by Holly Root of the Waxman Agency
“I just didn’t fall in love with it as much as I’d hoped.â€
If you’re a writer, you’ve probably seen those words from an agent or editor. And while they are no fun to hear or say (after all, everybody wants to fall in love), they’re totally true.
So much of what we do as readers, as agents, as editors is a question of falling in love. Think about that moment when you open a book in the store. It’s first date time. You’re excited. You want the book to take you away, to sweep you up and make you miss your stop on the train.
But if you’ve had some tough luck recently, picked up several books that failed to get the sparks flying, you might be wary of having your reading heart broken yet again. It’s time for the “let’s hang out as friends†kind of reading—you know, when you read a couple chapters standing there next to your TBR pile (or, ahem, TBR bookshelf) before committing. But you keep trying because you truly want the next thing you read to be that thrilling, sweep you off your feet kind of book.
That’s true for me as a reader and as an agent—I want to fall in love. With the books I love, both the ones I rep and the ones I admire from afar, I know pretty fast that I love them. The voice, the pacing, everything just fires for me and boom, it’s love. In books as in life, it’s all about chemistry.
But the lovefest can’t end with me. Being an agent is often like being a matchmaker; you want to help someone else fall in love. You’ve gone out and kissed a lot of frogs (or, as I prefer to think about it, other people’s princes) and found the one you love. And best of all? It might just be perfect for Editor X, Y, and Z. It’s always a good sign when I’m reading a manuscript and just have to keep a notepad nearby because that little moment or character just reminded me of an editor I can’t wait to send the book to—those are the books and authors that get bumped to the top of the Must Represent list.
Of course, as anyone who’s set up a couple on a blind date knows, matchmaking is a tricky business. Sometimes someone’s good on paper but the chemistry isn’t there, and so it goes with books. Welcome back, “I just didn’t fall in love with it as much as I’d hoped.â€
I was kicking around this idea with an editor friend, and she compared the process of acquiring a book to bringing a boyfriend home to meet your family. First you fall for him. Then you convince your friends (other editors, who give second reads) how wonderful he is. If they like him, you bring him home to meet the folks (higher-ups, execs, sales people, etc.). Who are sometimes not inclined to love your new love, because after all you’ve brought home plenty of them before, and let’s not even talk about that disreputable boy last week, the one with the piercing and the shaggy hair, I mean really is your taste in men so great after all?
It can be pretty daunting, so an editor’s got to feel the love to convince everyone else that this book is The One. And if she or he succeeds, the “happily ever after†is a year or more of living and breathing that book—yet another reason the love had better be there!
Love is rare and publishing success can be too, but I like to think the challenge makes it sweeter. As an agent, when that love connection happens, first with an editor and then with readers, I get to fall for the book anew at each step of the process. And that, to me, is the best of happily ever afters.
What about you? Are you a hopeless romantic, ready to fall for every book? Or are you more wary, courting a new author for a good long while before settling down? How often and easily do you fall in love?
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I’m a book slut. I don’t have to be in love. Anything friendlier than “You suck~I hate you~Die” will keep me putting out (my money, that is).
There are very few
(as in can count them on one hand)
authors that I have on autobuy.
I buy books not authors
so yep, I try to fall in love
with each book I buy.
The dating period is very short
(usually the first chapter).
At the end of it,
I either care
(even if it is a little,
that’s something to build on)
or don’t.
If I don’t, I don’t finish the book.
I’d never thought about it this way, but it makes a lot of sense.
I’m definitely a need to fall in love kind of girl. There are so many books in my TBR mountain, that if I don’t feel the love right away, I’m moving on to the next book in line.
To finish a book, I have to fall in love. I’ll give a book several tries before taking it off my TBR pile, but if I’m not hooked after going back to begin it again, I can’t finish the read.
I definitely buy new books from my favorite authors, although that auto buy list isn’t very big. I’m also all for new authors, so if a cover jumps out at me or I’ve heard good things on the loops, I’ll try a new writer.
