RNA CONFERENCE: Meet the agents

The RNA conference 2017 will soon be upon us (14th-17th July, to be exact!) This year there are seven literary agents offering one-to-one pitching sessions. We thought it might be helpful to host the agents here on the blog, so that those people applying for a pitching session can get to know them a little better before they send off an application.
The agents attending are:

• Kate Nash (Kate Nash Agency)
• Lisa Eveleigh (Richard Becklow Agency)
• Broo Doherty (DHH Literary Agency)
• Tanera Simons (Darley Anderson Agency)
• Felicity Trew (Caroline Sheldon Agency)
• Julia Silk (MBA Literary Agency)
• and Isobel Dixon (Blake Friedmann).

Unfortunately Julia Silk was on holiday at the time of putting this article together. We have a full length interview with Laura Longrigg of MBA here on the blog which you may like to refer to. (Of course Laura and Julia will have different tastes, but Laura's interview will give readers an idea of the ethos behind the MBA Agency.) *UPDATE* Julia Silk has very kindly taken time to respond on the last day of her holiday. Her replies are listed separately at the bottom of the post.

Isobel Dixon was also unavailable at the time of going to press. We have an interview with the wonderful Carole Blake of Blake Friedmann here for reference, but please note again that Carole's tastes and Isobel's may well have been different.

A warm welcome to those agents who were able to make it today. Thanks for answering our questions at such short notice!

What is it you are most hoping to find from your pitching session at the conference? Are there any particular genres/themes that you would love to read? 

Kate Nash:You might as well ask me to predict the outcome of a dress shopping expedition! Yes, I have an idea of some styles and colours I like but until I see the dresses on the rail, I simply don't know which one I'm going to absolutely love. However, the number one thing that gets me into a story is realism: real characters dealing with real life problems in real settings. I'd like to see more stories from different regions of the UK and overseas, and stories involving characters from different backgrounds. 

Lisa Eveleigh: I always hope to find an unputdownable story, something that grabs me from the first paragraph.  I would love to find an author writing a multi-layered family story which involves romance, along the lines of Elizabeth Jane Howard.  I also like romantic comedy. Anything with a First World War and/or 1920’s setting is hugely appealing.  I’m also interested in historical romance generally, though later than Medieval.  

Broo Doherty: This may sound trite but in these uncertain times, I am looking for epic stories well told, with engaging, well developed characters and psychological depth. I’m looking either to be taken out of my comfort zone and transported to a place I have never been too, or shown a new, original perspective on a situation I know well.

Tanera Simons: I am really excited to meet with enthusiastic aspiring authors, and am crossing my fingers to meet someone whose work I love and who I could see myself working with. In terms of genres/themes, I am open to anything and everything: rom-coms, thought-provoking storylines, dark love stories, historical romances… the list goes on! I want to get completely swept up in the story, and fall in love with characters so real that I don’t want to say goodbye when I finish reading. I want fiction with strong but fallible female protagonists: the next Bridget Jones or Rebecca Bloomwood, who show us that even the best of us make mistakes!

Felicity Trew: I’d love to find a striking, powerful female voice – one that inspires women whether we’re left laughing or crying.  I’m a huge fan of a good weepy, historical, funny, psychological suspense, saga and anything truly unputdownable!

Have you noticed any particular trends in romance in the past year or so, and if so, what do you think publishers are looking for at the moment? 

Kate Nash:Digital opportunities mean that publishers are quite open to different story types but I think that romance is under some pressure from the popularity of psychological/women's thrillers on the one hand and emotional "women's mysteries" on the other. My "reading for pleasure" pile has got the following current bestsellers on it from both these genres: I See You by Clare Mackintosh, The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena, Lyrebird by Cecelia Ahern and This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell. Having said that sagas are very much holding their own with WW2 and the post war period popular, and there is still plenty of demand for escapist romantic comedies. Beaches, Cornwall and gin all trending. 

