Saturday, November 03, 2007

How Far Would You Go

I may have posed this question last year when I was trying to find an agent for a collection of short stories. (What a dream that was). But now it's more pertinent as I head toward a conference. How far would you go in making changes to a novel based on one agent's opinion. In other words, if Agent X says I'd consider taking this on if you cut the first five chapters would you do it? Would you change the ending? Would you redo it first person instead of third? Would you cut out a character the agent doesn't like? Obviously, you're the author, but let's face it in this market, you might have to be willing to go some distance. Or would you do anything without a contract? Do you have enough confidence in your work to remain firm? I don't think I do since it's a first novel. I'm like a five dollar whore on a slow Monday night in Salt Lake City about now? And much like advanced age wouldn't help her draw business, it doesn't help me.

11 comments:

Sandra Ruttan said...

It really depends. In part, it would depend on how much I trusted the agent, and what they were asking. I was asked by my agent to relocate WHAT BURNS WITHIN to the US. I said no. It was beyond stubborn (SC was moved south of the border) and there was a good reason. It's a technical matter of correctness. The book requires a location with a very specific type of fire department. Logistically, it couldn't work in Calgary, it could work in the Tri-Cities, where I set it (part of the Greater Vancouver Area). My editor had no issue with the setting at all.

If someone asked me to change a character name, I probably would. Whatever the request, I'd consider the reasoning, and try to look at it objectively. If something is an indulgence, or doesn't make sense, or doesn't add to the work as a whole, then yes, there have been things I've cut. The main thing is to not just do anything when asked without processing it. I've known a few people who made editorial changes and ended up going nowhere and wasting months and months only to leave the agent anyway, because the agent was never really sold on what they were trying to do with the book. That's another thing to consider. Listen to your gut. If an agent is really behind you, they probably won't just order carte blanche.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Would you make any changes without a contract?

Dave Zeltserman said...

It's simple--I'd consider the agent's suggestions, and if I decided that the changes would improve the book, I'd make them--but only for that reason. There are a lot of agents out there, and they're all looking for books they can sell.

DOGZPLOT said...

WELL PATTI - IF BUSINESS IS SLOW IN SALT LAKE CITY, SUCK IT UP AND MOVE TO VEGAS - KEEP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GOD BLESS

Jim Winter said...

Patti, I had a couple of agents suggest I write something along the lines that they wanted. I'd have been happy to, but it didn't suit me. And the end result would not have suited them, either. I did attempt it once, and most of my writer friends engaged in an intervention.

You know you screwed up when JA Konrath, Mr. Market Conscious himself, says, "No, you write what you've been writing."

So I moved on to the latest incarnation of Jim Winter, novelist between contracts.

My current agent, btw, usually asks me to go through an ms myself with only general comments. She wants to sell the author's work, not hers. That's just her. Works for me.

Steven said...

I'm with Dave. If the suggestion is a good one, no reason why not. If the suggestion is a bad one, there is no reason to follow it. In minor things, I'd be flexible - character names for instance.

Things may change when a contract with a publishing house is signed and they ask for changes. I tend to think of editors as employers.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Thanks for these great suggestions from a bunch of successful writers. I think there are a few things I wouldn't change--mostly the general plot, the sex of the main character, the setting, the ending. But after that, I'm listening.

Steve Allan said...

You have to consider the changes depending on how good they are, like you would with any other reader. I had an agent give me some really really horrible advice - "how about the main character was an antique dealer instead of an ex-cop?" - you tend to know bullshit when you hear it. However, if you think about it and the suggest is a good one, by all means. I heard someone at a conference this weekend say this about a similar conversation with his agent, who ultimately told him: "This book is going to be in your obituary, not mine."

pattinase (abbott) said...

Yikes. An antiques dealer. That doesn't sound like you at all.
I guess this is the question: would you make any changes without a contract or at least a firm handshake?

Josephine Damian said...

Steve and Dave, I'm with you. Whether it's a top agent or that crazy dude from your writer's group, when you get great critical advice, you know it, you say: Of course! It makes sense! Why didn't I think of that!?

And when your brow knits and your stomach turns sour upon hearing some suggested change, forget it - it's bad advice.

A friend of mine in the query stage used to make whatever changes the potential agent requested - but in a different file than the orginal draft. Sometimes she had several different versions of the same book based on each agent's suggestions (changes that took days and weeks to make and still they ultimately turned her down after all that work).

I say if you already have an agent who suggests changes, then they should be considered, but not automatically done. If it's an agent who's only considering signing you - I'd say hold off and ask yourself just how enthusiastic they are about YOU and YOUR project.

And some agents seem to be failed writers who want to write vicariously by making querying writers do all the work for them.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Josephine-This sums it up very nicely and is going to be my strategy. Thanks.