Agent Chat #7: Josh Getzler

Kelsi joined the chat 15 seconds ago 16:55
Maggie: Hi Kelsi! 16:56
Authoress Quietly Lurking joined the chat 16:56
Maggie: Hehehe. Hi Authoress. XD 16:56
Authoress Quietly Lurking: 16:56
Kelsi: Hello Maggie! 16:56
Kelsi: and AQL. 16:57
Authoress Quietly Lurking: lol 16:57
Authoress Quietly Lurking: *waves* 16:57
Kelsi: So, I 16:58
Kelsi: 've never done one of these before, and was just planning on reading more than commenting. Is that ok? 16:58
Maggie: Yep! That's totally fien. 16:58
Maggie: *fine 16:58
Maggie: It's going to be a pretty quiet chat. A lot of the teens are working, doing homework, etc. 16:59
Josh G joined the chat 16:59
Josh G: Hello, it's Josh 16:59
Maggie: Hi Josh! 16:59
Maggie: Welcome! 16:59
Kelsi: Yeah, I'm doing MSEG hw, followed by a lot of lit crit reading. 16:59
Kelsi: Hello Josh! 16:59
Maggie: Wow! 16:59
Maggie: Well. It's 6, so we can go ahead and start. There should be some more trickling in. 17:00
Josh G: How's it going? Great to be here. 17:00
Authoress Quietly Lurking: hiya Josh 17:00
Josh G: 17:00
Maggie: I'll explain the question-asking system, and probably again once more arrive. 17:00
Maggie: Whenever you have a question, "raise your hand" by typing ! (an exclamation point). I will add your name to a list. When it's your turn to ask, I'll call your name. 17:01
Maggie: If you ever have a question about another person's question, feel free to ask it. 17:01
Josh G: Okey-doke. 17:01
Maggie: And Josh, whenever you're done answering a question, let me know so we can move on. 17:01
Stephen joined the chat 17:01
Maggie: Hi Stephen! 17:01
Stephen: hello 17:01
Stephen: 17:01
Maggie: If anyone has a question, go ahead and start. 17:01
Kelsi: Alright, gotcha! 17:02
Authoress Quietly Lurking: *sips wine* 17:02
Maggie: I'll go ahead and start, since I have one. 17:02
Maggie: I'm asking this question for a friend who couldn't be here tonight. She'd like to know what your opinion is on epic fantasy, in general? 17:02
Josh G: Ok, so here's what I'll say: I am actually the wrong guy for that, if you are talking orcs and faeries and other worlds of that type... 17:04
Maggie: Hehe, I think that's what she means. Though probably with her own twist. 17:04
Josh G: ...I am more Hunger Games than the Lord of the Rings... 17:04
Maggie: *nods* 17:04
Maggie: Okay! 17:05
Josh G: Or HP or 1984 17:05
Maggie: Well, since no one else has, I'll move on to my next question. (Feel free to ask at any point, guys!) (And there should be more coming...) 17:05
Maggie: What are your thoughts, in general, on published teens? 17:06
Josh G: I worked with one, Christopher Paolini... 17:06
Maggie: You worked with Christopher Paolini? O_O 17:06
Kelsi: ! 17:06
Josh G: ...and I think he handled success as well as he could. 17:06
Maggie: Gotcha, Kelsi. 17:07
Kelsi: Maggie, I had that reaction, as well. 17:07
Josh G: Yes, when I was at Writers House, just before Brisingr 17:07
Kelsi: That's really cool. 17:07
Josh G: He happens to be a lovely guy, who has had to deal with this incredible fame when he was quite young. 17:07
Josh G: What I found... 17:08
Kelsi: Considering, you're talking to the age group that grew up with Eragon as the next big thing after Harry Potter took over YA in the eyes of elementry/middle schoolers 17:08
Maddie R joined the chat 17:08
Josh G: ...more often with teens who publish--or try to publish... 17:08
Maggie: Hi Maddie! 17:08
Josh G: ...is that the first effort can be the Learning Experience... 17:08
Josh G: ...and the trick is to be able to handle a world (publishing)... 17:09
Maggie: Mhm! 17:09
Josh G: ...where the novelty of a teen writing can get you a read... 17:09
Josh G: ...but the quality of the writing still is the thing that gets you published... 17:10
Maggie: Yeah. Totally. 17:10
