"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

[John Jarrold]

My pleasure! It was very interesting.

 

[The Alamo Avenger]

Encouraging quote for those of us still struggling to get published:

"I would rather be a failure at something I enjoy than be a success at something I hate."
--George Burns

This struck a chord within me today and just thought I'd share....

 

[Troo]

That's a good one. I don't agree, but it's a good one.

I for one would rather be a success at something I enjoy

 

[Dean F. Wilson]

And most people are failures at something they hate

John,

What's your slate looking like for 2008? Have you taken on many new authors this year, and how's it looking for publishing deals, release dates, etc. for the coming year? And, perhaps more pressing for us writers here, how do you foresee the year ahead in terms of how much time you'll have for accepting new clients?

-D

 

[John Jarrold]

I've done five multi-book deals for debut novelists in 2007. All those first novels will appear in 2008, between February and the end of the year. I've only taken on a few clients this year, and I certainly won't be looking to take on many in 2008, but if I see something WONDERFUL, that will still pique my enthuisiasm!

I'll give everyone a full run-down of the 2008 debuts later - I'll be out most of today!

 

[The Alamo Avenger]

That's a good one. I don't agree, but it's a good one.

I for one would rather be a success at something I enjoy

True, true. I think we all would. Of course, having posted that, I would not settle to be a failure at something I enjoy, but I think it's just a reminder to do what you love and take time out once in a while to enjoy the process.

 

[Havlen]

That's a good one. I don't agree, but it's a good one.

I for one would rather be a success at something I enjoy

If you don't agree, that means you would rather be successful at something you hate than to be a failure at something you enjoy. Being a success at something you enjoy wasn't a choice.

Personally, I'd rather be a failure at something I enjoy, but I don't see how that is possible. The very fact that I have written a book makes me a success. The fact that it has not been published by a large publisher just means I have to find some other way to put food on the table while I enjoy my success.

Some of my other successes:

Playing the piano. I'm not very good at it, but I can play it. Most importantly, to me, I can sit down and play it without playing a particular song.

Programming games. Not putting money in the pocket, but I did get into the vault's hall of fame with a series of Neverwinter Nights mods.

Programming non-games. This one I've made a bit of money on, and luckily, I've both enjoyed and been successful at it.

 

[Erin99]

The very fact that I have written a book makes me a success. The fact that it has not been published by a large publisher just means I have to find some other way to put food on the table while I enjoy my success.

Some of my other successes:

Playing the piano. I'm not very good at it, but I can play it. Most importantly, to me, I can sit down and play it without playing a particular song.

Programming games. Not putting money in the pocket, but I did get into the vault's hall of fame with a series of Neverwinter Nights mods.

Programming non-games. This one I've made a bit of money on, and luckily, I've both enjoyed and been successful at it.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Every little thing you achieve in life is a success, and every failure is a setback - for a short time. The key is to keep trying.

 

[The Alamo Avenger]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Every little thing you achieve in life is a success, and every failure is a setback - for a short time. The key is to keep trying.

As they say in my son's Planet Heroe movie, "The only ones who never fail, are those who never try."

Anyway, wasn't this supposed to be a thread for questions for that John guy... Sorry, I think I got us off topic.

 

[Troo]

If you don't agree, that means you would rather be successful at something you hate than to be a failure at something you enjoy. Being a success at something you enjoy wasn't a choice.

Your logic is flawed. Since when does life require that I stick only to the offered choices?

So, John. *scrabbles for a question that could possibly get us back on topic*.

How much would you say that winning an award contributes to an author's sales? Let's pick a random award like the August Derleth Award.

 

[John Jarrold]

And most people are failures at something they hate

John,

What's your slate looking like for 2008? Have you taken on many new authors this year, and how's it looking for publishing deals, release dates, etc. for the coming year? And, perhaps more pressing for us writers here, how do you foresee the year ahead in terms of how much time you'll have for accepting new clients?

