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Bond Literary Agents & Specialized Services / Frances Bond Literary Services

Stan

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Does anyone have any information on this South African agency?
 

Stan

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This doesn't tell me anything about their company. I sent them a query letter and first 5 pages on a whim 2 weeks ago and they responded with an offer of representation two days ago. No request to read further, just the offer. Slam Bam. They asked whether the work had been edited in the original offer email. I mailed back to say it had and that I wouldn't pay a fee to an agent to read or edit. They wrote back to say that since it had already been edited they would withdraw that part and the offer still stands for the rep - no fees associated with that. They want the full now, of course, but to pull their approach together for selling it. What do you think? I'm here checking on them because I could find nothing. They don't have a website.
 

Jamiekswriter

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Hi Stan,

I don't have any information on them, nor have I ever heard of them. But alarm bells are ringing in my head. Maybe before you send them a full, you can write to them and request their client list and their recent sales? You want to make sure they've repped books in your genre or have industry experience otherwise if they're really good at selling cookbooks and you've written a mystery novel, they probably won't be a good fit. (I'm being optomistic. The fact that they offered to rep off a query is really not making me comfortable that they're a professional agency.)
 

waylander

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They offered representation on the basis of 5 pages?!
No reputable agency would do that.
 

cspradbery

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Nope, nope, nope - doesn't sound right at all. The face that they originally wanted to charge fees should really set alarm bells ringing.
 

Momento Mori

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There's no such thing as a stealth agent. You need to know who their clients are and who they've made commercial sales for recently.

The fact that they "dropped" the editing part of their offer, it suggests that they're looking for fees (for what it's worth, my agent is working with me for free on editing my manuscript).

It's not uncommon for some agents with a track record to offer representation on the basis of a partial (that's what happened with my agent, who also had a synopsis of the story and had talked it through with me first) but 5 pages is way too little to make a judgment.

I'd avoid and set your sights elsewhere.

MM
 

Hoovlette

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That would be TERRIBLE! My first five pages are never as interesting as page six - they hook, but don't sell, ya know?

Anyhow, I'm in agreement with everyone here. It sounds shady. Not to mention that they were going to charge you a fee, which is a no-no. I'd run far, far away and block their emails.
 

Stan

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They relented after finding out I had edited it already, which in itself is questionable. They had asked that very question in the offer email message. You know, even if you've edited a piece a thousand times you still want your agent or editor to edit again, correct? So to mirror all these responses from you, my bells are ringing too. Also, I did return the most recent message asking the very questions posed here. Still waiting for an answer.

There has to be something out on them, though. They indicated they've been in business 28 years.
 

whacko

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My name is Bond. Literary Agent & Specialized Services, Bond.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.
 

Nya RAyne

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I would definitely leave this one alone. I'd bet you my german shepherd if you signed with them, they would find a way to charge you up the *ss for things you don't need or that should come free.

Chuck this one up to experience and move on.
 

Arctic Ice

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I am one of their authors (David J. Ferreira).

It's not a scam. They're brilliant editors and agents.

I've been with Frances Bond since around 2003/4. After her passing last year, the company was renamed to Bond Literary Agents & Specialized Services, headed by Jean Gaiser... Frances worked closely with me on my first novel, David: The Warrior King - published in 2009.

Eileen edited all of my books (and did a stand-up job as well). Though I have an American agent (Les Stobbe), I know that Frances specialized in the UK.

And as far as I know, they only charge for editing.

Feel free to work with them, or negotiate the contract for representation. They're legit.

Hope this helps.
 

Unimportant

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To save anyone else the trouble of a Google search: David J. Ferreira's book is published by Bridge-Logos Foundation. They are a Christian press who appear to accept unagented mss. They require a fee:
All manuscripts must be accompanied by a manuscript submission/evaluation fee of $50 in a check or money order payable to Bridge-Logos Publishers.(For an in-depth editorial review and detailed report and recommendations for improving your manuscript, our fee is $200.


I wasn't able to figure out who they're distributed through. The cover art looks (to my ignorant eye) to be pretty average, in the small/POD press style.

Personally, I'd be pretty ticked off if my agent was subbing to presses that require a submission fee, since I equate that with vanity/scam/unacceptable.
 

Momento Mori

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Arctic Ice:
And as far as I know, they only charge for editing.

They shouldn't be. Legitimate agents don't charge for editing.

Legitimate agents also make sales to commercial publishers that pay an advance. Did you get an advance when your book was published in 2009?

MM
 

HapiSofi

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David --

It's the job of an agent to sell your book to a good editor at a good publishing house. If you like your agent's editing, but your book gets sold to a notoriously shoddy house like Bridge-Logos, your agent may be in the wrong line of work.

How can you stand it? Bridge-Logos is awful. They don't know how to set up a basic copyright page. They typoed the title of the trade paperback edition of your book on Amazon, never got it fixed, and failed to send Amazon any editorial matter to accompany it. That edition wasn't so much published as exposed on a hillside.

Harold Chadwick, B-L's alarmingly untalented Senior Editor, appears to spend all his time rewriting and improving such lackluster authors as John Bunyan and John Foxe. If that doesn't scare you, consider the fact that Chadwick thinks John Foxe wrote the Book of Martyrs in Middle English. Not to worry, though -- Chadwick has rewritten and updated it.

Check out some wailings and lamentations about Bridge-Logos editions:

Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion
Booker, The End of All Things Is at Hand
E. M. Bounds on Prayer
The Evidence Bible
Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer
Andrew Murray, Humility
William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (see all four reviews on that page)
Martin Luther, Table Talk
François de Salignac de La Mothe-Fénelon, The Best of Fénelon
Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs
John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs
John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs
John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs
John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs

(also: Chadwick's defense)

I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to see placing your book at Bridge-Logos as doing you any kind of a favor.
 
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Arctic Ice

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@HapiSofi

Thanks for the extensive comment and the links. You're clearly not a fan of BL, and yet you know so much about them... did they publish your work once upon a time?

I agree, they didn't do much in terms of marketing, but the book is selling internationally, and for a South African author to get published in the US is a BIG achievement - especially in the current economic climate. Yes, they are no Harper Collins, but they gave me the opportunity to publish my first novel.
 

Momento Mori

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Arctic Ice:
@HapiSofi

Thanks for the extensive comment and the links. You're clearly not a fan of BL, and yet you know so much about them... did they publish your work once upon a time?

Oh please, surely you can do better than that? FWIW, HapiSofi is an editor at a respected press.

Arctic Ice:
for a South African author to get published in the US is a BIG achievement - especially in the current economic climate.

A good book sells regardless of where the author is based. One of my friends landed a good deal with Harper Collins in December for US rights to his book and he's based in England. It happened because he had a good agent.

What counts is how many copies your book is shifting and how much you're earning from it (including whether you got an advance).

MM
 
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CaoPaux

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No further activity on website, but Google finds recently self-published authors thanking Gaiser for help/advice.
 

CaoPaux

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Site's gone, and I'm not finding further mentions. Anyone have recent contact?