Blogger: Wendy Lawton
I first wrote this blog in 2009. What fun to see that seven years later it is still true. As I get ready to head off to Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference– my 20th straight year of coming alongside writers– it seems especially fitting. Here goes. . .
If you read many agent blogs, you’ve probably been treated to an overload of complaints. Sometimes the frustration with the day-to-day avalanche of work overflows onto agents’ posts. Yes, there are too many queries to be able to handle them helpfully. Yes, publishers sometimes care more about the platform of an author than about his ideas. And yes, writer-hopefuls do send us the strangest queries, but, press any of us agents, and we’ll admit there’s nothing we’d rather be doing. So as I spend the next few days doing what I do best, let me tell you a few of the reasons I love my job.
A little background: For thirty years I’ve been considered one of the world’s leading sculptors and doll designers. I had my own company for a quarter century and won every top award in the industry, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. I also wrote books at the same time. I have more than a dozen titles in print. All that to say that I have had my turn in the spotlight. When I began itching for a new challenge, my own agent, Janet Kobobel Grant, asked if I’d be interested in joining the agency. It didn’t take me long to decide. I knew that all my experience in marketing, product development and the toy industry (a parallel world to publishing) would translate to a perfect arsenal of skills for literary representation. I said yes and began to build my client list and learn the business under Janet’s mentorship.
It wasn’t long until I discovered that I had chosen the perfect third career. The first (and best) thing an agent learns is that “it’s not about me.” After two careers in which I was the “brand” or the personality, I would now be behind the scenes. It’s a healthy change. A little bit ago, I was looking back in my prayer journal and found an entry where I prayed that the Lord would help me develop a servant’s heart. Bingo! This new career provided that opportunity.
My philosophy as an agent is lifted from Henry Blackaby’s wonderful book, Experiencing God. To paraphrase, he says that God is already at work. Our job is to see where he’s at work and come alongside. That’s exactly what I’ve done. When I’m evaluating potential clients, I get most excited when I can see that God is already at work in their lives and their careers. All I’m called to do is come alongside and work with them.
For me, some of the unforeseen benefits have been a delight. I’ve found that I love getting my fingers into so many different projects, different careers and different ministries. This job is never dull. And when you get to handpick the people you work with, well it just doesn’t get any better than that. Just think, I get to be involved in books that touch millions of readers. I celebrate every victory with my authors–bestseller lists, awards, starred reviews and lives changed. I also get to be part of the disappointments that only make the later victories all the sweeter. It’s coming alongside.
Agents don’t have to hog all the fun, however. You don’t have to be an agent to get your fingers into lots of projects and come alongside fellow writers. I did it long before I was an agent. I’ve been critique partners with six other writers for more than twenty years. I belong to two local writing groups. I’ve been on writers’ prayer teams. That made me part of their projects and allowed me to come alongside them.
So tell us–how have you come alongside other writers? How has it enriched your writing and your own walk? Ideas? Comments?
I’ve been following this blog since the year broke but this is my first comment. I would be marking one year as a writer in 8 days time, which leaves me with less interaction with writers. However, the few I’ve managed to come alongside have not only been a blessing to my writing but also my life. The joy felt when praying for them is irreplaceable. I’m hoping to join a writer’s group as soon as I can afford, just to get out there and be among others with the same (or almost the same) POV of the world and God.
Reading blogs, commenting, and seeing other’s comments has also been great. There are authors that have been chiselled into memory, and I’m pretty sure one of them would comment on this post.
Welcome alongside, Michael! And happy writer anniversary.
Welcome, Michael!
Nice to “meet” you, Michael! I’ll look forward to reading more about you here. 🙂
Hey There Michael! So glad that you decided to comment and Happy Anniversary! So glad that you are writing and reaching out to other writers. You are braver than me. I hid the fact that I was writing for several years, and thus did not meet any other writers. Maybe ACFW would be a good fit for you? The membership is reasonably priced and I have found Novel Track very encouraging. I know there are critique groups and things with them too. Anyway, just wanted to say “welcome” and “congratulations.”
