Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency

Seeking Science Fiction and Fantasy

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We’re sending out the following solicitation letter to several SFF sites and blogs announcing that we’re looking for new Science Fiction and Fantasy authors. Feel free to pass this along to friends via the social network of your choice or re-post on your own blog.  We look forward to seeing your submissions!

Dear Readers,

We’re writing to introduce you to The Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency and to let you know we are actively seeking clients in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. We are a full service agency, representing writers at every stage of their career.

The agency opened in 1984 and has always had an interest in both genres.  We’re privileged to represent a number of top talents in science fiction and fantasy such as John Scalzi, Karen Miller, Sharon Shinn, Gail Z. Martin, Ian Douglas/Bill Keith, Kay Kenyon, Mel Odom, and the recently signed James Cambias for whom we just sold his first novel.  We are also proud to represent the estate of Gandalf Grand Master Award winning author Andre Norton.

Our success in this area is not confined to the adult market, either.  The agency has negotiated publication deals for young adult fantasies by Karen Miller, Mel Odom, Sharon Shinn, and Ed Willet as well.

We are a very active, successful seller of translation rights with agents in all foreign markets and a track record of approximately fifty new licenses per year. We also successfully license film rights, audio-book rights, e-book rights and rights for publication in theUnited Kingdom.

The ideal submission for us is an introductory letter, synopsis and the first three chapters of manuscript. We welcome electronic submissions to fantasy@ethanellenberg.com. We also welcome submission by mail with a self-addressed, stamped envelope for response. Please check our website (ethanellenberg.com) and follow the submission guidelines carefully.

We remain upbeat, active and committed to the highest standards of professional conduct and representation. We are members in good standing of the Association of Author’s Representatives and consistently receive high marks from all the top professional writers’ organizations. We look forward to your submission.

Sincerely,

Ethan Ellenberg, President              Evan Gregory, Associate Agent

 

June 2012

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June 24, 2012 is a very happy day for us, we have two NEW YORK TIMES HARDCOVER BESTSELLERS on this Sunday’s list.

John Scalzi’s REDSHIRTS leads off at #15, congratulations John, this is a wonderful achievement.  MaryJanice Davidson’s UNDEAD AND UNSTABLE, the 11th volume in her magical Queen Betsy series appears at #29 and she can add at that to her long string of Times bestsellers.  Fans will be happy to know she recently contracted for books 12 and 13 in the series, so every June, you have something to look forward to.

Selling first novels is one of our favorite activities so we are delighted to announce the sale of James Cambias’ A DARKLING SEA to Dave Hartwell at Tor Books.

 

In other news:

  • We are very excited about the debut book in Gail Martin’s new Ascendent Kingdoms series coming from Orbit in February, ICE FORGED.
  • Karen Miller will be delivering the first book in her new series TARNISHED CROWN  to Orbit this summer.
  • We’ve sold the entire Ian Douglas backlist to HarpercollinsUK so that Harper will be publishing him worldwide in English.
  • Ace will be releasing the 2nd book in Sharon Shinn’s THE SHIFTING CIRCLE series in October, look for STILL LIFE WITH SHAPESHIFTER.  Anyone who is a fan of True Blood must read these books.
  • We’ve sold 3 more books in G.A. Aiken’s DRAGON series to Kensington.
  • Bertrice Small launches a new series this Fall, THE SILK MERCHANT’S DAUGHTERS.  Look for BIANCA this fall.  Set in Renaissance Italy long time fans will find everything they love set in a vivid, exotic world.
  • James M. Tabor will be delivering the next book in his thriller series featuring Hallie Leland and Will Bowman, THE DARK ZONE to Random House this summer.  The first book, THE DEEP ZONE has been sold in 5 foreign countries and has received spectacular reviews.
  • The non-fiction title we’re most excited about is NEW DIMENSIONS IN NONSENSE by Dr. Alexander Unzicker and Sheila Jones, sold to Palgrave/Macmillan.  Has modern physics lost its way?  This book is sure to generate controversy.
  • Patty Blount’s YA novel SEND (Sourcebooks, September 2012) has been selected as the Fall 2012 Paperback Pick by the Junior Library Guild.
  • Caldecott winner Eric Rohmann returns this Fall, illustrating OH NO, written by Candace Fleming and published by Schwartz and Wade/Random House.  Beautifully illustrated with a fun, captivating storyline this is a picture book that will find its ways into many homes and libraries.

March 2012

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We’re happy to report some recent sales and other news:

JAMES W. TABOR’s THE DEEP ZONE—Ballantine’s top thriller of the season will be released 4/3/2012.  Jim’s novella linked to THE DEEP ZONE, LETHAL EXPEDITION is available now as an ebook.

