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| Mark Gottlieb |
Trident Media Group is a large New York agency. It represents over 800 authors
in a range of genres of fiction and nonfiction, many of whom have appeared on
the New York Times Best Sellers Lists and have won major
awards and prizes. For more than ten consecutive years, Publishers Market Place
has ranked Trident number one for sales in North America. Trident is also among the top ten agencies in the UK.
Mark
Gottlieb attended Emerson
College and was President of its Publishing Club, establishing the Wilde Press.
After graduating with a degree in writing, literature & publishing, he
began his career with Penguin’s VP. Mark’s first position at Publishers Marketplace’s
#1-ranked literary agency, Trident Media Group, was in foreign rights. Mark was
EA to Trident’s Chairman and ran the Audio Department. Mark is currently
working with his own client list, helping to manage and grow author careers
with the unique resources available to Trident. He has ranked #1 among Literary
Agents on publishersmarketplace.com in Overall Deals and other categories.
Many thanks to Mark for giving
this interview and to the Wednesday afternoon “Extreme” class for coming up
with the questions. ~Brian
QBF: What
do you think of novels based in Canada? Do you see a Canadian setting as a
risk? If so, are you willing to take the risk?
Mark: I find this to be an odd
question. To me, good writing is good writing, regardless of the setting. Look
at a film like "Fargo" which could have been set in Canada if it
weren't set in the Midwest, just south of the Canadian border. Or look at many
of the novels of Michael Ondaatje, a client of ours, since his novels have much
to do with Canada, many of them set there.
QBF: Your
website states you’re “actively seeking
submissions in all categories and genres.” That seem unusual –
most agents have some specialties or preferences, so why so very open?
Most literary agents want to brand themselves as the
de facto "guy you go to for writing conservative fiction" or
"the woman you go to if you want to write women's fiction," but I
consider myself and my brand of representation to be the brand I am
offering authors, rather than trying to make people come to know me by the type
of book I do.
I am also very open to many types of fiction and
nonfiction because I do not like to place all my chips in one basket. For
instance, romance and erotica spiked and then took a deep dive after the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon
subsided and much of those books moved toward self-publishing in the eBook
space. Rather than place all my chips in one basket, I prefer to work on
projects that interest me and hold promise in my eyes. Not to say that I'm a
Renaissance man, but I'd also like to think that my talents as a literary
agent extend beyond representing just one genre of fiction or one type on
nonfiction.
This also enables me to
work with authors who like to write across various genres. I'm very open
to most things, especially from authors with platforms, or
bestseller/award-winner status, but I prefer not to work with struggling
genres such as personal memoir without platform, cozy mysteries, horror, high
fantasy, soft sci-fi, historical YA, erotica, paranormal romance, early reader
books, chapter books, cookbooks, sports, true crime, etc.
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The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti,
one of Mark's clients |
QBF: If
you get a query that looks good but isn’t to your taste, would you ever pass it
on to another agent at Trident? If you reject a query, is it okay to query
another agent at Trident? More generally, how much and in what ways do you
consult with one another?
Mark: If I receive a query that
seems promising, but is not for me, I am very good at sharing with one of my
colleagues. They are the same way with me. A rejection from one
literary agent at Trident Media Group is generally-speaking a rejection
from all of Trident, but our website form allows an author to resubmit
following a 60-day period.
Along the lines of being collegial, we converse
with each other at staff meetings and in visiting one another at our offices to
discuss helping one another find the right editor for a project. We will
consult with one another sometimes editorially as well.
QBF: How
do you feel about your authors writing multiple genres – for example, both
mainstream women’s fiction and middle grade books?
Mark: I am perfectly fine with
authors writing across multiple genres if they can fully accomplish that
feat.
QBF: Canadian
agents don’t seem especially interested in taking on short story writers. What
is your understanding of how American agents in general feel about writers of
short fiction?
Mark: American literary agents
and publishers are the same way with regard to short story collections and
novellas from debut authors.
QBF: The
publishing industry has a reputation for not being customer friendly towards
potential authors.
Mark: I suppose every book
publisher and editor are different in their attitudes. As book publishing's
leading literary agency, we do not have trouble getting responses from
publishers. As a result of the clout of our literary agency and the fact that
our business goes to the bottom line of most every book publishing company, our
submissions get read quickly and receive responses. Perhaps an author will have
more luck working through a more esteemed literary agency than trying to go it
alone or working with a smaller literary agency with less pull with
book publishers.
QBF: Is
there a particular genre or category that is most popular right now? Or what do
you think may be on the rise? What’s overdone right now?
Mark: Right now there's a lot
of growth in thrillers, women's fiction, general nonfiction, narrative
nonfiction, biography, middle grade, children's fantasy,
children's picture
books and graphic novels. Above, in an early answer, I described the
genres that have been overdone {personal memoir without platform, cozy mysteries, horror, high fantasy, soft sci-fi, historical YA, erotica, paranormal romance, early reader books, chapter books, cookbooks, sports, true crime}.
~ ~ ~
To query Mark and for full submission information, go to
Trident’s submissions page here.
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Author Kira Vermond will be one of the guest
speakers for the Kid Lit class (see here) |
Brian Henry will lead a How to Get Published workshop on Saturday, April 22, in Midland, with literary
agent Sue Miller (see here).
Note: For updated postings of current How to Get
Published workshops here (and scroll down).
Also, Brian will lead a Writing and
Revising workshop Saturday, March 25, in
Toronto (see here).
And Brian will lead Writing
for Children & for Young Adults workshops
on Saturday, April 1, in Windsor (see here),
on Saturday, May 13, in Caledon at the Bolton Library with Yasemin Uçar, senior
Editor at Kids Can Press and author Jennifer Mook-Sang (see here),
and on Saturday, May 27, in St. Catharines with Anne Shone, senior editor at
Scholastic Books (see here). Brian
will also be leading a weekly Kid Lit class,Monday
afternoons, April 10 – June 19, in Mississauga (here).
Note: For updated listings of Writing for Children
& for Young adult workshops and for weekly Kid lit classes, see here (and scroll down).
And don't miss the June in Algonquin Writing Retreat, Friday, June 2 – Sunday, June 4 or Monday, June 5.
Details here.
For more information or to reserve a
spot in any Saturday workshop or weekly course, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
This spring, starting the end of March, Brian will offer a full range of classes from
beginner to advanced:
Welcome to Creative Writing, Monday evenings, April 10 – June 19, Burlington
Details here.
Writing Personal Stories, Thursday afternoons, April 27 – June 15,
Burlington Details here.
Writing Kid Lit, Monday
afternoons, April 10 – June 19, Mississauga. Details here.
Intermediate Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, April 12 – June 14,
starts by email April 5, Burlington. Details Details here.
Intermediate Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, April 13 – June 15, starts
by email April 6, Georgetown. Details here.
Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday
afternoons, April 11 – June 13, starts by email April 4, Burlington.
Details here.
Extreme Creative Writing, Wednesday
afternoons, April 5 – June 21, starts by email March 29, Burlington.
Details here.
Details of all seven classes offered
this spring here.
For more information or to register
for any of the above, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Read reviews of Brian’s courses and
workshops here.
See Brian’s complete current
schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing
courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon,
Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland,
Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB,
Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo,
Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.
Navigation tip: If you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.
