An Interview With Donald Maass
by Celu Amberstone

I got to work more directly with authors as an agent than I ever had as an editor. So I decided at that point agenting was what I wanted to do.

Q. So you have been an agent how long?

A. Hmm...I established my own agency, the Donald Maass Literary Agency, in 1980, so it has been 23 years.

Q. What advice would you have for Canadians wishing to get published in the U.S.?

A. The same advice I’d have for any author wanting to get published anywhere in North America. First of all, write a wonderful novel. Second, find yourself a good agent who knows the science fiction and fantasy field. It’s not that difficult to find out who those agents are. Their names often appear in the news pages of Locus. You’ll find them listed in the Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents, and of course the SFWA directory is a great source for finding out what agent is representing what author. After doing some research, what you will find is that the science fiction and fantasy market is dominated by about eight or nine agencies and my agency is one of those.

Q. Is there a particular percentage of your clients who are Canadian?

A. We represent a number of Canadians. Hmm...overall, I’d say somewhere between five to 10 percent of our clients are Canadian. That may sound small but also understand that we have a very large client list of over a hundred authors.

Q. An interesting point came up when I was interviewing Joshua Bilmes. I asked him about Canadian authors who could get published elsewhere but seem to have a hard time getting published in the States. He thought that one of the reasons it might be difficult for Canadians had to do with the Canada Council Grants Program. He felt the council often subsidized authors and publishers whose work might not be competitive in an open marketplace. I would like to know if you have any comments about that.

A. Well, I don’t have a lot of experience with Canadian authors who can’t get published in the U.S. Clients of mine like Nalo Hopkinson, Cory Doctorow and Karl Schroeder have all been very successful on the US publishing lists. But Joshua’s comment about the effect grants have on writers is interesting. It is possible that the supporting grant doesn’t help one become a commercial storyteller. In the US where we have absolutely no government money for writers an author must sink or swim in the marketplace, or not get published at all. Possibly that does make a difference. On the other hand, someone like Nalo Hopkinson receives grants and does very well commercially also. Grants and commercial success don’t necessarily have to be in opposition to each other. It all comes back to being able to tell a great story whether you are Canadian or not, get grants or not isn’t that important.

Q. What do you look for when you consider purchasing a manuscript and taking on a new client?

A. That’s a huge question...For me it’s all about the writing. It’s all about great storytelling. That’s what I care about. Today, I’m less inclined to take on a genre-level science fiction or fantasy novel. I’m looking for fiction on the break-out scale. By that I mean larger stories, deep and complex characters, a multilayered plot that has a high impact. Whether the story is science fiction or fantasy doesn’t matter to me. Though I will say that science fiction has been harder to sell in the past 10 years, whereas fantasy remains the most popular end of the genre.

Q. Are there other things besides talent you look for when deciding upon a new client?

A. Well, a certain amount of professionalism is always good, but we are talking about science fiction and fantasy here, which is a very fannish world. Indeed some of the best writers in the field started out as fans. And you certainly have to treat fan status with the utmost respect in this genre.

Q. What changes over the years have you seen in the publishing industry?

A. In the 25 years I’ve been in the publishing business the changes have been enormous. We have only five major publishing conglomerates now where there were many smaller presses before. We’ve seen the rise of the large bookstore chains and the death of the independent bookstore. Also there is the decline and consolidation of the paperback distribution system. All these things have had a profound effect on the publishing industry and the careers of authors. One of the biggest surprises for me has been the rise in hardcover fiction sales. At the moment hardcovers sell almost more readily than paperback fiction. I wouldn’t say that the unit sales of hardcover and paperback are the same but the ratio of the sales is much closer than it used to be. Twenty-five years ago you could count on selling 10 paperbacks for each hardcover you sold. Today the ratio is more like one hardcover to four paperbacks.

Q. In what direction do you see the industry going; what will be the wave of the future?

A. I think publishing is going to become even more corporate, more consolidated. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if we went down to four conglomerates rather than five in the next few years. I think the pressures for authors to perform at a high level and do it quickly are going to increase. In other words, I think it is going to get worse before it gets better.

Q. Does that make your job as an agent harder?

A. Yes.

Q. Do you think, in general, an editor in the SF/fantasy genre is looking for a plot-driven or a character-driven novel?

A. I think it would be more interesting to talk about what readers respond to. And here the number one thing readers' care about is characters. However, it is important to have a plot that makes sense.

Q. Do you feel that Canadian literature has a distinctive voice?

A. Yes, but I feel there are more regional voices in Canada than most people recognize. This multitude of voices defies the notion that there is one unified Canadian voice. I mean, let’s be honest, there are two Canadian official languages so how could there be only one Canadian voice?

Q. Do you think using Canadian setting and folklore in a book affect its sales in the US?

A. Not in the SF or fantasy field.

Q. Would US publishers have an interest in seeing Canadian folklore and mythology, especially Native folklore and mythology, used as a basis for SF and fantasy novels?

A. Yes. Frankly, in my opinion, multicultural science fiction and fantasy is the next wave it’s only waiting for authors like Nalo to show us how to do it.

Q. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview, Mr. Maass. Do you have any final comments?

A. I’m not sure if Canada exports as many SF writers as it does comedians to the US, but I would say that Canadian science fiction and fantasy has always been and will continue to be a huge part of the literature. Canadian authors who believe they are second-class citizens or that their literature is looked down upon are simply dead wrong. Indeed I think that some of the most innovative and forward-looking SF and fantasy is coming out of Canada. Nalo Hopkinson, Peter Watts, strong voices, they are good examples of what I mean.