[Agent] Arnold Gosewich

From his website:

"I combine self-publishing and self-marketing because they are in fact joined at the hip with a goal to reach the widest market – while controlling the development and use of the manuscript."

Doesn't sound like a literary agent to me.

also this:

"I DO stay away from fiction or any kind. No disrespect meant but I am better at non-fiction because of my network of contacts. I DO also see better financial opportunities with mid-sized to large publishers in North America generally. I DO make an EXCEPTION for Young Adult Novels geared for readers over the age of ten."

so unless your novel that he's interested in is YA, that sounds a bit fishy too.

To be honest, we can't advise at this stage. You need to see if you get to a point where he actually offers you representation. At that point, there are a number of things that you will need to discuss with him:

1. Where does he plan to send the novel to?

2. What your career aspirations are and whether/how he can help to deliver on them.

3. How he works with his authors - e.g. does he do a lot of active editing or does he only want completed, polished manuscripts.

4. Whether his self-publishing consultancy is having any impact on the time he devotes to agenting.

They're all legitimate questions and it's better to have the conversation and make a decision based on the same. In the meantime, while he might be showing interest I don't think that should stop you from continuing to query other agents for the time being - it's always better to have too many offers on the table than none at all.

MM

xcomplex said:

Well, MM, thanks! That is actually the case and I happen to be meeting with him to look over the agreement this weekend because we are located close. Are there any other questions I should ask? Is there a list posted somewhere on here? Thank you so much for your help!

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There's a really good list here: http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/10+Questions+To+Ask+An+Agent+Before+You+Sign.aspx

Good luck!

I know Arnold

I have experience with Arnold, and there are a few good reasons why P&E has him listed as not recommended.



I’m uncomfortable giving the information in the open, but for those who’d like it, I’ll give it privately.

One Time Visitor said:

I have experience with Arnold, and there are a few good reasons why P&E has him listed as not recommended.



I’m uncomfortable giving the information in the open, but for those who’d like it, I’ll give it privately.

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Please link me if possible.

One Time Visitor said:

I have experience with Arnold, and there are a few good reasons why P&E has him listed as not recommended.



I’m uncomfortable giving the information in the open, but for those who’d like it, I’ll give it privately.

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I'd like to see that information as well if you don't mind.

E. S. Lark said:

I'd like to see that information as well if you don't mind.

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Can you please share that private info with me?

One Time Visitor said:

I have experience with Arnold, and there are a few good reasons why P&E has him listed as not recommended.



I’m uncomfortable giving the information in the open, but for those who’d like it, I’ll give it privately.

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Arnold has recently become my agent. I'd appreciate it if you could share your info with me.

I'm always leery of information that cannot be shared on the board.

I don't care for it when an agent/publisher wants to take stuff off line and I'm not sure I like it when someone speaks against an agent/publisher but wants to take it off line.

Any information should be able to stand the observation of the board, pro or con.

There's reasons for this, Richard. Many newer writers are afraid of somehow being blacklisted. And as our friends at TWA have proved, there's always the possibility of a fake-but-expensive libel suit. I've asked for information off-forum, and been careful to keep it to myself. Only when the violations become chronic and really-well known do I say Names in public.

Did anyone ever find out what the possible issues with this agent are?

I'm going to respectfully disagree (but you knew I would ).

This board's practices are for publishers and agents to post their answers here mainly to avoid the "that's not what I said in my e-mail" effect. You can't debate what's being said in private and there's no way to compare a specific incident against consistent behavior if all the discussion is being hidden in e-mails.

Conversely, it's easy for a "one-time poster" to sneak in, post something mysterious - "I have information that I'll only share off line, but this (agent/publisher/writer/whomever) is not to be trusted."

Why should the board believe anything like this? Does this person really have information that should be shared to keep other people from signing with someone who might be bad for their career? Or are they someone who's disgruntled, who's being a troll, etc.? We can't know, because it's all hidden in the PM/e-mail channels.

We can't really ask a publisher to be upfront about their practices and then allow posters to say stuff about someone and keep it hidden. That's not fair.

Plus, blacklists do not exist.

