Suggestions, please

JDM1950 · Jun 2, 2011

Anyone has suggestions for agents/publishers for a fictional adventure novel?
My story is about two fictional nations at war, with technology similar to those at the height of Roman/Greek power in our world--armies fighting with swords, spears, catapults, ships powered by sail and rowing.
It is NOT Sci-fi or "magic" fantasy.

waylander · Jun 2, 2011

Sounds similar to David Gemmell's Lord of the Silver Bow. Most mainstream fantasy agents would handle this.

JDM1950 · Jun 2, 2011

Got any reliable names of agents/publishers?

profen4 · Jun 2, 2011

Hit agent query, my good man. It takes leg work on your part, but that's the only way.

Good luck

James D. Macdonald · Jun 2, 2011

Go down to your local bookstore.

Find books on the shelves that are similar to yours.

Find out who published them, and who represented them.

There you go.

gothicangel · Jun 2, 2011

JDM1950 said:
Anyone has suggestions for agents/publishers for a fictional adventure novel?

AAACKK!!

swvaughn · Jun 2, 2011

gothicangel said:
AAACKK!!

(helpful translation: all novels are fiction. you don't need to say "fictional novel.")

And what they said about finding an agent.

You can also check out the Bewares & Background forum here on AW. There's loads of agents and publishers discussed in detail there.

Good luck!

JDM1950 · Jun 2, 2011

What I meant by "fictional" novel was that it is not set in our world but in made-up places.

Terie · Jun 2, 2011

JDM1950 said:
What I meant by "fictional" novel was that it is not set in our world but in made-up places.

Hun, that's not what 'fiction' means. 'Fiction' simply means 'made up'. So all novels are fiction.

Your novel is fantasy. It doesn't matter that it doesn't have magic; if it takes place in a world other than our real world and isn't science fiction, then it's fantasy. As a matter of fact, this is an especially good time for fantasy literature without magic, so that puts you in a good spot.

waylander · Jun 2, 2011

The phrase is secondary world fantasy
We have an extensive thread on SF/F agents here http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42019

RainbowDragon · Jun 11, 2011

We know what you mean when you say "fictional novel" but if you use the word "fictional" in a novel query, an agent will brand you an amateur. It's a nearly universal agent pet peeve.

We're just letting you know so you can avoid unnecessary strikes against your work.

JDM1950 · Oct 26, 2011

Literary Agents/Publishers-Recommendations?

OK, my first novel manuscript is polished and ready for submission. It is in the Fantasy/Adventure genre.
Any suggestions for Literary Agents/Publishers to contact?
(Reliable ones of course)
Anyone with good experiences with publication procedures?

BotByte · Oct 26, 2011

There's a good section for this.

Get a good agent directory. Look them up, most have websites and look at some books they've published. If they are like yours, chances are that they might like yours.

Mr Flibble · Oct 26, 2011

1 - is your query polished and ready too? If not, try Query Letter Hell in SYW here, and queryshark, to find out what makes a query work.

2 - Research you agents. A LOT. If you go to say querytracker, you can filter by genre and pull up say all the agents for fantasy (well, all the agents that are listed there - not all are). You can also see who say reps a novel similar to yours. Don't sub yet though! Check them out in Bewares and Background checks here, on Preditors and Editors and Writer Beware, make sure they are legit, have made sales etc.

3 - I may be saying this for nothing, but is your MS really, truly polished? Have you had some impartial feedback (ie from other writers rather than your Mum?) Many people (I include myself in this) query an MS that isn't ready.

4 - Wherever you sub, check teh guidleines for that agent/publisher. Yes they apply to you too. Follow them.

Good luck.

stormie · Oct 26, 2011

As IdiotsRUs said, make sure the ms. truly is ready, and make sure you know how to write a great query. Then you can go to www.agentquery.com also and do a search for agents who rep what you write.

waylander · Oct 26, 2011

You have, I presume, read through the thread on this site of agents for sf/f.

If you have not seen it, it is here: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42019

ChaosTitan · Oct 26, 2011

JDM1950 said:
OK, my first novel manuscript is polished and ready for submission. It is in the Fantasy/Adventure genre.
Any suggestions for Literary Agents/Publishers to contact?
(Reliable ones of course)
Anyone with good experiences with publication procedures?

The first thing you need to do is decide if you want to pursue getting an agent, or if you want to submit directly to publishers yourself. It's rarely a good idea to do both at the same time.

A literary agent is a partner. They can submit your work to more editors than you can, because a lot of editors won't take un-agented submissions. They can negotiate your contract to get you better advances, better terms, etc.... They can held you sell your sub-rights, as well.

Publishers will run the gamut from the advance-paying Big Six, all the way to royalty-only e-presses, and everything in between. What do you want for your book? For your career?

You need to decide this.

Phaeal · Oct 26, 2011

Do some reading on the querying and publication process before you jump in. A little old but still good: Elizabeth Lyon's Sell-Your-Novel Toolkit. And take a look at the top of this site -- you'll find another book on publishing there!

Charlie Horse · Oct 26, 2011

As others may have implied, writing and polishing a novel is only about half the work. You need to write a good query, a good synopsis, and then do a ton of research on agents and publishers. Query and synopsis writing is an art unto itself and sadly, just as important as writing a good novel. Do your homework and good luck.

davem · Oct 26, 2011

Have you posted a query letter? Not that you have to, but it's a great way to get feedback before you fire it off to potential agents.

Atarrin · Oct 28, 2011

While not the OP, I greatly appreciate the advice and links given in this thread.

JDM1950 · Mar 20, 2012

Agent/Publisher Recommendations

Hi.
Relatively new here. Completed a novel manuscript a couple of months ago and have started querying. Several rejections already.
My genre is adventure/action based in a ficticious world I created, with the main plot revolving around two warring nations and a romance between the hero and the princess. The technology is pseudo-Roman/Greek -- swords, spears, warships powered by wind or rowing, etc.

I am looking for recommendations for agents/publishers that might be accomodating (and bewares as well.)
Thanks.

heyjude · Mar 20, 2012

This isn't my genre, so I don't have any recommendations off the top of my head.

Go to www.agentquery.com and start your research. Check agents out at Preditors and Editors. It takes a lot of research to find the right agents to query, but we all have to do it. And good luck!

ETA: The other thing I'd do is find books similar to yours and look at who published it and/or find out who the author's agent was.

Old Hack · Mar 20, 2012

I'm afraid we can't recommend any agents or publishers to you because what's best for one writer won't be at all appropriate for the next: there are too many variables involved. Much depends on the book you've written, and how you want to work.

Take some time researching your market. Visit a few bookshops if you can, and look at the books on the shelves. Which ones are similar in genre, tone and approach to yours? Who represents those authors? Who publishes them? Which other writers do those agents and publishers work with? Who represents and publishes those other writers?

Working this way you should be able to build up a list of possible agents; Google will then help you learn more about them.

There are also online tools which I'm sure other members will fill you in on.

And welcome to AW!

waylander · Mar 20, 2012

If it is set in a made-up world then you should be querying agents who rep fantasy. Check out the AW list down here http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42019

You should also spend time in Query Letter Hell learning how to write the sort of query letter that will show your work in its best light.

Suggestions, please

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