My understanding about PMA is that it is a company under which various agents work, Peter Miller being only the company head and most well-known, but all of the agents, or "associates" who work for the company have equal say and power to make decisions about clients they wish to represent. Peter Miller often refers potential clients to other agents at PMA because he either likes the premise of the work, but is too busy himself to take on another project, or simply because he may feel the project would be better suited to the tastes of one of the other agents. I had a similar experience when my project was passed on to Kelly Skillen, but my understanding is that Kelly has placed at least three sales with major publishers in the last few months. Plus, every time I have inquired as to my project's status, she has been gracious and courteous to me, as have all the staff there.
I did have some initial reservations. Not many people seem to have heard of the agency, despite a presumably thirty-year track record. But I've checked up on all their claims, and all their credits appear to be legit. Plus, as many of you know by now, Liam Jackson's novel is represented by Ms. Skillen.
But to get back to the original question, I do believe sincerely they are legit (otherwise, I would not be working with them) and I don't think the practice of referring potential clients to other agents who work for the agency is anything to be suspicious or alarmed about. I know that, even though I submitted a 1300 page manuscript, at no time has any type of "editing service" been mentioned; instead, Ms. Skillen has allowed me the courtesy of making my own edits, according to my own judgment, at my own pace. She's never been obtrusive with ideas for cuts, etc. She seems to truly believe in the project, and its merit. I guess my only real complaint is the seemingly endless delay of just getting it in front of publishers. I was wondering if any of you have had similar experiences with this agency, or others, and is this really something to be unduly concerned about?