Josh G: I would say, too, that trying to go the traditional way is good... 17:10
Josh G: ...and you have to be very sure to know all the rules of querying, and be doubly-professional. 17:11
Josh G: Make sense? 17:11
Kelsi: Yes 17:11
Maggie: Totally. 17:11
Maggie: Thank you! 17:11
Maggie: Whenever you're ready, Kelsi, go ahead and ask. 17:11
Josh G: 17:12
Josh G: Everyone still there? 17:13
Kelsi: My big question was how exactly, as a college student, one could prepare for being an agent... But I have some more based on your previous answer, if you'd rather try to flow evenly from one topic to the next. 17:13
Maggie: Yep. 17:13
Josh G: Ooh, that's a good one, and I have an answer! 17:14
Josh G: (going to take a little typing, so bear with me 17:14
Kelsi: I'm very happy to hear that! 17:14
Maggie: 17:15
Josh G: Ok, so when I was in college, I was an English major, and all I ever wanted to be was an editor... 17:15
Maggie: That's quite a toothy grin. 17:15
Kelsi: It is, it is. 17:15
Josh G: I took 19 English and writing courses, wrote for the college newspaper, interned with an agent between soph and jr year... 17:15
Maggie: Wow! 17:16
Josh G: ...then took a semester off, wrote an (unpublished) novel, and worked for a magazine... 17:16
Kelsi: Wow, indeed. 17:16
Josh G: When I finished school, I went to the (then Radcliffe, now Columbia) publishing course, and applied for a job... 17:17
Josh G: ...as an editorial Asst at Harcourt. 17:17
Josh G: I did that for three years... 17:17
Josh G: ...and realized that I didn't understand business at all... 17:17
Josh G: ...so I went to business school and got my MBA... 17:18
Maggie: Oh wow! 17:18
Maggie: *impressed* 17:18
Kelsi: That seems to be a common theme in writing blogs and such. 17:18
Maggie: *pokes Stephen* You alive? 17:18
Josh G: My point is actually that it was vitally important, when wanting to be an agent... 17:18
Kelsi: People don't seem to understand its as much buisness as art. :/ That you got the MBA is extremely impressive!! 17:19
Stephen: yeah I am 17:19
Josh G: ...to know business--contracts, negotiations, etc... 17:19
Josh G: It's not that you can't be an English major... 17:20
Kelsi: hahaha 17:20
Josh G: ...but it's really important to be interested in the way the business of publishing runs... 17:20
Kelsi: I don't know if you meant that to be funny, I'm sorry. 17:20
Josh G: And interested is the key. It's not necessarily intuitive 17:21
Josh G: Particularly ifnyou are creative 17:21
Josh G: Ack! Bad iPad! 17:21
Maggie: LOL! 17:21
Stephen: lol 17:21
Authoress Quietly Lurking: lol 17:21
Kelsi: Awesome! 17:22
Josh G: Oh, another important thing: drink coffee. Lots of coffee. Black. 17:22
Maggie: LOL!! 17:22
Stephen: lol 17:22
Kelsi: hahaha. Mine's been getting darker by the month. 17:23
Josh G: What else do we have? 17:23
Maggie: Okay. I have another. 17:23
Kelsi: ! 17:23
Maggie: I like to ask all the agents this. What do you see trending in the near-ish future? And kind of related to that, what (that is now trending) do you want to see die? 17:24
Maggie: Gotcha Kelsi. 17:24
Kelsi: (This chat is so interesting; I'm used to 15 people typing at the same time about comments that aren't even on the page anymore.) 17:24
Kelsi: And thanks Maggie! 17:24
Josh G: Ok. 17:25
Maggie: Yay! Yeah. This is a fairly small turnout! A lot of teens were unable to come. #sadday 17:25
Authoress Quietly Lurking: 17:25
Taryn joined the chat 17:26
Maggie: Taryn!! Yay! 17:26
Stephen: hello 17:26
Taryn: Hi. I got sick of you pestering me, Maggie 17:26
Josh G: I get a huge number of kids discovering that they can feel something about other people by hearing/touching/smellin​g 17:26
Kelsi: Hello Taryn. 17:26
Maggie: Hey, hey, hey... wasn't pestering! 17:26
Josh G: Hi Taryn 17:26
