Paul J. Zack Literary Agency

No rating on P&E, but that could simply mean they've never received any comments either way on the agency (as in nothing bad, but nothing good either). He doesn't specify which houses he worked as an editor at which is strange, and his claim that he's also a published author kind of sets off my writer-turned-agent flag which usually translates to bad news. I don't know if there are agents though that have written in the past but are still good agents, so I'm not making a determination either way with this guy, but that's always been a warning sign in the past. Agency started last year, no sales that I can find. Not listed on AgentQuery. Based on lack of info, I'd give this guy a pass for the time being.

Mr. Zack claims to have worked at "two publishing houses" but he doesn't say which ones. He also claims to be a published author, but he doesn't mention titles and I can find nothing on Amazon. There's no reason not provide this information. Claims you can't verify are worthless.

There's no evidence of sales for this agency.

Caution would seem to be in order.

- Victoria

Has anyone had contact with this agency?

No hits in Amazon.Com which raises a red flag. Usually for established agents, they have a giant footprint on Amazon.
What's even more worrisome is that on his webpage under the recent sales section, "under construction", glaring stared at me: http://www.zackliterary.com/recentsales.html
Still no $ on P&E, http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pealp.htm

Does anybody have info on this new agency?

No recent sales?

None????

Sales would be first page I'd have up with links to all my writers and all the books I've sold.

As there don't seem to BE any sales it rather follows this person hasn't made any.

Back away slowly and find someone with visible sales, writers you've heard of, and books that are in the stores.

Go to websites of writers with books like yours. See if they mention who reps for them.

if not, then a short polite e-mail might help. "Dear __ I'm an aspiring writer looking for an agent and was hoping you might recommend one." If your a fan, say something nice about their books. A little egoboo can't hurt.

Oftentimes, Googling on the author's name plus the words "represented by" (in quotes) will bring up the agent's name.

James D. Macdonald said:

Oftentimes, Googling on the author's name plus the words "represented by" (in quotes) will bring up the agent's name.

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I tried that with several variants and found next to nothing.

Caution definitely advised.

There is a Paul James Zack, born 1956, who wrote under the pseudonym Paul James.

Melody of the eagle
Milwaukee : Gardenia Press, 2000

About the Author
Paul James is a new voice in American fiction, bringing to life his vision of the eternal cadence between a man and a woman, and the universal chords of unfulfilled longing. Over time, he's had such diverse occupations as radio announcer, cowboy humorist and teacher, while gathering and developing his rare perception of the human experience. An accomplished artist and photographer, Paul lives in the midwest, where he works as an advertising and speaking consultant.

One new client can be found here. Interesting that the product description of Zack's novel calls it a "women's commercial fiction novel," and this client used the phrase "women’s fiction novel" in her query.

I wish her the best of luck.

Oftentimes, when someone makes a bizarre general statement, they're really talking about themselves. When I read in her blog entry:

He’s in Illinois, not New York, and when I asked if he uses connections he made in his previous positions in publishing to get his authors in print, he said he doesn’t believe that matters. If the book is not good, it won’t matter who your friends in publishing are – it won’t get published. If it is good, it will.

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I can't help wondering if what he's trying to say isn't that relationships aren't important, but that he personally doesn't have any relationships.

It's true as far as it goes that a good relationship won't sell a bad book. It doesn't matter if you were the best man at the editor's wedding, you can't sell a stinker.

On the other hand, an agent shouldn't be shopping stinkers around. And if a highly commercial book falls into his hands, it would be good if he knew right away which of a dozen editors would be best for this book and this author.

If the book is not good, it won’t matter who your friends in publishing are – it won’t get published. If it is good, it will..

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None of this is true, but especially the second part.