Team Cooper's Agent Retreat - Part Two

by Gemma Cooper from the Bent Agency, Team Cooper and Benjamin Scott

 

One of the many cakes!

Following on from Part One of Team Cooper's Agent Retreat, this week members of Team Cooper - Robin Stevens and Mike Revell, and honorary member - Benjamin Scott, talk about their experiences of the retreat.

@redbreastedbird

Robin Stevens 

Gemma’s client retreat was my first, and I couldn’t have wished for a better introduction to the concept. It was two days of great workshops, great conversation and great food, and I came away from it with a lot more confidence in myself as a children’s writer. 

The workshops were extremely helpful. Mo O’Hara’s, on visiting schools, showed me how to promote myself and my books in a way that’ll be fun for me as well as my audience; Gemma’s on picture books and non-fiction gave me belief in my ability to write in genres and for audiences that I’d never considered before; and Annalie from Walker’s Books’ talk on the publishing process gave me incredibly valuable insight into what editors are looking for in their submissions (and I’m saying that as a budding editor myself). 

Mo's Workshop

For me, though, the most positive part of the weekend was unstructured. I found just being around a group of authors with similar interests, and at a similar stage in their careers, incredibly exciting. Talking to the other members of Team Cooper sparked so many ideas in my head and made me feel part of something really wonderful. I’m prouder than I’ve ever been to be a children’s writer, and at the end of the weekend I came away feeling that I have the skills and the support I need for the next part of my writing career. 


Robin is the author of Murder Most Unladylike: A Wells and Wong Mystery, to be published by Random House Children’s in March 2014. Click here for more about the book and here for Robin’s blog.

@RevellWriting

Mike Revell 

I learnt so much from the retreat - from what makes a great picture book to how many hearts an octopus has (3 - take that, Doctor) to what happens when a publisher takes on your book and finally to how much a hairless cat costs! (Gemma – follow us on twitter for more on the hairless cat discussions!) 

I’ve never been on a writing retreat before, but I know people who have, and I always saw the pictures and read the reports with a twinge of jealousy. But I don’t think I will anymore, because there’s no way their retreats can match my one. I walked into a roomful of people who I’d never seen before in my life, but within seconds I felt like I’d always known them. It was a perfect mix of writers at different stages of the same journey, and so inspiring. 

Writing was a breeze at Gemma’s retreat. No one had to wait for inspiration to strike. It was everywhere. It was in the house and the workshops and the people and the books. By the time one of the writing periods arrived, my mind felt so abuzz with ideas that I couldn’t wait to get them down on paper. But it wasn’t about the writing. Not really. It was about the people. And probably the most inspiring thing of all was just meeting them and talking to them and listening to them.   

The things I took away from the experience were: 

• The dream is so close, and I can achieve it. 

• The importance of pace, good dialogue and BIG ideas. 

• How to put on the perfect performance on school visits. 

• That Team Cooper is incredible, and that it really is a team! 

  

@Benjamin_Scott

Benjamin Scott

I was thrilled when Gemma invited me on the retreat. Although I’m not one of Gemma’s clients, we’re good friends and she thought I’d not only enjoy the retreat but provide some valuable insight from my roles in SCBWI, teaching and visiting schools as an author. I don’t really need an excuse to hang out with fellow writers to be honest. I learnt masses from Mo O’Hara to help me give my school visits plan a boost, including the best times to approach schools, and had some ideas sparked off from Gemma’s workshops on tackling high concept titles and creating picture books. I even managed to get some writing done before the lure of chatting to other writers got the better of me. 

Katy and Robin celebrating!

Gemma - So the retreat was filled with interesting information, lots of cake and celebrations about the announcements of Katy and Robin’s recent book deals! 

And what did I take from the weekend? Well, some fantastic ideas came out of the brainstorming over tea/wine and I’m so excited for the manuscripts that are being written as we speak. I’m also confident that my clients will be incredible at school visits having listened to the master that is Mo O’Hara. 

My clients are all quite similar – funny, intelligent, talented people who are also really good at making cakes and really competitive at quizzes. The weekend left me exhausted, but with a big smile on my face because most of all, it reminded me how lucky I am to get to work with these people every day and call it my job! 

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@gemma_cooper

If you want to become a member of Team Cooper and be at next year’s retreat, submit your cover letter and paste your first ten pages to cooperqueries@thebentagency.com – I represent all ages of children’s and YA. For more info about Gemma and the Bent Agency, click here

Ask an Agent - with Gemma Cooper and Molly Ker Hawn, from the Bent Agency

Are you looking for a query critique from those in the know? Or do you have a question you've always wanted to ask an agent? Each month, agents Gemma Cooper and Molly Ker Hawn from The Bent Agency will be offering just that.

This month they answer some questions sent to us by our readers.

If you've passed on a full, would you be prepared to see the manuscript again after a major revision (i.e. after receiving an editorial report)?

If I’ve given a personal response with some editorial concerns, AND you’ve gone away and done significant revisions (and by that, I don’t mean bouncing it back to me three weeks later), then I will consider another look. However, it’s worth remembering that I can only look at something for the first time once — if that makes sense.

If I decline a project after reading the full manuscript, I always make it clear in my letter if I’d be interested in seeing it again if it’s revised. If I don’t explicitly say so, it’s not a good use of your time and energy to re-query me.

Yes, it’s hard to be objective on a project you’ve already discounted — so ask yourself whether it might just be better to query me with a new project that might better suit my tastes.

Is it worth mentioning future ideas in covering letters or should you focus solely on your current project?

There’s no need. If, after I read your submission, I want to know what else you’ve got cooking, I’ll ask!

