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Kilburn Literary Agency

Annielaural

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Hello, all,
I've just been asked to send my whole manuscript via email to Kilburn Literary Agency. I'm always leary when a group I expect to be an Agency asks me to send the whole manuscript without having read a portion of my manuscript.
They did ask for a synopsis initially.

I'm wondering if anyone has had any dealing with this British Agency?

Any info would be helpful.

thanks again,
Annielaural
 

FluffBunny

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Link - http://kilburnlit.com

Is this the right one, Annielaural?

ETA: This, from the Submissions page, made me laugh.

Attach a short virus-free synopsis in Word format.

(bolding added) Really? Virus-free? Well, shucks. ;)

This didn't make me laugh:

Kilburn Literary Agency offers services in helping you prepare your work for:

direct submission to a publisher
direct to an online site such as Kindle
We offer mature and professional critiques of fiction and most nonfiction manuscripts.

University and college students are also able to access these services. It could mean all the difference in your final grade.

Wherever services are offered, there are fees. That is true of solicitors, barristers, accountants, bankers, plumbers, carpenters – indeed, any of the professions and trades.

Our costs are low and our standards are high.

Contact us if you are interested in this service.

Are they offering these services to people that they then go on to represent? If so, isn't that a conflict of interest? They also offer something called, "Agent-assited Publishing".

For the basic service of dealing with Amazon Kindle, there is no cost. But along with other agents we seek from 15% of your sales royalties.

So for a very small time-investment, they then take 15% of your royalties until the end of time? That seems a little steep; from what I understand, it isn't all that hard to self-publish for Kindle. :/ Especially chilling is the "from 15% of your sales royalties." It could be more?

They also refuse to supply a phone number or address--all communications will be via email or not at all. Checking Whois, the domain is through a third-party privacy site, so no info given. I didn't find an entry on QueryTracker or on P&E for Kilburn, either.

This quote, from their "Think Like a Writer" page blew my mind a tad:

You do not write a book or a play by ogling the bikini’d body of some so-called starlet or drug-fuelled slut.

"Drug-fuelled slut"? I could picture someone saying that, but putting it on the website representing your company?
 
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acockey

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"You do not write a book or a play by ogling the bikini’d body of some so-called starlet or drug-fuelled slut."

How dare they mock all those Studio 54 writers". Seriously the weirdest thing that has come across this board for me. This screams not professional
 

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That's an astonishingly unprofessional website.

I would avoid.
 

sdbrown

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I concur with Old Hack above me. Avoid the site. I am no genius with publishing sites but in all honesty that is one of the worst that I have seen. Completely unprofessional.
 

Stacia Kane

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I'm always leary when a group I expect to be an Agency asks me to send the whole manuscript without having read a portion of my manuscript.
They did ask for a synopsis initially.

While there are a lot of red flags and questionable things here, this actually isn't one of them. It's not at all uncommon for agencies and/or editors to request a full ms by email; since no one is having to print out and pay postage for a submission, it's really no more difficult to send the full than to send a partial.

I assume your initial query included the first few pages of the manuscript? (Even if it didn't, it's still not really unusual to ask for the full.) (ETA: I see that they specifically ask you not to give them a writing sample other than a synopsis. That is odd.)

That's an astonishingly unprofessional website.

I would avoid.

From the page mentioned above, "Think and Act Like A Writer:"

http://kilburnlit.com/2114/uncategorized/2114

I’m writing this on a train travelling south. I only have two hours on the journey; enough time to register these thoughts. A small and precious time in a day, and not wasted.

I realize everyone works at different speeds, but two hours is really quite a bit of time. On a good day I can do 4-5k in two hours, minimum. I don't think that's unusual.


If you want to write, you have to find time to read, think, and be observant. That snatch of overheard conversation may well be just right for a stimulus to develop a character in a play or a novel.

Stop wasting time. That can mean soap operas on radio or TV; the trivia of minor royalty and Hollywood (or Bollywood) celebs. You do not write a book or a play by ogling the bikini’d body of some so-called starlet or drug-fuelled slut.

Consider how many words you can write in 28 minutes – the length of a daft soap opera – and be glad you switched off the idiot box.

While I get their point here, the idea that overheard real-life conversations could be inspiration but soap operas or trivia cannot be is a bit confusing. Anything can be inspiration. That includes the bikini'd bodies of women who do not deserve to be called things like "drug-fuelled sluts," a term to which I personally take offense.

