To Agent or Not to Agent? by Kathy Stemke

To agent or not to agent that is the question. Writers can certainly get their feet wet by publishing without an agent. However, to get to many of the bigger publishing houses you still need an agent. Although I have successfully published over a hundred articles, activities with Gryphon House Publishing, and three children’s books, for my first novel I’m on the hunt for an agent. I’d like to share some of things I’ve found in my research so far.

Dishonest agents prey on writers by charging fees, promoting their own paid services, engaging in kickback schemes, and misrepresenting their knowledge and expertise. These agents don’t earn their income by selling manuscripts to publishers, but by extracting money from their clients.

Some examples of dishonest agenting practice, drawn from Writer Beware’s files:

• Requiring a reading fee with a submission.

• Requiring a “marketing” or “submission” or other fee on contract signing.

• Requiring writers to buy a critique or manuscript assessment.

• Referrals to an editing service owned by the agency, without disclosing the connection.

• Requiring that clients use the agent’s own paid editing services. Running a contest that’s a scheme for funneling writers into a paid editing service or vanity publisher.

• Pressuring clients to buy “adjunct” services–website design, catalog space, book cover mockups. Etc.

·         Placing clients with fee-charging publishers.

There are no licensing requirements or competency standards for literary agents. Anyone who feels like it can set themselves up as an agent, whether or not they’re qualified to do so. The result is a large number of amateur, incompetent, and marginal agents.

If an agent is established, s/he should have a verifiable track record of commercial book sales, and be willing to disclose it.

A robust history of selling books to commercial (advance-paying) publishers is the single best indication of an agent’s effectiveness and expertise. You want an agent who is selling regularly to a variety of commercial publishers (a reasonable minimum standard is the AAR’s’ requirement for new members–at least 10 sales within the past 18 months), and who has experience selling books in your subject or genre.

For book agents, commissions should not be more than 10-15% for domestic sales and 20-30% for co-agented or foreign sales.

Be wary of an agent who claims to specialize in new writers.

Be wary of an agent who is looking for poets.

Be wary of an agent who claims to want to sell your book idea to Hollywood.

Be wary of an agent who advertises.

Be wary of an agent who solicits you.

Be wary of an agent who provides extravagant praise or inflated promises, and of her opposite, an agent who paints a dismal picture of your chances of success.

There are a number of helpful, vetted, up-to-date agent directories online, such as AgentQuery.com, QueryTracker.com, and AuthorAdvance.

Soooo, what do you think? Should you find an agent?

Agents on twitter:

jwchilton Jamie Weiss Chilton

Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency, shameless caffeine addict, farmer for Marbles, my gray and white rescue bunny.

jenrofe Jen Rofe

Children's lit agent with Andrea Brown who dreams about being a bakery-owning cowgirl. Nevermind that I don't bake much or have a horse.

stevenmalk Steven Malk

Literary agent with Writers House musing on publishing, music, and sports--not necessarily in that order.

McVeighAgency The McVeigh Agency(Mark McVeigh)

A boutique literary agency representing authors, illustrators, graphic novelists and photographers.

DonMaass Donald Maass

President of Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York, author of Writing the Breakout Novel, The Fire in Fiction and other craft books for fiction writers.

SlushPileHell SlushPile Hell

Literary agent. Supervillain.

KOrtizzle Kathleen Ortiz

Associate Agent & Foreign Rights Manager; Books + Chai + Tech. = Life

joemts Joe Monti

Children's & YA, F&SF, Literary Agent & Hero Myth Cycle believer.

JoSVolpe Joanna Volpe

NYC lit agent and lover of pizza.

WolfsonLiterary Michelle Wolfson

I'm a literary agent. Check out my site and if you think we're a fit, let me know. Otherwise just support my authors and buy their books!

KnightAgency The Knight Agency

kate_mckean Kate McKean

Literary Agent, www.morhaimliterary.com Image (c) William G. Wadman

DeidreKnight DeidreKnight

Literary Agent and New York Times bestselling author of romance/women's fiction who loves to travel to far away places, mentally and geographically.

Kid_Lit Mary Kole

Kidlit enthusiast and associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency!

TracyMarchini TracyMarchini

Editorial Consultant, former Literary Agent Assistant, freelance copywriter.

sztownsend81 Suzie Townsend

book lover, former HS teacher, literary agent, sci-fi/fantasy nerd, and owner of an unused $6000 wedding dress. love my life.

michellelit Michelle Andelman

Dark Lady of Letters

UpstartCrowLit Upstart Crow

We're a brusquely friendly literary agency.

ChrisRichman Chris Richman

Kid's book agent, music snob, Philadelphia sports fanatic.

MichaelBourret Michael Bourret

Literary Agent, bran muffin enthusiast and nerdy cat person

NathanBransford Nathan Bransford

Author of JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW (coming in May)

ColleenLindsay Colleen Lindsay

Publishing browncoat. Cat herder. Queer human. Professional nerd. TARDIS fan. Athlete's foot survivor. Part of Penguin Group (USA) Business Development team.

