Literary agent, Nicholas Croce specializes in fiction and is a young agent who has his finger on the pulse of eBooks, social media and other changes happening in the publishing industry.
In our interview with Croce, he discusses why he’s looking for books with back-list potential, how he expects his authors to take a more proactive role in reaching out to their readers and why he says editors are looking for new paranormal sub-genres.
Nick, what is your official title and why are you the best agent in the universe?
I’m president of the Croce Agency and I specialize in select fiction. I love helping authors, especially developing their manuscripts for the market, and I’m able to do this as a young agency with a group of authors still small enough to wrap my arms around.
Things are changing so rapidly in the industry, what have you done to prepare your clients for the changes?
More than before, I’m looking for books with solid back-list potential, or, in other words, ones that have inertia and continue to sell steadily long after their initial promotional push. I’m also keeping an eye out for growth areas in ebooks and other platforms. These days it’s just as important to read the technology section of the newspaper as the book review.
Authors feeling the effects of the economic downturn should study the marketing side of publishing. Agents and editors will of course be looking for what’s following the trends. Read up on what’s currently selling on Publishers Marketplace or in Publishers Weekly. Also, research the different genres and what readers expect when they pick up, say, a cozy mystery, historical romance or political thriller. On the promotional side, start blogging and social networking. More than ever authors, new and established, are depending on the Internet to reach out to readers through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Red Room, Ning, etc.
What do you think about all these technological changes happening? How have they changed the marketplace?
I think the ebook revolution is book publishing’s first opportunity for real movement in decades. We went from being a mature, old-fashioned, single-digit-growth industry to one now being courted by the world’s top technology companies like Apple and Google. If nothing else we’re at least beginning to realize the true market value of our content.
What’s hot now, what are editors looking for? And what type of manuscripts and proposals are you currently looking for that never seem to get?
I think we’ll continue to see more paranormal, but broken up into sub-genres like the paranormal/classics mash-ups. I also think we’ll have more crossover of YA and adult. In time, with ebooks, we’ll probably have an entirely new species of interactive book, which would introduce a whole new population of genres.
I continue to look for genre fiction including British historical and Jane Austen spin-offs. I’d love to see more sci-fi and paranormal, as well as character-driven fiction with a commercial angle.
What’s the best way for writers to approach you? And what’s one of your pet peeves when writers query you?
I ask writers to email me at submissions@thecroceagency.com a quick one-sentence “hook,” a one-paragraph synopsis and one sample chapter, all in the body of the message. Brevity is key.
As for my top pet peeve: blank emails with only an attachment–this is not what I mean when I ask for brevity.
And finally, what is something about you that very few people know?
I’m a die-hard Dave Matthews fan!