Submission Guidelines & Information

PLEASE NOTE: As of March 17th, 2009, I will be temporarily closed to submissions.

Who do you work for?

I'm a new literary agent, part of the team at FinePrint Literary Management. You can read more about us at our website here, and at our Publishers Marketplace listing here. You can also visit my personal Publishers Marketplace page.

What is your background in books?

My first job in publishing was in Northern California as a mass merchandise sales assistant for Ballantine Books. For five years I served as Director of Publicity for Del Rey Books where I specialized in the creative publicity and marketing of science fiction, fantasy, pop culture, YA fantasy, graphic novels, manga and third-party licensed media. Some of the authors whose publicity campaigns I had the privilege to manage at Del Rey include Terry Brooks, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Moon, China Mieville, Richard K. Morgan, Minister Faust, Matthew Stover, R.A. Salvatore, and Harvey Pekar, among many others. I've also worked as a freelance publicist and copywriter for several major trade publishers and as a book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle.

My background in independent book publishing goes even further back to my first job as a bookstore manager in 1984 at the now-defunct San Francisco Bay Area bookstore Central Park Books. I also worked at Printers, Inc. Books in Palo Alto and spent six years as the marketing and events manager at Stacey's Bookstore in San Francisco.

You can learn more about my professional background at my public LinkedIn profile. You can also look at my AgentQuery profile here.

Submission Guidelines:

Please read the following guidelines all the way through before you email me a query. Queries that disregard my submission guidelines will no longer be guaranteed a response.

As of June 1, 2008, I will only accept queries by email. (The exception is for graphic novel queries; see separate instructions below.) Any paper queries sent to the FinePrint offices that are addressed to me will be automatically discarded.

All queries should be sent to my attention at colleen (at) fineprintlit (dot) com.

Do not send me attachments unless I invite you to do so! Emails with attachments are deleted without being opened (with the exception of graphic novel queries; see separate instructions below).

FICTION & NARRATIVE NON-FICTION QUERIES:

+ Query letter
+ First 5-10 pages of manuscript pasted into body of email
+ Short separate synopsis, also pasted into the body of email.
+ Put the words FINEPRINT QUERY in the subject line to keep your query out of my spam filters
+ If you're querying for fiction, you must have a finished manuscript.

OTHER NON-FICTION QUERIES:

+ Query letter only. If I like your idea, I'll ask for a full non-fiction proposal and details of your platform and marketing plan

GRAPHIC NOVEL QUERIES:

+ Query letter w/ synopsis and a character sheet pasted into the body of your email.
+ Link to online portfolio with completed sample chapters OR
+ Email me a JPG or PDF of your completed sample chapter.
+ Put the word COMIX to your subject line, to keep your email out of my spam filter.

Things to Keep in Mind When Querying:

• If you'd like to see how to format a really good query letter, go here or here or here.
• For information on how to put together a strong non-fiction book proposal, read this and this. I would also suggest your purchasing a copy of Susan Rabiner's excellent book Thinking Like Your Editor.
  
• Be sure to include your full name, address and a telephone number. You'd be surprised at how many people don't.
  
• Include the word count of the finished novel.
• You might want to read this and this and this, too.

What kinds of books are you looking for?

Right now I'm actively looking for:

Fiction: I like quirky, offbeat fiction, both literary and commercial. I love writers who can engage me with amazing characters and a strong voice. Above all, I'm looking for writers who understand the importance of storytelling. I do enjoy some chick-lit and women's fiction. I'm also always looking for high-concept thrillers, mysteries and crime novels. And lastly, strong novels with a LGBT theme are always something I'm on the lookout for.

Fantasy & Science Fiction: I love all kinds of fantasy and science fiction, both commercial and literary. Looking for all the related skiffy sub-genres: urban fantasy, paranormal romance, slipstream, new weird, horror, steampunk, space opera, military SF, cyberpunk and surrealism.

Some things to consider when sending me a SF/F query:

• I'm looking for fantasy and science fiction that breaks rules and moves beyond the common tropes of the genre.
  
• While I do enjoy hard SF, if your novel contains more hard science than engaging characters or a real plot, it's probably not for me. I'm not really looking for a science lesson; I'm looking for Big Ideas.
  