But it really is all about falling in love with a book. The voice, the characters, the storyline…it just has to be the right chemistry for me.
I like almost all books, enough to flirt with the author. I’ll read anything.
It’s rare for me to dislike a book enough to put it down, but it’s equally rare for me to absolutely gush over one too.
Sadly my reading and non-reading love lives mirror each other. They’re both pretty dry lately.
Hmmmmm none of the books I’ve picked up in the last year have been like that blind date with bad oral hygiene (ew)….but many have been that guy you keep around just so you have someone to go out with on Friday nights. It’s okay but it’s not fireworks and champagne. OTOH I’m all for trying new writers (I guess you could call me an indiscriminate dater LOL)
Hi Holly,
Thanks for posting. For me it’s all about the blurb and if I think I’ll like the story. Then I go to first page. If the first two paragraphs suit me, I’ll buy the book. I have my favourite authors, of course, but I’m willing try anyone, because it’s all about a good story. It’s very rare that I don’t finish a book I buy.
Nancy
This is brilliant! There has been many a book that I have pictured myself strolling hand in hand with along a dusky shoreline, moonily gazing into one another’s eyes, cooing…meanwhile others are stage whispering behind cupped hands, “I have no idea what she could possibly be seeing in THAT one.” Ah, that’s amore.
Holly:
This is such a great post! And so spot on with the process of reading and falling in love with a book.
As a writer, though, your post struck a great chord as well. Reading is subjective…not everyone loves the same book just like not everyone loves the same guy (thank goodness!)
I think this is why it’s so important to keep at your craft and continue to submit to agents and editors, despite the disappointment of rejections. There is that person out there who will fall in love with our work, but it’s our job as writers to continue honing our craft so we maximize our chances to find that person who says yes.
Sharon
But….you know, sometimes first impressions AREN’T reliable — both as a reader and IRL.
I had no intention of dating my friend. He was okay, a really nice guy, not one to sweep you off your feet or anything…then, then, then…one day I woke up in love with him. Now I’m married to him and can’t imagine my life without him.
Much the same with books. I just picked up Lisey’s Story by Stephen King the other day. I started reading it and though, bleh…I am just NOT going to be able to get into this. STEVE wrote THIS??? Then, then, then…I couldn’t put it down. I found myself sneaking up in the middle of the night to read just a few more chapters!
As a writer, I’m liking the dating analogy less! You have this passionate love affair, which you keep to yourself for months or years, and when it’s time to present him to the world… and the reaction is “Really? That guy? I don’t see it. Maybe if he had a shave and a haircut. And a real job. And drove a BMW instead of a Harley.” You clasp him to your bosom, shielding him from the slings and arrows, and cry, “Nay! Nay, I say! You shall never turn my love into an uptight, appropriate, neutered clone! … But maybe his hair could be trimmed just a little.”
Yes I do sometimes fall in love with a book or an author. However I have this issue with leaving things including a book unfinished so usually slog my way through to the end of even books I don’t get into. On a tight budget where books are concerned though I tend to try and borrow whatever I can get my hands on either from the library or friends that way if its a dud I haven’t wasted my book budget. If I really like an author I usually try and read everything they’ve had published even if I don’t buy it and if I dislike something they wrote I usually try and give them another chance or two by reading something else of theirs. In most cases the quality of writing is pretty consistent for a given author in my experience but a first try might not be up to my standards while later works have improved upon that initial effort. I also tend to ask other people what they’ve liked or disliked so I have a better idea what to avoid especially if we have similar tastes.
I have several authors that I auto-buy. That practice has resulted in me no longer reading a few, too. They became cookie cutter, etc. to me.
But, I do read the blurbs to see if they intrigue me. The best hook for me is an excerpt I may read in the back of another book or on a blog, etc. If the writing style, pace, topic, characterization or whatever catch my attention, I’m likely to put it on my To Buy list.
