LZ: What seems to be getting acquisitions editors excited on the fiction front? For example, is chick lit still hot?

MF: Chick lit is cooling down, and in general publishing has gone the way of Hollywood and is always looking for high concepts, or a hot idea. For example, a Da Vinci Code, as opposed to a smart suspense novel, or something with a gimmick or hook to it.

LZ: Well, would you consider The Da Vinci Code a gimmick book or a smart suspense novel?

MF: While The Da Vinci Code is somewhat of a smart thriller, its appeal is the high concept of secrets being concealed in Da Vinci's work that are the key to solving a murder. Had it just been a smart thriller, without that hook—and the ensuing controversy in religious circles—I don't think it would have been nearly as successful. Had it been written by a first-time author, there's a good chance it might not have been picked up had it not had that hook.

LZ: Is there anything in particular that’s not being well-received right now?

MF: Techno thrillers are sort of passé right now. I had one editor tell me they don’t want to look at anything that even remotely resembles a techno thriller.

LZ: Are there any trends you think will be around for a while?

MF: I think trends come and go. I don’t think there’s any way to predict them. Once you spot a trend and jump on the bandwagon, it’s probably too late. Just like in the movies, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve. The advice I give writers is “write what you want to write, don’t try to predict the trends—but it doesn’t hurt to think commercially.” A good example of this is John Grisham’s The Firm…it’s essentially a book on lawyer’s ethics, but he dressed it up as a commercial vehicle.

LZ: How involved are you in the effort to place novels from previously unpublished writers?

MF: Probably half of the clients we represent haven’t been previously published as novelists. Some have published nonfiction books, but we’re trying to sell their first novel.

LZ: What is your sense of the market for first fiction today?

MF: The market for fiction in general is incredibly tight today. It’s almost as easy to get editors to read a new novelist as it is to get them to read a previously published writer who doesn’t have a good sales record. It’s tough all around in fiction right now. In a word: tight.

LZ: How has this affected your business?

MF: It makes us more selective with fiction than we have been in the past.

LZ: How has the ongoing trend of consolidation among major publishers affected your submissions strategy?

MF: Ultimately, there are fewer decision-makers now, so we have to be careful. We don’t want to send the same book to two editors under two different imprints of the same parent company. We don’t submit them simultaneously. For example, if I get a rejection from Berkeley, I may try Putnam’s later, but I don’t want to try them at the same time.

LZ: How do the writers’ query letter, synopsis, and other materials factor into your own pitch to publishers?

MF: It’s helpful for us to have a synopsis so I can formulate a pitch to an editor in a paragraph. I usually include a one-paragraph synopsis in my pitch. Sometimes, I add in the writers’ credentials if they’re germane. But I want editors to make their judgment based on the novel, not the writer.

LZ: Do you think the same principle should generally apply to writers seeking your attention?

MF: While I would normally agree that the novel should sell itself to me as an agent, rather than relying on the writers' credentials, that's not a hard and fast rule. Marketing departments love authors who are marketable, and name recognition is obviously a big part of that.

LZ: What are the primary differences in a writer’s approach to landing an agent and an agent’s approach to landing a publisher?

MF: I don't know that there's any real difference in a writer's approach to landing an agent and an agent's approach to landing a publisher. Agents have to evaluate the work the same way a publisher would.

LZ: What industry resources do you rely on when making decisions on where to send what?

MF: I read the industry news, such as Publisher’s Lunch and Publisher’s Weekly and Jeff Herman’s guide so I can see whether editors have switched houses, but once I make an initial contact, I rely on my relationships with editors. I’d much rather call an editor and ask , “What are you looking for?” than look at Publisher’s Lunch and see what the editor bought two months ago.

LZ: Is there any way for writers to capitalize on the trend of book manuscripts turning into made-for-TV films, etc?

MF: The best way to capitalize on that trend is to write a book that is cinematic. There are a lot of books that just aren’t good movies, but if a writer thinks cinematically, sometimes that shows up in the writing.

LZ: What effect are POD (Publishing On Demand) and self-publishing options having on mainstream publishing?

MF: I’m not sure they’re having much of an effect on mainstream publishing, other than the fact that they’re flooding the market with a lot of stuff that probably shouldn’t be published. Most of the POD books and self-pub books I’ve seen are poorly written and poorly edited, and I think that’s unfortunate.

However, we have a lot of really good writers that we can’t get New York’s attention on, and POD or self-publishing is a good place for them to go. I do know one guy who self-published two books and then Bantam picked him up on his next two. So there can be some crossover. But I get a lot of letters from people who are touting themselves as “published,” when what they mean is self-published. And they’d be better off saying they were unpublished. I’ve seen a lot of self-pub manuscripts with several typos on the first page—and that makes me question the quality of the editing, the story, style, grammar, etc. There needs to be more quality control in POD and self-publishing for there to be any increase in pick-up from traditional publishing.