Lisa Eveleigh: Cosy romances involving cup-cakes, beach huts, and tea-shops still seem to be going strong though I wonder if this isn’t mainly a digital-first trend.  

Publishers tell me that they are looking for a strong ‘millennial’/Generation Y’ romantic novel.  This is going to be very hard to find, since younger writers with the necessary vocabulary are much more interested in fantasy and dystopia and therefore tend to aim at the Young Adult market in which romance is mostly – but not always – subsidiary to plague, and/or magic and mayhem.  I’ve also been asked for paranormal romance.    

Broo Doherty: Novels featuring diversity seem to be gaining ground at the moment which is not before time, given we live in a multicultural society, and I think that would apply to the romantic genre as well.

Tanera Simons: I always find the subject of trends a tricky one: I would always advise writers to write what they’re good at rather than attempt to follow current trends. If your writing is good enough and story compelling enough, you will always succeed! However, at the moment I definitely think that people want to read escapist, feel-good fiction, that takes them away from the stresses of politics and news of terrorism. Readers want to be transported into a fictional world of warmth and positivity. I also think that editors are on the look-out for anything a bit different, that takes the classic love story and introduces a new element: perhaps more diversity, so not just a ‘boy meets girl’ love story, but a ‘girl meets girl’, or love across different cultures etc. Of course, trends will come and go and these are just some themes that I’ve noticed.

Felicity Trew: Any of the above genres I’ve mentioned are getting on publishers’ radars but they do have to have that competitive high quality to them. However, sagas in particular are having a wonderful revival at the moment (which I’m very excited about).

What's been your favourite romance novel recently?

Kate Nash: I've actually been reading a lot of psychological thrillers but I did enjoy The Judge's Wife by Ann O'Loughlin which was shortlisted for the RoNAs. A mystery, I was completely sold on the realism of the setting and the characters.

Lisa Eveleigh: I’ve recently been on holiday so read a fair few, and it’s impossible to name one, so if I’m allowed? 

The House on Bellevue Road – Rachel Hore 

A Secret Garden -  Katie Fforde

Are My Roots Showing? – Karola Gadja 

An Unconventional Act – Jan Jones

Broo Doherty: That’s an impossible question to answer – too many to choose from!

Tanera Simons: Again, such a difficult question as there is some really exciting romance fiction around at the moment! I would have to say Paige Toon’s The Last Piece of My Heart, though. I haven’t read her for a while, and reading this latest one reminded me just how brilliant an author she is. Bridget (the protagonist) is just such a wonderfully warm character, and I completely fell in love with her story.

Felicity Trew: I was extremely lucky to receive a proof copy of Dawn O’Porter’s The Cows (HarperCollins, 2017) just before its publication, which I utterly devoured – one of those books you just don’t want to finish because it’s become like a friend to you!

Julia Silk MBA Literary Agency

1 What is it you are most hoping to find from your pitching session at the conference? Are there any particular genres/themes that you would love to read? 

I grew up on Georgette Heyer and 80s bonkbusters - I'd like to find a great Regency romance, and I still love the glitz and glamour of authors like Shirley Conran and Judith Krantz, so anything that brings to mind either of those genres would make me happy. I'm also always on the lookout for something with a touch of the gothic or ghostly - not supernatural/paranormal so much as hinting at unusual goings-on.

2. Have you noticed any particular trends in romance in the past year or so, and if so, what do you think publishers are looking for at the moment? 

Subjects that have come up a few times recently are stories with an international feel featuring interesting locations. Also, sagas sent in the 1920s/30s or earlier. Timeslip also seems to be on editors' wishlists and I suspect this genre is due a bit of a moment. I love Barbara Erskine myself, so I'd be really pleased to read something that brings her work to mind.

3. What's been your favourite romance novel recently?

I'm a big fan of Rowan Coleman and adored We Are All Made of Stars. I really enjoy novels with interconnecting stories and for me the range of age and life experience of the protagonists, combined with the clever structure, made for an unusual and satisfying read. I also love anything by JoJo Moyes and Marian Keyes - the combination of serious subjects with humour and the perfect slow burn to the romance storyline gets me every time.

