Interview by Kerry Schafer
Meet Lucienne Diver, agent extraordinaire at The Knight Agency. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her in person, and I’m here to tell you that besides being a highly successful agent, she’s also very lovely and approachable in person. Before we begin with the questions and answers, here’s her bio so you can start by already knowing all sorts of wonderful things about her.
Lucienne Diver joined The Knight Agency in 2008, after spending fifteen years with Spectrum Literary Agency in New York. Over the course of her dynamic career she has sold over seven hundred titles to every major publisher, and has built a client list of more than forty authors spanning the commercial fiction genres, primarily in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, romance, mystery, and young adult fiction. Her authors have been honored with the RITA, National Readers’ Choice, Golden Heart, Romantic Times and Colorado Book Awards, and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Clients include such bestsellers as Rachel Caine, Chloe Neill, Faith Hunter, Susan Krinard, Rob Thurman and many others.
She’s also an author in her own right with her Vamped young adult series for Flux Books and the Latter-Day Olympians urban fantasy series for Samhain (Bad Blood, Crazy in the Blood, Rise of the Blood, and Battle for the Blood, which is forthcoming. Her short stories and essays have appeared in the Strip-Mauled and Fangs for the Mammaries anthologies (Baen Books), in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperTeen) and the anthology Kicking It (Roc Books). Further information is available on The Knight Agency website and her author site.
Kerry: Lucienne, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my gazillion questions! I know from experience that a lot of writers are nervous about talking to agents, and sometimes it feels like a hopeless proposition to ever find the right agent match. You have an impressive list of clients and I know you’re a very busy lady. So what are the really truly chances of a newbie author having the good fortune to sign with you?
Lucienne: I think I’ve signed at least one debut author every year I’ve been in the business—and that’s 21 years now! Some years I’ve signed more than one, of course. I don’t have a quota. It’s all about how much I love the work and how successful I’ll be in marketing it. My blog has a sampling up, since just last year I did a shout out to new voices, and I’ve sold at least one debut since then (but I have to wait for the ink to dry on that contract before I can do a big announcement…and it will be big!)
Kerry: Very cool, and good news for debut authors looking for an agent. Just to clarify what you’re looking for, your bio says you’re primarily interested in commercial fiction in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, romance, mystery, and YA. Could you tell us what really gets you excited about these genres?
Lucienne: I love three things—psychology, suspense and the paranormal. The books I represent don’t have to have all three, but as the song goes, “Two out of three ain’t bad.” I love voice—truly unique characters dealing with real issues and feelings that are as authentic for the reader as for the person living the story. And that’s the important thing: the character should be living the story, not telling it to us. Readers want to live vicariously—travel the world, love, take risks, become action heroes, sacrifice ourselves or have someone sacrifice for us. In order to do that, we need to be swept along for the ride.
Kerry: Just to clarify your taste a little more, what was the last book you read just for fun and loved?
Lucienne: In a way that’s two different questions. The last book I read for fun was THE KILLING WOODS by Lucy Christopher. It’s a wonderful, dark, intense, suspenseful novel. Loved, though…that’s a difficult thing to say here because I did live it, and I felt changed by the experience as the characters were. In some ways, it reminded me of THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt. I was impressed; I was absorbed. Time ceased to have meaning while I read it, but for love I might want a little more light with my dark. (Not to take away from the book in any way, shape or form.) Barry Lyga’s IN HUNT KILLERS is a perfect example of that—very dark, but with some comic relief to break things up from time to time. This is also something I love about Joshilyn Jackson’s work.
Kerry: So if a project catches your interest but doesn’t immediately shout “pick me, pick me” – what tips the balance toward acceptance? Away?
Lucienne: I find that if I’m on the fence, usually it’s best for me not to offer representation because I won’t be enthusiastic enough to keep on believing even when the rejections mount. I want to believe in something so wholeheartedly that I’m in abject disbelief when anyone doesn’t love a novel the way I do and I want to work three times as hard to sell the book and “show them.” What usually tips the balance for me is voice and the originality of it.
Kerry: You bring a special mix of experiences to agenting, being a professional writer as well. Do you think this makes for a different relationship between you and your clients? Does it create any special challenges?
Lucienne: Being a professional writer as well as an agent gives me special insight into the frustrations and feelings behind the process, which makes me better able to understand and plead my author’s cases to publishers. But since I’m the agent and not the author in the situation, I’m also able to take emotion out of the equation and shoot right to how best to present things to the publishers and to focus on the solutions rather than the problems. Challenges? The biggest challenge is finding the time to write. It’s so much easier to read or critique than to write. Some days it’s so much easier to do anything besides write. But it’s harder to give up the writing entirely. Any day I don’t write feels wasted, no matter what else I’ve accomplished.
Kerry: I asked the writer community on Twitter and Facebook what they would like to ask an agent, given the opportunity. There were a lot of questions about the shifting landscape in publishing and how agents fit in to that. What do you see as your role as an agent, what with Amazon and self publishing?
Lucienne: Wow, talk about an essay question! Luckily, I tackled it in a post just recently, so I’ve got the full answer here.
Kerry: What are your thoughts on the agent/client relationship? Is it a long term partnership or do you provide sort of menu of services?
Lucienne: Generally when an agent takes a client on, they’re doing it for that author’s career. It’s a long term partnership geared toward building the author’s brand, momentum, readership and all that good stuff. We do provide a variety of services, but it’s all toward the goal of boosting the author to success; it’s not a la carte.
Kerry: How do you feel about writers pitching you if they catch you in the bar or the hallway at the conference? Do you prefer that they stick to scheduled pitch times or are the random moments okay?
Lucienne: I love impromptu conversations. That said, I don’t love impromptu pitches. If you see an agent in a line or in the bar, striking up a conversation is a great thing. That’s part of why you’re there —to network, to learn. Often the agent will ask, “What do you write?” which is an invitation for you to do a short (elevator) pitch. But without the invitation, it probably means the pro has been pitch overloaded and you’re best keeping the conversation more casual.
Kerry: Last and possibly most important question: If we do catch you in the bar, what will you probably be drinking?
Lucienne: Oh, that depends on my mood. Wine, rum and diet coke, margarita, sometimes whiskey or bourbon… Not all at once, of course!
Kerry: Thanks again for taking the time to chat! I’m looking forward to seeing you again in Colorado!
Awesome interview! Love how you give a shout-out to debut authors 🙂
Excellent interview, Kerry and Lucienne! I appreciated the comment about “voice” often being the deciding factor in client selection. Newer writers often have no idea what their voice is or how to fix it when it’s broken. We should consider a whole series of posts on that topic alone.