http://www.maassagency.com/thismonth.html

"Stuff we are looking for this month." What surprised me was how SPECIFIC they are. They literally spell out the plot for a few of them. For instance:

"Earth has been at war for one hundred years. When peace comes, two commanders who were sworn enemies retire in the same town"

Is this them looking for something specific that people have written, or do they expect someone to write something prompted by this?

I also note that each of the listings currently posted is very similar to a "log line" incorporating Character, Idea, Milieu, Event, dilemma, thematic prompt, message prompt, etc., any one of which would serve as a part of a pitch in a query letter to interest an agent.

Agents take the pulse of the publishing market, sort of like a shopkeeper seeking what's on consumers' wish lists and asking producers to fulfill those wishes. In his off tangent way, Maass is doing that and projecting methods on how to appeal to agents.

quote:

---

"Earth has been at war for one hundred years. When peace comes, two commanders who were sworn enemies retire in the same town"

---

This sounds like a mix between My Fellow Americans and Welcome to Mooseport.

However it will take me a bit of time to write the spelled out story, and by the time I finish it, he will have moved on to "A Space Pirate and a Mermaid are enemies, but they secretly love each other...," so I might as well keep plugging a way at the stories that currently interest me.

I will also keep checking, so when he brings up dragons, I'll be the first in the pile.

1. The two commanders could be cold war era submarine commanders, or WWII battlefield generals. Think Rommel & Patton sharing a white picket fence.

2. Do the children want to grow up? What is the personal implications for their society?

3. The alien is in love. Does he take her back with him? Does he sacrafice his love for the greater good?

4. How does the magic hold these people together? Are there interfaith marriages? How will they hold up? Mixed faith schools? Will long-standing personal relationships take a backseat to religious bigotry?

5. How would this martyr feel about what his country has lost? Did he think about this thing when he gave his life? Did his family or loved ones betray him by letting go off this thing?

I think that my point it clear - the agency is tossing out ideas that have the personal connection that they mentioned in the preface to these ideas - the human element. Of course they're probably going to be deluged with many copies of these exact plots that lack a human element or over-focus on the speculative element, and the writers will be confused because "it's exactly what they asked for!" And the cycle will continue.

Anyways, that's how Sue C's it.

Publishers:
Come on guys find us a So-and-So story. Polls are showing the market potential for this arent't there any in your ranks writing about so-and-so

Agents:
I have a great writer. In fact I have two of her manuscripts one is so-and-so but the MC is a man not a woman

Publishers;
That is nice and all, but the MC has to be a woman: Our customer surveys indicate that the market potential for a woman MC doing so-and-so is the direction in which we want to go

This seems great for those that write novels prolifically, I guess, but not for me yet. I just haven't got to that point in my writing I guess where I am trying to apease an agent with a novel MS. My one complete novel and two half-done novels are stories which have been stewing within me for a long time and have to be told my way. Whether I sell them or not I am sure depends on the markets and agent preferences but I am not yet willing to cater to them at this level.