Shooting the Shit About Trends—And Why You Do (And Don't) Need Them—Solo With Carly
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What are publishing trends and why do they matter?
What's up, everyone? This is Cece. So I recently grabbed lunch with an acquiring editor from HarperCollins who told me that the number of submissions she's been getting has nearly doubled. And I wasn't surprised at all because every agent and editor I know has been talking about how the volume of submission keeps increasing. So personally, that is a wonderful thing, because it's more reading for me, but it also means I have more chances of matching with authors. I consider it a privilege to review queries on Books with Hooks, and of course, in my submissions inbox. But at the same time, I talk to writers who tell me that they wish agents would read more than a few pages because... And I quote, my story gets better in chapter two.
I have to be honest, this kills me. It's like me wanting chocolate chip cookies to have the nutritional value of kale.
How do literary agents manage submission anxiety?
It's just not realistic. Like it or not, no agent, no acquiring editor is going to stick around to see if a submission gets better. It's not because we're mean, it's because we get dozens and dozens every day. I know it's harsh, but ambitious writers embrace harsh realities. So here it goes. It's your job to make your opening pages irresistible, to make agents crave it, to make agents want to read more. That's why I'm so excited about my upcoming course, Starting It Right. How to begin your story in the best place and in the best way. I created this course after studying hundreds of books. I've mapped out elements that are present in the beginning of all successful novels and memoirs.
What does a day in the life of a literary agent look like?
And I've designed checklists, actual checklists, that you can use to ensure that your story's beginning is seducing your reader. We'll cover how to write a great first line, different types of beginnings and how you can choose the best one, the best place to start and the best way to start, yes, these are totally different things, when it makes sense to add a prologue and when it doesn't, how to frame your inciting incident in an appealing way, how to balance exposition and mystery, how to include context but not weigh it down with too much backstory, and what to do if your story has more than one POV or timeline. Most of all, I'm going to show you how to make readers want to turn to Chapter 2.
Join me for this multi-day course designed to help you break through the noise. You'll leave with a clear, actionable breakdown of exactly what goes into a terrific beginning. If you've already signed up, come prepared to take lots of notes. We're talking hundreds of slides with real-world examples and specific techniques, plus a super fun surprise that I can't wait to share. I hope to see you there.
Welcome to another episode of Shooting the Shit with literary agents Carly Waters and Cece Lira, where we dissect publishing gossip, discuss book industry trends, and the overall state of the book business. If you've ever wanted to grab a coffee with two literary agents, grab your mug and pull up a chair.
How do different types of trends impact the book industry?
Hi everybody, it is shooting the shit just with Carly today because this is my solo episode. Cece is in Aspen at her conference and we just couldn't make the timing work with our travel this time so I'm gonna take a solo week and then Cece's gonna take a solo week and hopefully we'll be back in our routine before too long but I was thinking about what to cover. For my solo episode, I thought I could have a guest on, I could do questions, I could do a panel. I mean, my mind was spinning about all the things that I could do. But it is so hard to get so many people in one place these days. And a lot of you guys haven't experienced my course yet, the Authors Publishing Playbook. So... I thought this would be a great opportunity to give you guys a snapshot of what it is like inside my course.
And so I have prepared an excerpt for you guys so you can experience what it is like to be inside my course. And we're going to talk about trends, why you do and don't need them, go into a bit of a
What are the stages of a trend's life cycle?
history of trends, what they mean, why they matter, a bit of the kind of intellectual side and the theory of trends and how they relate to the book business specifically, and layer that over top of something that's happening in the kind of romance and escapism trend space.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are publishing trends and why do they matter?
0:03–0:56
2
How do literary agents manage submission anxiety?
0:56–1:44
3
What does a day in the life of a literary agent look like?
1:44–3:24
4
How do different types of trends impact the book industry?
3:24–4:19
5
What are the stages of a trend's life cycle?
4:19–5:12
6
How can authors effectively navigate trends in their writing?
5:12–6:00
7
What insights can be gained from the romance trend in publishing?
6:00–6:35
8
Why is it important for writers to stay in their creative lane?
6:35–34:19
Speakers
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Shooting the Shit About Advance Sizes and E-Learning Economics
In Conversation with Editor and Author