[Agency] Objective Entertainment

Ms. Jem · Jan 25, 2009

Yikes!

The Gunshark said:
Like it or not, it is a major red flag for a literary agency. However respectable they may have seemed, this is unprofessional and wrong.

Well, I just received Tracey Ravanelle's answer to my question of publisher - Authorhouse.

CaoPaux · Jan 25, 2009

Six months ago, replies to queries were referrals to paid editing services. Now standard rejections are a come on for a vanity press they "work with".

Yeah. Right. http://www.authorhouse.com/AboutUs/ReferralProgram.asp

nevada · Jan 25, 2009

cao, i'm disgusted. someone should go post on her blog and ask her to speak to this practice. she's obviously going to ignore any emails sent to her. I vote you go. lol seriously.

Ms. Jem · Jan 25, 2009

My response

I just sent Tracey Ravanelle this email:

I welcome further discussion with Objective Entertainment regarding review and representation of my work. However, I am not interested in self-publishing and therefore not open to talks with Authorhouse.

Ms. Jem · Jan 25, 2009

I Loo-oo-oove AW!

The Gunshark · Jan 25, 2009

CaoPaux said:
Six months ago, replies to queries were referrals to paid editing services. Now standard rejections are a come on for a vanity press they "work with".

Yeah. Right. http://www.authorhouse.com/AboutUs/ReferralProgram.asp

Now that is damn scummy. $100 for each supposed reference? Either they are trying to cash in or Ms. Ravenelle is not following protocol.

BenPanced · Jan 25, 2009

HippieGirl said:
Okay, well, I sent a note saying I was not interested until I had clarification of her process and the name of the publishers and here is our answer:

"author house or iuniverse they have the number 5 book on this weeks NY times list."

So there you have it!
Can anyone tell me why an agent is referring to a self publishing house?

Funny. I just went down the NY Best-Seller Lists and couldn't find anything published by AuthorHouse or iUniverse at #5 on any of them. Nor could I find an "upcoming best-seller list", mentioned upthread.

Either the agency's suddenly changed their practices or an employee's getting fired later this week.

nevada · Jan 25, 2009

Ben, she's talking about the book The Shack which is self published and was on the NY Times Best sellers list. I dont' know if it was self published through authorhouse or iUniverse, since the writer formed his own "publising company" in other words created a named company that had the book printed by whomever.

ETA it's number one this week. *sigh*

BenPanced · Jan 25, 2009

The reply said "this week's", so that's what I looked up.

The Gunshark · Jan 25, 2009

BenPanced said:
The reply said "this week's", so that's what I looked up.

She is actually talking about the book "Still Alice". This one started out on iUniverse and got picked up by Simon and Schuster.

The fact that Ms. Ravenelle can't get her facts straight is kind of sickening, IMHO.

Giant Baby · Jan 25, 2009

CaoPaux said:
...Yeah. Right. http://www.authorhouse.com/AboutUs/ReferralProgram.asp

I say this alot, and people are gonna talk, but I <heart> CaoPaux.

Hoping it's the assistant trying to get by on an assistant's (non) salary that's taken the liberties with this one, and not the agent working alongside another who posted a seven figure deal on PM today.

I know the state of the industry is troubled at best, but if it's the agent, I'm taking up decoupage.

victoriastrauss · Jan 25, 2009

The Gunshark said:
I'm going to have to take this agency down a few pegs. When I queried them, they tried to pull some sort of Self-Publishing angle and may be associated with iUniverse and AuthorHouse.

Gunshark, HippieGirl, and Ms. Jem, please contact me ASAP at [email protected]. I really want to know more about these apparent referrals.

AH has had this $100 referral offer for some time, BTW. Till now, though, I've only heard of disreputable agents using it.

- Victoria

The Gunshark · Jan 25, 2009

victoriastrauss said:
Gunshark, HippieGirl, and Ms. Jem, please contact me ASAP at [email protected]. I really want to know more about these apparent referrals.

AH has had this $100 referral offer for some time, BTW. Till now, though, I've only heard of disreputable agents using it.

- Victoria

Here's the following email I sent to all of the managers with my correspondence.

[FONT=&quot]I am writing this letter based on a previous query that I have written, which has resulted in the correspondence below. My question is: Why is your agency referring writers to self-publishing services like AuthorHouse and iUniverse? Everyone in the writing community knows that AuthorHouse gives a $100 kickback per client they refer. This has happened not just to myself, but to other writers. If you wish to give my work a serious evaluation, I am still open to further dialogue (query is at the very bottom).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Any assistance is greatly appreciated.[/FONT]

HippieGirl · Jan 25, 2009

EJ's blog

I already asked E.Jote to explain via her blog. My posts are awaiting moderation ;-) Doubt they will show up.

Victoria, I emailed you but received a response saying it could take a week to hear back. Email me please and I will share the emails w/you. BTW, I cc'd Elizabeth on the correspondence and asked for an explanation as well as noted Tracey being evasive.

Thinkhappy at live com
Please - nobody spam me ;-) I get enough!

HippieGirl · Jan 25, 2009

Gunshark,
If you are blessed with a response, please share it

Giant Baby · Jan 25, 2009

HippieGirl said:
...Please - nobody spam me ;-) I get enough!

Most spamming is done via bot these days, HippieGirl.

Just edit your post, put a space between all words, and change the "@" to "at".

Human types will understand. Bots won't. You'll minimize your spam enormously.

