Ep. 8 Publishing in the time of COVID with literary agent Elise Capron

Publishing in the time of COVID with literary agent Elise Capron

If you’re a writer looking to publish your book the traditional way, a literary agent can prove to be your best ally especially if you’re just starting your journey as an author.

Today’s guest is literary agent, Elise Capron.
Elise has been working with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency for over 16 years. During this time she has negotiated contracts, acted as a mediator between writers and publishing houses, licensed rights for book authors, and more. All of this with the goal of setting her clients up for success in their writing careers.

In today’s episode, Elise explains the role of literary agents, what they do, what they don’t do, and also what you can expect from one and what they expect from writers.
She stresses the importance of finding the right agent for your book as there is no one-size-fits-all path to publish.
This episode is packed with so much great information! You’ll hear Elise mention some very interesting tips and resources on how and where to find agents, what a good query letter should look like, how to cultivate long-lasting business relationships between agents and writers, and more!

Things you will learn in this episode:
– How literary agents can help you thrive in your writing career.
– How to find and pick the right agent for your book.
– What “quiet books” are.
– How COVID has affected the book publishing industry.
– What makes a literary agent read a book.

About Elise Capron:

Elise Capron is an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, established 40 years ago and based in Del Mar, CA, which is known for guiding the careers of many best-selling fiction and non-fiction authors, including Amy Tan, Lisa See, Maxine Hong Kingston, Eric Foner, and many more.

A graduate of Emerson College, Elise holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing, and has been with SDLA for 16 years. On the fiction side, Elise is interested in character-driven literary fiction for the adult market. She aims to work with writers who are getting their work published regularly in magazines and who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience.

Some of her representative fiction clients include Tiphanie Yanique, Howard A. Rodman, and Courtney Brkic. On the non-fiction front, Elise is looking primarily for well-written narrative non-fiction in the areas of cultural studies, science, medicine, and the environment. She is particularly keen to work with journalists and historians. Some of her representative non-fiction clients include Cynthia Barnett, Meera Subramanian, Jonathon Keats, and Jack Shuler. You can learn more about Elise and all the agents at SDLA at www.dijkstraagency.com.

Connect with Elise:
Twitter – @elisecapron
Facebook – Elisecapron1 
Instagram – @elisecapron
Website – https://www.dijkstraagency.com/agent-page.php?agent_id=Capron

If you haven’t listened to episode 7 where we talk about 3 ways to get paid to write a book, then go back and check it out!

I want to know who you are and where you’ve been! Come hang out with me in the Writers Squad Facebook group and over on Instagram @laurenmariefleming. I can’t wait to chat with you there!
You can also stay tuned for new weekly episodes @businessschoolforwriters, and if you want to spread the love even further, consider subscribing, rating, and reviewing!

Resources mentioned in this episode:
– Check out our step by step roadmap to help you get your story out into the world HERE.
– Dijkstra Agency – https://www.dijkstraagency.com/
– San Diego Festival of books – https://go.sandiegouniontribune.com/2020festivalofbooks/p/1
– Find literary agents HERE
– Grab my FREE Spreadsheet to keep track of all the people you’ve pitched HERE.

Book recommendation of the week:
The Mothers by Brit Bennett

Love audiobooks? Listen on Libro.fm and support independent bookstores. Plus, use this link and we both get a free audiobook: http://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm116869

Wondering why we don’t link to Amazon? Check out Episode 2 of the Business School for Writers Podcast to hear all about how supporting independent bookstores helps you see more stories like yours out in the world.

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