• If you're writing a Big Fat Epic Fantasy, be certain that your world-building holds up to scrutiny. It would certainly be nice to see a Big Fat Epic Fantasy world that was peopled by more than wizards, mages, thieves and elves.
  
• I seriously dig strong female protagonists.
  
• I'd love to see someone take lesser-known mythologies and re-work them. I'm a mythology freak and nothing stokes my fire more than seeing someone imaginatively rework a creation mythos. I consider Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series to be one of the very best examples of this.

Young Adult Fiction: I really love YA, everything from compelling YA fantasy to realistic fiction that tackles social issues and taboos. I'd like to see more mainstream and multicultural YA.

Graphic Novels: Comics aren't just for superheroes anymore! Graphic novels are a gorgeous medium for strong storytelling. I am looking for interesting and original projects, great storytelling and stunning illustration. Please note that I'm not looking to match up writers with illustrators.

Pop Culture: If it's trendy, funny, satirical or fabulous, I'm probably interested. At the very least, shoot me an email to find out!

Narrative Non-Fiction: I'm always looking for outstanding narrative non-fiction. Tell me your story. Tell me somebody else's. Make me care.

Business and Marketing: I'm especially interested in seeing business and marketing books geared toward women. I'm also excited by anything to do with Web 2.0 and online viral marketing.

If you're not sure about your project, query me anyway.

What kinds of books are you NOT looking for right now?

Poetry
Short Story Collections
Westerns
Christian Fiction/Non-Fiction
Children's Chapter Books
Children's Picture Books
Screenplays

When will I hear back from you about my query?

• Currently I receive more than 500 queries per week. While I'd like to respond to all of them, it's becoming more and more unfeasible. Therefore I've made the decision that only those queries that adhere to my submission guidelines will be guaranteed a response.
• You'll hear back from me anywhere from five minutes to three months of your email query. It really all depends on what else I have on my plate at the moment. If I'm getting a little behind due to a tight schedule, I'll post something to that effect on my blog. I'm good about updating.
• If I like your query, I'll ask you for a partial manuscript as a Word or Open Office document. Response time on partials can take as long as six months.
  
• If I like your partial manuscript, I'll either email you or phone you and ask you to send me a full manuscript as a Word or Open Office document. I wish that I could promise an exact date by which you'll receive a response to a full manuscript but the reality of an agent's schedule precludes that. Response time is usually within a couple of weeks but may take as long as six months, depending on how busy I am with existing clients.
  
• If I pass on your query, it's not a value judgment on you or your work. It simply means that the book isn't right for me. Feel free to query one of the other agents at FinePrint. Just because your book isn't a fit for me doesn't mean it might not be a good fit for one of my colleagues.
• Please note that I may use a form letter for rejection. Don't take this personally; it's simply more expedient for me.
• If you receive a rejection from me, please do not email me to ask me why, how you can fix your manuscript, or for recommendations to other agents. I simply don't have time to answer your questions. Additionally, it's not necessary to email me a thank you. While I appreciate the sentiment, it's just another unnecessary email taking a chunk of time out of my day.
  

A note on formatting your partial or full for me:

• If I request a partial or full manuscript from you, I'll need it formatted as a .doc or .rtf file. Please don't send me .docx or .pdfs.
• For the purposes of my initial read, I really don't have a preference for typeface or type size. I read everything on a Sony Reader and your typeface will automatically be reformatted to Arial anyway. (The Sony Reader seems to have a mind of its own in this regard; Arial wasn't my idea!)
• DO NOT USE ITALICS! If you need to italicize something, please underlined rather than italicize.

Do you respond to every query?

I try to respond to all e-queries with the following exceptions:

• If you send an attachment without being invited to do so, your email query will be deleted without being read.
  
• If you address your query to multiple agents, or utilize a query service, your query will be deleted without being read.
• Queries that don't adhere to my submission guidelines will no longer be guaranteed a response.
  

How do you handle foreign rights, film/dramatic rights and other subsidiary rights?

FinePrint Literary Management is affiliated with veteran subsidiary rights management pro Susan Schulman. You can learn more about her background at her Publishers Marketplace site here.

What is the air speed velocity of the African swallow?

Laden or unladen???