We are so glad you are here, Michael!
Michael, it’s wonderful to see you here! Happy upcoming anniversary, and we hope to see many, many more of your comments, and that we may share in celebrating the successes of your life as a writer and as a Child of God.
So glad you’re part of this community, Michael!
Welcome, Michael! It will be a pleasure to learn your thoughts as you share with this community. Praying for each other is one of the blessings of being here.
Michael, you don’t have to spend money to connect with other writers. Conferences are wonderful and likely to be expensive, but maybe you can find a local critique group or even a good online one. And you’re connecting with us by commenting here.
My dear friend, Dr. Lee Spitzer, wrote a little book, “Endless Possibilities.” He explains that there is an unconscious phase of every ministry, a time when God is preparing us and we are clueless. Later, in the conscious phase, we begin to grasp the plan and cooperate–in your words, Janet, we come alongside God.
* When I was a child, my aunts and uncles took in children whose families fell apart, providing safe space to needy kids. That was part of the unconscious journey that prepared me to be a foster/adoptive mother to two brothers when their mother died. Our adoption was less than successful (one of our boys never connected with us). What felt to us like failure was another unconscious journey that prepared us to come alongside adoptive families with children so hurt that love doesn’t make it all better. Sometimes it is a chance meeting and a momentary word of encouragement. For others, it is traveling alongside them for years. And it all becomes fodder for prayer, when I come alongside God and ask that these children will be filled with the joy of adoptio
. . . the joy of adoption into the family of God.
Shirlee, you are an amazing woman. I love reading a bit of your heartbeat here. You and I have talked a little about this. How beautiful that God used your aunt and uncle to spark a desire (even a calling?) within you.
I am a member of two critique groups, writers who have blessed me beyond measure over the years with their honesty, expertise, and love. When I need to rant, they are there! Most of all, they bless me with their prayers. I’ll never forget the way Cynthia Ruchti, Becky Melby, and Eileen Key, all published authors, mentored me in gaining my first contract and writing my first novella in our collection. Without them, it would have been a train wreck. I try to encourage new writers, too, critiquing their manuscripts, judging ACFW’s Genesis contest, and helping them through their tough days. So glad for my more seasoned friends, too. We pray for each other and keep each other going. No writer can make it alone!
Rachael, what a great “team” you’ve found! You make a great point about giving back when given the chance, too. 🙂
I feel like I’ve received so much more than I’ve given!
Yes, what an amazing group of encouragers. I only know two of those women you mentioned, but wow, is my life ever better for knowing them.
They are all awesome! I mainly worked with them doing our two novella collections, and they taught me bunches.
I’m a member of ACFW and have made so many great friends through this group. I’ve been in critique groups and have loved blogging about other writers and their books and helping promote their books via social media and word of mouth. I love to encourage and promote other Christian writers.
I’ve also made some good friends on your blog and other blogs. It’s always fun to meet other writers and bond.
Oh, Wendy. I remember when you first came on board at Books and Such. It is crazy to realize that I have been lurking on Janet’s website that long. I took a class in 2003 to 2005 where I had to research literary agents and send an appropriate choice to my instructor. That was when I found that first Books and Such website. What an exciting day when it was not just Janet, but a multi agent agency. I remember reading about your dolls as you were introduced. So amazing. Hmmm…a little side tracked there. Coming alongside. Well, I have gained many writer friends through blogs like this, facebook groups, and ACFW novel track. I’ve gotten the chance to critique back copy material and read other writer’s books. With my own critique partner we have hashed through plots and whole books and queries and proposals and then done it all again when it didn’t turn out quite right. Last summer, I had the chance to read the first book written by a teenage girl who is a friend of our family and a counselor at the Bible Camp where we work. So exciting to help a young writer learn the craft! I get to see her again this summer and am excited to see what she is doing.
Hmmm…I might have actually found it during my earlier class in 2001. Been so long I can’t even remember.
