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Langtons International Agency

rog47

Greetings, everyone. Newbie here. I think this site is an absolute godsend for writers trying so hard to manage the business aspect of this curse we call writing. It seems the brains we've been given as writers make it hard enough for us to deal with the nuts-and-bolts money end of things, so it's even more difficult knowing there are so many scam artists out there just feeding on you.

That long-winded intro aside, has anyone heard of Langtons? I got a favorable response to a query, but I noticed on their site they have a "consulting" side to them. Red flag? Warning buzzers? Flak jackets on?

Thanks!
 

soloset

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Is it this Langtons?

http://www.langtonsinternational.com/

ETA: Oh, and hi. :)

ETAA: Sorry, I'm still half-asleep. They seem to have a pretty well-developed editing branch; I'd be nervous about that. I don't see much else about them... hopefully some researching dynamo will show up shortly.
 
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JerseyGirl1962

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rog47 said:
That long-winded intro aside, has anyone heard of Langtons? I got a favorable response to a query, but I noticed on their site they have a "consulting" side to them. Red flag? Warning buzzers? Flak jackets on?

Thanks!

:welcome:

I just looked at their site and decided to check on their authors (under the Fiction category). I expected to see something about books that have been sold (that is, a graphic of the cover of the book or something about the publisher).

What I found was a listing of their authors with each saying "...available through Langtons International Agency." That, to me, means the novels haven't been sold as yet. I also found this curious statement about one of their authors: "...is the third of her fiction novels." Fiction novels? D'oh - what else could a novel be?

It could be that they're too new to have sold anything as yet (I didn't check that, as I'm super busy today), but it just struck me as strange.

Good luck!

~Nancy
 

rog47

Yeah, the whole editing end of their business got the radar up. Thanks for the replies.
 

Grovale

Does anyone have any info about Linda Langton at Langtons International Agency? She has a website - langtonsinternational.com, published authors, but I heard she charges a nominal fee. I know, I know. I've read the thousands of warnings about fees, but she reps some decent writers. How do I know? Kinda urgent, so any help would be awesome. Thanks, guys.
 

akaa1a

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P&E said:

A "multi-media literary and licensing agency specializing in non-fiction, thrillers, and children's books as well as the visual world of photography, illustrative art, gift books, calendars, greeting cards, posters and all other related products."

The didn't show it with a warning...but be careful anyway. IF it sounds too good to be true...well, you know the rest!

Shan
 

ebrillblaiddes

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If it's a really nominal fee, like $5 or something, maybe to try to cut down the slush pile, I could see giving it a shot--no one bats an eye at contests charging that much, after all. But, it might be a good idea to check and see if those are the agency's actual clients...you could pick a few of the clients' books, call up the publisher, and ask for contact information to negotiate a movie deal or foreign rights or something. (If you're sure you'd be able to do that without cracking up on the phone, that is.)
 

Grovale

She has legit publications and nothing to raise a red flag. So, I guess I'll try it. Why do I feel like I should be wearing a translucent green visor and blowing on my sweaty hands? Thanks for your advise.
 

baileyday

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Hi guys. I haven't seen anything else posted about Langtons International. I've looked at the website and it looks legit to me. Any other information out there about them?

Thanks.

Bailey
 

baileyday

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None. But either does Peter Riva and you told me that you thought I wouldn't do badly with him. Turned out that he wanted me to rewrite the entire book.

I was looking at some of their authors and at least I know the publishers:

Clay Perry- several books published--St. Martin's Press

John Gerassi-University of Chicago Press

Aaron Haas, Pulitzer Prize Nominee and Award winning author--Simon and Schuster

I don't know. Over the past month they asked for my bio, then asked for the first couple pages, then asked for the first three chapters and are now asking for the whole thing.

They're also listed on Publisher's Marketplace. Seems like most legit agencies end up on there.




 

baileyday

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I found more info in Publishers Marketplace:

MOST RECENT SALES/FORTHCOMING BOOKS
s.gif
The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran, by Yossi Melman and Meir Javedanfar published by Avalon Publishing, March, 2007.
Great Expectations School, by Dan Brown published by Arcade Publishing, August 2007.
Scarlet Stockings by Charlotte Kandel published by Dutton, September, 2007.
Death of a Gunfighter by Dan Rottenberg published by Westholme Publishing, October, 2007.

Anyone else heard anything else, good or bad, about these folks?

Thanks.
s.gif
 

CaoPaux

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Weird, the PM page is down (cache); perhaps being updated. (Per Amazon, Scarlet Stockings has been pushed back to Jan 2008. There's no sign of Gunfighter, either on Amazon or Westholme's site.)
 

