2007 Romancing The Rockies Conference
Agent: Natasha Kern
May 11-12 2007
Denver, Colorado
www.natashakern.com
Natasha Kern, Agent, has 24 years of experience in the publishing industry. Before founding her own agency in 1986, she worked as an editor and publicist for New York publishers (Simon & Schuster, Bantam and Ballantine). Natasha has personally sold more than 700 books as an agent and worked on close to 1,000 books during her career in publishing. She represents several NYTimes best selling writers and many writers who have made the USA Today list as well as winners of many notable publishing awards, including: the Edgar Award, the RITA award, the Silver Dagger Award, the Christy Award, the Hurston/Wright Award, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She has taught workshops and been a speaker at writers conferences including The Golden Triangle Conference, The Emerald City Writers Conference, Romance Writers of America National Conference, The Santa Barbara Writers Conference, Willamette Writers Conference, The Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, and many others. She is a member of several writing organizations including Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, The Authors Guild, NAPRA, and American Society of Journalists and Authors. For two years, Natasha agreed to serve as an industry advisor for The Industry Advisory Committee of FHL (Faith, Hope & Love), affiliated with the Romance Writers of America
Recent Interview:
Colorado Romance Writers, Inc
2007 Romancing The Rockies
Agent Interview by Kally Jo Surbeck
Natasha Kern
Natasha Kern Literary Agency
Natasha, hello and welcome!
KJS: Your agency history is impressive with over 700 sales, New York Times best-selling authors, and influence in both Hollywood and foreign markets. How did you become an agent?
NK: I worked in publishing in New York for several years for Simon & Schuster, Ballantine, Bantam and other publishers. When I relocated to Oregon I worked as an editor and publicist for private corporations for a while and then began a consulting service as an editor for other agents working primarily on developing book proposals. The first time I finished one I thought was wonderful and the agent couldn't sell it, I thought I could do a better job, so I took it on and did sell it. I knew that if I loved a book and was passionate about it I could sell it and I knew quite a lot about the world of New York publishing and have a strongly entrepreneurial spirit so I opened the agency, one of the first to open outside of New York. In the beginning, several of the agents I had worked with editorially mentored me, and, in turn, I have mentored several new agents over the years myself.
KJS: The Natasha Kern Agency says that they are "stewards of ideas". I find that quote fascinating. Does that mean you are actively involved in the careers of your authors? How involved? Are you very involved in the actual story concept as well as the sale and promotion of your clients' work?
NK: Yes, I am involved from conceptualization in many cases. A client may send me a list of books she has wanted to write and I will consider what order would be best for her career or how to shift from one genre to another. It may be an issue of what is more salable, but also what best fits her voice and style or long term vision. This also refers, of course, to the nonfiction works I represent and how the ideas can be shaped into a salable book. I think all good agents are involved in much more than just getting a sale of necessity. I usually talk with each client at least once every year to find out what her hopes and dreams are, or her worries too. No one writes in a vacuum and career plans have to take into consideration the writer's personal life and how prolific she is, what her other obligations are, how her financial situation will be affected, if it is realistic to quit her day job and so on. I do sometimes provide editorial feedback, particularly if a writer is changing her career in a major way like shifting from adult novels to young adult or romance to thrillers or if she is having some problems with her in-house editor. There is such a broad range of situations and the needs of each client are so individual, it is hard to detail all the ways in which I may be involved in career development and shepherding books into print.
KJS: In Writer's Digest your agency was ranked 11th in the list of the top 25 agencies for new writers. What do you think your agency does differently that allows you to stand out as you do?
