking for?” My answer is unequivocally yes, for a number of reasons. I like that he thinks outside the box in finding clients, rather than relying primarily on the traditional query letter/slush pile process, and that he’s had great success working that way. I think it’s wonderful that he feels passionate about books and figuring out how an author’s work fits into “the literary/cultural conversation” – something I feel is one of the most important roles of books. And David Mitchell’s CLOUD ATLAS: A NOVEL is one of my absolutely favorite books, so it’s exciting to hear an agent say that he’d love to represent that type of book.
This is all very exciting to read! I came to the same conclusion about a year ago. After being very active online, meeting and chatting with writers and agents, I gradually noticed that many of the best writers and the most successful agents weren’t actually spending a great deal of time online. Many of those who were chatting up a storm weren’t actually having great success within the publishing world. Having spent a lot of time online myself, I’ve gradually pulled back. I still have a website that I keep updated (which now gets about 10,000 hits per month even though I’ve scaled back online), I post on Twitter a little bit every week, but the rest of my writing hours are spent hunkered down rewriting my science fiction novel, GODS IN THE MACHINE, incorporating suggestions from Alan. (Alan, I plan on contacting you at the beginning of the new year to ask you about some ideas I’ve been working on.)
The books based on gaming look fascinating, definitely ones I would buy – for myself and to give as gifts!