the pitch spring 2012 The Newsletter for the Association of Authors Representatives Contents Letter from the President 1. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Fair are frenetic but I love seeing 3. DOES AUDIO STILL MATTER? ear AAR Members and Friends, my international colleagues, and 4. COMMITTEE REPORT: D the conversations help as I try to DIGITAL RIGHTS The older I get, the more it seems understand better which books of that the concept of enjoying “free ours might travel, and which just 5. OUR CRAZIEST SALES! time” simply evades me. I feel I won’t, and why. These meetings 6. THE PERILS OF SCHEDULE A work all the time. There are always reinforce my favorite thing about 7. SAVE THESE DATES more manuscripts to read, more “real” publishing – even though grand 8. WOMEN WHO TAKE 10% books that I really should take a look corporations rule this world, the 10. AN AMERICAN AGENT IN LONDON at, more contracts or statements to driving forces are still just people check, rights to revert, promotions and their passions. People write the 10. ROUNDUP FROM THE to strategize. I take Fridays to work books, people read the books and talk INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE at home; since my kids left home for about them, people edit and design 12. COMMITTEE REPORT: college, my Friday-Saturday-Sunday covers and persuade bookstores to CONTRACTS has become one huge marathon of buy them and publications to review 13. MORNING COFFEE WITH doing work piled up on my dining them. At a time when many of our GLORIA LOOMIS room table. I pray that no friends clients are so frustrated about the 14. NEW MEMBERS choose to ring the doorbell – I am diminishing number of foreign sales 15. WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS actually afraid that one of these for their titles, I do nevertheless find 16. PROFILE OF A SMALL PRESS: days I will pretend not to be home my co-agents acting so valiantly to PROMETHEUS BOOKS so that I don’t have to lose an hour try to find houses for these titles, to normal socializing. I mutter and I find the editors hand-caring 17. DOES "IN BOOK FORM" INCLUDE E-BOOKS? A LEGAL REMATCH about the endless reading and no, for the books even in their ever- we cannot go out for dinner, because reduced marketplaces. Many of my 18. UP AND COMING EDITORS how would I ever catch up? When co-agents this year admitted that 21. ARE YOU UTILIZING THE AAR I do take time off, I am never found the economies in general were really WEBSITE FOR ALL IT HAS TO OFFER? without something to read, which weak, so books are truly suffering yet 23. THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF is invariably a neglected issue of they cheerfully soldier on. You have E-PLAY PUBLISHING PW or a manuscript on the Kindle. to love it. And it gives me renewed 24. THE AAR WEIGHS IN ON Vacations are often spent in places energy, somehow. The world becomes THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE where I see a client or a co-agent, as smaller, more intimate, more ANTITRUST SUIT if it is too guilty a pleasure to take approachable. 26. COMMITTEE REPORT: ROYALTIES time completely “off.” Selling books in England is 27. BOARD OF DIRECTORS I particularly enjoy the time away subject to a few additional stresses, to go to London for the Book Fair; which were underlined to me this I am energized by my visits with old year once again. One – as Ginger friends in British publishing and Clark reports in her piece in this international editors and agents. newsletter – is the territories issue. (Not to mention forays to the V&A The UK publishers sell a huge and Liberty’s and a formal “tea” percentage of all titles as “exports,” somewhere in the week.) Those and are fighting hard to hold onto famous 30-minute meetings at the exclusivity in Europe, in what has continued on page 2 page 2 the pitch spring 2012 continued from page 1 long been defined as nonexclusive more authors will be disappointed in publishing houses as interns or open market territory. And in order – and alas, I find that my lengthy assistants; our summer convocation to be competitive in whatever open explanations as above do not comfort of agency interns for a special AAR market territory we will compete them. Perhaps at one point the UK program is always standing-room- in, the UK publisher most often publishers will give us simply an only and filled with amazingly insists on releasing an American e-book edition in England; this interesting and dedicated young title at the same time as it is released would be a way that we could open people; I speak to students from here. So if we submit material the door and introduce the author colleges who are dying to learn more in England too late for them to into the UK market. I will continue about the potential of a professional publish simultaneously, often the UK to dream on about this. life with books. I am starting to publisher decides simply not to read I felt the London Book see how we can use all this new that submission. Years ago a British Fair this year was somewhat technology for the benefit of our agent friend suggested that there sedate. Enormous questions were clients and their backlists. And I am is a simple time when we should being discussed everywhere: the prouder than ever of selling that first submit our material to our agents Department of Justice proposed novel or new memoir. in England: The moment an author settlement about selling e-books; So for the moment, I’m still “in,” has the idea in his head. Well, this the fact that there was no award for and I remain optimistic. Okay, I will is obviously not practical, but you the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in fiction; try to get out more ... and I will look get the point. Another phenomenon the financial crises in various forward to seeing you all on the floor I have been watching is this: I have nations overall. But still I think a at BEA in June. at times given World English rights book fair puts us all in one city for to one of my American publishers, a few exciting days, as we settle – Gail Hochman hoping that their sub rights people into our respective booths in the President, AAR will deal with the timing issue and same cavernous building. We have the territories issue more smoothly those 30-minute appointments (a than we would. But time and time bookworm’s form of speed-dating) again I found myself still without and inevitably within the course of a UK deal. Then it dawned on me three days one sees almost everyone that these publishers would probably that one has ever had lunch or submit first to their sister companies drinks with, in one place. We are all in the UK, asserting this “globalism” working towards the same goals, and we hear so much about. But how we all experience the same stresses. many titles will this sister company I feel great energy from my co- really be able to take on from the agents even in the face of universal US? Eventually that American slowdowns in book buying; I feel rights director would have to submit that eternal excitement whenever the manuscript to outside houses. an editor or agent has come upon But to the other UK publishers, an amazing new writer; I feel the already deluged with submissions thrill of community when I am in from their own sister companies, a grouping of editors from various do these titles seem “tainted” or countries who have published the “unloved,” somehow, if the original same writer. sister company did not take it on? But I have never worked harder Why should the outsider think in my life! And I have become seriously about investing in this title? obsessed with this question: is this So again, I still have no UK deal. “the best of times, or the worst of Clearly the most successful and most times” to be in this business? Alas, I prestigious authors will continue to have no answer, but I do see a future: be published in England, but many friends’ children are taking jobs page 3 the pitch spring 2012 Does Audio Still speaking, following the recession, it obvious, what does seem to prove seemed, to me at least, that focusing a deciding factor in an agent/ Matter? on reserving and selling audio agency’s attention to audio rights is rights took a backseat to building the existence or lack of a significant By Meredith Kaffel relationships with digital publishers, backlist. Agents at newer firms which app developers, and mining backlists haven’t yet established a weighty for available e-book rights instead. roster of backlist titles find less reason remember 2008 fondly as a time That being said, of course audio to spend precious time developing Iof Audio Rights Renaissance: Audible rights remain an important and relationships with audio publishers; was making aggressive rounds, and potentially lucrative means of making frontlist print and electronic deals I was busily working on a giant our clients additional money. After are instead their primary focus, spreadsheet of all available audio all, audio news still proliferates in especially since certain (ahem, rights, the first ever for my agency at the industry dailies. From Audible’s Harper) publishers now refuse to do the time. It was a long list, and new aggressive recent launch of “Audible new book deals at all without audio deals being done at that same time Author Services” (“a program that included in the subrights digest (for also almost always reserved audio establishes a $20 million fund “electronic bundling reasons”).