LZ: How can a self-published author get a traditional publisher’s attention?

MF: The way to get a traditional publisher’s attention is to get a good sales record. Go out and get the sales yourself. But then it’s still difficult, because a publisher is going to question whether the market on this is already exhausted. And if the book hasn’t sold well in the self-publishing world, the publisher will ask themselves, “Why would it succeed now?”

LZ: Describe the typical process that ensues after you receive a query letter from a writer.

MF: If I get a good query letter in snail mail, I read it first, then Susan, my partner, reads it. Then, if it’s fiction, we ask the writer for a submission of the first 50 pages. If it’s nonfiction, we ask for the proposal and two chapters. We read that, and if we like it, we request the entire manuscript. Then if we both like it and decide we want to represent it, we offer the writer a contract.

LZ: Once you take on a project, do you get involved editorially?

MF: Yes, once we get the manuscript in, we will typically go through and line-edit it and assess how much work the book needs. We’ll either offer our editing services at no additional charge, or we’ll pass on the book. Any mistakes in the manuscript will reflect on us as well as the writer.

LZ: Would you ever consider the same project again if the writer got professional editing help and then sent it back to you?

MF: If it was close the first time, and they sent it back again, I might. But if I really didn’t like it in the first place, I wouldn’t look at it again, no. And I have a good memory for story lines. Someone once tried to sneak the same story past me twice, with a different title.

LZ: How do you feel about stand-alones vs. series in a genre such as mystery?

MF: It doesn’t make a difference to me, but some editors are looking for series. It only makes a difference in which editors I send it to. If a stand-alone looks like it could become a series, I might suggest that to a writer.

LZ: Would you say you reject more projects because they’re poorly conceived or poorly executed?

MF: Probably more often because they’re poorly executed. The vast majority of the submissions we solicit don’t live up to the query. It’s not unusual for someone to have a really good idea but not know how to execute it.

LZ: What is the general time frame in which a book gets published after you’ve sold it to a publisher?

MF: Most publishers schedule their releases, so it depends on when they have an opening in their calendar. Twelve months would be fast, 18 to 24 months is typical for bigger houses, 12 months would be more standard for a smaller house. It could be sooner than that, but typically it takes at least 12 months.

LZ: Approximately how many books do you typically place in a year?

MF: We don’t take on a lot of clients—maybe 20 or 25 total--and we can’t sell all of their books. It goes in spurts. We sold four in 30 days and then we had a three-month drought.

LZ: What are your feelings about today’s publishing word in general? Are books being acquired more on quality or because they’re perceived as potential good sellers?

MF: The decisions today are more marketing decisions, not creative or artistic decisions, which I think is unfortunate. We’re hearing more and more that a story or a novel is “too small.” What I interpret that to mean is that they don’t think it will sell enough.

LZ: How is that affecting you in your business?

MF: It is definitely affecting us. We used to take on things we fell in love with, now we have to think that somebody else will buy it too. We have to think like acquisitions editors.

LZ: How much value do major trade publishers put on originality?

MF: They’ll tell you “a lot,” but I don’t know that that’s true. If it’s too original, then you’re viewed as outside the mainstream. What they’re looking for really is a new spin or twist on something that seems familiar.

LZ: How much faith do you have in the system in terms of great books getting sold?

MF: I don’t believe in it as much as I used to. There are a lot of great books that never get sold. We have some writers that have great books that will never get sold—simply because they’re not commercial enough.

LZ: Do you have any success stories you’d like to share with our readers?

MF: Yes, we have one client for whom we had a difficult time placing his first novel. We got love-letter rejections from a lot of the big houses in NYC. We finally placed it in with a small regional publisher in Houston, and it ended up winning the Texas Institute of Letters John Bloom Hum or Award as the funniest Texas book of 2004. I think our faith in the book was validated by the award. It doesn’t have good distribution right now, but we think we may be able to sell the movie rights.

LZ: Do you have any advice for writers and editors who are working together to produce salable fiction?

MF: Writers should write what they’re passionate about, but be mindful of other considerations. Learn your craft, not just the creative part. Don’t be afraid to use the services of good editors. It always helps to have that objective eye. Finally, have fun writing. If it’s a chore, then do something else.

For more information about Mike Farris, please see his website.

Lynne Marie Zerance is a freelance writer, The Director of Business Development for The Editorial Department, and the Managing Editor of Between the Lines.