Novel Literary Agency (Leann Murphy aka Ann Beck, Melissa King)

got a URL for the agency?

http://http://www.novelagency.com/

Looks like that's it...not sure. Doesn't mention any sales history.

--Dev

Their website is here:
http://www.novelagency.com/

I'm a little concerned that the About Us page provides no names or bios.
-Barbara

batgirl said:

I'm a little concerned that the About Us page provides no names or bios.

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Me too. That's definitely something you want to see at a literary agent's website.

- Victoria

Julie Worth said:

The agent may be this person (from several years ago): Ann Beck received a B.A. in English at Texas Christian University in 1970 and is a recent graduate from the M.L.A. program at Henderson State University.

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*waves at Julie* yeah, that's the only remotely literary thing I turned up for that name, too. Not confidence-inspiring.
-Barbara

This doesn't inspire confidence:

We cannot promise to get your manuscript published, but we CAN promise to get your manuscript on the desk of editors at publishing houses.

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Novel Agency of Texas

Hi, All,
It would be so nice to have a ligit agency here in The Lone Star State, but I have found this agency's site does not contain all of the usual information. Does anyone know who they are? They are a start-up which may account for the website problems. They do not list their agents by name which I find very disconcerting.
Thanks to anyone who is able to help!

<link snipped>

I think this may be what you're looking for

Thanks for the info. It seems that there isn't much info out there for this person or group. Anyone else?

The service for reading your submission costs you NOTHING.

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This is a real red flag. The sentence implies that they offer OTHER services which DO NOT cost you nothing. And they list no clients or books on their site.

M.R.J. Le Blanc said:

This doesn't inspire confidence:

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Let's be honest here. No agent can guarantee publication.

It's not that they say they can't guarantee publication, even though that is a little like a plumber saying "I can't guarantee I can fix your sink." It's like saying "I guarantee I can try to fix your sink and that I'll charge you money for it!" It has the wrong emphasis. A good plumber would be willing to say "I can't fix this sink, and I will not waste your money trying." It makes it sound like they specialize in wasting money on unfixable sinks.

ChristineR said:

It's not that they say they can't guarantee publication, even though that is a little like a plumber saying "I can't guarantee I can fix your sink." It's like saying "I guarantee I can try to fix your sink and that I'll charge you money for it!" It has the wrong emphasis. A good plumber would be willing to say "I can't fix this sink, and I will not waste your money trying." It makes it sound like they specialize in wasting money on unfixable sinks.

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No. It's like a realtor saying "I can't guarantee I can sell your house, but I'll damn well try." And like realtors, legitimate lit agents don't make any money off your ms unless they sell it. A good lit agent will also reject your ms if they think they can't sell it-just like a good plumber won't fix an unfixable sink.

Mmmm. In the classification system described in On the Getting of Agents, the Novel Literary Agency falls into the "gormless" category. They probably mean well, but they have no idea what they're doing, and thus can't help you.

Okay - here's the scoop: I recieved a contract in the mail today from Novel Literary Agency signed by Melissa King. Physical address is in Austin, Tx. No contact phone number yet provided. Asking for a one time fee (retainer, representation expenses) of $345.00. All other expenses incured will come from the sale of the book. within US - 12.5% outside US - 15%. What I want to know is this - has anyone recieved a rejection from them??? Also - I have never seen a valid contract before (I am an expert on scammers) the fee - although certain to be blasted by the group - is not the kind of fee a scammer goes after.... unless everyone is accepted and the agent gets thier bucks by going after volume business. This is not the Chris Robbins Agency !!!
So - some feedback please. - thankx

straightshooter said:

Okay - here's the scoop: I recieved a contract in the mail today from Novel Literary Agency signed by Melissa King. Physical address is in Austin, Tx. No contact phone number yet provided. Asking for a one time fee (retainer, representation expenses) of $345.00. All other expenses incured will come from the sale of the book. within US - 12.5% outside US - 15%. What I want to know is this - has anyone recieved a rejection from them??? Also - I have never seen a valid contract before (I am an expert on scammers) the fee - although certain to be blasted by the group - is not the kind of fee a scammer goes after.... unless everyone is accepted and the agent gets thier bucks by going after volume business. This is not the Chris Robbins Agency !!!
So - some feedback please. - thankx

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NO legit agent charges this fee. Do not sign this! and the normal commissions are 15% in the US, 20% out.

All I can say is ekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

AND... they want the fee in the form of cashiers check, money order or pay pal !!!!
Here's how to detect a scammer: Send my manuscript (pick one - any one) and if an agent or publisher bites - they are of the eKKKKKKKKKKKKK category.
Okay - no one comment on my writing skills. The issue is not bad writing - the issue is bad submission practice. Thanks for the feedback.

HapiSofi said:

Mmmm. In the classification system described in On the Getting of Agents, the Novel Literary Agency falls into the "gormless" category. They probably mean well, but they have no idea what they're doing, and thus can't help you.

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The charging of an upfront fee lifts them out of the gormless and into the 'scam' category, I fear. Yog's Law would demand we do the running away routine and fast.

straightshooter said:

the fee - although certain to be blasted by the group - is not the kind of fee a scammer goes after....

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No, it's not - it's higher. It's more than the WLA try for (charging for useless critiques), and a lot more than the late and unlamented Hill and Hill (a mere £80 upfront and £120 a year thereafter). Legitimate agents do not charge upfront fees at all - and NLA wouldn't need very many sheep to make a handsome annual income out of shearing at this level.

I don't hold the 'no guarantee of publication' against them - as others have said, no-one can guarantee this. Everything else on the site, however, screams 'scam'. It's entirely aimed at prospective writing clients, rather than the people it should be selling to, ie editors, international buyers, people needing permissions or information etc - in just the same way as PA's site is aimed at prospective authors rather than book buyers.

So where do we think they're looking to make their money? Oh, I wonder...

No, but as others have said an agent will reject an ms they don't believe they can sell. They don't accept an ms in the hopes of selling it. The way they say it says to me 'while we do have the ear of publishing houses, we're not entirely sure of what they're looking for or that we can get them to buy your novel'. Agents don't take an ms and see if it sells; they take mss they know publishers are looking for. They can't afford a try-it-and-see method, not to mention that would probably give them a negative reputation of not being able to bring them marketable books and eventually publishers would be less likely to accept anything from them. You're right Swordswoman, not even legit agents can guarantee a sale, but I'd be willing to bet money they all have a far better success rate than this agency.

M.R.J. Le Blanc said:

No, but as others have said an agent will reject an ms they don't believe they can sell. They don't accept an ms in the hopes of selling it. The way they say it says to me 'while we do have the ear of publishing houses, we're not entirely sure of what they're looking for or that we can get them to buy your novel'. Agents don't take an ms and see if it sells; they take mss they know publishers are looking for. They can't afford a try-it-and-see method, not to mention that would probably give them a negative reputation of not being able to bring them marketable books and eventually publishers would be less likely to accept anything from them. You're right Swordswoman, not even legit agents can guarantee a sale, but I'd be willing to bet money they all have a far better success rate than this agency.

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It basically means they're gonna mass send to any/all publishing houses...MAYBE. They might just take your money,then later send you a list of the "houses they submitted to"....which, of course, you have no way to verify.

Ekkkkkkkkkkkk indeed

Oh you could verify, if you wanted. All you'd have to do is contact the editor at those houses to see if they ever received your ms.

M.R.J. Le Blanc said:

Oh you could verify, if you wanted. All you'd have to do is contact the editor at those houses to see if they ever received your ms.

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But will they reply to you and tell you that?