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[Agency] Goldfarb & Associates

Kilgore Trout

Has anyone had any experience with Ronald Goldfarb, a DC lawyer and literary agent? Probably more of lawyer, I’m thinking. Still, I can only find good things about him, except for P&E, which says “Charges fee. Not recommended.” He’s requested my ms, but hasn’t said a word about fees. So I’m wondering what to expect.
 

Aconite

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Trout, Dave doesn't post comments without verification. If he says this agent charges fees, he has proof the agent charges fees. Most of the time, fees come up when the agent gives you the good news that your MS has been accepted, when you're less likely to balk.

Yog's Law: Money flows toward the writer. Fees are a bad sign. You can do better than a fee-charging agent.
 

Kilgore Trout

victoriastrauss said:
This agent does charge an upfront fee ($250 at last report, due on contract signing). He also has a pretty solid track record.

- Victoria

Thank you, Victoria. That's the info I was looking for.
 

Maprilynne

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victoriastrauss said:
This agent does charge an upfront fee ($250 at last report, due on contract signing). He also has a pretty solid track record.

- Victoria


A solid track record? Really?!?:Wha: That's so weird to me. Why would you charge fees if you had a good track record? Just goes to show that there is some kind of variety among these scammers.

Thanks for the info, Victoria.

Maprilynne
 

Kilgore Trout

Gosh, now I’m sorry I posted the question, if it’s going to get him labeled. I think this page is interesting: http://www.publishingtrends.com/copy/03/0302/0302agents.html


My take on it is that some of these agent/lawyers handle a different crowd. Especially where there may be some legal work involved, and where you need particular connections (e.g., Goldfarb is a Washington insider). Also interesting is that the rich and famous don’t pay the 15% like we do. Less than 1/2% for Hillary Clinton’s book, for instance.

Rich and famous...where do I sign up?
 

victoriastrauss

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Maprilynne said:
A solid track record? Really?!?:Wha: That's so weird to me. Why would you charge fees if you had a good track record? Just goes to show that there is some kind of variety among these scammers.
We need to be careful with labels. Not every agent who charges an upfront fee is a scammer. Many are amateur or incompetent agents who aren't selling any manuscripts and have to ask for handouts from their clients to keep their businesses afloat. A small handful--and I mean small--are successful agents who for whatever reason don't follow the generally accepted practice of letting submissions costs accrue or billing them only after they're incurred.

The bottom line is track record, folks. A good agent has one. A bad agent doesn't.
Kilgore Trout said:
Also interesting is that the rich and famous don’t pay the 15% like we do. Less than 1/2% for Hillary Clinton’s book, for instance.
Hillary Clinton didn't pay 15% not because she's rich and famous, but because she didn't use an agent. She hired a lawyer and paid him an hourly fee.

- Victoria
 

victoriastrauss

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jbraykr said:
I'm not saying there aren't scoundrels who are lawyers, simply that there's less opportunity for malfeasance in lawyering, than in being an agent.
I think our own Jaws, a lawyer, would probably disagree.

I'll leave to further investigation whether Ronald Goldfarb asks for money upfront as part of his agent's or lawyer's fee. The fact that it's blurred is somewhat bothersome.
It's not blurred in the least. The fee is for literary representation.

- Victoria
 

ExposingCorruption

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I was researching Ronald Goldfarb and I read his website. I then read through this thread in which Victoria said that it was his track record that matters.

I also saw that P&E now has this: Ronald Goldfarb: $ "an experienced trial lawyer and a veteran literary agent, as well as the author of 10 books and over 250 articles" with Goldfarb & Associates. (The "not recommended" that P&E had in 2006 is apparently gone, and there is nothing to indicate that Goldfarb is charging an upfront fee.)

Everything seems OK with Goldfarb, but I'm new here and I'm new to querying agents. It looks to me like he is a solid thumbs up, but I will leave it up to Victoria and others to say whether or not there are any issues.

http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/pealr.htm

http://www.ronaldgoldfarb.com/
 
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CTaft

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Robbie Hare just requested a full. I'll let everybody know how it goes.
 

Bookie

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Ron Goldfarb represents liberal writers- like Diane Reihm, Bill Press, and others. He is very influential within liberal media circles and tends to prefer books that are inflamatory and advance the liberal cause, etc.

He does charge an up front fee of $250 for postage and handling.