Sandy Lu Sold My Book/In Defense of Vanguard
Having stumbled upon this thread, I feel obligated to respond to the unwarranted and mean-spirited criticism that has been heaped upon Sandy Lu and Vanguard Literary. As a writer who has suffered through years of rejections—the records of which I keep stuffed in a shoe box above my workstation—I completely understand the frustration that develops from the often futile attempts of an unknown and unconnected writer to acquire literary representation. I have been on the waiting end more times that I'd like to acknowledge, which has caused me significant grief and a good deal of depression. However, I realize that this is the game that I’ve chosen to play, and these are the rules. We can complain and exchange sob stories all we want, naming names and tossing accusations about like so many shuriken, but it is not going to change things. Agents work at their own pace, just like writers, and they are people with lives outside of their business (unlike most writers).
This said, I have had two agents in my career, the first of them being a giant in the field, known by anyone who is anyone in publishing. I landed her through a referral from a writer/teacher in grad school, and I assumed my future was set. As fate would have it, this person could not sell my work, despite her distinguished reputation and awe-inspiring client list. My second agent was Sandy Lu, and (contrary to many of those who have posted derogatory comments herein) I can speak from personal experience when I say that she is the most competent, hardworking, dedicated, intelligent, well-read and professional person I have met in the publishing industry. And still, all this is ancillary to the fact that she recently sold my novel in a very nice deal to a major publisher, fulfilling a lifelong dream of mine that my former big-name agent failed to do. Not only did Sandy sell it, but I believe her insightful editorial suggestions made the novel more sellable in the first place.
While I felt the compulsion to speak my mind here in order to clear up some gross miscomprehensions, I would encourage all those naysayers, doubters and venom-spewers NOT to query Ms. Lu, so that she will not have her time wasted by people who clearly do not understand the job of a literary agent, and consequently, the job of a writer trying to land an agent. If Sandy is a bit slow in getting back to unsolicited queries and manuscripts, it is simply because she carefully reads and considers everything that arrives at her desk, and spends so much time and effort on her current clients (unrepresented writers tend not to think that those with agents might want these agents to spend some time trying to sell their books). So please, I beg you to “steer clear” if you do not have the patience to wait for the real thing. It will be better for us all, most certainly if one is in the habit of sending a “basic query without really knowing anything about the agency.” This kind of behavior betrays a rank amateurism that insults and embarrasses both agent and writer.
On a final note, no agent has the responsibility to share his/her sales with anyone, and I think it is reprehensible and morally bankrupt to post part of a personal correspondence for public viewing, especially when the author has conveniently chosen to leave out her own words, describing them as “very polite,” which I suppose we should all accept as true, sight unseen. If I were an agent and some unknown writer asked me to volunteer my sales information, I would have been a lot less respectful in my response than Ms. Lu was. If you don’t feel comfortable with an agent, simply don’t query. There are many others out there to bother. It’s like those ridiculous people who blame that devilish rock music and those twisted TV programs for the poisoning of our American youth, when it doesn’t take much brain power or physical expenditure to simply change the channel. Of course, the blame game is always easier.
