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Sounds like it's an agency to help the agents find authors?... what the! Wonder how he/she decides an author is qualified (the author's cheque has cleared?:)

Desperate people will pay for anything. Even something you can do for free. (Like querying.)

Ah, found her site and she has I guess lumped editors and agents together in a mass emailing.
Agents pay nothing.....

>I help you build your business at no cost to you so you can spend more time with higher quality authors that are prepared and want to work with you to get published.<

because on the authors page, they pay $1000!!!
This is no "eharmony" site... everyone pays to play there:)

While this does sound sickening rip off of naive writers there is a similarity here to illustrators portfolio sites. The artist posts samples for small and or large (over $1000)yearly fee's and editors/art directors/clients are free to look for talent as needed.
It works for illustrators, could it actually work for authors if it were set up for editors to be able to read first pages (or even just queries) on such a site?

EA, you shouldn't go with the first author-agent hookup service you find. It's a rapidly expanding field and not all of the agentagencies are legitimate. That's why I founded FindThePerfectAuthorAgentServiveForYou.com. You can register for free, answer a few questions, and then get instantly to a service that's perfect for you, whether you are an author looking for an agency to help you find an agent, an agent looking for an agency to help you meet new authors, or even a traditional author-agent agency looking for both authors and agents. All major credit cards are accepted.

All the agents I know have their information (what they are looking for, how to submit, etc) readily available on their websites. FOR FREE.

It saddens me that so many authors feel like there are shortcuts or loopholes, and are so eager to find them that they get taken advantage of.

christine tripp said...

"Wonder how he/she decides an author is qualified (the author's cheque has cleared?:)"

thanks for making me crack up!!

Warning! The Find the Perfect...commenter links to a phishing site.

'Servive'? If you can't spell your own URL...

Thanks for the alert about the phishing site! I've deleted the comment in question.

Are you sure that comment linked to a phishing site? I thought it was a pretty funny joke, and obviously created specifically for this occasion. (If you didn't read it, it was a fake advertisement for a service to help people choose an agency-searching service. In other words, taking the middleman absurdity one step further.)

As everyone knows, children's books are a snap to write. Publishing is merely a matter of knowing the right people. All Rowling needed for her contract were a few sentences scrawled on a napkin from her local coffee house. Services like the one EA discusses simply help put all of those great writers with pockets full of clever (albeit coffee-stained) ideas in contact with the publishers who will make them wealthy. Alternatively, many of these agencies can also help you get into the business of flipping real estate or assembling picture frames in the comfort of your own home for other ways to generate a six figure income.

I can see how this author would be apprehensive, even if there's no reason to. After spending time in the eeevil dreaded purgatory known as Queryland, it can be hard to trust that someone's actually finally connecting with your work. I wish her the best! And I also hope, for her sake, it's the real thing.

It sounds like my agent. But I know her well and I know her history, which is in film and TV. She is enthusiastic about the links between them, and knows some of the people there, due to her previous position at one of the biggest agencies around, which did multi-media pitches. (BTW I doubt this is the same agent as the one you're talking about).
So I think I'm saying that you should look into her background and see what experience she has.
And if she asks for upfront money - run.

It sounds like the two of them need to get to know each other better. The different pitches sound perfectly legit. That hook that sells a book is not always the hook that sells to the truly ADHD TVLand.

I'm with Kimber on this one. Queryland is...*eye roll*...painful at best. Unless you really know your agent, it might be hard to trust her/him.

Frankie

If she's pitching your story to film/TV and it ISN'T already sold in book form, then that makes no sense.

There's no telling if your ms will sell (in book form) until it does, because nothing is a sure thing.

How could the agent possibly sell the rights to it if it hasn't sold as a book yet? She can't, since she wouldn't be selling the "film rights," she'd be selling them your idea.

Maybe the person asking the question assumed she'd have to make a screenplay out of it before pitching? That was my first thought when reading it, just because I know so little about the film business. But what the agent is saying does make sense to me.

This whole thing does illustrate, though, how hard we can make it for ourselves sometimes. We read so much about the "fake agents" out there, just trying to learn how best to protect ourselves. We start to question nearly everything. We question the motives of very legitimate agents, and we question ourselves. It does make the whole "trust" thing take a lot longer to happen.

Look the agent up on Preditors and Editors

www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/

or google her on Absolute Write.

Love your post and how you explored the issue with the writer.

Very helpful! Thank you!

