Sean, just to make the point - Crescent Moon Press doesn't require an agent to submit to it and I can't see anything on there about the publisher paying advances (although I'm happy to be corrected).
One sale in over 2 years isn't a great statistic.
MM
Neither is one sale in a year and a half...which is actually how long they've been in business. I've met an agent who worked two years before securing a sale. I know writers who have been under the same representation for longer than I have, with much bigger agents, who have yet to sell a book.
And as for the details of the advance: it is my understanding that there was one, but those are between the publisher and the writer and agent. If you're curious, you can email the writer personally and she can, if she chooses, share those details.
But that wasn't the point. The point was that the claim was made that in a year and a half no sales had been made. A simple visit to the Tribe Literary website would have proven that statement incorrect.
You know, the simple fact is that I can't promise that my book is going to be sold. Neither can my agent. Neither can anyone's agent. When my contract is up, I may not be renewed. Who really knows. Or my contract could be renewed and we get a sale in two years. Or four. Or a week. This is how this works. Nothing is guaranteed.
Yes, I suppose it is possible that my agent is lying about the publishers requesting my work, and she's just telling me that to keep me on a leash...I can't imagine why, though. I haven't given her any money, and she's spent a great deal of her own money, as well as time and effort, sending out proposals, attending conventions, expos, conferences and workshops for me and the other Tribe clients...though I figure if she were telling me what she thought I wanted to hear, I'd be getting news of a LOT more manuscript requests. As it is, I've gotten 9, including partials.
But again, I say it is possible that Cari is lying as part of some ridiculous game or self-delusion of being an agent...and her senior partner Jonathan, an agent with sales (and not JUST in the Christian genre, which contrary to the claims of another poster on this forum is NOT a niche marker in the US: every major publisher has a faith-based division, house or imprint and many of the best sellers are faith-based books) is just humoring her. And me. And the rest of her clients. Or he's in on the joke, putting his reputation and career on the line.
It is possible, but seems unlikely. Cari has been attentive and kind, far more so than the agents of other writers with whom I'm acquainted. Every part of my interaction with her has been transparent, and she's taken a very personal approach to the client-agent relationship. I don't know if you follow the news, but my home city (Joplin, MO) was
devastated recently by a tornado storm. A quarter of the city is in ruins, and over a hundred people are dead. I am fine and so is my family: and our home was untouched by the storm, but t
he devastation to my city has been heart-wrenching. Most of my books are set in Joplin, including the one being shopped out to publishers. I made jokes about this place (as seen in my signature, a quote from one of my books) but it is my home and I love it, faults and glories combined. I mention this because: Cari contacted me right away to make sure we were okay, and offered to assist me if I needed it. It was a kind gesture, and more than some of my other local writer friends received from their agents...which BTW none of whom have managed to secure sales for their books, either. So I have a hard time believing that this woman is lying directly to my face about publishers--GOOD, well-known publishers--requesting partial or full manuscripts of my work. But I have a hard time swallowing that. I realize these are just my experiences and as such may have little weight in your judgements, but they are all I have to offer until my book is published. However, I suspect that even after that point there will be some here who still will not be satisfied. Fine. That is their prerogative.