[Display site/query service] WEbook / AgentInbox

WEbook · Apr 26, 2010

I see now. It's 10 to join and post a page. I'm guessing there'd be fees after that. Nevermind. :-/ Post office and gmail are way cheaper ways to communicate with people.

I work at WEbook. I noticed a little bit of confusion regarding AgentInbox that I would like to clear up. I think Bartholomew is actually confusing AgentInbox with PageToFame, our writing competition. The fee to enter PageToFame is $10, and starts with one page, but there are no fees past that point as authors are elevated to further founds of the contest.

AgentInbox, our electronic query service, comes with a fee for 6-months of unlimited use, that does need to be renewed if authors want to continue querying after the six months.

Hope this helps!

WEbook

agentpaper · Apr 26, 2010

WEbook said:
AgentInbox, our electronic query service, comes with a fee for 6-months of unlimited use, that does need to be renewed if authors want to continue querying after the six months.

Hope this helps!

WEbook

Hi and welcome. My question is how are you going to handle all the agents who drop out of agent inbox because it goes against the AAR guidelines? Since your fee essentially comes across as a reading fee, I can't imagine many would want to take the chance of mucking up their reputations (not that it would, but you never know) or losing their AAR status because of it.

WEbook · May 10, 2010

Agents who use AgentInbox do not violate the terms of the AAR. The AAR guidelines prevent agents from accepting money for queries, but agents using AgentInbox do not, and will not, receive any kind of payment from WEbook or users for being part of the service.

The fee for AgentInbox is not routed in access to lit. agents, but rather for access to our unique submission tool. We always provide clear and visible avenues for free submission to the agents on our service via links to their individual websites.

MedleyMisty · May 10, 2010

I googled the site after finding someone's WeBook inbox on my referral list yesterday and today.

And, like the time I googled the publisher who started following me on Twitter, I find some real information on it here on this forum. This place rocks. Thanks for all you guys do for noobs like me.

brainstorm77 · Jun 2, 2010

We Book

http://www.webook.com/ What do you all think about this? Legit? Scam?

O hAnnrachainn · Jun 2, 2010

It's nothing you can't do yourself for free. If you want to be able to see if an agent's read your logline only, or read the full submission, it can be entertaining but I'm not sure it's worth the cost.

And I don't think you get a refund if the agent never gets around to opening the submission.

brainstorm77 · Jun 2, 2010

TBH I never heard of the site before till I clicked the link at the top of AW's page.

alvin123 · Jul 1, 2010

update I guess

I know this is probably old news; however, I do want to put an addition output.

According to my English professor, the agents that participate in the "Agent in Box" is as close as break the AAR guidelines as possible.
While you can view as technically "not" breaking it, the writer is paying in an unreasonable fee just to have an agent read of his work, or query letter; however it goes.

I never joined or considered joining. What ever happened to the writing making money, not paying to get their work published. In my opinion, Webook has gone too far. It looks like their charging for everything now. In other words, this company is after your wallets and could careless if you're published or not.

And for those that defend webook, please jump to reality.
I'm not sure how you make a living and all, but there are those -in very small chances- that are using their writing to survive.

Would you honestly even consider webook? Of course not. There is no easy way out. The best way around webook agent inbox crap thing, is to get yourself an email address. And after that, contact the agent directly on his or her website.

Webook isn't even worthy to be a last choice. It's as close to vanity publishing as you can get.

That's my late opinion. If only I was around when this thread was active.

Christine N. · Jul 1, 2010

Querytracker is free. I guess the services are slightly different, but I like that you can use the service for free to find agents and query them directly, plus keep track of who you've queried. I just signed up for it but haven't used it yet. If I go with more in-depth agent and publisher querying, I probably will use it.

I would not pay for a service like this, though.

IDGS · Aug 17, 2010

Well, just for shits and giggles I paid the $9.95 for submisson tracking.

On the ups, it's only ten bucks. Ten bucks that could do me a little better than what I've gotten so far.

On the down, if I get nothing - it was only ten bucks. No big loss. I doubt I'll ever renew the membership if nothing happens before it expires, but at the end of the day I'll note I'm not expecting anything.

So what, two less beers at the bar this weekend - no great loss. First, last and only time I'll ever pay for a submission service, though.

circlexranch · Sep 6, 2010

I wouldn't touch AgentInBox with a 10-foot pole, it is now $40 for six months.

I've been having fun with the Page-To-Fame slushpile contest. You sub your first page and let every vote it up or down to see if you go to the second round.

I posted my results over at the WeBook forum. Six subs, two advanced, three crashed, and one is wallowing around. One of the crash and burns is under contract to a reputable small press and one of the advances was a blatant sting of a never-ending-stress-relief-WIP I like to think of as the world's worst detective novel.

The first line goes something like: "August in Chicago is an unendurable exercise in mind numbing endurance."

The killer's handle is "The Lincoln Highway Lacerator."

It was voted up into the second round rather handily. I commented that I didn't have a lot of faith in the survey after that!

I, of course, was attacked by one of the cheerleaders (hey, she won $1000 in the first round of the contest, I'd be cheering too!) as having a bad case of "sour grapes." She's actually quite good. She should be querying agents and publishers instead of jacking around with that contest. She's relying on the same survey takers that elevated my entry "Death Road."