Taryn: Hi guys 17:26
Authoress Quietly Lurking: hiya Taryn! 17:26
Taryn: ! 17:26
Sarah joined the chat 17:26
Taryn: <3 17:26
Maggie: SARAH!! 17:26
Josh G: And most don't go far enough with it... 17:26
Maggie: (Gotcha, Taryn!) 17:26
Maddie R: Yes! So many sense-powers 17:26
Sarah: Hi!!! 17:27
Stephen: hello 17:27
Josh G: ...and think that there is enough in a gimmick... 17:27
Josh G: ...when the most important thing... 17:27
Josh G: ...bar none... 17:27
Authoress Quietly Lurking: (by the way, everyone ... Maddie R is Josh's sparkly assistant) 17:27
Josh G: ...is for us to root for them--for the characters to be sympathetic and interesting. 17:28
Taryn: I've heard amazing things about said sparkly assistant 17:28
Maggie: *waves at Maddie* Are you really sparkly? 17:28
Josh G: She rocks. 17:28
Authoress Quietly Lurking: 17:28
Maddie R: not as sparkly as Twilight vampires? 17:29
Maddie R: =) 17:29
Maddie R: Thanks, guys! 17:29
Josh G: So the key is to work as hard as possible on character and pace, regardless of the topic. 17:29
Maggie: Hmm. Okay. Awesome! 17:29
Josh G: I do have a tough time selling dystopia and vamps right now... 17:30
Maggie: That makes sense. 17:30
Josh G: ...though I still take them on (as SOME of you know)... 17:30
Authoress Quietly Lurking: 17:30
Taryn: (caught up on the chat--grinning at the agent explanation) 17:30
Kelsi: In that respect, the Hunger Games upsets mewriting most.. Dystopian's been my favorite ever since the Giver; its what I enjoy 17:31
Josh G: I do think that there is a place for realism... 17:31
Kelsi: writing most. 17:31
Josh G: ...I love dystopia. 17:31
Taryn: ME TOO! 17:31
Maggie: Me too! 17:31
Kelsi: <3 17:31
Josh G: I think editors love dystopia. 17:31
Josh G: BUT 17:32
Josh G: (and this gets into the trend stuff) 17:32
Josh G: Most publishers, while knowing that teens read dystopia, have bought their books for the next couple of years. 17:32
Josh G: And 17:32
Josh G: Are waiting a little now to see if the market is saturated before taking much more on... 17:33
Stephen: ! 17:33
Maggie: Gotcha Stephen 17:33
Josh G: ...although they ALL are willing to look, because they don't want to miss out on the NEXT HG. 17:33
Maggie: Hmm, totally! 17:34
Authoress Quietly Lurking: *dances a little* 17:34
Taryn: *giggles at Authoress* 17:34
Kelsi: Dancing? *tilts head* 17:34
Josh G: Of corse, the biggest book I've sold is basically The Princess Bride with 13 year olds 17:34
Josh G: Course... 17:34
Kelsi: O.o 17:34
Maggie: Oooh 17:35
Josh G: Why don't we take another question. 17:35
Maggie: (And just because we're inching toward out-of-time status, you can go ahead and type up your next question, Kelsi!) 17:35
Maggie: Ah! You beat me to it. XD 17:35
Kelsi: I'm not an English or a buisness major (I'm an engineer, actually), but I was found wondering how you 17:36
Kelsi: found an internship? are you near a big city? 17:36
Kelsi: Because it seems like you HAVE to go to CA or New York, which I know can't be true... 17:36
Taryn: Kelsi, do you mean you're majoring in engineering? 17:36
Josh G: Yes, I grew up and live in New York City. 17:37
Taryn: Also, my internship is remote. (my .02) 17:37
Kelsi: Yes, I'm majoring in engineering, sophomore. 17:37
Kelsi: Sorry for that typo 17:37
Taryn: sophomore! me too 17:37
Maggie: (Awesome, Kelsi) 17:37
Kelsi: New best friends, Taryn! 17:37
Josh G: If you want to work in publishing, you pretty much need to commit yourself to NY. 17:37
Taryn: 17:37
Maggie: Wow. 17:38
Kelsi: Gah! I don't want to overstep my boundries, but what about DC? 17:38
Kelsi: and thanks Maggie. 17:38
Josh G: Not really.... 17:38
Josh G: ...because a significant part--very significant--... 17:39
Josh G: ...is getting to know other people in the industry... 17:39
Maggie: That would be the business side, right? XD 17:39