The fact that I write with the TV on because I like having background noise is neither here nor there. :)

I note that this agency refuses to look at erotica (or science fiction), which makes one wonder if "drug-fuelled slut" was simply an attempt at levity/glibness or a judgment of women who have sex.


From the page on "Creative Writing Courses:"

http://kilburnlit.com/2155/uncategorized/creative-writing-courses

All tutors are university graduates to Master’s level, and some are published authors of fiction and nonfiction.

No names mentioned.

Google searches for "Kilburn literary" creative writing instruction, "Kilburn literary" creative writing, Kilburn literary creative writing instruction (without quotes), and Kilburn literary creative writing instructor fail to turn up anything except the agency's website. (Note: the agency itself appears to have zero Google footprint.)


Kilburn Literary Agency guarantees value for money. Payment can be spread over a period, and some discounts are available.

No mention of cost, or what that guaranteed value might be.


"Critiques and Editing:"

http://kilburnlit.com/1977/uncategorized/literary-services-fees

We offer mature and professional critiques of fiction and most nonfiction manuscripts.

University and college students are also able to access these services. It could mean all the difference in your final grade.


"Agent-Assisted Publishing:"

http://kilburnlit.com/2049/uncategorized/agent-assisted-publishing

Can an author publish without an agent?

Certainly, and many do, BUT……an agent can assist with all kinds of services to improve presentation and sales.

No mention of what those services are, other than that they "work with associates who have all the experience and skills you'll ever need," and they "work with an associate company" who will provide covers in "black and white or four-color. There is a cost for this service but it is fair and the covers are high quality." They do not mention a company name or link to one, and there are no covers on the site.


Their Submission Guidelines are...interestingly worded, and not rude at all:

http://kilburnlit.com/2200/uncategorized/submissions-to-kilburn-literary-agency

Then there are those who insist we go to their web pages, or dive into a hyperlink. As if we had the time from reading the welter of mss that come our way.

But they do have time to sell creative writing instruction, to provide editing and critiques for writers and/or college students, and to format mss for Kindle/hook up authors with cover artists?


Oh yes! Mss!! Because we use the abbreviation mss it is often taken to mean hard copy. Ms – manuscript. Ts – typescript. We prefer to use the term ‘document’.

I have never heard that the abbreviation "mss" means hard copy.


We ask for a format. Some people know what a format is. Many, alas, do not. Spend time on your format – maximum 200 words – and less time telling us that you will sell millions of copies of the work in the People’s Republic of Upper Moronica.

Quite frankly, if someone asked me for a "format," I wouldn't know what they meant, either. I assume they mean by this that they ask for submissions in a certain format--that they are talking about proper query format or manuscript format--but just asking for a "format," seems rather odd. Especially when that "format" is supposed to be 200 words or less. (Their "Contact" page says, "Word format is preferred." But Word isn't a format, it's a program; .doc is a format, .rtf is a format, .pdf is a format, but "Word" is not, and "Word format" could mean anything at all, up to and including single-spaced 24-point purple Edwardian Script or Bauhaus Bold.) They ask for initial contact to be by email "in Word format," as well, which I've never heard of; email isn't a Word program.

Also, their "Submissions" page says that you should put QUERY in the subject line of your email if you're asking about paid services, which isn't the usual use of "query," and then there's the whole "in Word format" thing and the fact that the initial information they ask for is unusual; a cover letter--I assume this is the body of the email, which is supposed to be "in Word format"--with title, word count, and genre (no blurb or hook mentioned) and then a synopsis attached. They're entitled to request whatever they like however they like it, but if they've been having trouble with writers not following their guidelines, they may want to make their guidelines more informative and specific.

And that business about the "People's Republic of Upper Moronica" isn't rude or condescending at all.

Writers--new or not--don't deserve such disdain.


They mention getting a "welter of submissions," but all the posts on their site are dated June 24, 2013, and as I mentioned above, they have no Google footprint; no evidence of their existence prior to that date. Not a single forum posting or listing anywhere. The site appears from Whois to have been registered on May 28, 2013, so it's pretty new. Which makes the source of the deluge of crazy ill-formatted submissions something of a mystery. Of course, it's possible I'm missing something or that they just didn't have a website before that; some agencies don't. But it seems odd to me that there is zero evidence of their existence prior to May 28. Searches on PM turn up no deals and no member page (again, not all agents report, and not all agents have pages).


