Ann Collete

Biography

Ann Collette has been an associate at the Helen Rees Literary Agency in Boston, MA, since 2000.  Previously she spent 15 years as a freelance writer and editor, contributing to such publications as Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe and MS. magazine.  She also spent 6 years as a fiction reviewer for Publishers Weekly, and wrote a column for Fiction Writer magazine, focusing on debut novelists.  Her many years of freelance editing have helped her develop several first novels, with clients such as mystery writers Steven Sidor and Vicki Lane.  Currently she is also co-writing a biography with noted inventor and patent attorney Dr. Robert Rines.

Statement

It's common knowledge that making a living by selling one's art is all but impossible. And, in this economy, selling art created by others has become almost as difficult.  As a literary agent, my job is to act as middleman between author and publisher. The economy hasn't stopped people from writing books but it certainly has slowed publishers down, as far as how many books they buy, and what they pay for them.  Writing a book has always been hard; now, selling one seems almost as difficult. My job is tougher than ever, and causes me a lot of stress.

I needed something I could lose myself in. A friend, knowing of my love for jewelry, suggested I try beading. I took to it immediately and, after making only seven necklaces, sold one. Getting paid was good, of course.  But the exhilaration felt at the recognition of my creativity, that direct validation, nourished me more than the sale of someone else's book, with its attendant confirmation of my commercial savvy and literary taste, ever did.

I'm addicted to beading now. The colors, the shapes, the very feel of beads, makes me dizzy with desire to form them into patterns. I see loose beads and I just have to start working out a design.  Delicate little feminine things when I'm feeling soft and graceful; big heavy chunky things when I'm ready to take on the world. Maybe someday earrings, bracelets and rings will interest me but right now all I want to do is make necklaces. I just want to string them all day, and in every way that occurs to me.

This doesn't mean I've abandoned books, of course; they'll always be my first love (I think). So, if we meet, feel free to pitch your idea for The Great American Novel to me. I'll listen, especially if there's something about beads in your book...