NK: It is, of course, easier to take on only published writers who already have a track record, but it is also exciting to take on new writers and help them to launch a career as a writer. New writers are unquestionably a LOT more work for an agent, not just because it is harder to get a sale, but also because there is so much about the publishing process, working with their in-house team, and becoming a professional writer that they cannot yet know. I do represent and sell new writers every year and it does keep the excitement of discovering new voices and new talent alive for everyone at the agency because everyone reads manuscripts and proposals that come in hoping to find something wonderful. I love to see someone come to me with that shine in their eye from falling in love with something new. Once, I heard a sound of muffled sobs coming from one of my assistants who was reading at her desk during lunch hour. I went over to ask what on earth was wrong. She looked up teary eyed and said, "If you don't represent this book, I can't work for you any more." Well, I did take it on and got a six figure advance. This is the life blood of the agency. Look, the plain fact is we don't actually care if the writer is published or unpublished as the foremost consideration. What we do care about is: Is the writing and the story REALLY wonderful?! Can you REALLY make us laugh, cry, turn the pages, get turned on, get scared, stay up all night like the above writer? When we pick it up to read a few pages can we REALLY not put it down and are upset when the three chapters in the submission are over and we have to request the rest. THAT is what we are looking for. Exactly the same thing every reader is looking for when she picks up a new book in the bookstore-- we want to care about the characters be riveted by what is happening-- and personally I want to already be thinking about the dozen editors I want to send it to who will be dying to read it themselves. There isn't that much point in looking at the website to see what we have sold recently because I want to find a fresh new voice that I didn't know I was looking for until I find it. I'm sending out a new ms. this month titled Elvis Takes a Backseat about a widow who takes a wacky trip from Texas to Nashville to return a bust of Elvis that belonged to her husband to Faithland because it was his last request and she thinks he meant Graceland. Did I know I was looking for that? I had NO IDEA! But, as I was reading the partial, my husband asked what I was so involved in reading and I said this is a wild story but it is wonderfully written and I love it already. He decided to read the first chapter and after finishing it, he (who never reads women's fiction or romances or ever was a fan of Elvis) said: Wow, you have really found something here. THAT is what we are looking for.
KJS: You are actively involved in RWA and the Romance industry. You travel to conferences, much like ours, and take appointments, graciously offering your time. What is the number one turn off you, personally, have during a pitch session?
NK: The main thing that turns me off is not the pitches but the system. I like to do group appointments because I would like new writers to feel comfortable talking with all of us in the industry. I'd like to screen them in instead of out. The whole point of going to conferences other than seeing my clients is to be available for writers and provide information about the industry. I am used to pitching things all day long so it is not a big deal to summarize a 350 page novel in a two minute pitch. But my experience is that those people who are good at doing this at conferences always turn out to have a background in acting or pr or sales and they are good at presenting which has no correlation to being good at writing. And we don't see any writing so the only thing left to evaluate is the person's demeanor or clothing etc. If I heard a pitch for the book mentioned above, it would have sounded at least weird. There are lots of books I have read and loved that would be hard to pitch well for a writer. So I think the one on one system is a disservice to writers because they are judged or evaluated for things that have nothing to do with how well they can write. That is why I prefer group sessions because everyone can send a query anyway and that works fairly well because it is in writing and a sample can be enclosed. The sessions allow writers to interact with agents, listen to a dialogue and get a sense of our personality, ask questions like these about how we work, and talk about genre or the salability of their concept and so on. The only time I can recall being offended/turned off during a pitch session was when the writer began telling me how she was writing about her husband who was a reincarnation of Jesus and she knew this because he could turn green stoplights red at will and then switched to a VERY hostile tone and said but this isn't a book about HIM-- but what it has been like for me to live with someone who is perfect all of these years and how horrible that has been . . . .
KJS: This is a two part question. What do you like to see in both a pitch and a storyline?
NK: See above response. The writer can just relax and be a human being and tell me about why she loves her story because if she has paid her conference fee and taken the trouble to show up, the chances are I'm going to ask to look at something, unless it is a genre I simply am not currently adding to my list or the story is too similar to something a client is writing or it is wildly unsalable like an 1820s western involving alien kidnapping and forced mating on a starship. If this is a written pitch, I want to see jacket copy. I'm not very interested in either verbally or in writing having a storyline presented. A synopsis is hard enough, but at least it is useful. The storyline is something for the writer to use for herself and not for selling her work.
KJS: How would you describe a dream client?
