MC Literary Advisors Website:
You will receive no more than a three-line email explaining that we have rejected your manuscript. We may indicate why, although this will not always be the case. You may argue that any manuscript can be self-published and, whilst this is true, we see no merit whatsoever in recommending publishing a book by vanity press if it is of poor quality. After all, it may well be read subsequently by someone else who is also influential in publishing and your image as an author tarnished forever. We also offer at a cost a detailed report which will give the reasons why the manuscript has been rejected.[/QUOTE]
Firstly, if I've paid 99 quid I want a damn site more than a 3 line report and I definitely don't see why I should have to pay for more detail.
Secondly, I'm assuming that the reference to "vanity press" is a Freudian slip. The whole point of a vanity press is that they don't care about the quality of your manuscript - they exist to take money from you in order to publish your book.
Thirdly, I'm no fan of self-publishing (it has it's uses but is open to abuse) but I very much doubt that being a self-published author "tarnishes" your reputation as an author "forever". It is always going to be difficult to get a commercial publisher to take a book that's already been self-published, but if you have a different commercially viable manuscript then they'll want to pay for it.
MC Literary Advisors Website:
Your manuscript may need a rewrite. Again you may take advantage of our specialist critique service which will detail any weaknesses in the book and could also help identify areas that need strengthening such as the plot or the further development of the characters. Suggesting a rewrite however does not guarantee an acceptance by MC Literary Advisors next time round. We reserve the right to reject, reject and reject again if we feel that the manuscript is not up to standard.
Again, this seems to me to leave open the interpretation of potential abuse. If MC is charging for manuscript editing service then it's always possible that a person may assume it's more in their financial interest to continue to require critiques in order to get an acceptance. Knowing who is involved in the critique process may help to mitigate this concern.
MC Literary Advisors Website:
At MC Literary Advisors we also act as agents.
This is a conflict of interest. An agent shouldn't be simultaneously acting as self-publisher and critiquer (and definitely shouldn't be charging for critique services in any event).
There's no information on who the agents are or their sales history - that's essential for a literary agency IMO.
MC Literary Advisors Website:
We will advise how you can organise istribution to Play.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com (U.S.) You, the author, are in control and we will advise how to set up your own website with your own bookstore. We may also take the decision to review the situation and offer your book to mainstream publishers under contract with MC Literary Advisors.
This is from their self-publishing page and it's worrying. Again - there's no information on which "mainsteam publishers" are under contract with their agency (something that I would expect to be set out as a minimum as it goes to their credentials).
Then there's the fact that if they're as experienced in the business as they claim to be, they must know that commercial publishers are going to be wary of taking a self-published book and probably won't do so unless there are big sales figures to support it. And given that it seems they're leaving distribution entirely up to the author, it's unlikely that big sales will be made.
MC Literary Advisors Website:
Two of our executive directors are published authors and have first-hand experience of the publishing world. They know the pitfalls and can also advise on the best way to achieve publication of your manuscript. Another executive director also has extensive experience having worked for an international publishing company for a number of years.
Who are these people? Why doesn't the site set out the names?
MC Literary Advisors Website:Why should I self publish? It won't get me anywhere, will it?
John Grisham, Beatrix Potter, Thomas Paine, Stephen King, Leo Tolstoy, Deepak Chopra, Virginia Woolf, Tom Clancy, Stephen Crane, Margaret Atwood, L. Frank
Baum, William Blake, Robert Bly, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lord Byron, W.E.B. Dubois,T.S. Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Louis
L'Amour, D.H. Lawrence, Edgar Allen Poe, Alexander Pope, Carl Sandburg, Robert Service, George Bernard Shaw, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Mark Twain... Just a few
great writers who started their literary careers by selfpublishing. The rest they say is history...
Ah yes, the usual mix of dead people who published in a different age and misinformation as to the contemporary authors who self published. Excellent and so reassuring.
MC Literary Advisors Website:
Do you have specialists at your agency who handle movie and television rights?
We have contacts in the film industry in London and Los Angeles and work closely with a television production company. We are also active in foreign rights
So the answer is no - there are no specialists within the agency for movie and television rights. Also, I'd be disturbed that they claim to act on television rights but only work closely with one company.
And again - no details on who any of these people are or who the contacts are with.
MC Literary Advisors Website:
What is your policy on charging clients for expenses incurred by your agency?
This is set out in the agreement. The author's approval will be sought prior to any expenses being incurred.
This would be of concern to me. My agent doesn't charge me for any expenses - it's included in the payment she gets on a sale and therefore incentivises her to make one. I'd want to review the agency agreement to see what is intended to be covered here and how.
As discussed by other commentators, it seems that the agency has only got two sales to date and to publishers that don't require an agent to submit to them.
MC Literary Advisors Website:
Self-publishing - £999 - based on an 80,000 word manuscript and including copy-editing, cover design, interior book block, purchase of ISBN, provision of one complimentary author copy and statutory copies for the British Library and Copyright Libraries Agency. Please consult us for an estimate for a larger volume manuscript
That's an obscene amount of money and there's nothing there that you can't do for yourself cheaper.
All in all, there's nothing there to suggest to me that they're worth submitting to.
MM