Filigree said:

There's reasons for this, Richard. Many newer writers are afraid of somehow being blacklisted. And as our friends at TWA have proved, there's always the possibility of a fake-but-expensive libel suit. I've asked for information off-forum, and been careful to keep it to myself. Only when the violations become chronic and really-well known do I say Names in public.

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Reasons for it? Yeah. But that doesn't mean that it's the "correct" or the professional thing to do.

Some among us are trying to make a living at this. Agents as well as writers. How can we as writers worry about a secret cabal of agents "blacklisting us" and then turn right around and create that secret cabal ourselves?

Don't you understand how "private" accusations and undocumented allegations can look like exactly the sort of blacklisting that you claim to fear?

Richard White said:

Any information should be able to stand the observation of the board, pro or con.

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I know that's what I come here for: information. And when I was worried about an agent, I posted his name on this board and asked questions, for which I received answers. And I even considered not stating what I thought the trouble was --- but how helpful is that? So I shared my concerns, got some validation from some pros, and now that information is here for others.

A quote from one of his responses to a writer: "The long and short of it is that in order for me to become interested or not I need to first read the full manuscript – and I charge a fee for that. Should I then become your Agent the agreement includes your recovering the fee cost from my commission that I would earn on the royalties you would earn from the publication of your book. A 55,000 word manuscript is usually charged out as fee based on 2 cents a word – or in your case $1,100. That is likely too much for you so I am prepared to discount it down to $900 plus GST. You would provide a deposit of $700 plus GST with the balance paid on completion of a Marketing Assessment Report by me. This Report that we would review in a meeting is the strategy I would need to use to find an acceptable publisher and editor to purchase rights to publish your book. My focus will be with US publishers since the theme of your story is not Canadian. I will include however some Canadian publishers in my search."

I believe that explains why P&E doesn't recommend him, but draw your own conclusions.

catkin:
Arnold has recently become my agent. I'd appreciate it if you could share your info with me.

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Hi, catkin, and welcome to AW. Did Arnold ask you for any fee to read your manuscript?

MM

Thanks a bunch, Dave. Curious minds have seen all they need to. And then some.

I'm sorry. I forgot about this entry. According to someone up there, the fact I didn't want to post openly smacks of sneaky. All right. I've been called worse than sneaky, and by better people who actually know me.

You know what it is, not everybody likes to say bad things about people in public, even if the things are true. Ineffective agents tell on themselves though.

Six years ago, when I was new to writing books, Arnold offered me rep after reading only half my YA manuscript. He never did read the entire thing and wasn't afraid to say so. He said the work didn't need editing in his opinion, but if it did, an editor would do it all after acquisition. He had me write a non-fiction book proposal for a work of fiction. He didn't read that either. He submitted the book to a publisher of how-to manuals. I know that from the list he sent me when we parted ways. He submitted to the same editor twice. He sent me the second rejection shortly after the first. The editor was as confused about the repeat sub as I was. When Arnold ran out of first and second tier publishers, he asked me to start looking, and send him the names. I did.

It goes on, but you get it, you can see the signs of an inexperienced agent.

I'm not saying "don't trust Arnold he's a very very bad man." I'm saying that for me, he wasn't great. Maybe other people will have better luck with him than I did. I hope so.

And if after I post this it has huge spaces between my paragraphs, I don't know why. :-(

I'll likely forget about this now again. I'm not being sneaky. I just get around so many places I forget where I've been. And I've been called that. Lol.

Thanks for posting, One Time. That is very useful information.

catkin said:

Arnold has recently become my agent. I'd appreciate it if you could share your info with me.

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Hi -- I've just joined this Board and its forums, specifically because I'd like to find out more about Gosewich. Catkin, I see your post is from 2011 -- can you update or share your experience(s) with him as your agent? Thanks so much.

He says he will consider representing YA for ages 9-18. YA is for children 13-14 plus. Not to say a bit younger won't READ YA, but it is mostly geared to teens in subject matter and style.
I don't know if he is still charging that massive reading fee but it's likely better spent on a good portion of what a decent freelance Editor would charge... to Edit, not just read. Agents read, that's a major part of their job, they don't charge for it.
Clients listed appear to have self published or "published" BY self publish presses (other then Anne Murray which I can't figure out.. she wouldn't need an Agent up here in Canada, to find an interested large publisher)