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The Deals That Dreams Are Made Of Privacy - Terms

By: Guest Column | July 29, 2017

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BY GINA PANETTIERI

The October 2017 Writers Digest explains How Big Deals Go Down in an article by agent Hillary Jacobsen.
In this online exclusive by agent Gina Panettieri, we take you behind the scenes of another impressive contract
this one a debut mystery trilogy from an unlikely source that inspired a bidding war.

Talcott Notch Literarys Senior Agent Paula Muniers deal for Spare These Stones, her debut mystery novel
sold to Peter Wolverton of St. Martins Press, is a bit out of the ordinarybut definitely a great lesson for any
new author looking to swing for the fences.

In addition to her agenting duties, Paula has written a number of writ-

ing craft books published by F&W Media (WDs parent company).
She was working on her latest, The Writers Guide to
Order Now!
Beginnings, when she realized she needed an ideal first chapter to
demonstrate the elements a strong opener. Since Paula had just re-
cently been to a fundraiser for working dogsthose who assist in mil-
itary, police and game warden operationsshe wanted to include those elements in her book, as well as her
other special passions: wounded vets, female vets and those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Paula had been searching for a great concept for a mystery for a while, and was so pleased with the final prod-
uct of this sample chapter that she decided to keep working with it. The challenge now was turning what had
been a terrific teaching tool into a show-stopping full novel. Id represented Paula for years before she became
an agent member of Talcott Notch Literary, so it was natural for her to turn to me when it came time to sell this
mystery.

Paula passed the opening chapter to me, and I absolutely loved itit really did have everything a great mys-
terys opening chapter should have. Shed developed an early outline, which I gave her some feedback on, but
Paulas a champion plotter (in fact, one of her writing craft books is called Plot Perfect) so revisions were light.
She also had the worlds absolute best beta reader in bestselling suspense novelist Hallie Ephron. All writers
should aim to surround themselves with critiquing partners who are as honest and sincere.

In the course of her own agency work, Paula knew to leverage social opportunities with editors by mentioning
the working dog story, and saw there was lots of interest. By using the chances these conferences provide to
get to know editors and agents on a personal level, you can often make a connection and learn about the per-
sons special interests. In this case, the common interest was dogs. Editors often advocate most zealously for
something they feel a personal connection to, so these editors represented our target market.
Thus before Paula had even passed a full book proposal to me, there were several solid requests for more ma-
terial. Now, with a proposal ready to go, I contacted a long list of additional editors regarding the project to
come up with our final sub list. It was a catchy concept, so there were lots of enthusiastic requests. We did a
final polish on the full proposal and out it went. Things moved very quickly from there and we had our first offer
the next day. Of course, this took the other publishers whod received the proposal a bit by surprise when I had
to inform them of the offer, but because they already knew they were interested, responses came in very rapid-
ly. Paula was as excited and nervous as any of our other clients waiting to hear the responses on the submis-
sions, but having sat on our side of the desk, she understood the process the editors were going through and
distracted herself with work as much as possible (but yes, she admitted she didnt sleep much while this was
going on).

The nerve-wracking part actually came in as the bids started to rise. Wed sold this book, a first mystery, on
proposal and Paula was extremely cognizant of her responsibility to deliver a complete manuscript that deliv-
ered on the promise of the proposal. Most first books sell on a complete manuscript, but with Paulas back-
ground, we were able to sell this on far less. The more the publishers bid, the more that book had to deliver! Its
exciting to sell a book for a healthy bid, but its a big promise to a publisher.

A bevy of hectic phone calls later, the final bid came in in less than five days at $100,000 for three books. Paula
was delighted, nervous, over the moon! Four months after contract, Paula just delivered the completed man-
uscript for the first book, and I have to say the completed book fully delivers on the promise of the proposal.
The editor loved it, and I cant wait for the next book in the series. Yay, team!

Be sure to pick up your copy of the October Issue of Writers Digest right here.

Gina Panettieri is the president of Talcott Notch Literary

Services LLC.

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Writers Digest Magazine October 2017 Online Exclusives

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One thought on The Deals That Dreams Are Made Of

GinaPanettieri
July 31, 2017 at 9:51 am

Thanks so much for inviting us to share the story of Paulas new mystery series, WD! Id like to mention that
its been retitled A BORROWING OF BONES (a title we LOVE, thanks, team!), and has a pub date of Sep-
tember 2018!

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