I'm interested in anything other writers have to state about an agency called The Inspira Group, positive or negative. Please feel free to either post information here or email me if you wish to remain a confidential resource. Thank you.
The Index at the top of this page lists this thread for Inspira: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11582. That thread indicates that Writer Beware has been told they charge upfront fees, which is not good.Mad said:I have an offer from the agent Inspira. Does anyone have knowledge of this group?
$ means they have verified sales, but the editing advisory is also not good.Inspira Group: $ Editing advisory. a literary agency. Contact at:
5 Bradley Road
Enfield, Middx.
London, England
tel. 020 8292 5163
e-mail: [email protected]
06-17-2006, 11:04 AM
howiehok
Esteemed New Member
The Inspira Group
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Hello there, my first post!
I have written my first novel, and have spent last 3 months trying and failing to get an agent. Not despondant yet.
Anyway, on Friday, I get a call from an agent, namely the head guy at the Inspira Group, who are listed in the Writers Yearbook, and were one of the 40 or so agents i sent my work off to. He says he wants to represent me, I think briefly I have hit the big time, until he mentions a £350 fee upfront to help with their proposal packages for submitting to publishing companies.
Does anyone have any experience of these guys? A fee is unusual, and I don't want to be the victim of a scam! They have their own website (www.theinspiragroup.com), but none of the authors listed seem to have got particularly good publishing deals.
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06-17-2006, 11:59 AM
Tilly
Board fanatic
Successful agents don't normally charge upfront fees like this. Scam and clueless agents do, because they need to, because they can't sell your book to a publisher.
There is another thread on this agency which you may find useful:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11582
(For future reference, the best way to find out about agents on this board is to go to the wondeful index:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=792
and see if there's already a thread. If we have questions that aren't covered in the thread, we ask them there, and the thread magically rises to the top so everyone can read it).
The dollar sign on their entry at P&E suggests they have verified sales, but it would be worth finding out whether these were to publishers where you need an agent to submit, and what kind of publishers they were. From what you've said these aren't amazing deals.
http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/peali.htm
Personally, I'd steer away completely from agents who charge up front fees.
ETA:
Okay, I recognise at least one of the authors they say they represent. Tread carefully, but I'm more clueless than usual on this one.
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2006 Rejection Pledge 10/20 1 short story acceptance
06-17-2006, 12:25 PM
Tilly
Board fanatic
I've found this discussion:
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache...ient=firefox-a
I'd be inclined to contact Writer Beware and ask them if they have any further information:
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/
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2006 Rejection Pledge 10/20 1 short story acceptance
06-17-2006, 12:44 PM
Old Hack
A very happy poster
When I worked as an editor we had some negotiations with Colin Wilson (one of the authors listed as represented by the Inspira Group on their website). He was NOT represented by the Inspira Group at that time which was, admittedly, eleven years ago. His agent at that time was one which had represented him for many years and I cannot imagine him changing--although anything is possible.
I recognise several of the others writers listed on their website but do not know whether or not they are represented by the Inspira Group.
I would never sign up with an agent which charged upfront fees; and although Enfield, in Middlesex, is a perfectly nice place it is a decent distance outside of London where most of the publishers are based. Which makes an agent's work that much more difficult, I would think.
06-17-2006, 12:44 PM
howiehok
Esteemed New Member
thanks for all your posts-i have decided definitely to say NO to this offer. Time to do my 7th draft of the book then! I e-mailed a particular journalist who has specialised in writer's rights who said they are just vanity publishing, and have been removed from the Writer's Yearbook, so my mind was definitely made up by that....i can buy half an LCD TV with that money....
Yesterday, 11:29 AM
DMJJ
Esteemed New Member
From: Darin Jewell
Managing Director
The Inspira Group
www.theinspiragroup.com
Firstly, thank you to everyone who has contrituted to this string. In reply to Howard Hockin's recent postings and replies, I thought I'd explain how we work and why we do things the way we do.
I know I'm swimming upstream here, but we ask authors to cover the cost of their own submissions for their first book and will reimburse any author in full if he or she is unhappy with the work we do for them. Once we place their first book, we cover the cost of every other book we ever represent them on.
We receive ~400 submissions/month from authors asking us to represent them, and take on about one new author per month, some of which are unpublished authors, and some of which are previously published authors. A list of many of the authors we represent and the books we've placed for them with traditional publishers can be found on our website.
If we're not able to place our authors' books with traditional publishers even with our best efforts, then we look at other options like POD rather than giving up, and we help to promote our authors' books once they're published.
In reply to postings above, we do represent Colin Wilson & his son, Damon. Damon asked us to represent them because their long-term agent is semi-retired. Enfield in Middx. is in north London. Admittedly it's a long walk, but it's only about 20 minutes to Liverpool Street (central London) by train. We have nothing to do with vanity publishing and we are listed in The Writer's Handbook 2006 (published by MacMillan).
If anyone has any more concerns/questions about The Inspira Group, then pls. feel free to contact me by phone on 0208 292 5163 or by e-mail on [email protected] and I'd be glad to answer them.
Also, pls. let me know if you'd like to speak to any of the authors we represent and I'd be glad to put you in touch with them.
kind regards,
Darin
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Yesterday, 07:09 PM
Tilly
Board fanatic
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMJJ
A list of many of the authors we represent and the books we've placed for them with traditional publishers can be found on our website.
