http://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/43467-money-for-value.html
Clare Alexander, a literary agent with the UK Aitken Associates, recently launched a stinging attack on the literary consultancy, arguing that some (by no means all) style themselves as 'literary life coaches' and fleece authors of the little money they have.
What do we think? I did a bit of work for one literary consultancy, and in several cases I had to refuse to offer a second critique because in my first once I had made it crystal clear, in as kind a way as possible, that all the tweaking in the world was not going to make the book work. But the author would fiddle with bits of the book and send it back.
It's really difficult because agents and publishers don't have the time to offer proper advice so the poor writer just gets a stinky rejection slip. But at what point does the literary consultancy become another form of exploiting the writer?
Clare Alexander, a literary agent with the UK Aitken Associates, recently launched a stinging attack on the literary consultancy, arguing that some (by no means all) style themselves as 'literary life coaches' and fleece authors of the little money they have.
What do we think? I did a bit of work for one literary consultancy, and in several cases I had to refuse to offer a second critique because in my first once I had made it crystal clear, in as kind a way as possible, that all the tweaking in the world was not going to make the book work. But the author would fiddle with bits of the book and send it back.
It's really difficult because agents and publishers don't have the time to offer proper advice so the poor writer just gets a stinky rejection slip. But at what point does the literary consultancy become another form of exploiting the writer?