[Agency] The Wordsmith's Forge (Bill Jeffrey)

Is there a web site associated with this "publisher"? "agent"?

Help us out here.

There's this: http://www.myspace.com/wordsmithsforge
and this http://wordsmithsforge.com/
Neither of which fill me with confidence

The standard questions apply. What qualifies Mr Jeffrey to be an agent and what has he sold?

Well, whoever he is, he doesn't seem to know the difference between "annuals," which are plants that bloom once, and "annals," which are chronicles or collections of stories, facts. Certainly doesn't give one confidence.

Actually, annuals tend to bloom continuously through a long summer season, whereas many perennials bloom only once. The difference is that the annuals die over the winter in a given climate, hence lasting in the garden only one "year." Note: Annuals may be perennials in the warmer climates of their origin.

Just being annoying pedantic. But an "annuals"/"annals" gaff would put me off, too. To what extent would depend on how many books the agent has sold, and how well. If he's a firecracker, he can call my marigolds anything he wants.



The Wordsmithsforge website confused me. Is it offering to put work up in audio form? I tried to look further into the site, but got error messages for all but the home page.

Another thought: "Annual" can also refer to a once-a-year publication. I'm not sure, though, that this is what the website refers to.

Yes, what I probably should have said is simply that annuals die in the winter and perennials don't.

Bill Jeffery

This man is at best a 'time waster' and at worst a charlatan. I had the misfortune of sending him my MS back in January. I have made a complaint to Publishing Irelnd regarding his work, or rather his lack of it. Luckily, I have now got a proper agent but Jeffery is likely to discourage any writer who happens to cross his path. My advice is steer well clear.