List of Agent Blogs

Talia

Contract Killer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 6, 2006
Messages
1,599
Reaction score
34
Location
On the run from the FBI
I enjoy the agent blogs. It gives you an inside look into the process. The other big advantage is you learn more about the agents and can decide if they are the sort of people you want to deal with!

I checked out "rejector" too. Didn't finish reading it. Have to say the problem with all these blogs is I spend ages reading them but then I don't get any writing done :D
 

ORION

Sailed away years ago
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
1,996
Reaction score
347
Location
Hawaii
Website
patriciawoodauthor.com
I think TaliaMana you make an excellent point. The blogs are an amazingly good resource for beginning writers or those just starting to submit. I find I get sucked into participating and then there goes my writing time.
 

Miss

Registered
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
I have learned a lot about "what not to do" from agent blogs, but it turns into repetition and whining really quickly.

I've also learned that as a non-USA writer, not only do I have virtually no chance of being represented, I'm supposed to find a way to get US stamps imported because the vouchers sold here aren't good enough. You know, because someone in Japan managed to get US stamps once. I felt that the comments about non-US writers were very ignorant of the way things work in countries other than the U.S.

I find a mild humour in the blogs whenever it's mentioned that writers should do careful research regarding the agnecies they query. How careful is careful? Obviously, you shouldn't query an agency that doesn't represent your type of work, which charges a reading fee, and it would probably help if you had a look at what else the agent represents. But really, what ends up happening is that one does a great deal of research into a particular agent and a week after querying receives a crookedly-cut form letter in the post.

And there is nothing wrong with INXS, but do you really want to know what someone you work for is listening to, like you're reading your teenage daughter's blog or something? As for learning whether the agent is the sort of person I want to deal with, I would prefer not to deal with an agent who links her blog to her business.
 

ORION

Sailed away years ago
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
1,996
Reaction score
347
Location
Hawaii
Website
patriciawoodauthor.com
I found far more success querying through email. It is how I got my agent. I think there are many agents that will accept email, especially from writers not from the US.
I skip the music choice on the blogs and focus on the parts that I feel could be helpful. You are right MISS when you talk about the repetition and whining, however, there are bits that are really helpful.
 

aruna

On a wing and a prayer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
12,862
Reaction score
2,846
Location
A Small Town in Germany
Website
www.sharonmaas.co.uk
I've also learned that as a non-USA writer, not only do I have virtually no chance of being represented,

On the contrary!
For non-US writers, as ORION said, it makes sense to only query agents who accept equeries. I found lots of them and got many requests for material from excellent agencies.

Just in case some of them requested a ms sent snail mail, I got US friends to send my US stamps (be careful to get the postage right!) and you can also order these online. However, most of the agents who requested stuff allowed me to send it per attachment.

The querying, though, was almost exclusively with mail. It's how I got my US agent, too.
It all dependes on the manuscript. If they want it it doesn't matter if you live on Baffin Island.

The only agent I've heard of who seems to have a prejudice against "furrin" writers is the great Snark herself. But as we can't query her anyway it doesn't matter.
 

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
6,704
Reaction score
1,314
Location
Far from the madding crowd
Website
www.victoriastrauss.com
Miss said:
I've also learned that as a non-USA writer, not only do I have virtually no chance of being represented, I'm supposed to find a way to get US stamps imported because the vouchers sold here aren't good enough.
You can order stamps from the US Post Office website.

It's not that International Reply Coupons are "not good enough," it's that they're a pain in the butt. You have to go to the post office to exchange them.
I find a mild humour in the blogs whenever it's mentioned that writers should do careful research regarding the agnecies they query. How careful is careful? Obviously, you shouldn't query an agency that doesn't represent your type of work, which charges a reading fee, and it would probably help if you had a look at what else the agent represents. But really, what ends up happening is that one does a great deal of research into a particular agent and a week after querying receives a crookedly-cut form letter in the post.
But if you don't research, you risk getting a request to submit from a disreputable agency, which will cost you wasted time and possibly wasted money. At least with rejections from reputable agencies, no one is trying to deceive you or rip you off.

- Victoria
 

Miss

Registered
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
Thanks for the stamp link. Sounds like another hassle for me, but anything to save the agent a drive to the post office, I guess.

Trust me, I research enough to find out if the agency is a reputable one, if they represent the type of work I write, and I'm not querying every agent in my Writers Market at the same time.

However, I'm not going to look at everyone's list or their sales or even visit the website of every agent I submit to. It would be a waste of my time. If the agent asks for a partial or the manuscript, a bit more research gets done.
 

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
6,704
Reaction score
1,314
Location
Far from the madding crowd
Website
www.victoriastrauss.com
Miss said:
However, I'm not going to look at everyone's list or their sales or even visit the website of every agent I submit to. It would be a waste of my time.
Fine. Waste stamps instead.

You say you do research, but if you don't visit the website of an agent you're considering submitting to--assuming the agent has a website--you're leaving out one of the most basic (and easy) components of that research.

- Victoria
 

Miss

Registered
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
I don't believe that research (beyond the basics) and success are correlated. When I began submitting, I agonised over choosing the right agency, looking for testimonials, poring over the website, looking at whether past books sold were similar to mine, and submitting to one or two agencies at a time. This resulted in half a year of those dodgy form letters that look like they're a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.

I do visit agent websites on occasion, though one reason I've stopped is that the informal, "snarky," whinging blogs on many sites, not to mention the occasional lie about looking over queries carefully and responding to writers as individuals, tend to turn me off.
 

Josie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 16, 2006
Messages
605
Reaction score
39
Thanks Nancy for the websites :)

Shouldn't Nancy's sites be stickies?