It's late, and I am perfectly capable of missing the blindingly obvious, but I can't find the bit on the website that says which books Inspira have sold.
I can find the list of authors. Next to the authors' names are some of their books, often as links. But there's no way Inspira Group sold Collin Wilson's 'The Outsider' . From that page I can't tell what books Inspira has sold for these authors.
Am I missing something? (That's a guenuine, sleepy, cry for help. If someone has found this on the website, please let me know.)
If the books Inspira have sold are not distinguished anywhere on the site, that is perhaps an area in which the website could be improved.
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2006 Rejection Pledge 10/20 1 short story acceptance
Yesterday, 08:06 PM
Tilly
Board fanatic
If you're considering this agency, there is an entry for Darin Jewell on the free service at www.agentresearch.com.
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2006 Rejection Pledge 10/20 1 short story acceptance
Today, 10:49 AM
victoriastrauss
Mod Squad Malcontentrix
Absolute Sage
Tilly, that's a very interesting entry, and confirms my impression of this agency.
- Victoria
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Today, 11:34 AM
MadScientistMatt
Empirical Storm Trooper
DMJJ,
How can an agency ethically make money placing authors with POD services? I can't see an agent making a living off taking 15% of PublishAnything's famous dollar advances.
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Matthew Cramer
AnneMarble said:There's an article in TheTimesOnline about the rising dangers of fee-charging agents.
It starts off with the owner of Inspira Literary Agency responding angrily to a phone call from the reporter and also includes something about agent John Hancock. There's also a quote from Clare Alexander, president of the Association of Authors’ Agents.
Never fails.waylander said:How ironic that the Google ads at the foot of the article are for PublishAmerica and the New York Literary Agency!
waylander said:How ironic that the Google ads at the foot of the article are for PublishAmerica and the New York Literary Agency!
Very well: In the thirteen months since....CaoPaux,
The Inspira Group has placed over 15 books with traditional UK publishers since July 2006.
You overlooked the fact that the list was updated on 8th August 2007.
The following is a list of some of the books The Inspira Group has helped place and promote:
- Oldies Joke Book (Prion Books) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (published May 2008)
- Who's the Daddy? (Prion Books) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (published May 2008)
- Laugh with Mother (Prion Books) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (published in March 2008)
- Feng Shui Life Coach (Octopus/Godsfield) by Simon Brown (published in March 2008)
- So You're a Grandparent! (Summersdale) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (published in March 2008)
- So You're 70! (Summersdale) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (published in March 2008)
- So You're Retired! (Summersdale) by Clive Whichelow & Mike Haskins (published March 2008)
- The Death Pictures (Accent Press) by Simon Hall (published in February 2008)
- The Well-Tempered Clavier (Legend Press) by William Coles (October 2007)
- It's Not Rocket Science (Piatkus / Portrait) by Clive Whichelow & Hugh Murray (Oct. 2007)
- Laugh? We Nearly Shat! (Prion Books) by Alan Buxton (October 2007)
- They X-Rayed My Head and Found Nothing (Headline Publishing Group) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (October 2007)
- Laugh, Cackle & Howl (Prion Books) by Mike Haskins & Stephen Arnott (September 2007)
- Peculiar Proverbs (Summersdale) by Stephen Arnott (September 2007)
- Pupcakes (Octopus/Hamlyn) by Stephanie Mehanna (September 2007)
- Teaching English, Language and Literacy, Vol. 2 (Routledge) by Dr. Dominic Wyse and Russell Jones (August 2007)
- Follow the Fox (Cambridge University Press) by Gordon Askew (July 2007)
- Broken Glass (Robert Hale) by C. W. Reed (June 2007)
- How to Help Your Child Read and Write (Pearson Longman) by Dr. Dominic Wyse (May 2007)
- So You're 60 (Summersdale) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (March 2007)
- So You're 50 (Summersdale) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (March 2007)
- So You're 40 (Summersdale) by Mike Haskins & Clive Whichelow (March 2007)
- Looking Glass (Robert Hale) by C. W. Reed (October 2006)
- How To Get Over A Break-Up (Crombie Jardine) by Jessica Barrah (June 2006)
- How To Get Through A Working Day Without Actually Doing Any Work (Crombie Jardine) by Jessica Barrah (June 2006)
- The Decent Thing (Robert Hale) by C. W. Reed (June 2005)
- A Bit on the Side (Piatkus Books) by Jasmine Birtles (December 2004)
- Chickwit (Prion Books) by Jasmine Birtles (September 2004)
- Women Leading (MacMillan/Palgrave) by Sue Hayward (September 2004)
- Sexy Football (Robson Books) by Peter Gilmour (August 2004)
- Adam and Eve Joke Book (Carlton Books) by Paul Rogan & Justin Rosenholtz (March 2004)
- A Girl's Best Friend Is Her Money (Macmillan/Boxtree) by Jasmine Birtles (October 2002)
- Rainbow: Climbing High (MacMillan/Boxtree) by Mike Anderiesz (October 2002)
Diddo. I wonder how he'll explain the delisting to the author.I don't know whether I'm more appalled by the fact that the deletion's been made or by the fact that Libros International was being proudly listed as a legitimate sale, without any apparent knowledge as to how that "publisher" operates.
CaoPaux:
I wonder how he'll explain the delisting to the author.
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