NK: One who participates in a mutually respectful business relationship, is clear about needs and goals and communicates about career planning. If we know what you need, want and envision, we can help you to achieve it. A dream client has a gift for language and storytelling, a commitment to a writing career, a desire to learn and grow, and a passion for excellence. This client understands that many people have to work together for a book to succeed and that everything in publishing takes far longer than one imagines. Trust and communication are truly essential. How wonderful that all of my clients are dream clients.
KJS: Are there genres you will not consider and if so, what?
NK: I am not interested in representing erotica. See my website for an explanation about that. http://www.natashakern.com/sexuality_in_literature.htm. I'm not taking on chick lit clients because that market is so saturated. Ultra sci-fi plots are not for me although I have represented futuristic romances.
KJS: CRW's membership's main focus is the romance industry. Where do you see the market heading in the future?
NK: I was afraid you were going to ask this! And after I put it in writing, then we'll all have to see if it comes true. Genres will continue to blur which is wonderful. There will be opportunities for more new voices like the opening up now of multicultural novels (not categorized as Hispanic or AA etc). Historicals will make a comeback after languishing for a few years. There will be an increase in fantasy elements and stories. The rapid expansion of Christian fiction and launching of more imprints like Avon's inspirational line which is in addition to Zondervan's extensive program for Harper will lead to the acceptance of whole characters on both sides of the aisle in ABA and CBA. In the past, for example, Christian publishers censored all expressions of physical affection even in a marital relationship and secular publishers all censored the slightest hint that the heroine might go to church on Sunday, pray, or have a thought about her faith or that of the hero. I think we may well see the day when we can read about whole people as characters with physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives. African American writers have crossed this line the most and best and it is one reason why I love reading their novels like those by clients Angela Benson, LaTonya Mason and Lutishia Lovely.
KJS: Is there something you have really been looking for, that you think you and your agency would really like to see have not yet?
NK: Yes. It is exactly that magical something that we are always looking for -- the writer with a gift for writing and storytelling, the voice and the craft, who has a passion for what she is telling us. I am looking to be invited into that magical realm of the writer's imagination so that I want to live there as long as possible and will sigh when I come to the end and must put it down. This is always something indescribable. Who went to the bookstore to find a novel about a young girl whose mother has died and she learns about beekeeping? But a lot of us loved The Secret Life of Bees. I want a contemporary George Eliot-- a writer who has something to say and the ability to say it well in a way that moves me.
KJS: What are your writing pet peeves?
NK: Writers who know all the rules about writing, but have no passion, no feeling, in their work. I see this most often from university professors. Years ago I had a partner who screened most of the queries, but if there was a university return address he would flip a coin over who would get stuck opening it because they were always the worst to read. That is still true today.
KJS: What advice would you offer to writers, published, multi-published, and aspiring?
NK: I think most of the advice I have is on my website or will be in a blog that I'm planning to start soon. There is always the matter of learning the craft and accepting the fact that, as one editor puts it, this isn't a level playing field. Some people can make it in the local talent contest but aren't going to sing in Carnegie Hall. Hey, I am not writing wonderful books myself and don't have this gift! Write because you can't help it and one day if you practice enough to get good at it others will want to read it. For multi-published writers there are completely different issues in developing not just craft or voice but a career including knowing when PR is worthwhile and when it is a waste of time and money and how to develop a strong support team to keep them moving forward in this crazy business.
KJS: I've notices on your taglines you often have inspiring quotes. If you could share one with the CRW membership, what would it be?
NK:I use this one on my emails because I deeply believe it is true. Our purpose in life is to express the gifts we have been given to the best of our ability-- to bloom where we have been planted. "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Reverend Howard Thurman (1900-1981)
Natasha, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today, to share your thoughts and a bit about you and your company. Colorado Romance Writers, Inc, myself include, welcome you and look forward to seeing you in Denver, May 2007!
For more information on Natasha Kern, who she represents, submission guidelines for The Natasha Kern Literary Agency, please visit her website at http://www.natashakern.com/.
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