Agents/Publishers

I believe an agent is required for a good deal, a faster read, and can serve as a great critter of your work. Many other perks, too. I wouldn't be without one. Not today.

PA is an author mill--they're a middle-man printer. Not much more than that.

Tri

Agents are necessary if you want to get your manuscript read by the big publishers.

No, I do not consider PA a legimate publisher. Not even a little bit, not at all, not by any stretch of the imagination.

To your first question, yes...an agent is a very good idea.
To your second, no. Stay far away from PA. Even outside of AW circles, I've heard nothing but horror stories from people (IRL) about them.

Never AN agent. Only THE agent. And NO agent is better than AN agent based on my experiences both in Hollywood and with book lit. agents.

www.donaldmichaelplatt.com

I like how, if I answer "YES" I consider that I need an Agent, I'm also saying "YES" I consider PublishAmerica a real publisher. That's a little disingenuous, don't you think?

PeeDee said:

I like how, if I answer "YES" I consider that I need an Agent, I'm also saying "YES" I consider PublishAmerica a real publisher. That's a little disingenuous, don't you think?

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Pssst, the first answer is YES/NO, not YES/YES. It snagged me for a bit also until I had my "doh!" moment. The second poll answer confuses the heck out of me, though. I am still waiting on a "doh!" moment there for full comprehension.




-Michelle

No, no, I've made up my mind and will not be dissuaded from my judgment.



(hmph...)

I haven't had my tea yet. I have just this moment woken up. Give me a break.

This is another Yes on #1 and No to destroy the Russians polls, yes?

No?

I'm confused. Agent = Yes. Publish America = rabies. There, that's my answer.

Keith said:

Anyway, if anyone knows the name of an agent, all I really am interested in is someone who will ACTUALLY read what I send them.

Peace
Keith

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I know the name of lots of agents. Did you have a specific genre in mind? There are plenty of websites that help you research that, like agentquery.com for instance, or Preditors and Editors.

By the way, never EVER ask anyone on here for a list of agents. Some of the people here get all testy about that if they think you're not doing your own research and are trying to steal all their good work.

Keith said:

Anyway, if anyone knows the name of an agent, all I really am interested in is someone who will ACTUALLY read what I send them.

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Go to Agentquery.com and search for agents who represent your genre.

Query them. Wait for a response. Some will reject you, others may ask to read material.

Send them the requested material.

This is the only method I know of that guarantees the agent will read what you've sent them.

Keith said:

I've done that & I understand, shadow ferret, that you spend a lot of time, just exactly what I DON'T have a lot of, researching agents and I do not want to STEAL anyone's WORK, however if A WRITER has an agent who is legitimate and responds ONLY to the content of the material, how then could I, or anyone else, STEAL that agent (from them).

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This just gave me a headache. If I understood what you just said, I could respond - but . . . Did you say you simply don't have time to research agents?

PeeDee said:

No, no, I've made up my mind and will not be dissuaded from my judgment.



(hmph...)

I haven't had my tea yet. I have just this moment woken up. Give me a break.

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Actually, now that I look at it more (and more awake), I think your first impression was correct. The poll isn't really the sort of poll in which you click on the poll options apparently, but just one that must be answered by Replies. That explains the oddness of the "Why?" option.

I need more tea to wake up as well....




-Michelle

You've spend hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours working on your novel. It's worth it to invest several more hours researching agents so your novel has a fighting chance to succeed. Don't be minute-wise, hour-foolish.

Agent

Every last agent I've ever know reads everything that comes in. This doesn't mean they like it, and it doesn't even mean they read past page one. It does mean they read until the writer gives them a reason to stop reading. It means they read until they know it's something they do not want to handle.

Agents earn their living by selling the work of writers, and pretty much every agent must find new, good writers in order to stay in business. So they do read what comes in.

As for PublishAmerica, it's a scam, and a bad one. I never have understood how so many fall for what is obviously a horrible, horrible method of being "published." Just write them off, and move on to a legitimate publisher.

As for time, it's what you make of it. No one finds time to do anything. We make the time, and we all have twenty-four hours in a day. How we use these hours is always a choice.

Keith said:

I've done that & I understand, shadow ferret, that you spend a lot of time, just exactly what I DON'T have a lot of, researching agents and I do not want to STEAL anyone's WORK, however if A WRITER has an agent who is legitimate and responds ONLY to the content of the material, how then could I, or anyone else, STEAL that agent (from them).

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I think you misunderstood me, Keith, and I apologize for being flippant.

I simply meant that you shouldn't expect us to point you to an agent. You need to do that research, just as we all have done that research. Its all part and parcel of this whole wanting to be a writer gig.

There are some members of this board, in fact, who get angry at the thought of a writer NOT doing the research and expecting other members here to simply give them their agent research gratis.

Agentquery.com is an excellent resource. Simply put in your genre and VOILA! It shows you the agents that handle it. Then, if you are so inclined, you can go to Editors and Preditors to check and see if those agents are legit.

ETA:

Keith said:

You're right, I got no time for agents BECAUSE in the past it proved fruitless, they never answered me, EXCEPT to ask for money to read something. BUT, if YOU, or anyone else, HAS, or has heard of a legitimate agent who represents the work and is interested in the work only, why would you not want to pass that on?

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If they are asking for money, they aren't LEGIT! Do a google search for Editors and PReditors and it'll direct you to their website which provides info on good, bad and indifferent agents.

*cough* Um. If they ask for money, they're not legit.

Generally, one doesn't have to "pass around" legit agents, because they're not precious commodities or super special secrets. I mean, there's the Donald Maass agency, there's...you know. Other agencies.

Find an author whose book is most like yours. Find out who their agent is. Start there.

EDIT: Or go to Agentquery.com. Do Ferret's bidding. Yes. Yes.

Keith said:

Midnight Muse,

You're right, I got no time for agents BECAUSE in the past it proved fruitless, they never answered me, EXCEPT to ask for money to read something. BUT, if YOU, or anyone else, HAS, or has heard of a legitimate agent who represents the work and is interested in the work only, why would you not want to pass that on?

Peace,
Keith

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I did do some research, and I have found quite a few who will read the work, I *cough* posted them at agentquery.com

Help yourself, I won't mind at all, even if you query one I've used

Keith said:

Midnight Muse,

You're right, I got no time for agents BECAUSE in the past it proved fruitless, they never answered me, EXCEPT to ask for money to read something. BUT, if YOU, or anyone else, HAS, or has heard of a legitimate agent who represents the work and is interested in the work only, why would you not want to pass that on?

Peace,
Keith

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What's with all the CAPS? It makes your post sound sarcastic.

I'll third (or fourth, whatever number I end up) looking on agentquery.com. Really, you can do this in about an hour. Find agents in your genre, go to their websites, look at what they've sold (no sales is usually a bad sign, but a new agent at a big house might not have any sales and be perfectly legit), look them up at Preditors and Editors, google their names.

It's not that hard, or time consuming. Just put an hour into it, and you'll likely come out with ten agents to query. It's a start.

What is hard is throwing an agent name out for you, because we don't know what kinds of books you write. Agents tend to specialize. I could suggest Kristin Nelson, but I have absolutely no idea if you write the types of books she tends to sell.

Perhaps I'm missunderstanding you - Are you asking for agents who will read your manuscript cold, without first sending them a stellar query and getting requests for partials or fulls?

We're trying to fully understand your question, and help you fully understand our answers.

Why does HE get an hour? *I* could use an hour...!

Oh by the way, have you checked out the Publish America threads on this board? There are some good tips there on how to get out of your contract, if that is what you want. Good luck!