JOHN SCALZI—Tor publishes REDSHIRTS in hardcover June 2012—we’ve just sold the 5th book in the OLD MAN’S WAR series for publication June 2013.

SHARON SHINN—her break out new series starts in hardcover in March with THE SHAPE OF DESIRE followed by STILL LIFE WITH SHAPE-SHIFTER in October both from Ace.  The Shape of Desire received a starred review in Publishers Weekly.

IAN DOUGLAS—we’ve sold his entire backlist to Harper UK. Douglas is now one of the best selling authors of military SF in the U.S.  His new book STAR CARRIER: SINGULARITY was just released.

GAIL MARTIN—her new series launches with ICE-FORGED in February 2013.  She is Orbit’s top selling fantasy author this month in the U.K.with THE DREAD.

MARYJANICE DAVIDSON—More UNDEAD’S ARE COMING! Berkley has just bought books 12 and 13 in a major deal.

CHRISTINE WARREN—her next book in ‘the Others’ series, ON THE PROWL publishes in March and we just sold a new 3 book series for her to St. Martin’s.

G.A. AIKEN—the 6th book in the DRAGON KIN series will be published 9/2012 and Kensington is negotiating for 3 more.

ROBIN BRIDGES—her debut series has gone back to press already for THE GATHERING STORM and the second book THE UNFAILING LIGHT will be published January 2013.

ERIC ROHMANN—BONE DOG was Roaring Brook’s top selling picture book this past Fall.

November 2011

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We’ve had a run of strong list placements so let me provide the score card for starters:

Star Carrier by Ian Douglas
(#22 on the NEW YORK TIMES Mass-Market Best-Seller List in May)

Black Magic Woman by Christine Warren
(#30 on the NEW YORK TIMES Mass-Market Best-Seller List in May)

Undead and Undermined by MaryJanice Davidson
(#26 on the NEW YORK TIMES Hardcover Best-Seller List in July)

Bound by Night by Amanda Ashley
 (#33 on the NEW YORK TIMES Mass-Market Best-Seller List in September)

The Dragon Who Loved Me by G.A. Aiken  
(#35 on the NEW YORK TIMES E-book Best-Seller List in September)

We’re very excited about three new series debuting in 2012, one from a first time author, the next from an established veteran and the third from a top non-fiction author turned novelist.

The newcomer is first time novelist ROBIN BRIDGES whose first book THE GATHERING STORM is a young adult novel coming in January, 2012 in hardcover from Delacorte.  The first book in THE KATERINA TRILOGY this story set in Czarist Russia is a wonderful cocktail of paranormal romance, mystery and intrigue.  Vampires at the Russian Court?  A necromancer beauty who just wants to be a doctor?  THE GATHERING STORM has everything.

Our second pick is Sharon Shinn’s THE SHAPE OF DESIRE to be published by Ace in Hardcover in March, 2012.  Fans of True Blood will instantly adore this rich, dark urban fantasy set in the complex world of contemporary shape-shifters.  These aren’t monsters but recognizable friends and neighbors who’ve grown up with the ability to take animal form.  The second book, STILL-LIFE WITH SHAPE-SHIFTER is coming in October 2012.

Our third pick is getting a major hardcover launch from Random House and thriller fans have a treat in store.   THE DEEP ZONE by James M. Tabor rivals the best fiction written by Michael Crichton, James Rollins or Clive Cussler.  An unstoppable virus is tearing its way through the U.S. Army medical system and only a unique life form found  at the bottom of one of the deepest caves on earth can supply the antidote.  Based on the unique research Tabor completed for his top selling non-fiction book BLIND DESCENT, THE DEEP ZONE introduces two compelling new characters and a world of authentic, high stakes adventure and mystery.

Other news:
Ian Douglas has sold 3 new Star Carrier novels to Avon and Harper UK has purchased his 15 book backlist.
John Scalzi has sold his 5th novel in the Old Man’s War series to Tor.
Ed Willett has sold a new series to Daw, entitled MASKS.
Christine Warren has sold a new series to St. Martin’s.
Claire Avery has sold a sequel to HIDDEN WIVES to Tor.
Bertrice Small has sold a new 3 book series set in Renaissance Italy to NAL.

Ethan Ellenberg

Eternal Reserve

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A group of papers recently crossed my desk that reminded me of the permanent or eternal reserve that many publishers keep on individual books. I suspect that few authors are aware of this, but it’s a serious issue that affects almost every author.

The root of this problem is that many publishers keep a tiny but permanent reserve against returns. This should not be confused with illegitimate practices regarding the reserve for returns that less than reputable publishers have employed. This eternal reserve, as any of the publishers that utilize it will likely argue, is a legitimate accounting practice. And, if the permanent return is tiny and not fixed, it can be justified. If it is not, it is an egregious use of the reserve concept and a serious way of depriving authors of royalty income.

