Like many other agencies, we offer options for writers as well as representation. None of our options are required however. If some one is looking for a tried and true editor to help polish their manuscript, or a ghostwriter to help write a book proposal, we have screened out the best and can recommend them. However, it is ALWAYS AT THE REQUEST of the writer. We have been given a NOT RECOMMEND by P&E and Absolute Write for this option. Now Simon and Schuster is charging up to $25,000 to self publish books. I'd say the world of publishing is changing and people shouldn't be so quick to judge services that are available and determine that makes an agency a bad choice.
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/simon-schuster-opens-self-publishing-service_b61444
Hi Sharlene! *waves from a place not so far away*
I mostly lurk here and am by no means an Absolute Write specialist, but I don't think they GIVE any kind of rating. It's just a discussion board. Anything about MLM should be limited to these pages here. I don't believe you're marked "not recommended" anywhere. (If i'm wrong, someone point me in that direction?)
I think where folks' nervousness comes from is because if you're looking at it from the author's pOV, an agent is an author's partner, looking out for the author's best interests at all times, and that doesn't always make an agent rich (and I know that first hand), but that an author needs a true partner and advocate who is looking out for them as #1. I don't know enough about your business model to know whether anything you do is a conflict and I don't intend to say in my comment that you're doing ANYTHING wrong, merely to help you understand--since I'm both an agent and an author-- why perhaps people are reluctant and/or may believe there are potential for conflicts. You're clearly VERY successful with some huge books, so you know what you're doing, it just comes down to authors who haven't worked with you deciding, based upon the facts available, if they want to query you. I don't think it's that folks are "quick to judge," they're just trying to share the information they have and discuss it, and it's great that you can set the record straight.
Firstly, this:
We do NOT, however, offer any self publishing services (which many agencies are providing now and don't seem to have suffered the BEWARE notation from this website). I fail to see how there can't be a conflict of interest between an agency that is supposed to represent a writer for commercial publication and one that takes their money for self publishing (which the writer can easily do themselves). Since the average self published book sells 100 copies, I still fail to understand why MLM is blackballed on this site for recommending highly qualified editors and ghostwriters, and those agencies that offer to take writers money for self publishing are not.
Yes, many agencies have evolved to include this option
for existing clients. That's the key difference between what some may be taking issue with and what you feel is a similar issue. If I have an existing client who decides they want to self publish, they are welcome to do so on their own without my involvement and I take no commission. I still represent them and I still hope to sell future books to publishers. IF they specifically request assistance with self-publishing I'll explain the difference and we can discuss how much involvement they want with me vs what they want to do on their own. With agencies who have self-publishing arms, i am not aware of any agency who operates any differently than that-- if they have a self-publishing arm, it is the client's choice to utilize those services or go it alone, and their choice does not effect their continued partnership with the agency. (And I think we can agree that few agents would push any client to go self-publishing at all when they'd rather sell their books to a big publisher for larger advances, distribution, etc.)
I think what makes people squeamish is when an agency offers paid services to Non-Clients who may or may not later become clients, because there are so many writers who are desperate for an agent that a writer may very well see a paid way of gaining an agent. Pay for the evalutions, the edits, etc, and maybe that agent will sign you. It's a slippery slope, and I think that's really what the alarm bells are about. It's kind of a bummer since agents often do need to supplement their income and they're in such a great position to give good advice, but most agents and agencies resist this aspect simply because of the can of worms it could open-- what if you reject people with a letter directing them to paid services? Is this a conflict (or at least in poor taste?-- to profit from rejected writers?). Or what if you get a paid editorial client whose project you love? do you reject the payment and just sign them and give them what you give all clients? Or do you accept the payment first then sign them? (and all these "yous" I'm saying here, I mean generic, not MLM.)
These are the things smart writers are trying to discuss and learn about and make sure THEY are not being taken advantage of, and thus discussion boards are born.
And finally, I'm not as established as you, so I don't have as big of a list as you, but I did in fact spend over a year working on a debut novel which required rounds of in depth revision because I believed in the book and the author. It sold to a well-respected independent publisher. The agency commission was less than a $1000, well under your minimum of $2500-- in fact if our agency followed yours and required our commission be paid within the first payment completely, her ENTIRE on-signing check would have been my commission. At 98% of agencies, we receive 15% of each advance payment/royalty payment, and it's the chance we take, and authors know that that's the standard approach, so deviating from the standard set by most other agencies will indeed raise some eyebrows. That's a simple fact. Authors clearly know this up front and choose to sign, and that's the beauty of it. If you want to charge that and the authors are comfortable, there's no need to defend it, but you do have to recognize why folks here may choose not to query for that reason. It's kind of a bummer, though, that you require exclusivity because what you get is authors scared that they have a bird in the hand and if they let it go they won't find any in the bush. They may accept the term out of fear, not because they're comfortable with it.
And again, Sharlene, as everyone here can tell simply by looking at your website, you're very good at what you do, you've sold a lot of books (some for a whole lot of money), and that track record speaks to your abilities. But I can't help but play devil's advocate (Or, actually, author's advocate) and explain why it is that some are questioning things-- not to blare alarms, but because they actually are seeking answers. It's part of their research and they're working to learn what agencies they want to query. Every agent I know preaches at conferences and twitter that authors should research agencies as much as possible, so they're really following our own advice. Damn near every agency in existence has a thread on this board, not because writers want to point fingers at anything, but so that authors can learn who it is they are querying before they send the query.