Cheers :)
 

greeneyes

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2006
Messages
58
Reaction score
7
Is Rejecter still great?

aruna said:
And here's another new one, recommended by Miss Snark today:
I just spent an hour reading it, and it's great!

The Rejecter

I just wondered if anyone still thought the advice on this blog was still "great"? It's becoming increasingly less helpful with it's shrill, argumentative tone. Plus she doesn't know what she's talking about. A recent post claimed JD Salinger was a one book author. She gave out info on YA/MG categories that's being disputed on the Child Lit thread. I'm an aspiring writer, so I'm collecting scraps of good info wherever I can find it, but this blog.....I don't know.
 

aadams73

A Work in Progress
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
9,901
Reaction score
6,428
Location
Oregon
Miss said:
Thanks for the stamp link. Sounds like another hassle for me, but anything to save the agent a drive to the post office, I guess.

However, I'm not going to look at everyone's list or their sales or even visit the website of every agent I submit to. It would be a waste of my time. If the agent asks for a partial or the manuscript, a bit more research gets done.

Unbelievable. Yes, such a shame if you have to put any actual effort into this. Those lazy agents! How dare they not want to waste their time standing at the post office while they swap out your vouchers.

There are loads of writers who bust their humps doing research to pick the right agents, and who present themselves as professionally as possible. They are on the right track.
 
Last edited:

aadams73

A Work in Progress
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
9,901
Reaction score
6,428
Location
Oregon
greeneyes said:
I just wondered if anyone still thought the advice on this blog was still "great"?

I take everything she says with a very tiny grain of salt. Her blog is fairly poorly written and doles out very little useful information.
 

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
6,704
Reaction score
1,314
Location
Far from the madding crowd
Website
www.victoriastrauss.com
greeneyes said:
I just wondered if anyone still thought the advice on this blog was still "great"? It's becoming increasingly less helpful with it's shrill, argumentative tone. Plus she doesn't know what she's talking about. A recent post claimed JD Salinger was a one book author. She gave out info on YA/MG categories that's being disputed on the Child Lit thread. I'm an aspiring writer, so I'm collecting scraps of good info wherever I can find it, but this blog.....I don't know.

Another thing that bugs me is the attitude. There seems to be a whole blog subculture devoted to telling new writers that they probably suck and will never make it, and by the way, they're also incredibly annoying and too dumb to live. Well, yeah. But what purpose does that kind of bashing serve, other than to establish your street cred as a rough, tough, shoot-from-the-hip-and-pull-no-punches publishing guru who takes no shit from nobody?

- Victoria
 
Last edited:

rugcat

Lost in the Fog
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
16,339
Reaction score
4,110
Location
East O' The Sun & West O' The Moon
Website
www.jlevitt.com
victoriastrauss said:
Another thing that bugs me is the attitude. There seems to be a whole blog subculture devoted to telling new writers that they probably suck and will never make it, and by the way, they're also incredibly annoying and too dumb to live.
Perhaps they're trying to outdo each other. I haven't looked at A Gent's Outlook for a while (I seem to remember some discussion of whether if he really was an agent) but the thing that came across, regardless of the validity (or lack) of his opinions, was what an extremely unpleasant individual he appeared to be. And deliberately so. Almost like it's some kind of game.
 

greeneyes

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2006
Messages
58
Reaction score
7
Thanks aadams73, victoriastrauss, aruna, and rugcat for the replies. It's good to see my judgment isn't totally off. I especially agree about the new blog subculture that's devoted to bashing new writers and telling them they'll never make it. They aren't helpful and I try to avoid them. I need find out how to improve my chances, not to hear why I won't be published or won't make any money even if I am.
 

greeneyes

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2006
Messages
58
Reaction score
7
rugcat said:
I haven't looked at A Gent's Outlook for a while (I seem to remember some discussion of whether if he really was an agent) but the thing that came across, regardless of the validity (or lack) of his opinions, was what an extremely unpleasant individual he appeared to be. And deliberately so. Almost like it's some kind of game.

Not being familiar with this particular blog, I clicked on your link and am appalled by his most recent post (the only one I've read). He attacks Miss Snark and her professionalism because she warns of scams, something he claims no "real" agent would care about. Kristin Nelson also decried publishing scams in her blog and praised SFWA's Preditors and Editors, and she appears to be a "real" agent to me. I guess the takeaway from all these blogs is to take them with the aforementioned grain of salt.
 

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
6,704
Reaction score
1,314
Location
Far from the madding crowd
Website
www.victoriastrauss.com
aruna said:
That is so funny! He thinks Miss Snark is Jennna or Victoria!
Oy veh. That's the dumbest yet.

This is why I rarely look at his blog. It's also why I never respond to it, no matter what stupid thing he says. I don't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking that his silly ranting has any validity. Also, the best way to annoy a screamer is to ignore him. :D

- Victoria
 
Last edited:

Provrb1810meggy

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
2,896
Reaction score
475
I also find the Rejector's blog a bit off. Some of the stuff can be interesting, but other times, he's talking about things he has no clue about, and he later on admits that! Stick to stuff you know, Rejector. Maybe some query mistakes that turn you off personally.
 

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
18,604
Reaction score
8,039
Location
Under your couch
The only anonymous blog I read is Miss Snark. I find her frequently interesting and helpful. I read blogs from agents who aren't afraid to tell you who they are and where to contact them. But I take a pass on Gent and Rejector et al. I've read them in the past and I don't feel I've gotten anything useful there. Now I pretend they don't exist. We're both happier this way.