So we have an agency with no verifiable experience or sales, using rather interesting phrasing on their website and offering a wide range of services which most agents/agencies do not--for a fee, and using standard industry terms in a nonstandard fashion.
 

Torgo

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Nothing I can see on that site suggests any expertise in agenting or publishing. What it does suggest is crankiness, irascibility and lack of professionalism. I would be unwilling to risk a barge-pole.
 

Stacia Kane

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They have edited and reposted some of their posts, which are now dated June 25. Frex, the "Think and act like a writer" post is now titled, "Tips for writers who may need tips." The business about only having two hours on the train is gone. So is the stuff about not watching "daft soap operas." There is no longer any mention of "drug-fuelled sluts," either:

http://kilburnlit.com/2114/uncategorized/2114

If you want to write, you have to find time to read, think, and be observant. That snatch of overheard conversation may well be just right for a stimulus to develop a character in a play or a novel.

Stop wasting time. Set your mind to writing.


The Submissions page has changed a bit as well:

http://kilburnlit.com/2200/uncategorized/submissions-to-kilburn-literary-agency

We now have (my bold):

As if we had the time from reading the welter of work that is already coming our way after only a short period in business.

So they are indeed brand-new.


There are those – more than you’d guess – who do not know that when we ask for an attachment in Word, that is what we mean and prefer. We have neither time nor interest in conversion.

Nice clarification. It still doesn't say if they mean a .doc or .rtf or whatever, but I'd think .doc is the safe assumption.

We ask for a synopsis. Some people know what a synopsis is. Many, alas, do not. Spend time on your synopsis – maximum 200 words – and less time telling us that you will sell millions of copies of the work in the People’s Republic of Upper Moronica.

A 200-word synopsis? I can only guess they mean a query blurb/hook? 200 words is awfully short for a full synopsis; I've seen a one-page synopsis requested before, but most are 1-2 pages and some ask for "detailed" synopses which tend to be around five pages.

The page is signed by the "Editorial Department." I'm not familiar with any agencies that have one of those, but hey, that doesn't mean they don't exist.

"About Us" now says:

http://kilburnlit.com/about-us

We have associates who will advise on scripts for theatre, radio, TV and film. Please contact us, putting QUERY in the subject box of your E mail.

For critiques, evaluations and writing courses, please contact us, putting QUERY in the subject box of your E mail.

But "Submissions" still has the bit about sending an email in "Word format," and:

http://kilburnlit.com/submissions

Attach a short virus-free synopsis in Word format.

Do NOT attach any part of your book at this stage.

In the subject line of your E mail write: SUBMISSION and the title. This will ensure your submission does not go to Spam and be deleted.

If you wish to write to us about other services, including Scripts, put QUERY in the subject line of your E mail.
 
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I'm glad they've made those changes.

But until they can show their agents have good experience in trade publishing, and have made good sales to reputable houses, I still wouldn't submit to them.
 

FluffBunny

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If they are lurking here (waves, just in case), it would be nice if they could pop in and answer a few questions.

Who are your agents?
Who have you represented?
Do you sell editing services to your clients?
If your agents have made any sales, which publishers have they sold to?

When I did another Google search this morning, one of the hits turned up labeled as, "Beacon Virtual Service - Kilburn Literary Services", rather than "Kilburn Literary Agency". A search on Beacon turned up a cached page here - http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ZUl52r-LL9AJ:beaconvirtualservices.com/1890/uncategorized/beacon-publishing-offer+beacon+virtual+service&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari Same basic template as KLA, blue and white color scheme and even the wee PayPal symbol at the bottom left. Beacon offers to guide you through self-publishing for the low, low price of £99, "You will not find a better offer."

If Beacon is Kilburn, they've done a lot of name changes in a short time. Beacon has "blogs" (in quotes since they aren't really blog posts as such) dated May 2013. KLA has "blogs" dated June 2013. Google is turning up Kilburn Literary Services as well--that's three names in two months.

