Desperately Seeking a Literary Agent

Shadesdown2001 · Feb 9, 2012

Hello fellow writers. I am new to Absolute Write and I am thankful for having such a great place to interact with others with the same dreams and ambitions as I. I guess I can still consider myself as a new author. I have one children's book that was published in 2007. But taking into considering of the publishing company, (Publish America) I guess I can't really consider that book as truly being a success. I just recently completed my first adult novel, which is the sole reason behind me stumbling upon and joining this website.

For the past two weeks, I have been desperately seeking representation from a literary agent and found out just how difficult it is to accomplish that task. So far, out of approximately 75 eQueries, I have gotten 50 denies. I think it is actually harder scoring an agent than it is writing a novel. But I will touch on that a little later in future posts.

Well, hello again everyone and I look forward to our future conversations.

Tepelus · Feb 9, 2012

Hello, and welcome!

Ken · Feb 9, 2012

... never be desperate. Nothing good ever comes of that.

Welcome

CACTUSWENDY · Feb 9, 2012

Welcome to AW. Hope you enjoy your stay with us.
How do you like your popcorn?

If you go to the bottom of the page to the 'forum jump' you can scroll down and find all the areas of this place. After you post 50 posts you can use the SYW areas to get help there. The password for some of the areas is…..vista. A word to the wise, it would be a good idea to participate first in helping others before you think about posting your own work. After you have been around here for awhile, then post something of your own for help. Good luck.

Katrina S. Forest · Feb 9, 2012

Welcome!

You're certainly in good company here. And remember, if this novel doesn't win you an agent (as many first novels don't), you can always try again. I'm getting ready to query my third novel.

LLW · Feb 9, 2012

Welcome! I'm new here as well, and new to the querying venture. But I agree, no need to feel desperate. We're all along for the crazy ride that is writing and selling a book!

Racey · Feb 9, 2012

Welcome and good luck with your Querying

Rooke · Feb 9, 2012

Welcome.

Shadesdown2001 · Feb 9, 2012

Thank you all for the warm welcomes and comments. I am hoping to learn a lot from those of you who have something to teach. I as well have stuff to teach but I will do my teaching once I get comfortable on here and learn all of the tricks on Absolute Write. So far, I have gathered some good information from various posts on here that I will keep for future reference. Thanks again for the welcomes.

-Shades

Nickie · Feb 9, 2012

Welcome to the Cooler!

Shadesdown2001 · Feb 9, 2012

Nickie said:
Welcome to the Cooler!

Thank you Ms. Nickie.

regdog · Feb 10, 2012

Take some time and read the Newbie Guide and the Stickies found
at the top of Forum pages. They are your best guide to learning about
Absolute Write.

Don’t forget to read the FAQ regarding posting pictures at AW.

Members who want to start a thread in Share Your Work to have work critiqued need
50 posts. Don’t make a mad dash to reach your 50 posts. Take some time to greet fellow newbies,
critique other members’ works, or join a discussion.

DLacy · Feb 10, 2012

Hi! I know how you feel about the querying. I'm doing it myself and it DOES feel like it's harder to find an agent than it is to write the novel itself! But, don't worry and keep trying. Good things will come from all your work and persistence!

Shadesdown2001 · Feb 10, 2012

Just received an acceptance email from Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency. Any word on what I am up against? Any good or bad news I should be aware of?

Cosmic · Feb 10, 2012

Grats on the acceptance! Remember that AW has links and resources to help your ventures almost every step of the way. You can go to the Bewares section and check out Strategic yourself- Check their client and agent list, browse their publication history and so on. It would also be wise to do some homework on the whole publishing process- make sure you know about the different serial rights and payment options.
And as a side note, don't be desperate! You need to make sure you have the right agent, one who knows what they're doing. Don't ever think that you need to scrape the bottom of the barrel for representation. Patience and persistence, always. It's going to take a while.

Parametric · Feb 10, 2012

Shadesdown2001 said:
Just received an acceptance email from Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency. Any word on what I am up against? Any good or bad news I should be aware of?

I'm afraid they're a notorious scam outfit. We have a thread on Strategic Book Publishing here. It doesn't mean you're a bad writer - they probably didn't even read your submission. In future, check the Index to Agents, Publishers and Others before submitting to anyone, and this situation won't arise.

ExplodingRunes · Feb 10, 2012

Welcome aboard and congrats on the acceptance!

thehairymob · Feb 10, 2012

Shadesdown2001 · Feb 10, 2012

First off - COSMIC and PARAMETRIC, thank you so much for your help. I did what the two of you suggested and I learned quite a bit about Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency. I am still new to AW and I didn't know about the certain sections that this website had. The two of you were a great help. Thank you!