Zippy

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Aaron Haas, Pulitzer Prize Nominee and Award winning author--Simon and Schuster

I was also contacted by this agency. They might not be trying to do any thing illegal, and may be a very new agency trying to puff up their resume, however I contacted Aaron Hass by e-mail. He said that he did not know Linda Langton well and that she was unable to sell his last book. I will say it is presented on her website that she is his agent when she clearly is not. This did sour the milk for me, to the rest of you you are on your own. Thank you Absolutewrite for this forum.
 

saintkarin

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langtons international agency

hey guys, i sent a synopsis of my novel first langtons international agency and they sent me a positive response that i should send couple of my chapters which i need and then they replied few weeks later that the book needs much editing therefore they are no longer interested, is there anything for me to worry about?
 

CaoPaux

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What would you be worried about? Seems likely they're just wanting to sell you their editing services. Scratch them off your list and keep querying other agents.

(Also, this isn't a chat room; replies can take hours, if not days. Patience. :))
 

kristi26

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I have to agree with Cao on this. It really sounds like a scam agency trying to sell you their "editing services." Scratch them off your list, move on. Try someone else. Good luck finding an agent!
 

victoriastrauss

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Langton's does seem to have a track record of selling rights and subrights. However, its main area of specialization seems to be in licensing for artists and photographers, and I'm uncertain as to its track record of manuscript sales to publishers (many of the manuscripts mentioned on the website appear to be unpublished). Also, see Zippy's post above.

I've seen documentation from one writer who was offered the agency's own paid editing services (this is at least a potential conflict of interest, and reputable literary agents don't typically double as paid editors). However, from what saintkarin said, she wasn't offered editing services--she was told that her novel was in need of editing and therefore the agency wasn't interested.

We really need to be careful about jumping to conclusions on stuff like this, and also about labeling things as scams when there isn't any actual evidence of malfeasance--as opposed to nonstandard practice, which may be author-unfriendly but isn't necessarily specifically intended to defraud, or ineptitude.

- Victoria
 

charlotte

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First hand info, Langtons International Agency

Regularly checking site, I saw reference to Linda Langton @ Langtons International Agency. As a first time writer she took me on and sold my first book, part one of a magical realism trilogy, to Dutton/Penguin for worldwide publication. www.scarletstockings.com. Pretty amazing! I've also been using her as an editor on the 4 drafts of my current novel, now with Penguin. She's been of great help, her editorial fees are reasobnable and she's been generous with her time. I highly recommend her. She sure did it for me!
 

xolotl

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Here's something curious about Langton's:

Their website, http://www.langtonsinternational.com/ doesn't have a link to this page http://www.langtonsinternational.com/consultancy.html , but if you click on both of them and compare, you'll see that the 'consultancy' page shows the whole menu of the 'agency' page.

In other words, the page that advertises the paid services isn't on the menu, but it exists. Perhaps they provide that link to writers who have queried?
 

kasma

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more recent info?

No one has posted recently on their personal experience or knowledge of Langtons. Their website today has photos of published books, and lists of authors who are prize-winners/have respectable credentials. I have been contacted by the agency and offered representation (I send them a full ms about two weeks ago), so I am very curious to know if there is reliable info on them out there. They sounded (on the phone) and looked (online) good to me, if small and academic (possibly a good fit for my more literary work).
 
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CaoPaux

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Just don't let them talk you into paying for editing. Best of luck.
 

HumbleScribe

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I'd like a reality check on just the aspect of whether the fiction titles Langtons list are published from work directly by their agency (whether Langton got them the deal with the publisher).

The first example on their fiction list:
http://www.langtonsinternational.com/fiction.html
is Once Upon A Choice, by Linda Lee Morgan. Entering either author name or book title in Amazon or BN didn't show me that book. Is there a more comprehensive book-search site available, which might include whether it only found its way perhaps as an e-book that Amazon doesn't sell? Or do you suspect this agency is also listing titles they're currently shopping out but haven't been accepted for publication? I've seen agencies listing soon-to-be published titles, but in that case, they list the estimated pub. date to confirm that's the case. But I don't see that here.

The other authors and titles they list often contain an author and several of their titles -- leaving it unclear to me at least which if any of those were actually connected with this agency getting the sale. And yet, author Charlotte on another thread in AW about them lists her published children's book they agented, yet the agency doesn't list on their own site - perhaps needing an update.

With the well-advised mantra being verifiable sales in one's genre being the watchword for evaluating an agency's suitability, is the jury still out here for demonstrated ability to push fiction works?

I received a request for a full and wondering if it's a matter of marching ahead to see if they won't charge editing fees, or rather "stop" right now for the separate issue of documenting sales of fiction. Does the other publishing sites clearly list whether any of those cited fiction works were agented by this agency?

Thanks, everyone.
 
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