First, some background: I have been on both sides of this issue. Prior to becoming an agent I worked in the contracts and royalty areas for two of the largest publishers. In my first job I actually had access and spent some time with the large royalty books that housed the company’s royalty records. (Yes, the hand entered books that held the royalty records.) In these books you could follow the royalty records of titles that had been in print for 20 or even 30 years. I remember reviewing books that hadn’t had a return in five or even ten years. These were customarily “dead” books, long out of print. Sometimes a return came in, but rarely.

Even on these titles, a permanent reserve was usually kept. The reserve would often be 50 books, period. From the author’s point of view, you can make the case that no permanent reserve should be kept. When a book is essentially dead—let’s say three years without a recorded sale or return––even the final or permanent reserve should be liquidated. However, a publisher could legitimately argue that returns are received even ten years after a book is dead and so they shouldn’t be forced to pay royalties on books that could be returned.

From where I sit, this is a coin toss—both sides can make legitimate claims. As long as the publisher must absorb returns for credit, it wants protection from paying royalties on these unsold copies. If no returns are imminent by any common sense measure, authors should be paid royalty income that has in all likelihood been earned.

In my capacity as agent, I have several clients with long, productive careers. I have full access to their royalty records, which I periodically review. Even though there is obviously a smaller collection of authors, the patterns of sale are similar to the ones I saw as a publishing house employee. After the active life of a book, years could go by with no activity—no returns whatsoever. Sometimes a return or three would pop up. The fact is that nearly all books follow a similar pattern in their publishing lives. Ten year old books, with no new shipments, don’t suddenly return 500 or 1000 copies. In fact, I can’t remember even moderate amounts of returns for an older book (for many books this would be at least three years post first publication). If a book is very active, with new shipments, that is a different story. In that case, the book will behave essentially like a recent title and substantial bursts of returns are possible.

Despite these patterns, that anyone who tracks royalties knows, many publishers do use an eternal reserve. It is a controversial, debatable practice, but it is legitimate. But, what happens if the permanent or final reserve is abused? What if it is more than a token reserve or if it is completely disconnected from any common sense notion of how books are returned? In these instances, the publisher is simply failing or refusing to pay royalties.

One such practice that greatly concerns me is a permanent reserve that is set as a percentage of gross shipments. Even a 1% permanent reserve could deny substantial royalty income to an author. Let me give you an illustration. During the initial publication of a book 100,000 copies are shipped and the publisher establishes a standard 1% permanent reserve against this shipments, so that’s a 1000 copies. Depending on the book’s sales, the permanent reserve isn’t visible or operative, but subsumed in the traditional reserve and most likely would not have an impact on the author’s royalties. But what happens five or even ten years out? What happens when in the prior five years only ten returns were received? Why would 1,000 copies need to be held in reserve when the publisher can be confident that it will not receive even 100 returns?

Let’s continue to work with this example. What if the permanent reserve wasn’t as tiny as 1%–say 3% (3000 copies) or 5% (5000 copies). The numbers grow more and more absurd. A reserve is not supposed to function in this way. Let’s examine how the reserve is really supposed to function. In our example, we’ve shipped 100,000 copies and let’s say that 50,000 are reported sold. The publisher knows they’re sold—they’ve been paid for them, the large accounts have actually given the publisher sales figures from individual stores. Now the potential pool of returns isn’t 100,000 copies, it’s 50,000 copies. Of those 50,000 copies, let’s say 40,000 have been returned and credited. Now our 3% of shipments or 3000 copies is actually a reserve against 10,000 “unknown” copies. It’s no longer a 3% reserve for returns, it’s now a 30% reserve for returns. And, as the number of “unknown” copies decreases, this percentage steadily increases.

Obviously, a reserve set by a fixed percentage of net shipped is an unfair practice. A reserve should never be fixed; it should be based on actual experience. Publishers that employ a permanent reserve with a fixed rate based on gross shipments aren’t really using a reserve against returns at all, they are simply not paying authors royalties on every book sold, as promised in their contracts. It may be 99% or 97% or 95%, but it’s is not 100% and in some cases this can amount to a significant loss of income to the author.

The reserve for returns will continue to be an area of contention between authors and publishers. Publishers have the right to protect themselves from paying royalties on unsold copies. Authors have the right to be paid full royalty income on a timely basis and not be subjected to methods that unfairly deny them income. The clearest path to moderating this tension is for publishers to increase the flow of accurate, timely sales information to authors so the legitimacy of the reserve can be openly and objectively judged. Authors must accept that there will be instances where the publisher can legitimately delay payment of royalties until it’s clear that the books have actually been sold and will not be returned.

Last word—a reserve based on a permanent fixed percentage of books shipped is inconsistent with sound accounting practices and unfairly denies authors royalty income.

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