-D

HERE IS A LIST OF THE LITERARY AGENCY CLIENTS' NOVELS IN 2008 - I'LL BE ADDING TO IT WHEN A COUPLE MORE HAVE CONFIRMED DATES:


JANUARY: DEBATABLE SPACE – PHILIP PALMER (ORBIT US/UK)
SF NOVEL

FEBRUARY: THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY – ROBERT V S REDICK (GOLLANCZ UK) FANTASY NOVEL

APRIL: THE REEF – MARK CHARAN NEWTON (PENDRAGON UK) FANTASY NOVEL

MAY: THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE WAVES – STEPHEN HUNT (HARPERCOLLINS UK) FANTASY NOVEL

MAY: KETHANI – ERIC BROWN (SOLARIS US/UK) SF NOVEL

JUNE: PRINCIPLES OF ANGELS – JAINE FENN (GOLLANCZ UK) SF NOVEL

JUNE: THE COURT OF THE AIR – STEPHEN HUNT (TOR US) FANTASY NOVEL

AUGUST: RETURN OF THE CRIMSON GUARD – IAN CAMERON ESSLEMONT (BANTAM UK) FANTASY NOVEL

OCTOBER: TWELVE – JASPER KENT (BANTAM UK) HISTORICAL SUPERNATURAL NOVEL

END OF YEAR: UNTITLED SUPERNATURAL THRILLER – SUZANNE MCLEOD (GOLLANCZ UK)

 

[John Jarrold]

Your logic is flawed. Since when does life require that I stick only to the offered choices?

So, John. *scrabbles for a question that could possibly get us back on topic*.

How much would you say that winning an award contributes to an author's sales? Let's pick a random award like the August Derleth Award.

None at all. Whether it's the Hugo, the Nebula, the BSFA Award or the Derleth, the mainstream booksellers aren't interested and don't take one extra copy just becuase a novel has won a genre award. The Booker, it ain't.

 

[Ian Whates]

Particularly looking forward to Eric's Kethani book, John -- about time those stories were collected.

Mark Newton's novel sounds pretty interesting as well (at least, Mark tells me it is ). Will you be at Eastercon for the launch?

 

[Havlen]

Your logic is flawed. Since when does life require that I stick only to the offered choices?

Sorry, my logic isn't flawed. When you disagreed, you were stating that you preferred being a success at something you hated rather than being a failure at something you loved. Period. You could have stated your preference for a third choice without agreeing or disagreeing with the original statement. That would have been perfectly fine. But, once you agreed or disagreed with the statement, your thoughts on a third choice became largely irrelevant.

But, as is stated above, this is pretty off topic.

 

[John Jarrold]

Particularly looking forward to Eric's Kethani book, John -- about time those stories were collected.

Mark Newton's novel sounds pretty interesting as well (at least, Mark tells me it is ). Will you be at Eastercon for the launch?

He's written a new part and connecting material, Ian, so I think a lot of people will come to it fresh as a novel...

 

[John Jarrold]

And yes, I'll be at Eastercon. MC'ing the BSFA Awards ceremony, as usual. I'll be there from Thursday afternoon until first thing Sunday morning!

 

[Ian Whates]

Look forward to seeing you there, John.

Oh, and by the way,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!​

 

[Montero]

Hi John,

I asked this question in a new thread under publishing and folks suggested I ask it here. Following peoples' answers I've modified it a bit

I write both SF and Fantasy and quite a few years ago was told, by an agent to whom I'd sent synopses of my work, that I should concentrate on either fantasy or SF and to write both was a mistake as it would make me far harder to sell. (This was part of a rejection explanation.)

In the other thread folks suggested that the correct answer here is that when listing other books I have written (to avoid looking like a one book wonder) only to mention novels which are close in genre to the one I am pitching. Also, does this apply equally to agents and publishers, or with agents should you give an idea of the breadth of what you work on?

The other thought that came out of the thread was - you submit say a Fantasy book to a publisher (and it is rejected) is there any harm in then sending in an SF book?
In a more positive framework, if they say we like your writing, but not this SF book, do you then offer them a Fantasy book?

 

[The Alamo Avenger]

I have a question, John. I have the feeling it might have already been asked here, but can't remember, so forgive me if it has. Suppose you submit a manuscript to an agent and they decline it but give you a brief reason why. If you then rework your ms based on their suggestions, is there a time limit that you should wait before resubmitting to the same agent? Or do agents frown on receiving the same (albeit reworked) ms?

 

[Dean F. Wilson]

John will probably give more details on this, but as far as I'm aware, if an agent or publisher rejects your MS without saying "I'd like to see this again" or "Please provide a rewrite", they won't read the same one again, no matter if it is revised (even if they've told you what they thought was wrong with it). If they think the problems are minor enough to be sorted with an edit (and they like the MS enough to help work on it before publication), they'll give a provisional acceptance.

That said, I suppose it depends on the agent in question.

-D