I'm with Anon 9:24. AFAIK, that's not the order you normally do things in.

I think communication is key here. Before accepting or backing out, I would make sure the author and agent understand what each other want and discuss plans in detail. It could just be a little confusion here, or there could be a bigger problem. It might be best to get more information first.

I don't see any reason to think the agent is a scammer but if you're unsure, do some research. It can never hurt.

Otherwise, that sounds exciting! Good luck!

Has this agent made any recent sales to major publishers? Does she represent other clients who write in your genre? Has she made previous TV/film deals?

The first thing I would do is contact a few of this agent's current clients. Find out how they like working with her. (And if this agent resists giving you their contact information, that's a red flag right there.)

Best of luck!

Great advice! Always good to do your homework. Search the internet, especially Preditors & Editors and Writer Beware. Google is your friend.

a) is the agent offering a contract? because b) if not, this is what's call "hip pocketing," more of a Hollywood term.

Crucially, is this a high concept idea idea? (See, most bad movies with overly muscular men, men who sell their wives for a night to the highest bidder, or a tricky heist/suspense/cop idea with a clearly defined male protagonist that teenage boys will identity with & want to see over ove because he kills/blows up/fcuks his way through the movie at very high speeds.)

What it sounds like Lady Agent wants to do is submit the proposal on spec- without any additional work on it.

Author needs to ask WHERE the proposal is going out as a scenario type pitch: if Lady Agent plans to paper the town with it, writer's proposal is devalued in the long run. A targeted submission process - to a tight list of producers and studios would make a little more sense. Lady Agent is turning your book proposal into a film proposal that, sounds like, she's hinting will go out in an auction process. But this is kind of like winning the Lotto. Are you a gambler?

What people don't understand is that an "option" can be a wildly different thing: from 'free' to a little more than free. Why would you want to presell a book as a movie idea? More logically, if you're looking to build a career, you'll write/sell the book and let the film/tv process happen ... later.

This shouldn't dissaude you but in the excitement, you're not asking some necessary questions. And, as is printed on all the stationary at William Morris - or, was, before it became a periodic table element - "GET IT IN WRITING."

But last Anon -- you option a BOOK to film -- there isn't a book deal yet. So this agent is either putting the cart way before the horse or simply just doesn't know what she's doing.

You can "pitch" and idea to Hollywood and they might buy it (and then hire you to write the screenplay -- not book -- or hire someone else to write the screenplay). But...

1) Writers make such pitches, not agents and...

2) YOU would no longer own that idea/pitch, and would not be free to continue trying to sell it in manuscript form.

That the agent doesn't know that is scary. Schedule a conversation with the agent, find out what's going on.

@Anony 1:39, that is what I meant ie., optioning a book to film. You are correct: when I worked in development that was how it worked.

I should have clarified (pre-coffee comment, overwhlmed by anonymity): IDK of many books that have been optioned to film/tv before they were written.

The Godfather was developed with Paramount but that was in the early 70's & the film business was v. different. A producer / studio head (Robert Evans, I think) could purchase a property and do this sort of ass-backwards er, unconventional deal. Another deal that comes to mind is, 'Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,' that was funded by a Universal exec to extraordinary success - first, as a musical and then film.

In our multiplatform universe, I'm sure there are less visible properties that are developed this way. But, as JFaust pointed out last week, agents want to deal with ONE THING at a time.

For me, if this Lady Agent thinks this property is so viable, she would more logically help the author set up the book, then sell it to other media.

Yes, run. Your gut is always right and it wouldn't have asked the question if you didn't already know the answer.

Yes, agree that sometimes the deal is done backward, but this doesn't seem right. You are much better off doing the conventional way, getting your book sold and then selling the film rights.

It is too easy to have a high concept project ripped off if you let it loose in the industry. A book gives you more protection.

It sounds like my agent. But I know her well and I know her history, which is in film and TV.

I think the first warning bell should have been her holding on to the ms for a year while it was 'under consideration'. I've never hear of that length of time for something being 'under consideration', especially after revisions have already been done on it.

Instead of letting her (the editor) handle it again, perhaps the questioner should have have tried other publishers, first?

At least then you know it's not just one person's opinion, if it is consistently rejected with the same kind of comments.

My question may reveal just what a neophyte I am in the industry, but is it kosher for an editor (allegedly) affiliated with a publishing house to TAKE $ to privately edit someone's work? That was the first red-flag I saw. I mean, I know freelance editors do this, but I assumed staff ones only edited manuscripts cleared by the house first. Am I way off here?