As an aside, I've checked the Companies House site for all three names and found no listings for any of them. That may be due to a delay between registering a company and the info being placed on a government website.
 

phill

Hi all,
The owner of this KLA is well known. He is a vanity publisher. When an author challenges why no contact number/address he waffles, when further challenge he closes down the business/website and starts another.
I know, I was a business partner in a small but successful indie publishing company called www.kinglakepublishing.co.uk, I have turned this site into a vented rant and a warning for others should they come against this man. Unfortunately he uses aliases. When at kinglake he went by the name of harry taylor, Jennifer Jackson and many other names. He believes it is ok for a director and editor of a limited company to use aliases. His reasoning was that in the past some authors caused him to have a heart attack or something similar so hiding his name would stop those who caused him harm to find him. He has a charm and a way to make you believe he is the one wrong done by.
This man has a very bad history spanning over15+ years.
This man professes to be a quality editor/proof-reader etc etc, my roll in the business was cover designer, web designer, promotion and marketing.
After kinglake (full story on the kinglake site) 3 weeks before closing down kinglake he setup ashgrovehousepublishing.com, after 12 months he closed down destroying several authors dreams 9th march 2013, approx. 3 weeks before he closed ashgrovehousepublishing he setup beaconvirtualservices.com, this site kind of went by the by about 5 weeks ago Kilburn was born. You will find, when he's shutting down a company, the site content vanishes only one page of basic content will remain.
Ther man is called reggie byram, I think a chap called Johnathon Clifford investigate him in the late 90's early 2000. If you do a google for "reggie byram guardian" there is a court case he lost. I'm available to discuss this further if you all wish, but most of the answers will be found in my bitter rant on kinglake website.

On KLA he offered all those services with associates.... The associates are himself and his wife, bother ex- teachers and graduates. Everything he offers is done by him and no-one else.

Info on www.kilburnlit.com with owner details: http://websitedetective.net/dn/kilburnlit.com

All the best
Phil
 
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phill

KLA and their quality covers.

When at kinglake the covers all designed by myself were highly praised, a couple of examples of my covers and again the same covers when Byram produced his version of high quality covers. This man tries to talk the talk and the resulting quality are only in his head:

...Man created God then title changed to Shroud for Byrams attempt.
My Cover design: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Created-Gary-Hibberd/dp/1907690123/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1372946788&sr=8-4&keywords=%22kinglake+publishing%22

Byram: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908268166/?tag=absowrit-21

PANDORA.
My Cover Design: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1909049093/?tag=absowrit-21

Byram: https://images.whitcoulls.co.nz/images/whit/97819082/9781908268426/0/0/plain/pandora.jpg

Creatures of the night.
My Cover Design: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1907690166/?tag=absowrit-21

Byram: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908268182/?tag=absowrit-21
 
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aliceshortcake

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There's certainly a strong resemblance between the wildly unprofessional tone of KLA's website and that of Ashgrove House Publishing (aka The Ashgrove Group). From a blog post dated 11th November 2011:

There are agents and publishers who are twenty and more years behind the times. Agents, especially. Many still require an author to submit by post, to include a synopsis and at least fifty pages. And, of course, return postage. ‘Definitely no email submissions,’ they cry. Many of them advertise themselves in handbooks and elsewhere, only to state that they are not considering new clients. As for telephone contact, one wonders why they cannot employ a trainee, or use an answer machine.

I know that I bang on about reclusive agents. They have their problems. I often wonder how they can continue to carry on business in the present economic climate. Those that contact Ashgrove House Publishing are often seeking terms that are frankly ridiculous when one considers the realities of the trade...

Some authors claim not to understand electronic submission and we believe them. We make suggestions as to how they might use the local library, a younger relative, or even buy in services. Such authors are urged not to send hand-written or even typed material through the post. Our requests are ignored. One author recently chided me for not offering a hefty advance, when I had not even seen any of her work. I know it can be galling to have to write and yet receive no money upfront but that, nowadays, is how the cookie crumbles. Our royalty payments are generous, however. The exigencies of business prevent the doling out of advances, let alone large ones...

And it becomes gloomier. Publishing is now an adjunct of the entertainment industry. Harry Potter has been a worldwide success, of course. There are more books and games that spin off from Star Wars than there are stars in the sky. Models and media tarts sell ghosted books. Telly chefs are everywhere. Walk into Waterstone’s – still a fine bookshop – and the first table is covered with books ostensibly written by TV presenters. And to show how far in the rot has set, Hilary Mantel’s unreadable Man Booker winner Wolf Hall is being made into a mini-series for television. Bring back Poldark!
http://www.ashgrovehousepublishing.com/904/uncategorized/publishing-is-a-business

What? 'The rot has set in' because a novel Mr Byram doesn't like is being made into a TV series?
 