Kelsi: hahaha, Maggie 17:39
Josh G: ...and all of the major houses, with their editors (and their jobs) are in NY. 17:39
Taryn: ! ! (that's two more, lol) 17:40
Josh G: There are exceptions (Kristen Nelson, for one), but very few. 17:40
Maggie: Okay, we'll move on quick then. Taryn, your first question! Go ahead and type it out awhile. 17:40
Maggie: *move quick 17:40
Maggie: Quickly? 17:41
Authoress Quietly Lurking: *slap* 17:41
Maggie: Ooops 17:41
Taryn: So! I'm writing a paper on a few adolescent lit books pubbed in the past, and I'm shamelessly using this as an opportunity to gather info. Do you think The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, A Wrinkle in Time, and/or Sarah Plain and Tall would be published today? What about acquired by an agent? 17:42
Kelsi: Whoah, awesome question. 17:42
Josh G: Yes, without question... 17:42
Josh G: But I think Catcher in the Rye would be YA 17:43
Maggie: Interesting question 17:43
Taryn: those are the three I'm writing on right now. 17:43
Josh G: It's the writing! 17:43
Taryn: All right, thank you much! *adds to opinions* 17:44
Maggie: (*pokes Stephen* You're next! Go ahead and start typing your question...) 17:44
Stephen: what do you think of poetry and do you think it is read a lot in recent years? 17:44
Josh G: I have 5 minutes, unfortunately--open school night doke my kids... 17:45
Maggie: Oooh! Okay 17:45
Josh G: I think poetry is REALLY hard to sell. 17:45
Maggie: Taryn, go ahead and post your questions. Whatever you can get around to answering in these last 5 minutes is fine, Josh. 17:45
Maggie: *your questions also 17:45
Sarah: Sorry, I have to go, thanks Josh! 17:45
Maggie: I'm glad you could come, Sarah! 17:45
Josh G: Thanks Sarah! 17:46
Josh G: Tell you what... 17:46
Josh G: ...I'll arrange another with Maggie... 17:46
Josh G: ...and we can continue. 17:46
Taryn: Oh! I'm trying to decide if I want to pursue a career as an editor or an agent, and I was wondering how you decided which you preferred. 17:46
Maggie: Wow! 17:46
Josh G: Great question... 17:47
Taryn: too long? 17:47
Josh G: I love both. 17:47
Josh G: ... 17:47
Josh G: ...and probably would have stayed as an editor if I hadn't gone to b-school. 17:47
Josh G: But 17:47
Josh G: I needed to earn a bit more money when I returned to publishing (long story)... 17:48
Josh G: ...and if you can make it as an agent there is a big upside. 17:48
Josh G: You also need to be willing to take risks... 17:48
Josh G: ...both personally and financially. 17:49
Josh G: It's a particular personality. 17:49
Taryn: Thanks so much! I will keep on researching and interning! 17:49
Maggie: Awesome! HUGE THANKS to Josh! 17:49
Josh G: Feel free to ask more offline 17:49
Taryn: *applauds* 17:50
Maggie: Thank you for coming tonight & taking the time to answer all our questions. 17:50
Maggie: *applauds also* 17:50
Kelsi: Thank you very much! 17:50
Josh G: It was my pleasure. You asked great questions, and I hope I was able to answer them ok. 17:50
Maggie: You did wonderfully! 17:50
Josh G: Thanks! Take care! 17:51
Stephen: I agree with Maggie 17:51
Maggie: You too. 17:51
Kelsi: Yes, thank you for all your answers! 17:52
Stephen: yeah thanks 17:52
Taryn: *collapses* 17:52
Authoress Quietly Lurking: 17:52
Kelsi: and thanks to Maggie for moderating 17:52
Maddie R: yes, thanks, maggie! 17:52
Maggie: Oh sure! It's my pleasure.
Maggie: Thanks all for coming! 17:52
Maggie: The full chat will be up on the forums in a couple minutes. 17:53
Taryn: After chat in the write on forum! 17:53
Taryn: woo hoo! 17:53
Taryn: (that's here: http://writeonteens.blogspot.com/p/chatr... btw) 17:53
Stephen: 17:53
Maggie: Yes! Anyone who's available, head over to the follow-up chat. Taryn has the link. 17:53
Maggie: Hugs to all!