I have gone back on occassion to the authors I stopped reading to see if the change in editor, genre or other factor is evident and improves the writing for me. I will admit though, that if I don’t like the characters, I’ll put a book down, because I just don’t care what happens to them anymore. Especially if I see no evolution in them.
Oh, did you have to use THAT phrase? I loved the post, but I’ll still cringe when I see that in an email. “Just didn’t love it enough.” I wanted to scream, “how much is enough?” Could you learn to love it, with a few beers in you and an expensive dinner? How about jewelry?:lol:
Horrors, a rejection letter listing that reason makes me cringe. I picture spending the evening with a handsome man and enjoying his company in the dim light of a restaurant. But when you get home beneath the porch light and he bends down to kiss you (*snort* I’m short), you spy a big, red zit on the end of his nose. You just don’t love him enough to let your face get that close.
Eww!
The book of my heart has a weepy zit!
Thanks for giving us an agent’s take on the letter. I’ll think about it differently from now on!
Brilliant topic, Holly! To love a book is an amazing thing, and though I have a few authors I buy regularly, I try to pace myself so I don’t burn out on them. I want to keep loving them, which is easier to do if I alternate their books with something completely different (like Stephen King who I think is bloody brilliant all on his own!) There are a few books on my shelves that I *want* to love, I really do, so I keep them, year after year, but so far. . .it’s just not happening. I keep up the hope, though, because you never know. One day, it could just happen, much like the friend-now-husband.
Unlike Melissa, though, I don’t normally finish a book if the love ain’t there within the first few chapters. Reading time is precious (and there’s not nearly enough of it), so I’d rather spend that time falling in love with a book than slogging my way through one I don’t like. And the books I don’t finish. . .well, they end up back on my TBR shelf, because you just never know. . . . . .
Laura
LOL – just re-read what I wrote and thought I should clarify something. Readers like Melissa should be commended for sticking with the books they’re not in love with, and reading through, because they might just find a treasure buried in the pages. But as Holly can attest to, patience is NOT one of my virtues, so I no doubt lose out on a lot of great books because I don’t stick with them.
I think there’s a difference between falling in love with a book and falling in love with a writer. When I fall in love with a book it’s all about the main characters. Do I know them, love them, want to throw my inhibitions to the wind and run up and hug them? If so, I usually end up forgiving most errors in the writing itself. This kind of love is hard and fast. It happens by the first chapter or not at all.
On the other hand, there are certain writers who are a joy to read. These are the ones who put words together in a way that makes my toes curl, whose sheer talent sparks envy. With these writers, it’s not the characters that get me, but the artistry with which character, plot, and style are brought together to create a vivid experience for the reader. In this case, each book is a courtship and love is never a sure thing until the very last page.
When I’m in the mood, I’m pretty easy.
And on the off times that I’m just not feeling it, I’ll put a book back on the TBR and try something else and go back to it. If I go for a second round and still don’t feel it then it goes into the giveaway pile.
But for me it doesn’t matter if they are a new author or a tried and true, I go in thinking this is going to be the one!
I’m a speed dater, looking for comittment. Hook me fast with the deep POV, characters, or voice, or I stroll on. I used to struggle through books to a certain number of chapters, but the reality was if they didn’t hook me in the first chapter the relationship just never had a chance. I seem to be very particular where I fall in love though I’m eager to fall in love. And I’m loyal once I do. I recently revisited an old love. The Lightning that Lingers by Sharon and Tom Curtis, a classic I rank up there with MacKenzies Mounain. It’s been almost twenty years since I read it, and I was sighing in love all love again by page two.
If I find an author I like, I throw myself wholeheartedly into the relationship. I finally break things off when I’ve either run out of books from that author or I grow tired of the subject matter. However, a bad book will bring the relationship to an end or kill one before it begins. Once in a while I might try and hook-up again but as soon as I hit another stinker, I’m off the author for good.