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LindaJeanne

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my covers and again the same covers when Byram produced his version

Wow. Got to agree with you on the covers.

Edited to add my initial impressions on each:
Book 1:
--- Your cover: looks like a doom-metal album cover & title (a genre I enjoy). Makes me curious what the book is about. Cool.
--- Other cover: Looks some sort of ranting screed, not interested.

Book 2:
--- Your cover: science fiction, maybe? Anyway looks interesting.
--- Other cover: WTF? Not interested.

Book 3:
--- Your cover: vampire fiction isn't my thing, but this looks like it might be a higher-quality example
--- Other cover: dear god, amateur Twilight wannabe, run, run for the hills.
 
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aliceshortcake

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Oh, there's no doubt that Reggie "down with media tarts and drug-fuelled sluts!" Byram is the man behind both Ashgrove Publishing and Kilburn Literary Agency:

WHOIS Record of Kilburnlit.com
Registrant:
Reggie Byram
5 George Avenue
Birkby
Huddersfield, HD2 2BD
UK

Domain name: KILBURNLIT.COM
http://websitedetective.net/search.php?q=KILBURNLIT.COM&x=11&y=8

Byram fell foul of the law in 2001:

It is the dream of every aspiring writer: the moment when they receive a hardback copy of their work. But, for Bernard Roberts, the experience left a bitter taste.

He had become entangled in the world of 'vanity publishing', where the costs are borne by the author. He had sent his novel to James Lansbury of Cromwell Publishing - a man he now knows as Reggie Sharp, alias Reggie Byram, a leading figure in Huddersfield's Conservative Association.

The writer spent 14 months tracking down the publisher, who he says thwarted his hopes of literary stardom and cost him £3,000 in the process.

This month Huddersfield County Court found that Byram had breached his contract with Roberts and ordered him to pay back the money.

In 1999, Roberts offered his novel to Cromwell Publishers, listed in the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. The company had changed its name from Random Publishing two years previously.

It was run from a flat above the Conservative Association offices in Huddersfield.

In May that year Roberts had a letter from a James Lansbury on Cromwell's headed notepaper saying that he was interested in publishing his novel, Borealanus. 'It is clear, because you are an unknown author, that we would have to invest considerable amounts in marketing, advertising and other kinds of promotion. I am asking you, therefore, to consider the possibility of making a contribution to costs,' wrote Lansbury.

When Roberts received copies of Borealanus a year later, they were littered with mistakes and his name had been misspelt on the spine. But this was nothing to the anger he felt on discovering that Lansbury was in fact Byram, a former chairman of Huddersfield Conservative Association.

He had used various addresses, including mailboxes, and had done little to promote Roberts's book or to supply retailers.

In his defence, Reggie Sharp Byram said he had been given both surnames at the age of five.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2001/nov/18/books.booksnews

I can guess what sort of publisher Byram will be steering his clients toward.
 

phill

Oh, there's no doubt that Reggie "down with media tarts and drug-fuelled sluts!" I can guess what sort of publisher Byram will be steering his clients toward.
Yes, will be to an associate who will be himself.

Am I the only one seeing a pattern here?
he has more front than a rumbelows window. He's 76 yrs old trying to act like a youthful adult. He comes across like a right tool, not hip and in the groove.

As for the covers, I'm not trying to push them here, his idea of a great looking cover from an associate company isn't the quality he would have the author believe, they are, total tat.
 

phill

Hello, all,
I've just been asked to send my whole manuscript via email to Kilburn Literary Agency. I'm always leary when a group I expect to be an Agency asks me to send the whole manuscript without having read a portion of my manuscript.
They did ask for a synopsis initially.

I'm wondering if anyone has had any dealing with this British Agency?

Any info would be helpful.

thanks again,
Annielaural

Hi Annielaurel, when you made contact what name did he use? He would normally reply as a female alias when a female made contact and use a male alias .....
I'm curious to know if he is still operating that way.
You could ask KLA if you are still in contact, if they are in fact operated and run by the one and only Reggie "Shark" Byram.
 

phill

It looks like KLA is active again. Yesterday most of the content was removed. It looked like beaconvirtualservices.com
 

CaoPaux

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Gone again by May '14.