Secondly, I just read and commented on the thread that Parametric recommended. It is disturbing to know that there are so many scammers out there that people have no clue of what they are getting themselves into without doing some research or even knowing about AW to guide them in the right direction. But, like I commented on that thread.

I don't understand how companies such as Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency and Publish America could possibly still be up and running after all these years without the real publishing world forcing them to shut down their operations? I on the other hand, know what I have to do.

I am going to reply to this "acceptance" email and give them a few pieces of my mind. I am going to first ask them a few questions and then I am going to just kindly suggest that they take the time to do research about their own company to see what everyone is saying about their reputation. Don't worry, I will not be pointing them to AW. They don't deserve the satisfaction. They should find out about their bad reputation on their own.

Shadesdown2001 · Feb 10, 2012

Here is a copy of the reply I just sent to Tom of SBPRA. If by any luck and I get a reply back with answers, I will post them up here on AW. Wish me luck!

Dear Tom,

Before I go any further into this company, if I may? I would like to get a few questions answered.

1. What percentage of royalties does the author receive from sales?
2. Are books published by SBPRA sold on the shelves of major book and department stores such as - Barnes & Noble, WalMart, KMart, Target, etc...?
3. What out of pocket expenses are asked or demanded from the author by SBPRA ?
4. Does SBPRA offer advances to their authors?
5. How many years are the authors bounded by contract to SBPRA?

Just a little note: Are you aware of the bad reputation SBPRA has known for through the years? I have found numerous blogs and such by apparent clients of yours that have nothing but bad and discouraging things to say about SBPRA. What can you tell me that could keep me from believing any of those bad comments I have read?

AJ Valliant · Feb 10, 2012

Shadesdown2001 said:
Hello fellow writers. I am new to Absolute Write and I am thankful for having such a great place to interact with others with the same dreams and ambitions as I. I guess I can still consider myself as a new author. I have one children's book that was published in 2007. But taking into considering of the publishing company, (Publish America) I guess I can't really consider that book as truly being a success. I just recently completed my first adult novel, which is the sole reason behind me stumbling upon and joining this website.

For the past two weeks, I have been desperately seeking representation from a literary agent and found out just how difficult it is to accomplish that task. So far, out of approximately 75 eQueries, I have gotten 50 denies. I think it is actually harder scoring an agent than it is writing a novel. But I will touch on that a little later in future posts.

Well, hello again everyone and I look forward to our future conversations.

The process might be harder, but the talent is more common. Just think long term: how many legacies included "masterful agent acquirer" on the bold print.

Brigid Barry · Feb 10, 2012

Shadesdown2001 said:
Hello fellow writers. I am new to Absolute Write and I am thankful for having such a great place to interact with others with the same dreams and ambitions as I. I guess I can still consider myself as a new author. I have one children's book that was published in 2007. But taking into considering of the publishing company, (Publish America) I guess I can't really consider that book as truly being a success. I just recently completed my first adult novel, which is the sole reason behind me stumbling upon and joining this website.

For the past two weeks, I have been desperately seeking representation from a literary agent and found out just how difficult it is to accomplish that task. So far, out of approximately 75 eQueries, I have gotten 50 denies. I think it is actually harder scoring an agent than it is writing a novel. But I will touch on that a little later in future posts.

Well, hello again everyone and I look forward to our future conversations.

I stumbled on here for the same reason. If you got 50 denies look at your queries! After you reach 50 posts you can submit your work for others to review, which can be very helpful.

Spend some time on the SYW boards, and in Query Hell looking at other people's stuff. It's very informative.

Shadesdown2001 · Feb 10, 2012

KateM said:
I stumbled on here for the same reason. If you got 50 denies look at your queries! After you reach 50 posts you can submit your work for others to review, which can be very helpful.

Spend some time on the SYW boards, and in Query Hell looking at other people's stuff. It's very informative.

Many of the denied replies I have gotten so far have included personal messages. Shockingly, none of them have mentioned anything about the query letters. Everyone of them did on the other hand have said -

it wasn't for them
not accepting new clients at this time
Currently overloaded with queries and work at the moment

One did mention the word count but they also included that it was just above the Novel standard count. It's discouraging to no end but I am willing to wait until the right agent comes along and accepts me. It's better than wasting all my hard work on a "self publishing" company that has no intentions of taking me and my work serious.

VP_Benni · Feb 10, 2012

Welcome

~Amber~

Mark G · Feb 11, 2012

Welcome to Absolute Write!

Desperation won't get you an agent, I don't think.

But a killer query letter and a great first chapter, and a good summary, and a good idea about how your work stacks up against the competition... that could possibly score you an agent.

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