Jackson76 · Jan 25, 2009

you guys are really motivated to take this agency down a notch. why the hostility about an agency that you have no connection to?

Giant Baby · Jan 25, 2009

Jackson76 said:
you guys are really motivated to take this agency down a notch. why the hostility about an agency that you have no connection to?

Assumptious.

M.R.J. Le Blanc · Jan 25, 2009

Jackson76 said:
you guys are really motivated to take this agency down a notch. why the hostility about an agency that you have no connection to?

If they're doing something sneaky or otherwise unreputable, people should know. Wouldn't you want to know whether an agency's up to par or not?

HippieGirl · Jan 25, 2009

I'm not out to get any agency or take them down a notch. However, I think it is completely inappropriate for a literary agency to forward a writer to a self-publisher on the pretense of the publisher being "trusted" and giving the author the hope to be represented by the agent. I would imagine that many new authors take that ball and run with it without knowing anything more than the fact that a "reputable" literary agency referred them and thought it would take them one step closer to publishing.

What I can't understand, Jackson, is why it wouldn't bother someone. If you are a querying writer, then you know that every query is an opportunity, and how frustrating it is to receive no response, much less receive a hopeful one that really equates to nothing more than an avenue you've already not chosen to follow

Sorry, but if you saw the nature of Tracey's email path, it was evasive yet obviously trying to impress upon me - or anyone - that going to Authorhouse could land them representation by Elizabeth Jote.

Jackson76 · Jan 25, 2009

M.R.J. Le Blanc said:
If they're doing something sneaky or otherwise unreputable, people should know. Wouldn't you want to know whether an agency's up to par or not?

well, they sell a lot of books to publishers, which is my main criteria. the rest of the stuff isn't important. my agent can do whatever they want in their free time as long as they sell my book.

Jackson76 · Jan 25, 2009

HippieGirl said:
I'm not out to get any agency or take them down a notch. However, I think it is completely inappropriate for a literary agency to forward a writer to a self-publisher on the pretense of the publisher being "trusted" and giving the author the hope to be represented by the agent. I would imagine that many new authors take that ball and run with it without knowing anything more than the fact that a "reputable" literary agency referred them and thought it would take them one step closer to publishing.

What I can't understand, Jackson, is why it wouldn't bother someone. If you are a querying writer, then you know that every query is an opportunity, and how frustrating it is to receive no response, much less receive a hopeful one that really equates to nothing more than an avenue you've already not chosen to follow

Sorry, but if you saw the nature of Tracey's email path, it was evasive yet obviously trying to impress upon me - or anyone - that going to Authorhouse could land them representation by Elizabeth Jote.

I know what you are saying. It just seems like there is a lot of intense speculation (and wasted effort) on trying to take this agency down, when in all likelihood it seems like this wasn't even sanctioned by the principals of the agency. My advice is that people should spend their time focusing on the positive query responses instead of this type of stuff. That is what I do.

Karen Duvall · Jan 25, 2009

Jackson76 said:
well, they sell a lot of books to publishers, which is my main criteria. the rest of the stuff isn't important. my agent can do whatever they want in their free time as long as they sell my book.

Even if you had to spend thousands of dollars self-publishing and promoting said book just so they'll think you're worth their time to represent? That's not how it's supposed to work. That's just... wrong.

HippieGirl · Jan 25, 2009

Jackson76 said:
I know what you are saying. It just seems like there is a lot of intense speculation (and wasted effort) on trying to take this agency down, when in all likelihood it seems like this wasn't even sanctioned by the principals of the agency. My advice is that people should spend their time focusing on the positive query responses instead of this type of stuff. That is what I do.

I see your point, however, it was sanctioned. My email and query was forwarded from Elizabeth Jote directly to Tracey Ravenelle.

Usually, a negative response is what it is. But this is not right. You mentioned that all you care about is that they sell books. Well, that may be true, but that is not ALL they do at this point

BTW - I'm not "taking them down". I came to AW to check the Bewares area about them when I received Tracey's email. The fact that several people are being referred to Authorhouse or iuniverse made their inappropriate act come to light. Obviously, had I received a positive response from them, this thread might not have come up. But I think it's important for me to find out what they mean when they say they are referring me to a publisher. A more reputable agent may have really meant that they were trying to sell the idea of my book to a publisher - GREAT! So as you can see, clarification was necessary.

In general - I agree - if they're scammy - move on and move forward

Jackson76 · Jan 25, 2009

Karen Duvall said:
Even if you had to spend thousands of dollars self-publishing and promoting said book just so they'll think you're worth their time to represent? That's not how it's supposed to work. That's just... wrong.

no, but they have lots of real clients who they don't require self publish.

everyone knows that self publishing is pointless 99% of the time, so obviously that isn't the way to go.

[Agency] Objective Entertainment

Ms. Jem

Love, Lust and Ghosts

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

nevada

Ms. Jem

Love, Lust and Ghosts

Ms. Jem

Love, Lust and Ghosts

The Gunshark

BenPanced

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

nevada

BenPanced

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

The Gunshark

Giant Baby

Oh, the humanity.

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess

The Gunshark

HippieGirl

HippieGirl

Giant Baby

Oh, the humanity.

Jackson76

Giant Baby

Oh, the humanity.

M.R.J. Le Blanc

aka Sadistic Mistress Mi-chan

HippieGirl

Jackson76

Jackson76

Karen Duvall

Chalice the Hatchet Knight

HippieGirl

Jackson76