The mysterious blogger who goes by the name “Authoress” was the first aspiring writer to offer up her work in progress to the infamous Miss Snark for critique. She now runs the successful writing support/critique forum Miss Snark’s First Victim, a blogspace in which aspiring writers can get feedback on their work — both from other writers, and from the volunteer efforts of a different anonymous literary agent (“Secret Agents,” naturally!) every month.
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GH: How would you describe MSFV (Miss Snark’s First Victim) in a few words?
Authoress: MSFV is a place for aspiring authors who are serious about honing their craft. Offering in-house crits, slice-of-writerly-life posts, and the popular Secret Agent contests, it’s more than just a blog–it’s a community.
GH: What inspired you to start running the Secret Agent contests?
Authoress: Well, the blog was brand new, we’d already done an in-house critique session or two, and I realized how much more fun it would be if actual agents were involved. When I came up with the “Secret Agent” name, I felt like I had a winner. The trick was going to be getting agents to say yes!
Was it difficult at first to get agents who were willing to participate? Has it become easier with the blog’s success?
I can honestly say it’s never been overly difficult; for the most part, agents have been open and enthusiastic. It was admittedly harder in the beginning, though, mostly because the blog didn’t have any history to support my invitation, as well as the fact that I was maintaining anonymity. I’m all about treating the approach to agents–whether via query or otherwise–as a simple business communique. So that’s how I set about finding my first Secret Agent. And yes, I’d say it has become easier with the blog’s success. Not only have I received requests from agents to participate, but Twitter has made it easier to network with agents as “Authoress,” leading more naturally to invitations, since they already know who I am.
Who was the first and how did you approach them?
Holly Root was my first (awesome!) Secret Agent. According to my records, she was the third agent I contacted, so really, that wasn’t too bad! Back then, I hadn’t set the limit of 50 entrants. Poor Holly critiqued 114 entries without a single complaint! Limiting the contests to 50 submissions has made it more manageable for the Secret Agents and for me, too.
How has working with agents for the site changed the way you relate to agents regarding your own fiction?
It has humanized them! Which is one of my ongoing goals as Authoress–humanizing agents so that aspiring authors don’t shake in their shoes at the thought of sending that first query. And I’ve had more than one instance where a Secret Agent offered to read my work without even knowing who I was. So I’ve been able to develop my professionalism and communication skills apart from my querying process, and then to apply those things as a querying author.
How many authors would you say have gotten connections, or signed, or published, directly due to your Secret Agent contests?
To date, we’ve had 4 agent signings as a direct result of Secret Agent contests–that is, winners chosen by a Secret Agent who were offered representation by that agent. In addition, I have a growing list of “success stories” from authors who credit feedback from a Secret Agent contest with enabling them to revise their work to the point where it led to representation by an agent. Many of these direct and indirect successes have already developed into book sales.
How much time/work would you say you put into the site per week?
My husband and I would disagree on this. ;) I don’t allow myself to work on the site on weekends, but I spend anywhere from 3 to 10 hours during the week, including everything from answering emails, hunting down new Secret Agents, beta testing the contest submissions process, writing blog posts, and tracking my visitors (yes, I stalk people). Needless to say, contest weeks are more time intensive, though they’re admittedly not as bad now that I’ve got an automated submission system. Prior to that, I had to do everything by hand. And yes, sometimes I got a little cranky.
Have you been able to benefit your own writing through the site, or through connections you make with agents for the site? Do you ever enter your own work in the contests?
Like the other aspiring authors who participate on the blog, my own writing has benefited from reading agent feedback as well as by sometimes submitting my own work to non-contest critique sessions. Because of the Secret Agent Contest’s popularity, I no longer enter. I did have the good fortune of having made a mistake a few months ago, though, and ended up with a blank entry number. Rather than post a blank entry, I grabbed the opportunity and entered my own work.
Best part? An agent lurking about the blog read my entry and wanted to see more. Needless to say, I was a bit sheepish when I told her the entry was mine.
