Pitching an Agent: Ted Weinstein Literary Management

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Number of agents: One, plus freelancers on retainer.
Number of clients: About 45.
Notable clients: McSweeney's contributor Stephen Elliott; HGTV host Kitty Bartholomew.
Percentage of unsolicited material accepted: Only one or two percent—but only because so much of what comes is clearly not what he represents. If you look only at serious writers who have followed his submission guidelines, Weinstein says, "the odds are better because the overall quality is generally better."
Fiction vs. nonfiction: Nonfiction only. "I'll occasionally take on a fiction project," Weinstein says, "but it has to come either personally recommended or have some other amazing attribute to it."

Background: Ted Weinstein has been in the publishing business for a decade and a half. He'd worked in marketing, business development, and licensing at various points, and he'd also worked as a journalist and a writer. Several years ago, he decided to take some time off and write a book of his own (which, he concedes, wasn't very good). "In the course of getting an agent for the book, everyone I talked to, all of the agents, asked, 'Hey, what are you going to do next?'" he recalls. "When I told them about my background, several of them said, 'Wait a minute, you've done all of the things we do all day. Have you thought about becoming an agent?'"

So, two-and-a-half years ago, he did. The agenting business in San Francisco is "very collaborative and supportive," Weinstein says. "There's not a cutthroat mindset. Our attitude is that we're not beating against each other; we're all working together to beat up on the New York editors," he says with a laugh. The collegiality pays off: Through connections with these other agents, he had several clients in the pipeline before he'd even officially gone to work. In his first three months in business, Weinstein sold three books. He recently sold his 20th.

He focuses on nonfiction, but a broad range of it, and he often works with journalists and academics. "I love to read something that's built around a story," he says. "I know that sounds trite, but very often I get wonderful writing by someone who's got either a point of a view or some great anecdote but they haven't yet figured out a way to craft a full, book-length narrative. That's especially a challenge for journalists, who may have what is essentially 10 magazine pieces with a loose theme around them all, but they haven't figured out a way to bring a reader through the entire 300 pages." But if the idea is there, and so is the writing quality, Weinstein will work hard with a writer to bring the whole package together. "I spend as much as eight or nine months with a client, just polishing a proposal before it will ever go out to editors."

Weinstein represents a broad range of nonfiction topics, from serious works—biography, history, current affairs, science—to personal books like memoirs and pop-culture and self-help works. He works with a crew of outside experts who help him evaluate submissions in their areas, and he finds that New York editors are very receptive to agents based out on the other coast. "They know they have no idea what's going on west of the Hudson," he says. "That's why they turn to us west-coast agents."

Who to pitch: Weinstein. He'll consult with his experts as appropriate.

What not to pitch: Unless something really makes it stand out, don't bother with fiction. And definitely don't submit genre fiction—romance, westerns, sci-fi—which Weinstein never represents.

Recent sales: Human Pollution, an examination of the chemicals that permeate our environment and the troubling implications of our chemical body burden, by journalist Nena Baker, to North Point Press, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. McSweeney's contributor Stephen Elliott's book about the 2004 presidential campaign, to Picador USA.

Etiquette: Be sure to look at Weinstein's website, which has information about what the agency handles and guidelines on preparing your query, before submitting. "Everything gets read," Weinstein says, "and nothing gets screened before it gets to me." You can send simply a query—but make it "a very compelling query," he notes—or a full proposal, which typically includes a sample chapter. Email is fine, and Weinstein says he replies within three or four weeks.

Contract: Standard 15 percent commission.

Contact info:
Ted Weinstein Literary Management

West:
35 Stillman Street, Suite 203
San Francisco, CA 94107

East:
307 Seventh Avenue
Suite 2407
New York, NY 10001

www.twliterary.com

Have you worked with Ted Weinstein Literary Management? Tell us about your experience below.

Jill Singer is the deputy editor of mediabistro.com.