[Agency] NY Creative Management (Jeff Schmidt)

No change in the intervening year. Jeff Schmit and NY Creative Management are listed at P&E -- neither recommended nor not-recommended.

As with all agents you need to check for yourself. A useful agent has sold books you've heard of.

He's had that same website since--I kid you not--1999. As far as I can tell, he has yet to sell anything. It's a mystery how/why this agency stays in business.

- Victoria

Jeff Schmidt Had A Sale

Jeff Schmidt had a sale on 4 October, 2007. I was looking for books similar to mine on Publishers Marketplace and I ran across it. It falls under Non-fiction: History/Politics/Current Affairs

"Justin Coffey's SPIRO AGNEW: The Fall of Moderate Republicanism and the Rise of the Right, charting the remarkable rise and rapid descent of a man whose career presaged a radical social and cultural shift in American politics, to Michael McGandy at Rowman & Littlefield, in a nice deal, for publication in January 2009, by Jeff Schmidt at NY Creative Management (World)."

http://www.publishersmarketplace.co...deal_terms=Jeff+Schmidt&category=&month=&year=

I don't know why he doesn't have it listed on his website.

New York Creative Management

I just received an email from Jeff Schmidt of New York Creative Management (www.nycreative.com) requesting my book. I did send them an initial email query but was hesitant because, judging from their website they seem to be more of a broker than a literary agency. Plus there website is very vague regarding what they do and if they charge for these services. I don't think they are a traditional literary agency. Has anyone else had any experiences with them?

The sale mentioned by Exposing Corruption is the only one I've ever seen for this agency, although it has been in business at least since 1999 or 2000. I've never gotten any fee complaints, so I can't imagine how it makes any money.

- Victoria

query

I sent my query late last night 10 am this morning i got this:

Dear Jose,

Thank you for contacting LifeTime Media. We are interested in your book. Would you kindly send the full manuscript as well as your bio? Thank you.

Best regards,

Rayna Erlick
Editorial Department
LifeTime Media, Inc.
352 Seventh Avenue, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10001
212-631-7524 ph
212-631-7529 fax

worries me when i get such a fast reply even though my work is copywritten any suggestions?

Obelisk, did you read through this thread? Jeff Schmidt has made one verifiable book sale since 1999. An agent who isn't making sales for his other clients isn't likely to make a sale for you.

By the way, it's not necessary to register copyright for unpublished work. Theft truly isn't something you need to worry about at this stage.

- Victoria

I see two sales on PM in the last two years, 11/24/09 and 12/02/09, both non-fiction. Mr. Schmidt does have a quick response time, but aside from these sales, I do wonder how the agency gets by.

Does anyone have any experiences with this agency? I received an offer of representation, and though I haven't responded yet, I feel hesitant, and only based upon this thread (silly me - sent my query, and then checked the thread). Agent Schmidt did not like my novel#1 (consistent with other agents), but loves novel#2 (also consistent).
Please advise opinions, experiences, etc. There are a couple of actual sales on PM, but non-fiction, and after two years....

Okay, so I did a little sleuthing. Posting#6 by our Genial Uncle mentions this agency's association with iUniverse, which leads me to AuthorHouse.
When Mr. Schmidt offered me representation for my novel, I was skeptical, given they have 3 sales in 2 years, all non-fiction.
When I mentioned that my novel was formerly a POD through AuthorHouse, he flaked, and now I think I understand why. I also referred to desiring traditional publishing, but if this agency has a tendency to steer clients toward POD, I certainly am well beyond his business practices.

That is interesting information, CaoPaux. I queried Jeff Schmidt last year (see posts 18-20), and received an offer of representation after he read the full.

But I could not understand why he suddenly got very paranoid when I told him the novel he was offering to rep had been previously self-published (2003), and that it had been taken off the market a couple of years before, and then revised heavily. I had thought to query him on my latest project (which is the fourth completed mss since my last dealing with NY), but with his bizarre response to my honest effort to be straight with him, I'm leery. Does anyone have a reasonable explanation as to why an agent would act in this manner?

It's not bizarre. You wanted him to sell a book for which there were no first rights remaining.

I had the strangest exchange with Jeff today. His query nothing but lovely descriptions telling me how entertaining, revolutionary, and readable his client's book is. Yet nowhere does he tell me how it's entertaining, revolutionary, and readable.

His "proposal" was nothing more than a vague query that letter that lacked any detail - yet he included cover art. Cover art.

One of the most puzzling things of all is this: "[redacted] is the reason that ebooks were invented." Huh?

So I wrote him back and explained that he hadn't given me anything that would help me render a decision. I also took him to task for calling his half-page "query" (with cover art) a proposal, considering that it contained nothing remotely close to resembling a proposal. No market research, no title comps, no chapter breakdown, no overview, or author bio.

His reply didn't address a single one of my issues and made absolutely no sense. After another try, he did cough up a word count, but nothing more. No plot, to details, no nothing.

Maybe he's having an off day, but I find it troublesome that he would do such a horrible job and force me to email him three times and still not get the information I needed. I feel very sorry for his client.

Not a scammer or a bad guy, just an overmatched agent

Jeff is definitely not a scammer or a bad guy by any respects. You can tell he's passionate and works hard; I think the issue is more just he's a bit overmatched. He might do things like send out paper-thin proposals that ape your own query, or give you hints that he probably hasn't actually read your ms, let alone suggest any sort of revisions. He's absolutely a legit agent as far as I can tell, as I even verified his activity with a publisher on a sale that ended up going nowhere because the editor switched companies. I think his style is just more about throwing darts at the wall and seeing what he hits, which unfortunately might have unintended consequences on you as a writer if a publisher's first exposure to your work is something that is underrepresented, unfinished, or even something that doesn't meet their minimum word count. You can tell he's a bit sensitive, sometimes perhaps even defensive or secretive, because I truly believe he is passionate and cares. I just think his lack of sales is reflective of a style that probably isn't going to get alot of deals. If Jeff is willing to represent you, you might want to watch out, because it doesn't necessarily mean your ms is actually ready to get picked up.