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| Natasha Kern |
can Save Your Career
Co-authored by Literary Agents: Natasha Kern and Athena Kern
The Natasha Kern Literary Agency, Inc. Today we are celebrating Natasha's visit to Seekerville with giveaways from all of Natasha's Seeker Clients, including:
2$25 gift cards to your choice of Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
JulieLessman—Two copies of A Light in the Window
MyraJohnson—will give away both A Horseman’s Heart and A Horseman’s Gift.
RuthyLogan Herne—Yuletide Hearts, Mended Hearts, Small-Town Hearts, Reunited Hearts,A Family to Cherish and His Mistletoe Family.
MaryConnealy—two copies of Candlelight Christmas by Mary Connealy and LindaGoodnight.
GlynnaKaye—2 winners their choice of one of my books
Five Ways An Agent can Save Your Career
First, and most important: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEEKERVILLE!!!! Iam looking back at all you have accomplished individually and as a group overthese years. Not only moving fromunpubbed island to becoming a published author as well as publishing so manybooks in these years, but setting an example of how sisterhood can work and themany ways you have helped one another to succeed. In addition, you have created a writers’community where anyone can visit to become better informed about the craft ofwriting, about publishing, connecting with agents and editors, and the joys ofwriting stories that uplift readers. A wonderful thing indeed to celebrate{Applause}.
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| Athena Kern |
Thereare many ways an agent can save a writer’s career and perhaps her sanity. Athena Kern is now an Associate Agent at theNatasha Kern Literary Agency, and she and Natasha are going to focus today onfive of the most important ways serious challenges that writers commonly face can be prevented from becoming long-term problems.
Publishing contracts can contain career killerterms that are hard to recognize and ameliorate without the guidance of acompetent agent. Itisn’t just that writers are naïve and think “these problems will never happento me.” It is more that they have noidea of the potential problems to watch out for and then are shocked whensomething that can be a career killer does happen. The following problems are not uncommon andhave happened to my clients: A)Publisher goes bankrupt and won’t revert book rights back to the Author. B) Thebook is sold, but the publisher doesn't publish it. C) Contract is terminatedand publisher drops the Author. D) Book royalties are not paid or statementsare inaccurate, requiring an audit or legal action. E) Legal action threatenedby publisher because an author unwittingly violates her option clause F) Authoris accused of plagiarism or another writer does plagiarize a work and theAuthor is embroiled in legal problems. G) The Author’s editor leaves and thehouse no longer wants that genre. Finding yourself in these situations can bescary and reinforces why it's imperative for writers to have a good agent forhelp and protection.
An agent can sign a new client and then have todeal with getting that writer out of previous problematic contract terms, inaddition to negotiating contracts for long-term clients. We are going toidentify five things (of many) that agents do to help a writer to have asuccessful career.
1. Negotiate your contract.Obviously, this is what agents do... isn’t it? Well, some “agents” do not doit. Many writers don’t realize that publishers have boilerplate contracts thatno one should sign. Not ever. Because they only benefit the publisher in allpossible ways. Agencies have different contracts with every house that havebeen negotiated and re-worked over time by the agents to provide maximumbenefits to the author. Athena and I were recently discussing a contract fromanother agency that had NOT been negotiated and contained terms we wouldn'taccept and, in fact, would never even see from that publisher. Un-agented authors or those with “agents” whodo not negotiate properly, receive radically different contracts from thebeginning. Publishers are smart and their attorneys work for them, not thewriter.
2. Manage your career. Fromdeveloping proposals to getting a sale to publication and marketing or PRplans, your agent should be involved in the entire process. For example, it is commonly thought thatwriters who are self-publishing don’t need an agent. But, e-books andself-published books need to be coordinated with print publishers to preventconflicts and to earn maximum income. Are you confident in deciding when towrite for the house or on your own with so many publishers now offeringcontracts for e-books and novellas? NKLA has published e-books for clients’backlist titles and also client books their print publishers had passedon. Natasha had written to e-publishersand reviewed their contracts. But the terms were unacceptable, primarilybecause of royalties or control of rights or even cover consultation. So shedecided to do it herself which resulted in some wonderful ebooks, like thisfall: Julie Lessman’s A Light in the Window, Margaret Brownley’s Head OverHeels, Robin Lee Hatcher’s Speak to Meof Love, Mary Connealy and Linda Goodnight’s A Candlelight Christmas, and KellyLong’s Hart’s Truth. It can certainly affect a writer’s career and income ifthe right to self-publish is retained, including negotiating the option clauseand non-compete clause so it gives the writer the most income streams possible.Managing all rights that can be retained or which the agent can place viasubagents is an important aspect of agenting. An Author can ask an agent fora list of their subagents worldwide, who they work with in Hollywood andwhether a co-agent has been assigned to them.
