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.