An Agent's View

Enthusiasm— the Necessary Intangible by Kris Wallace ©2002 All rights reserved

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s not something a writer can check off a list of requirements for a query letter. It’s not something an agent can throw into an envelope with a manuscript. But if it’s not there somewhere, you can count another book that won’t be published.

Enthusiasm is sometimes produced by a well-written sentence, a nicely worded paragraph. Sometimes it can be aroused by the right set of characters and story. Or it could be the result of the right colored envelope opened at the right time when the weather is just right. There’s no known formula.

Without enthusiasm, an agent cannot represent a project. Because without enthusiasm, an agent cannot pitch projects to editors. Editors can hear it if it’s there and they know when it’s not. An agent must be brimming with severely infectious enthusiasm to successfully place a project. The enthusiasm must flow through the phone and into the editor. It must make that editor so giddy that she can hardly wait until her weekly edit board where the excitement must flow from her into everyone else in the room.

Nearly every person in the publishing house must be so enthused about a project, all else is pushed aside. Without this kind of zealous support, a project will not become a book.

It’s not an easy task. But when the enthusiasm is pure and powerful, there’s no stopping it. (Kinda like love.)

So where does this pure and powerful enthusiasm come from? What can a writer do to create that enthusiasm, and what can an agent do to generate that enthusiasm?

Enthusiasm is personal. It can’t be forced. It can’t be faked. Well, okay, sometimes it can be faked. Good agents are good fakers. (I don’t want to be a faker. I want to sell a project, but I don’t want to be tied to something that I don’t care about.) I have to feel something for a project and its author. I have to involve my head and my heart. If my heart’s not in it, there’s no enthusiasm. (I married for love, not money.)

It can be frustrating. I can look at a submission and see all the tangible ingredients for a successful book, but not like it. It could be a well-written proposal with a new spin on a hot topic, the author has a full speaking schedule, he has a nationally-syndicated column, his best friend has promised him time on the local morning show, and he’s fabulous looking. But, ugh, it just doesn’t thrill me. (That Alex the Bachelor guy looked good on paper, too, but . . . ) Some agents get their thrills from packages like this while others may get their thrills from suspense novels. The same goes for editors.

They need to be thrilled. I need to be thrilled. Somehow.

Unfortunately, ninety percent of an agent’s day is spent handling the killer of enthusiasm, rejection. There are always writers’ submissions to reject and editors rejections to receive. It can be difficult to keep the enthusiasm flowing.

When I receive a rejection from an editor on a project, I take it personally. But when I get a bite, when I hear those words, "I’m having some other people read it," I know the dance has begun. I am very careful not to be pushy, but also very careful not to ignore the situation. This is when an agent becomes a suitor who times his next call. Kinda like, we went out on Saturday, so I’ll call her Tuesday.

Like dating, the publishing process is an emotional one. And the key emotion, enthusiasm, is an elusive one. Just when you think you’ve found it, it slips right through your fingers.

So when an agent demonstrates even a bit of enthusiasm for your work, nurture that enthusiasm and protect it. Don’t do anything stupid and neurotic that could kill it.

Remember that crush you had in 7th grade when you found out they liked you, too. But you had to ruin it, didn’t you. You couldn’t let it run its course, you had to know right then and there where it was going, did they really like you, really, truly? But why didn’t they call every night, why didn’t they want to walk you to school every morning, why didn’t they want to talk endlessly about how great it was to like someone who liked you back? Why didn’t they want to start planning the wedding?

Don’t be one of those writers. Remember what you ultimately learned in college, or maybe years later like me. If they like you, they like you. There’s no hurry. There’s no reason to put it to the test. Let it be. Let it grow. See what happens.

If an agent is interested, she will call you. She will tell you what her intentions are. She will tell you what will happen next. She knows how to handle first timers. If an agent is not interested, shrug it off and move on. You’ll know when it’s right.

Just like I know when it’s right.

When there’s pure and powerful enthusiasm.

Q & A With Kris Wallace

Q: Instead of a cover letter explaining my concept for a novel, I send the published memoir (1,000 words) on which the novel is based. I would think this would be better. Do you?
—Kurt S.

A: Kurt -

Send what the agent wants to see. If the agency procedure requests a query letter, send a query letter. Of course, there is no rigid guideline for a query letter. But you should keep it to one page and include your writing credentials, if any. Don’t use the entire 1,000 words, just an excerpt.

And don’t ever send something against an agent’s wishes. It won’t be read.

Q Hello, I am LeeAnn and my only wish is to get a book of my poetry published, but I am both young and inexperienced, and I have no clue as to how I would even go about the monstrous task of getting published, distributed,etc. so I am asking you how I should start my quest...

A: LeeAnn-

Unless you self-publish, chances are you’ll be dead before your poetry is published in book form, if it’s good. Look to poetry journals and magazines for opportunities to submit single poems. The only thing more difficult than getting a first novel published, is getting a book of poetry published. Good luck.

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