Can't we just have an area for recommended agents?

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dinicthus

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Instead of having to search through 20,000 threads to find recommended agents, and another 30,000 to find bad ones, why not just make a list of each?

That is more up to date than the ones now on the internet?
 

Kasey Mackenzie

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What Stacia said. Narrowing down a list of agents and/or publishers appropriate for you and your work is a crucial and necessary step in the process. There just aren't any shortcuts--nor do I think there should be. You learn a lot about the industry by doing research (having my first book just release at the end of June, I can say without hesitation that this is true and I knew a LOT of what to expect about the whole process before I even signed with my agent or got my sale) and one person's "dream" agent is another person's "just not right for me" agent.
 

Momento Mori

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Well the idea of the forum isn't to tell you which agents/publishers to query, it's to back up research that you've already done on possible agents/publishers to query by alerting you to pitfalls/response times/other information.

That's why there's an index at the top of the Forum to enable people to find agents/publishers where we already have information (and thereby enable people to post asking for updates or add new points) so that people don't have to wade through pages and pages (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=792).

MM
 

miamyselfandi

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I think a lot of us go here to do some research:
http://www.agentquery.com/

Then come to Absolute Write to do additional background checks.


I have found a number of listings at AQ for agents who rep fantasy--who don't, in fact, rep fantasy. Is this typical there of all genres?

Anyway, it's a good place to begin, but doublecheck everything at querytracker and here before actually querying would be my advice.
 

Miss Plum

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Some of the best agents in the biz don't take unsolicited queries anyway. At Predators & Editors, Binky Urban is "Very Highly Recommended" -- but try snagging a read from her!
 

CACTUSWENDY

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Also keep in mind. If we had a list like that and someone turned out to be a bad agent/publisher that might make for bad feelings with the AW family. It's better to research on your own and take responsibility for your choices.
 

Phaeal

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Ditto all the above.

My own standard route:

-- Agent Query and Query Tracker to make up preliminary lists of agents who accept my genre. From these, I extract the basic information for my database.

-- On to Publisher's Marketplace for more detailed information. At some point, you'll find a subscription to this resource very useful, even if only for a couple months.

-- On to the agent's or agency's own site. If there's a conflict of information between the agent's site and other sites, I go with the agent's site.

-- On to AW and Bewares and Recs.

Now my database is packed with info, and I'm ready to make my own ranking of the agents based on what I have to offer and what the agents seem to offer and prefer and how sturdy their sales records are.

Lots of work? Hell, yes. Making my ranked database was a part-time job for several months. But learning to be a professional isn't supposed to be easy.
 
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Stew21

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Instead of searching through all 50,000 threads for the good and/or the bad, come up with a list of agents on your own, do a search on them here and see what you find out.

BRBC is not a "find an agent to query" tool. It's an "additional information on agents you are interested in querying" tool.
 

Susan Coffin

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Oh, as an addition to my post above, I love the Bewares section of this forum, which lists agents and publishers to avoid. Other people's experience can be invaluable. Read, listen and learn.
 

Darzian

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Lots of work? Hell, yes. Making my ranked database was a part-time job for several months. But learning to be a professional isn't supposed to be easy.

+1
 

BenPanced

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Instead of searching through all 50,000 threads for the good and/or the bad, come up with a list of agents on your own, do a search on them here and see what you find out.

BRBC is not a "find an agent to query" tool. It's an "additional information on agents you are interested in querying" tool.
This[sup]10[/sup]. There are plenty of excellent resources online that provide much, much more information on agents and publishers than seen here. That information is updated and maintained by a dedicated staff; AW simply doesn't have the time, space, logistics, and resources these sites do.
 
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