Greeting from a Newbie!

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Cheryll

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Hello! I'm a new poster here and I'm wondering if anyone has heard of Allred and Allred Literary Agency.

I'm a novelist actively seeking an agent for the Christian publishing market. I queried this agency via mail and they have requested part of my manuscript. I found them listed in the Christian Writers' Market Guide for 2005, and it says they have been in business since 1991 and are taking Christian fiction. But I can't find ANYTHING on them with google or anywhere else for any sales or authors they represent.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Blessings,

Cheryll
 

WriteRead

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HI, Cheryll!

It's intersting what you say, b/c when I gave it a looksee in the Writer's Market 2005, the agency was listed in the index w an "ED" annotation beside it and no page no., of course.

Such entries in the index say that the entry appeared in 2004 but it doesn't appear in the '05 directory, and the reason for the omition, as encoded by these annotations, but w/o further explanation.

ED says - Editorial Decision.

I would conclude that they blew it, somehow.

Now it's your turn to decide if it's worthwhile to continue w them. I'd be cautious, at least. I'd be not shy of asking them why they don't appear in the WM. They can tell you, I presume, "Dear lady, go and ask them, it's not our business", but this will make them even more suspicious in my eyes.

You can contact WM (www.writersmarket.com), if this is of much importance to you, and ask them, though I doubt if they'll disclose to you, a perfect stranger to the business aspect of the issue, the reason for omitting them.

Good luck,

Dan
 
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ldumont999

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WriteRead said:
CHERYL WROTE: It's intersting what you say, b/c when I gave it a looksee in the Writer's Market 2005, the agency was listed in the index w an "ED" annotation beside it and no page no., of course.

Such entries in the index say that the entry appeared in 2004 but it doesn't appear in the '05 directory, and the reason for the omition, as encoded by these annotations, but w/o further explanation.

ED says - Editorial Decision.

I would conclude that they blew it, somehow.

I have to respectfully disagree with Dan. I checked Sally Stuart's Christian Market Guide and it says that Allred & Allre Literary Agents are a "new and not yet recognized in the industry" agency. That simply means that they have not yet made a name for themselves. They are in Sally's 2005 directory and their fee is only 10% - which is reasonable considering they aren't overly established. Most agents charge 15%.

Being that they are new, you should consider a few things.
CON: They may not have the connections other agencies have within the industry and they may not be experienced enough to get you the best book deal.
PRO: On the other hand, this agency realizes they are new and they want new writers to take a chance on them. They accept new authors and they charge a lesser fee to compensate. This sounds legit to me.

If you want to know more about them, you should ask them. If they balk, a red flag goes up. If they answer willingly, you can check into what they said. When you call them, mention that Sally's book says they are a new agency but that you realize they may have years of experience within the publishing industry. These guys may have worked for Broadman & Holman, Bethany, Zondervan or any of the "big ones". They may know dozens and dozens of editors at other houses (editors change publishers like the rest of us change our socks ;)). Ask them where in the publishing world they worked before they opened their agency and how many years they were there. Ask the same questions of each agent within the agency. Also ask them if they've written anything that has been published. That is often the case with editors who turn agent. These are not unreasonable questions.

IMHO this agency should not be discounted so quickly. (We all have to start somewhere.) If you feel more comfortable with a large established agency, you can always try one of them first and if you get rejected, you can go back here.

BTW, my agent, Janet Kobobel Grant (Books and Such Agency), is a PEACH!
God bless,
 
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WriteRead

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Yeah, there's a saying "The tongue has no bones", meaning it can move wherever we want. In this case, the tongue was the keyboard, but it's the modern equivalent of it, nowadays, LOL.

Thanks for the compliment. It's b/c He is w me alwyas and I try to listen. It's not like I always succeed
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, but hey, if we succeeded, we'd've been angels before long, wouldn't we?

All we're asked to do is try, try, try to behave Godly, that's all. No one is really expecting us to succeed all the time, understandably; we're only humans and he's the only one who doesn't sin, so...
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God Bless,

Dan
 

Cheryll

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P & E Listing for Allred and Allred

P & E gives them a "not recommended" status. Hmmmm...

I would think that if they've been in business since 1991, you could find SOME kind of information on titles sold or authors they represent.

Also, they included this in their submission guidelines letter:

~ We have stopped listing our phone number because writers have called dozens of times just to talk about their project before we could even finish reading it. If we don't recognize a phone number on our call screening program we don't pick up the call. When we ask people to contact us we will answer their screened call, or use another phone line. ~

Does this strike anyone else as strange? There's no email contact information either. The only way you can contact them is via mail.


Cheryll
 
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Cheryll

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Janet Kobobel Grant

ldumont999 said:
BTW, my agent, Janet Kobobel Grant (Books and Such Agency), is a PEACH!
God bless,

Louise: I enjoyed browsing through your website! Ms. Grant is definately on my list of desirable agents. I know she has an excellent reputation. After querying her, she sent me a very nice letter telling me that she really liked the premise of my novel but that she wasn't taking on any new authors or projects at this time. She seems very approachable. I plan on querying her again if I don't find representation in the next few months.

Cheryll
 
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