3. Plan for the termination of rights. Fact: the publisher can own yourrights for 35 years until they terminate under federal copyrightlaw if there are no other provisions in the contract. What a powerful affect onyour career! Boilerplates often lack any recourse if the publisher failsto publish. They may not provide forreversion if there are no sales or if the publisher goes bankrupt. A line orgenre can be dropped or shifts in the market may occur and the author’scontract is terminated by the publisher. What happens if you cannot complete acontracted book? Under what circumstances can you, the author, terminateyour contract?
4. Have a career growth and developmentplan. We send a questionnaire to each new clientrequesting information that helps us to develop a plan. Discuss with your agent how many books youcan write each year and your long-term goals. This, of course, varies greatly because of full-time jobs, familyobligations, how much research is required for each book, and so on. Otherthings to consider are: Writing inmultiple genres or for several publishers; for the general market or CBAhouses; combining mainstream and genre fiction or even nonfiction books. Should you use a pseudonym or not? Most of NKLA clients are doing these things,and it can take some careful strategizing to work out these career options. Considerthe level of income you need to continue to write and make sure your agentunderstands your situation. Create acareer plan and then review it periodically, at least once each year to adjustto changes in your life or your writing goals.
5. Sticking by the author. Whencalamities happen which could include personal or family illness or having nopublisher for a period of time or having terrible sales figures for a varietyof reasons, let alone the MAJOR crises mentioned at the beginning of this blog,the agent can and should be a rock to depend upon. All too often, agents drop writers who arenot doing well or making them enough money. Natasha was once told by apublisher that other agents would have dropped her client when a major problemcame up—instead she collected $100,000 for her client for the termination ofher contract. Every career has ups and downs, sometimes dramatic ones. A hiatusin a writing career may not be avoidable. Extensions of due dates may be needed. What happens if a book doesn’twork and the publisher rejects it? Doesyour contract allow the publisher to hire someone else to write your book andbill you for the cost, putting your name on a book you have not written? Are you free to sell that book to anotherhouse? It is harsh enough when tragedy strikes without then receiving ashocking bill and a rewritten book you don’t even like and don’t want topublicize to your readers. It is the agent’s responsibility to have alternateplans for your career if the original one is not working out for whateverreason. You should have the clear sensethat the agent is working for you and being paid by you to look out for you inevery way. The agent should provideadvice about individual proposals and works, have submissions and sales plans,and be on your side especially if any dispute arises with your publisher. Anagent should be familiar with working with author estates and how to plan forsituations like divorce or death. The agent should have a corporate attorneywho is available to provide support when truly serious situations arise.
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| Audra, Cara, Debby, Janet, Julie, Natasha, Mary |
Writing is a challenging career. Creating wonderful books is certainly noteasy—I can’t do it! And like everymusician, performer, athlete, or singer, a writer needs a professional managerto take care of all the details that must be handled behind the scenes for thatcareer to be a success. There is areason why New York Times best-selling authors who can easily get offers bycontacting any publisher have agents and keep them even if they areself-publishing as well as working with their print publisher.
Congratulations again to all of the Seekers atSeekerville, whether members of the original group or not, for five wonderfulyears or writing and reading. Thanks toeveryone for being here to share this happy occasion.
Natasha Kern andAthena Kern
The Natasha Kern Literary Agency, Inc.
www.natashakern.com
Natasha Kern has sold well over 1,000 books in her career forclients who have become bestsellers and won many awards. She is a true foodieand loves her garden (photos on the website).
Athena Kern is following her calling---to be a champion for authors who deserveto have their God-given writing gift become a published book. She is a memberof the Association of Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America.When relaxing you can usually find her playing in the kitchen or horsebackriding.Athena Kern is on Twitter: @athena_kern
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