May 2024: What to Strive For this Summer

Lucinda Halpern shared her latest publishing insights from this month. Read on to see her latest news, and if you’d like to receive her monthly newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up here.

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May is always a busy season, although I can’t remember the last time it was quite so busy. Those who know me will say: clearly, I like it that way. It’s fairly impossible to live in New York without feeling that frenzy, despite those pandemic promises we made to ourselves that we’d never rat-race the way we used to.

In addition to the reading on nights and weekends that is customary to the trade, my days this month have been filled with consulting writers in different genres, negotiating contracts (an acquired love), glimpsing my authors’ first book jackets, advising on publicity plans (and having those delicate conversations with publishers), and arranging for speaking engagements for our authors.

After a particularly fruitful spring, I’m ready for my next book sale, as our other agents are. I’ve never been more proud of my incredible team. We’ve always sought to represent books at Lucinda Literary that make an impact; books that matter. This doesn’t only apply to the practical nonfiction we’re known for—in fact, the spring has brought an array of memoirs and novel submissions by first time authors we’ve delighted in reading, because, as the best books do, they entertain, they sometimes teach, and they linger with us.

While we’re looking ahead to what the next big book might be, the upcoming summer months also signal that relaxing getaways are just around the corner. It’s a time to be out and about, soaking up the sun and good weather. Publishers enjoy summer Fridays, taking that little extra time to unwind after the work week. All that hustle starts to slow, but that doesn’t mean that there’s a stop to the momentum of building, selling, and promoting brilliant books.

This summer, I want you to keep your own book momentum going by finding a way to tell everyone you know you’re writing a book, whenever there’s an opening. Mention it to the cashier as you treat yourself to ice cream at the shore. Call up a friend for a meet-up over iced coffee and ask to run your book pitch by them for their honest yet constructive feedback. Take a day off to visit a writers workshop and introduce yourself to a new crowd of authors, letting them know you too have something in the works. And why not take the opportunity to meet with an expert to discuss your authorly goals? 

Here’s my wish for you as we kick off summer officially: That you feel motivated, confident, knowledgeable and empowered, whether you’ll be completing a manuscript, shopping a book proposal, building your platform, or simply practicing your elevator pitch. (If you’ve read Get Signed, you know that my belief is that honing your pitch orally and testing it with your network is the key to getting it perfect in your pitch.)

So go ahead and be courageous: tell anyone and everyone about your book idea and see what comes of it. Don’t hold this close to the vest. You never know what groundbreaking idea or connection will come out of that simple act of bravery. The outreach you put in for your book can help propel your work towards further promotional opportunities, ‘word-of-mouth’ referrals, and larger recognition by hungry readers, agents, and editors alike.

I look forward to keeping up on your progress!

– Lucinda Halpern