I love learning a bit more about you, Wendy, and about your heart for helping other writers. You’re in the perfect job. 🙂
*I’ve been helped many times by those who are further along this journey than I am. I’ve also had opportunities to help other writers through critique, sharing a little of what I’m learning and through prayer. Having people who pray for me and for whom I can pray regularly has been pretty amazing. Being able to share the ups and downs on this journey with trusted friends has made the journey richer.
Your hugs and prayers are gold. 🙂
I remember the first time we spoke on the phone.
Annnnnnnnnd now I’m gonna cry…
What a lovely, inspiring and heartwarming essay, Wendy. Your clients are very fortunate indeed to have you in their corner, as are your colleagues in the sharing of your professional skill and deep compassion.
* The only way I can come alongside other writers now is to offer encouragement through this community, and occasionally through reading that which they offer me for reading. It’s the best I can do, and I try to remember that every work I write to them can have the potential of nurturing hope.
You wrote this to me Andrew, a long time ago … I read it over and over– “In team-building exercises, there’s the famous ‘falling backwards’ exercise, in which you trust the people you’re teamed with to catch you before you crack your head. We’ll catch you, Shelli. We love you.”
You are SUCH an encourager, Andrew! So glad to have come alongside you (and the others) via this site.
NEVER underestimate the power of hope, Andrew.
Wendy, I’m so thankful to have met you in person. I wish I were going to Mount Hermon. 🙂 You have a unique way of making people feel like family. I will never forget my first night at ACFW … when you and Janet walked into the hotel. My heart soared, and I began a quick walk with other writers, who were kind enough to take me under their wings. I couldn’t wait to hug you girls. There is no way to count the ways you all have walked alongside me, especially through this blog. And I’m so grateful to you. And the people here … I love this place. I don’t feel like I have an incredible amount to offer other writers at this point. But I do pray, and check on people, and do my best to support them … the writers here at this blog, published and unpublished, have my heart more than any other. I’m on two street teams now … and I’m so excited about that. They are amazing writers, and I’ve already learned so much from them. To be on the sidelines cheering for them is an incredible honor. One under the radar and unique way that I’ve been able to come alongside other writers is through writing mission articles. I never thought about it until you asked this question. Many of the missionaries I interview and write about are actually writers … and after writing stories on them, I’ve had some tell me that I encouraged them to start writing again. One man said that I encouraged him to write down his stories to pass on to his kids. That’s a special feeling.
I’m so thankful to have come alongside you, Shelli. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, seeing your sweet face and hearing your sweet voice at ACFW last year was such a highlight to me. It felt like coming home, in a way, didn’t it???? 🙂 I appreciate you so much.
Yes, it felt like coming home. 🙂
Thanks so much for this post, Wendy! What a beautiful, inspiring journey you’ve been on! I especially appreciated hearing about the different directions your career path has taken, as I’ve lately been contemplating a change in my own. I joined a small critique group this winter, and it has been such a blessing to experience my writing journey alongside those fellow writers, both in the form of critiques as we get to know each others’ stories and see our writing improve, but more importantly as we share triumphs and struggles along the way and offer sympathy and encouragement.
Wendy, have a great time at the conference! The writers I’ve come alongside are without a doubt the best part of this career choice. This blog is a great forum for that. ACFW is another amazing community. My critique group partners not only encourage me, they teach me to be a better writer and expect me to work hard. I’m incredibly grateful for all of the authors I have met along this journey.
How have *I*?
Hmm, well. I try to encourage those I can. If possible, I try to meet with them, whether it’s in person, on Skype or by phone.
I think the oomph of what I can offer is the knowledge that giving up must never be part of the equation. Finding one’s voice is HARD. Making mistakes is humbling. But the joy is found in the journey, not when we reach the earthly destination. Because when we do, another door will open and God will lead us down another path.
I’ve have learned to couch technical advice (the wads of it that I have could fill a hobbit’s thimble) with encouragement and kindness, because when was starting out, that wasn’t always the case. It mostly was, don’t get me wrong, but the harshness of a few people soured my trust and respect for them.