BookEndsJessica Jessica Faust

literary agent, blogger, business owner, book lover and foodie

BookEndsKim Kim Lionetti

Literary Agent representing women's fiction, romance, mystery, true crime, pop culture and pop science.

Ginger_Clark Ginger Clark

I am a literary agent. I work at Curtis Brown. I respond only to queries I'm interested in. This twitter account will be boring.

hroot holly root

literary agent, theater wife, cat person, iphone addict.

BostonBookGirl Lauren E. MacLeod

A literary agent @strothmanagency with an emphasis in YA and MG fiction and nonfiction. Opinions are my own.

literaticat jennifer laughran

literary agent at andrea brown lit, children's bookseller, reader, raconteur, eccentric multi-millionaire and patron of the arts... and some of those are lies

JillCorcoran Jill Corcoran

Literary Agent with Herman Agency representing primarily MG and YA authors.

RachelleGardner Rachelle Gardner

Literary agent, firefighter's wife, mom of two awesome girls, Starbucks freak.

ElanaRoth Elana Roth
Brooklynite, children's book agent, Squarespace support specialist, semi-pro Jew, bourbon drinker. I work for lots of people. None of these tweets are theirs.

Author/Educator, Kathy Stemke, has a B.S. from Southern Connecticut State University and Covenant Life Seminary, and graduate coursework from Columbia University. As a freelance writer Kathy has published several articles and is a former contributing editor for The National Writing for Children's Center. she is on the team at DKV Writing for you, a writing services company. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter, Movement and Rhythm, on her blog.  http://educationtipster.blogspot.com  

Moving Through All Seven Days, her first e-book, is now available on lulu http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/moving-through-all-seven-days/7386965#.  

Trouble on Earth Day and Sh, Sh, Sh Let the Baby Sleep Were released in May 2011.

How to Write a Press Release

If you're promoting a newsletter, book or even yourself, a good press release is an essential tool. A well constructed press release can get your name out quickly.

1. A good release should get you exposure on the community calendar or the FYI sidebar in newsprint.

2. It should get you a response by phone or by email. Often the newspaper, radio station or website will contact you for clarification or sometimes an interview.

3. Your release should be ready to print. If you do the work for them, they are more likely to use it in print. They can just plug it in and go. That saves them time and money.

Things to include:

For immediate release or the start date
Your Phone and email address
Several spaces below that: THE TITLE IN ALL CAPS
You need to keep it brief, but eye catching!

Example: LOCAL SCRIBE SIGNS WITH NATIONAL PUBLISHER

Subtitle in upper and lower case:

Example: Mount Airy Author Reads at the Cornelia Library

Put the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN in the first paragraph in an exciting and refreshing way.

Boring: Kathy Stemke will be reading her book at the Cornelia Library on Thursday, August 4, 2011.

Creative way to give the same information: Story telling is a lost art. Children learn about relationships, their community and how things work through stories. Retired teacher and author, Kathy Stemke, showcases her craft Thursday, August 4th at the Cornelia Library.

The rest of the release should show why people should attend and why they should be interested in Kathy Stemke.

Example: Kathy Stemke has a B.S. from Southern Connecticut State University and Covenant Life Seminary, as well as graduate coursework from New York Institute of Technology and Columbia University. Hanging her hat in the North Georgia mountains, she has been a dancer, choreographer, teacher, tutor, writer and antiques dealer for many years. As a freelance writer and ghostwriter, Kathy has published hundreds of articles in directories, websites and magazines. She is a reviewer for Sylvan Dell Publishing. As a retired teacher, Kathy has several activities published with Gryphon House Publishing.

Kathy’s first e-book, Moving Through All Seven Days, is now available on Lulu. Trouble on Earth Day, a picture book about recycling and Sh Sh Sh Let the baby Sleep a picture book that deals with sibling relationships and consonant blends are also available.

The closing of your press release should be specifically about who the release represents. If it represents the library, you want to give the specific address and phone information so people can contact them with questions. If the release is from Kathy Stemke, she should add a phone number, email address and website address.

Example: For more information contact Ms. Stemke at 678 234-5151, or dancekam1@yahoo.com. You can sign up for Kathy’s free monthly newsletter, Movement and Rhythm, on her blog: http://educationtipster.blogspot.com

Keep it to one page! Just remember, if they want more, they will ask for it. Fill the space at the bottom of the page with contact numbers. Edit well and submit a clean copy.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Every medium loves photos. If you are submitting a photo please identify everyone in it, left to right, front row, back row. You must have photo releases available. If you submit a photo by email, make sure it is very high resolution. If you submit a snapshot by mail, make sure it is not your one and only copy, because with some newsrooms you will never see it again.

Better still, offer the paper a photo opportunity - you with your award, you accepting your award, or you signing your books for your fans.

If you have published a new book, suggest a giveaway--a write-in competition with a couple of copies of your book as prizes.

MORE ON BOOK MARKETING

What is an Author Platform and How Do You Create It?

Writing and Book Marketing – Your Pitch

Book Marketing – Increasing Visibility on Amazon

Kids Learn the Days of the Week with Moving Through All Seven Days

Many preschool children find it difficult to sit and learn, so give them opportunities for movement! It's commonly believed that when you hear something, 10% of the information is retained. If you see it, hear it and say it, 40% is retained. But, if you also DO it, you retain 70%-100% of the information. Using a multi-sensory approach to teach children enhances their retention and capitalizes on their natural tendency to move. In other words, incorporate movement into learning, and your child will have more fun and learn faster.