As for connections? Not much benefit. While it may be true that a few of my ex-Secret Agents have been quicker to ask for partials and fulls, it hasn’t impacted me in a huge way. In the end, it’s still about the writing, regardless of how many “connections” one has.
GH: Absolutely. Connections only unlock the door for you. You’re still responsible for opening it, and for what you bring into the room.
Some critics of peer writing groups say that writers shouldn’t trust unpublished authors’ opinions about what it takes to be published. Do you find the authors’ critiques to be generally helpful and constructive? Do you think they guide manuscripts in the right direction?
My take is a bit contrary to that. I believe that just because a writer is published doesn’t mean he’s gifted at giving valuable feedback. While it’s true that a neophyte isn’t going to be as helpful as someone who has honed his craft, I’ve found that valuable feedback is not qualified by whether or not the author is published yet. On my blog, the critiques are generally helpful and constructive, yes. I delete the comments of occasional trolls with glee. And I’d say that, considering the success of many of my readers who give credit to the contests and critiques on MSFV, I’d say yes, the feedback seems to be guiding manuscripts in the right direction.
You bring up an important point: just because a writer gets published, doesn’t necessarily mean that they should be considered an expert in “what it takes” to get published — they could have just happened to hit it right.
That’s kind of a different angle than I usually hear, and I think it’s a great point that’s extremely easy to overlook. It’s easy to take a single experience and generalize it to black and white rules about “how things are,” when the truth is that everyone’s journey to publication is going to be different, and the same rules don’t necessarily apply to every manuscript.
Yes! That’s so true.
The feedback from a neophyte is definitely going to be different from the feedback someone who’s honed their craft, is going to be different again from the feedback from someone who is a professional agent. Have you found that to be true? How would you say that the writer feedback compares to the agents’ feedback? In general, are the suggestions from writers and agents on the same wavelength? Do you ever see writers trying too hard to find something to critique, where an agent thinks a submission is okay?
Another good question! I’ve actually seen it work both ways. Sometimes the critters will have spent a lot of time “nitpicking” an entry only to have the agent come in and say something like, “Love the voice! Would definitely keep reading!” But I’ve also seen entries with a lot of positive feedback from writers get an ultimate “thumbs down” from the Secret Agent. In general, though, I do think writers are paying closer attention to things like “too many adverbs” and “the protagonist’s name is unpronounceable”, sometimes at the expense of missing the big picture that an agent might see clearly.
According to many folks who have entered the contests, though, the feedback from both fellow writers and Secret Agents has been equally helpful. So it’s all good!
What story from the site’s history stands out most in your mind? Of a success, a critique, or anything else?
Wow, hard question! I think, in terms of “big success” stories, the one that sticks out is that of then-15-year-old Steph Bowe, who participated in the Secret Agent contest of September, 2009, with agent Ginger Clark, and then went on to sign with Ginger and sell her novel in rapid succession. (You can read the story here.) On a smaller scale, I’ve been repeatedly blown away by the support and encouragement I receive from my readers on a regular basis when I share bits of my personal journey as an aspiring author. The affirmation and loyalty has been amazing.
Is it difficult to balance your anonymity with your own writing and querying process? Does it make it difficult, for example, if you want to query to any of your Secret Agents? Or do you keep the two completely separate?
Prior to this year, I kept my two personalities separate (that sounds really odd). However, at the urging of industry professionals and a few colleagues, I began to disclose my “Authoress” identity in my queries. And the agents have done a wonderful job of keeping my secret! Aside from my close group of online critique partners, who DO know my real name, I keep Authoress and “real me” as far apart as possible. I’ve gotten frighteningly good at it!
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Authoress writes MG and YA fantasy and science fiction. She has an adoring husband and a stash of organic chocolate that keeps disappearing. (The chocolate, not the adoring husband.) She is also a classical pianist, a trained soprano, and an unabashed foodie.