Cammie, the answer to your question is a decisive NO, but in this case the editor in question reportedly left the publishing house and *then* established herself as a for-pay editor. Nothing wrong with that, if she had been legit.

Donna, I've had stuff at houses for that period of time. Also know friends who have as well at different houses. And I have an agent.

And can and does happen.

It's not always a red flag that this person is a scammer, could just mean that the editor is as slow as molasses or your work got lost or they forgot about you and forgot to tell your agent that.

I agree with Jessica, for the author that had the question...get out there tell everyone what happened to you and get yourself involved with others, join a critique group, a writing group, get yourself some peers so that there is someone that you can ask questions of and can help you find the answers.

Good luck!

I'm glad you're posting things like this. Writers are always so eager to get published they tend to want to believe that anything can help them get published. And there are a lot of scammers out there waiting to take advantage.

Aspiring writers are really being preyed on in the new publishing culture. You can't allow yourself to be at the bottom of that food chain. Agents work on commission. Period. Editors can freelance, but if you have to pay someone to doctor your book before you can even query it...might be time to reality check your expectations about your future in the biz.

Also seconding the mention of a good critique group. Great post! Consider it twitted...or tweeted. (Twitterated? Twat?)

I think seeing/meeting someone at a conference can give new writers a false sense of security. Legitimate location...legitimate person? ALWAYS go to P&E, Writers Beware and Absolute Write at the Watercooler. Don't assume.

The sad thing is you can do your homework and crap like this can still happen.

Jeff Moores, a former literary agent (with Dunow, Carlson & Lerner) had been offering editing/consulting to writers, and was highly praised by his clients. One of my good writing pals hired him and thought he was wonderful, so she hired him again for help with her synopsis.

Then last spring/summer, writers started to report that he was slow to respond to emails--then disappeared, taking the money with him. His website is gone too.

My personal favorite writer scam was an email telling me my book had been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and would I please forward a lot of Euros for the processing.

Wow, Vivi Anna, I had no idea work could sit that long on an editor's desk! I've been a published writer for over ten years and have never had that experience.

Good to learn something new every day! LOL.

Thanks Jessica for answering my questions.

Yes, everyone, I'm the one that was scamed and wrote the questions. Burned once, especially when you look at wonderful websites like this on a regular basis and try to learn as much about the industry as possible, makes it very hard to continue sometimes.

And the answer to the everyone's burning question...Leann Heywood formerly of Haper Collins. See why we trusted her?
PLJ

Quess what...because you answered, my husband just took the time to Goggle and found her again. I wonder if she'll actually respond when we contact her! At least it looks like she closed the private editing business.
PLJ

Thanks for posting this, Jessica.

PLJ - I'm really sorry this happened to you. I'm glad you spoke up - it's good for all of us to hear about things like this. Good luck with everything!

PLJ, I'm sorry you had to go through this. Personally, I'm not a big fan of outside editors because of an experience I had while unpublished.

I'd written my second unpubbed manuscript and thought I was really close. So, I hired an outside editor that had been recommended by a published author friend of mine. She'd worked with this editor.

Well, the editor took $1,200 up front. Then gave me eight months of excuses why she didn't read my work. When I finally got it back (and paid another $1,200), the edits didn't help me at all. I tried to understand them and assumed it was because she was so smart that I wasn't able to improve my work. She allowed one phone call in which she encouraged me to do a re-draft and then hire her again.

Luckily, I didn't. It just wasn't a good experience. So I found a critique group instead. And I worked my tail off on my craft. And I wrote another book that didn't sell. At the time, I thought I was spinning my wheels. Looking back, I realize I was learning my craft.

If you want to be a doctor, you go to med school. If you want to be a lawyer - law school. If you want to be a working, published author, you write until you learn your craft well enough to sell that first book - and then another, and then another.

If I'd depended on that editor, I wouldn't have evolved to be the writer I am. I needed to get feedback from my peers and work on my own craft issues. And now when I'm on a tight deadline, I can turn a book around and know that I'm not depending on anyone else.

Oh and last year, while I was cleaning out my office, I happened upon that unpublished manuscript, along with the editor's notes. Knowing what I know now, I can see exactly why the book didn't sell. What shocked me was that the editor had no clue. Her edits were so general and off-base that I wonder if she even read the whole manuscript. I was so angry I had to stop reading.