* * *

Thank you all so much for answering our questions today. We appreciate you taking the time out at such short notice, and we hope you have a successful - and enjoyable! - time at the 2017 RNA Conference.

Questions compiled by Helena Fairfax

If you would like to write for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Agent talk with Lisa Eveleigh

Today we welcome literary agent, Lisa Eveleigh to the blog. Lisa kindly gave up her weekend to attend the RNA Conference at Telford. Judging by the number of delegates applying for interviews at the conference acquiring an agent is at the top of most writers’ wish list.

1.      Please tell us something about your life as a literary agent?

No day of the week is the same.  Obviously my priority is to respond to what comes up for my clients, which can be anything from reading work in progress to editing a finished manuscript, to dealing with their publisher on their behalf over a cover, copy, promotion etc. And obviously contract negotiations for recent sales, which usually involves pretty hectic emailing and phoning.  

I make at least one submission a day, and this involves establishing whether the editor I’m approaching is available/interested in principle, then carefully crafting the submission email. But I may also have met the editor at an event or meeting and be following up on interest expressed. 

I will very occasionally have a friendly lunch with an editor but try to keep these to a minimum as with travel, they take a big chunk out of the day. I much prefer a drink after work for networking reasons. I also fairly often catch up with other agents – there is not as much rivalry as people might think, and exchanging news and views is very helpful.    

Then also, I keep up with the trade press, look at publishers’ websites, and do other forms of research.

Finally, about once a fortnight I update my website with news, and do some social media promotion for the agency, and more importantly, for my clients.  I also advise them on how to best utilise social media and pretty much anything else they ask me about.  It’s a varied life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

For many writers meeting an agent can be a dauting experience. How do you respond in these circumstances?

 I feel it would be incredibly impolite not to be as friendly, helpful and constructive as possible, and I’ll have given considerable thought to the submissions I’ve received and written a brief report. I DO realise that there is a general perception that agents are ‘gatekeepers’ and therefore magically powerful – but it was thrust on us when publishers began saying they would no longer look at un-agented work.

But authors, do bear this in mind; we aren’t magicians, and if a rejection comes in then the agent receives it first, and suffers the disappointment initially, then has the thankless task of passing it on to the disappointed author.   I have a policy of not telling authors about turn-downs on Fridays, on the basis that it will ruin their weekend, and possibly that of their entire family! 

What are you looking for when adding to your list of clients?

The worst question!  I’m afraid that the answer really is that I go totally by instinct, and I just do know something good when I see it. 

But if I strain every nerve to answer helpfully, then it’s probably something well-crafted, that is the best it can possibly be, whatever the genre. I have a weakness for comic novels; ‘weak’ in that what makes me laugh won’t necessarily make an editor laugh too, but I do continue to look for them.  A glance at my website will give authors an idea of my own preferred reading though, so there are clues there.

Can you give an example of common mistakes that authors make when submitting work for consideration?

Don’t want to be too hectoring here, but it is essential to read the agency website thoroughly and follow all guidelines there.

I’m never impressed by being addressed as ‘Dear Richard’…

A really long introductory email is a mistake too; let your writing speak for itself, and write the most salient, clearly expressed covering email that you can.

How do you relax when not working?

The usual creative leisure pursuits of the middle-aged (but not yet decrepit) - cooking, gardening, visiting National Trust properties to look at gardens… 

Would love to see more theatre, which is a passion. But I also love music and am going to the Wilderness Festival this year (Burt Bacharach headlining! Oh dear, a bit middle-aged again).  I’m also researching a biography of a 19^th century socialite so spend time on that at weekends.

Website: www.richfordbecklow.com

Twitter: @richfordbabe

Thank you so much for taking time to answer our questions, Lisa.

This blog is brought to you by Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman. We are always interested in blog interviews and craft articles. Please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com