I’m not a fan of submissions loaded up with a list of other ideas, either. To me, it makes the author look unfocused, especially if they are querying a funny 7+, but also writing a heartbreaking YA romance. I just want to know about your best project and why it might be suitable for me. But if your book is the first in a series, you can put, ‘this book can standalone, but has series potential.’

I want to know about your best project and why it might be suitable for me.

Have you ever offered representation purely based on an idea and sample pages, or do you always need to see the full manuscript?

I always want to see a full manuscript, even if the pitch and opening chapters are fantastic. I need to know that your project has a solid ending.

Right, I always want to read the full manuscript before offering representation, too. I’ve contacted authors whose books I’ve loved as I was reading, saying something like ‘I’m up to chapter 10 and love this. Let me know if you have other interest. Perhaps we can set up a call?’ Both times this has resulted in offers of representation, but I did finish the books before talking to the authors!

Would errors in the covering letter put you off a manuscript even if the sample chapters were well-written?

We’ve all sent an email then had our stomach drop as we’ve notice a typo. I’m not going to hold a little mistake against you. But if your cover letter is littered with mistakes and your manuscript is very clean, I would find that a little odd.

Same here — lots of errors do give me pause, but the odd typo doesn’t bother me, no.

Have you noticed any increase in interest from publishers for graphic novels or comic books for children? My experience is that the general public are much more receptive and enthusiastic in conversation about this kind of book but are they buying and reading them?

Molly and I certainly noticed publishers at the Bologna and London Book Fairs talking more about illustrations in fiction to get boys reading – transitioning the Wimpy Kid generation into older books. Personally, I would love to see more illustrated fiction in my submissions.

Me too, and I’d love to see more UK publishers expanding their range of graphic novels, as many American publishers have.

Are there any genres that you are sick of seeing on the slush pile eg. Dystopian? And are there any genres/themes you would like to see more of?

I'd like to see more contemporary YA romance, mysteries and thrillers.

Personally I love a good dystopian world, but publishers have had their fill of them and are looking for other genres. Editors at the recent rights fairs were all talking about wanting contemporary fiction – books based in current reality. Based on what publishers are keen on right now, I’d like to see more contemporary YA romance, and more YA and 9+/11+ mysteries and thrillers – and in fact, I’d really like to see more 9+ and 11+ fiction in general. I get a great many high fantasy submissions, and I’ve admitted elsewhere to ‘fantasy fatigue’ – so a fantasy project has to be truly exceptional for me to take an interest in it.

It’s hard to just dismiss a whole genre off-hand, but I need a break from dystopian unless it’s a very different spin on the genre. I’m also wavering on sci-fi and high fantasy – I’m really into contemporary and historical at the moment. Like Molly, I’d also love to see more 9+ and 11+ especially books for boys, adventures, mysteries and weepies. Author/illustrators writing for 9+ would get immediate attention in my inbox. For YA, I’d like more thrillers that keep me turning the pages late into the night, and a contemporary romance that speaks to the teenage girl inside of me. I’d also love a 5+ series that is different enough to stand out in that busy market.

I'd love to see more 9+ and 11+ books for boys, adventures, mysteries and weepies.

If you are ready to start submitting to agents, but would like some feedback on your query from Gemma and Molly, then email your query to writers@britishscbwi.org. Submissions will be posted anonymously. Alternatively, if you have a question you would like to put to our agents, email us at the above address, or post them in the comments below. Molly and Gemma will be returning to critique your queries and answer your questions on the 5th June.

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@gemma_cooper 

@mollykh.

Gemma Cooper and  Molly Ker Hawn represent authors of books for children and young adults. For more information about Gemma and Molly see The Bent Agency website and blog. 



Ask an Agent - with Gemma Cooper and Molly Ker Hawn, from the Bent Agency

Have a question you've always wanted to ask an agent? Or looking for a query critique from those in the know?  Each month, agents Gemma Cooper and Molly Ker Hawn from the Bent Agency will be offering just that.

  In this first post, they tell us a bit more about themselves and the Bent Agency, and how Ask an Agent will work.

We’re thrilled to have been invited to host a monthly ‘Ask an Agent’ feature on the new SCBWI Words and Pictures Blogzine. SCBWI is one of our favourite places for spotting talent—we both have clients that we signed after seeing their work at SCBWI events and through the Undiscovered Voices competition. Bringing outstanding new writing for young readers to a wide audience is our top priority, and we’re lucky to work with phenomenally talented debut authors. We’d love to find more!

Molly Ker Hawn

Molly joined the Bent Agency in 2012 to set up a London office, and was joined by Gemma later in the year. You can read more about us (and our recent deals) on the TBA website. But this feature isn’t about us – it’s about you! - your questions, anyway.

We’ll be running two different types of ‘Ask an Agent’ blog posts:

1) Questions and answers. Ask any questions you like (relating to publishing, please – we’re not talking about meaning of life here, although we’re sure it involves books in some way). Please send these questions to writers@britishscbwi.org. We’ll omit the senders’ names when we post our response, so don’t be shy!

2) Query letter critiques. We’re borrowing this idea from the legend that is Janet Reid, Query Shark, but we promise to be gentle. If you’re getting form rejection after form rejection and you’d like honest feedback on your query letter, send it to us and we’ll tell you what we think. Please only do this if you are happy for your query letter to be posted online. (Sorry, but we can’t give query-letter feedback privately.)

We can’t wait to dive into your questions. See you all next month!

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Gemma Cooper

Gemma Cooper and Molly Ker Hawn represent authors of books for children and young adults for the Bent Agency. You can find Molly and Gemma on Twitter - @gemma_cooper and @mollykh. For more about Gemma, Molly, and TBA, see the Bent Agency Website and blog.