Kathy Stemke’s book, Moving Through All Seven Days, uses movement activities to teach the days of the week. The lyrical rhymes also teach them how to spell each day! The 14 pages of activities at the end of the book are designed to reinforce the concepts as well as give impetus to movement exploration.

Find it on lulu by clicking on this link: http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/moving-through-all-seven-days/7386965#

Here are some other fun activities that you can do with your children.

DINNER BELL
String seven bells on a string with the each day of the week spelled out. Add a picture of the foods mentioned in the rhyme below. Great for jump rope chants:

Monday, meatball, start the week,
Tuesday, tunafish, what a treat.
Wednesday, watermelon, red and cool,
Thursday, turkey, that’s the rule,
Friday, French fries, eat them hot,
Saturday, slurpees, thanks a lot,
Sunday, spaghetti, sun or rain,
Then start the week all over again!

PIN THE DAY ON THE CALENDAR
Make a poster of seven empty boxes.
Using tacky the kids put the days of the week in order from Sunday to Saturday.
For fun you can blindfold each child, spin them three times, and see how close to the right spot they can place their day on the boxes.

SUITCASE RELAY RACE
In each suitcase there is a piece of clothing for each day of the week.
On Monday we wear mittens.
On Tuesday we wear a tee shirt.
On Wednesday we wear a wig.
On Thursday we wear a tank top.
On Friday we wear a feather boa.
On Saturday we wear socks.
On Sunday we wear sneakers.

On command, one child runs to the suitcase says, “Monday” as they put on the mittens. He runs back and sits down. They next child says, “Tuesday” as he puts on the T-shirt. Etc. The first team to be finished and seated wins!

SYLLABLE SPELLING THE DAYS OF THE WEEK
Make a poster with all seven days of the week printed out.
Cut each day into their syllables.

Sun/day
Mon/day
Tues/day
Wed/nes/day
Thurs/day
Fri/day
Sa/tur/day

Give the cards to the children. Call three children at a time to make words until all the days are spelled out and in order.

Helping Your Child Find the Main Idea

By Kathy Stemke

It is important that children learn how to discern the main idea of a paragraph or a story as early as possible. State-mandated tests often include reading comprehension sections where the child is expected to be able to pick out the main idea. More importantly, when they master this skill their reading comprehension will improve markedly, and they will enjoy reading much more.

Many children think that the first line of a story or essay is always the main idea. To help them understand that the main idea is what the whole story is about tell them to “think of a story as a meal.” It starts with an appetizer whose job it is to entice the reader to continue. We often call this first paragraph the introduction. It’s followed by the side dishes which add a variety of flavors to the story, or additional information to make it fuller. The main dish is the meat of the meal or the main focus, the main idea. Dessert is the final part of the meal where the story winds down to a conclusion.

What we are looking for in the main idea of a story is simply the main course of the dinner, the “meat.” A good way for children to start this process is by putting things in categories such as things you wear, fruits, or vegetables. When they come up with a list of clothing items, discuss that the broad term or main idea is that they are all things you wear.

Next, go into finding the actual main idea of stories. Start with non-fiction books, because they are much easier for a young child to understand. Then, go into fiction stories. Here are a couple of games that will help children practice finding the topic sentence or main idea.

Guess the Topic!

Write a paragraph that doesn't have a topic sentence and have the child guess the topic. Just write supporting sentences.

For example, you could say, "You color with them. They come in many different colors. You can make beautiful pictures with them." When they guess crayons, ask them if it would have been easier to start the paragraph with, "I love crayons?"

Topic Sentence Match Up!

Understanding the main idea of a paragraph can be tough for beginning readers. Here's an exercise you can do to help them see the difference between the main idea and the supporting facts.

Write each topic sentence on a separate index card.

Topic: Dogs are friendly animals.
Topic: I love the winter.
Topic: Candy isn't good for you.

Write each detail on a separate index card.

Detail: They are always waiting for their owners to come home.
Detail: They want to sit with you.
Detail: There are a lot of fun things to do, like sledding and snowball fights.
Detail: We go skiing.
Detail: Every time I eat it, I get a stomachache.
Detail: It's not good for my teeth.

Mix them all up, turn them face up, and match up a topic with two details.

Main Idea Flower Diagram

Another great teaching tool is to diagram the main idea of a paragraph by using a picture of a flower with a thick stem, a large round center and four long petals. The main idea goes on the stem. The topic sentence is written in the center. The four details are written on the petals.

Soon your child will be picking the main idea out of every paragraph or story. This skill will help them understand what they are reading. Better reading comprehension skills will build a firm foundation for your child's education. This is necessary for understanding textbooks in science and social studies. When they understand what they are reading, they will retain more information, and enjoy learning.


Check out Kathy's websites:
Moving Through all Seven Days link:
http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/moving-through-all-seven-days/7386965#
http://kathystemke.weebly.com