This road is not divided. We’re in this together.
Some of the angels who came alongside me included Beth Vogt, Kathleen Y’Barbo, Heather Gilbert, Becky Doughty, Lindsay Harrell, just to name a few.
When Christina Tarabochia gave me FAR more of an edit than I paid for “because I couldn’t help myself”, I was so entirely clueless that it was because it was so bad, not because I was impressive. Did she snark ? No, she graciously told the truth and then track changed her wisdom into my heart.
If I can be a fraction of the help people have been to me, I will be thrilled.
I’ve learned that God’s timing is in all that I seek to to do.I committed my work to Him, laid hands on 3 sample chapters and my laptop and prayed over it all, right before ACFW 2013. Mere days later, He gave me the agent I’d wanted and needed, in the agency I adored and respected above all the rest, and filled me with His blessing to forge ahead and tell the stories that had yet to be told.
He came alongside this girl who’d given up ever finding her niche. How can I not come alongside people like me who floated along without a tether?
My brother called me last week and said something that floored me. He said “I really love the person you’ve become. This all started when you got serious about writing. Your confidence has skyrocketed and you’re owning it.”
All because I decided to follow that little wish and venture out the door to Writerland, and took the help that was offered.. .
Aww, those words from your brother are gold, too … how encouraging. You’ve always been a huge encouragement to me. xo
I liked it when you sang for me.
Thank you, Lori!!
I know three writers who have about fifty + books published between them. I have a lot of respect and awe for the books I read or listened to by them. Each are aware that I am a technical writer for engineering company and that I write mostly for two experiments on the International Space Station. None of them have seen my actual technical writings only the results from the experiments that I write for (NASA has many videos on You Tube) are available. All three are amazed by what I do. I am amazed by what they do. All three in one way or the other have been encouraging me in writing my novel. Each has seen examples of my non-technical writing and are encouraging my emerging non-technical talent.
Wendy, what impressive careers you’ve had! I am honored to learn from your wisdom. Isn’t the Christian writing community amazing? The encouragement is sanity-saving. I’ve come alongside other writers through national ACFW and my state chapter. I’m so looking forward to conference this year! Also, writer blogs have been a large part of getting to know other writers. We start in the comments and then expand to social media and emails. This blog’s community was the start of it all, though. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your journey, Wendy. The heartfelt testimonies of the B&S agents, top notch advice and the encouragement from fellow writers are what I love about this site.
* Although I’ve traveled the ever changing writing path for awhile, my interaction with Books and Such is fairly recent and I feel very blessed to be a part of it.
*Coming alongside other writers within a critique group (on-line and off) and at conferences has also been a blessing. It’s absolutely vital that writers share their knowledge, personal experiences and those roller coaster highs and lows.
Wendy, won’t it be fun when we all get to Heaven? Then you’ll see how many people have been influenced and gone on to influence others because you helped books get published and encouraged writers here and at conferences who have gone on to influence others as a result.
I LOVE the study – EXPERIENCING GOD – by Henry Blackaby….thank you for posting this, Wendy. So true of being an editor/mentor – coming alongside my clients has been the one of the best side “effects” of having been called to be a writer.
I remember the first mail I got from an author about six months ago. I was getting information about ACFW’s First Impression contest and Kathleen Y’Barbo emailed me. Her words were encouraging, and I haven’t turned back ever since. I found her book, one of the Heartsong series prints, in our church library the following Sunday. Imagine my surprise.
Thank you all for the reception. I feel at home.
Reading all of your comments has been uplifting. We’re on this journey together, learning as we go. I appreciate the encouragement many of you have been to me. Right now my writing has been mostly set aside while I help my elderly parents. Wish I could be at Mt. Hermon too but it’s not possible. I’ve never attended a writing conference.
I’ll be speaking at a women’s event on Saturday, Hearts Being Healed, a ministry for wounded women. I would appreciate your prayers, esp. for the women who attend.