So, for me, WeBook is an amusing sometimes hobby, but nothing more.

victoriastrauss · Sep 7, 2010

Apart from the writer who was picked up by a reputable agent during AgentInbox's Beta phase, AgentInbox has yet to report a success story.

- Victoria

M.R.J. Le Blanc · Sep 7, 2010

My two cents, but single/very few success stories don't mean much anyway. It just shows that the odds of getting picked up through said service are just the same as if you'd just done it on your own. They still don't display any benefit. When services start showing better trackrecords than going the regular route, then there'll be something to be impressed about.

chancerychislett · Dec 28, 2010

I just used WeBook to query Victoria Marini and didn't have to pay anything...am I missing something?

Filigree · Dec 29, 2010

I had wanted to submit a query to Ms. Marini, but I'll do some more research first. I'm very leery of this WeBook business model. Agents who use it exclusively probably won't get any queries from me, until I see how others have fared.

I have my own tracking system. It's called a speadsheet.

Filigree

lachrymal · Dec 29, 2010

Victoria accepts email queries now and not WEbook exclusively.

Filigree · Dec 29, 2010

Thanks, lachrymal. I'll note that on my list.

Filigree

collegewriter · Feb 28, 2011

Webook Agent Query Service

Has anyone on here heard of the agent query service that webook.com has to offer? I am using it because it is an easy and centralized way to get your query letter to reputable agents. About 80 plus agents are featured on webook.com and many of these agents have been talked about on the absolute write forums. Basically, this service on webook forwards the writer’s query letter and sample of manuscript to each agent individually. You choose which agent you want to query out of the category of agents that represent your genre of writing. For example, when I chose my genre of writing, which was general/YA, the website listed 45 agents to choose from and I was able to query all of them. It’s a free service on webook.com and they even have example query letters. I actually followed the example query letter and sent the letter to Maya Angelou’s editor at random house and he said it was a good letter. I just thought I would share this info with you all since we are all on a quest to find an agent. Webook is a great site and the agent query service is a valuable tool.

collegewriter · Feb 28, 2011

response

alleycat said:
Stealth spam.

It'll be up to the moderators/admin whether your post stays or goes.

I did not mean the post to seem like spam, it was just a post about my experience.

CheyElizabeth · Feb 28, 2011

I've seen legit agents on there.. but it just seems.. odd and spamy and unconventional to me.

Giant Baby · Feb 28, 2011

collegewriter said:
I did not mean the post to seem like spam, it was just a post about my experience.

If that's so, head on over to the newbie forum and introduce yourself. Cruise around the boards and take a look. There's already a thread about Webook/AgentInBox here. It's been discussed with fairly divergent opinions voiced about the service.

By any chance is there a new incentive program or contest on Webook to "post about your experience" on blogs and message boards? I only ask because this was becoming a thing on blog contests last year, and we saw marked increase in posts similar to yours, advertising those contests.

victoriastrauss · Feb 28, 2011

Agent Inbox has been around since November 2009...nearly a year and a half after launch, it appears to be able to boast just two success stories. No word on how many people have used the service, but I'm guessing that's worse odds than just querying in the traditional way.

- Victoria

Momento Mori · Mar 1, 2011

Hi, collegewriter, and welcome to AW.

collegewriter:
For example, when I chose my genre of writing, which was general/YA, the website listed 45 agents to choose from and I was able to query all of them.

Can I ask why it's easier using webook than it is to use, e.g. agentquery? Does webook give you the sales history and preferences of each of the agents that you've queried so that you can tailor your submissions or do you still have to do that separately?

Of the 45 agents that you submitted to, how many of those agents requested partials and/or fulls? Have you been offered representation as a result of using webook?

Did you query all 45 agents at the same time or did you do so in batches? If you did all of them at once, did webook warn you that this would leave you unable to tailor or change your query letter/submission in line with feedback received (if any).

collegewriter:
they even have example query letters. I actually followed the example query letter and sent the letter to Maya Angelou’s editor at random house and he said it was a good letter

What's the name of the editor you corresponded with and did they ask to see your manuscript?

Also, can I ask why you were sending a query letter to Maya Angelou's editor, given that she's a literary fiction writer whose children's output is not particularly significant?

MM

happywritermom · Sep 15, 2011

WeBook (merged into BR&BC thread)

I thought I'd check this site out since so many agents now offer the option of submitting work through WeBook accounts, but you can find out much until you actually sign up. So I started to register, but paused when I read this in the terms of service:

Member grants WEbook a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual license to store and maintain one or more copies of all Content (and additions, modifications, and revisions to Content) placed by Member on the Site (“Archival License”).
WEbook has sole discretion to determine how, when, and where it may exercise and employ the Archival License. WEbook has no obligation to Member to disclose any aspect of how, where, and when WEbook exercises and employs the Archival License.

Couldn't this cause problems in contracts with publishers? I just don't like the way this sounds.

victoriastrauss · Sep 15, 2011

happywritermom said:
Couldn't this cause problems in contracts with publishers? I just don't like the way this sounds.

I doubt it. The material you submit to agents is never visible to the public, just to the agents you choose. There are better reasons (such as the apparent lack of success stories) not to use Agent Inbox.

Kudos to you for reading the Terms of Service--an important step that many people skip.

- Victoria

[Display site/query service] WEbook / AgentInbox

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