I know it's not fun to write and submit and then write a new book and submit, but that's the only thing that worked for me.

I would sue this Leann Heywood. Fraud is illegal and I would not let her get away with it. I would also send out a press release regarding the lawsuit so that the general writing community is aware of this wolf within our midst.

Thank you, Angie. That is super advice. I was frustrated and almost went to an editing service. I didn't, but I did hook up with one of my earlier critique partners. Best thing I've ever done for my writing.

I was also taken by this editor. I did not give her any money, everyone loved her and thought she was a wonderful editor. There were no clues. The people that worked with her thought she was fabulous, so it just seemed right to work with her after she left Harper.

My heart still breaks when I think about what she did and I don't understand why? She could have developed a good business - one that would have provided a good living. It is unfortuate, but I guess that is the sign of a good scammer - you just don't see it coming. And believe me NO ONE could have seen it coming.

Many people have tried to contact her, but she never answers and I know she is still alive. I just hope that the old saying, What goes around, comes around," is true.

I was heartbroken bythe whole situation too and hope that there's more the the story than her taking the money and running. (I apologize for my earlier misspellings, as I was typing during lunch at work.)

PLJ

This seriously makes me sick. Like Jessica said, those two sites are great for helping prevent this sort of thing. I've browsed them a bit and I'm glad there are people willing to put this infromation out there for prospective authors like me.

I'm a freelance copyeditor, and this story sickens and appalls me. It appears the editor in question has a full-time position elsewhere now, with a substantial Internet presence. Can you not reach her at her new place of work to get your money back? And if not, you should sue her.

I agree with Jessica that an editing service isn't the best solution in the world-- if your manuscript needs editing, you gotta learn to do it yourself, through a critique group, a class, or by reading books about self-editing.

ooooo this is nuts.. thanks for posting this. I'm learning.

More and more every day.

While it can be extremely valuable to join a critique group, it can take a long, long time to have a whole book reworked into a publishable piece. The group I joined only covered a chapter a month. Granted, the book was terrible and should never have been shown to another living person; nevertheless . . . :)

Before you all throw the idea of any editor out the window, keep in mind that there are different types of editors. Some work on your grammar and punctuation, others help with the development (plot, structure, conflict) of the novel, and others are true gifts from God in that they do it all.

If your grammar stinks and you know the story isn't flowing, look up some editors online and pick one who has good credentials. Better yet, find one whose work you can read in a bookstore. If he/she seems to have kept the author's voice and the story flows beautifully, then you may have found your diamond.

Excellent subject. I signed with my first agent after meeting her at a writers' conference and seeming to hit it off with her. But as we went along, it became obvious that she had neither the contacts nor the expertise needed to help me in my chosen genre. After much too long we parted company and I signed with an agent I'd come to know and whose background I'd investigated more thoroughly. Bottom line--first impressions aren't that important, good research is very important.

I would never sign (much less query) an agent who isn't a member of AAR (Association of Author's Representatives). In order to join the AAR, an agent has to have sold a certain number of books, and pledge to follow their Code of Ethics. Remember a bad agent is worse than no agent.

I have to concur with Anonymous 8:08. Like many writers just hoping to snag an agent, I was offered representation by a 'new agent' with a P.R. background and who had published a couple of books, herself. I jumped at it and stayed with her for a good five years. Went through three books, before the third received an offer from a small publisher. After discussing it, we decided to decline thinking that particular book could do better. Unfortunately, after trying a couple more editors she pretty much gave up. And when I came to her with my next book, she informed me she wouldn't be representing it. So I left it at that for a time then finally got off the dime and decided to sever our relationship and seek new representation. It's been a hard slog so far, numerous requests for partials and fulls, but so far no offers. Still hoping.
Bottom line is to do research. Through the usual sources. And smaller agencies should be looked at closely if they offer representation. Though they may appear enthusiastic and have the best of intentions, many of them simply aren't that well connected and much time can be wasted this way. It's a hard call. But I am of the opinion that an agent with limited contacts is no better than no agent at all.

Like Anon 8:08, I signed with an agent that I had seen speak at a writer's conference. She was top-notch and everyone said good things about her. But I found after "much too long" as well, that all her big clients meant she had no time or inclination to pay attention to my work. She had the contacts, mind you, just not the verve to keep at it after 8 rejections.

* To answer the post, I think my main question for my next agent will be -- how many publishers will you try before you give up on the book it took me a year of my life to write?

You can go wrong in so many different areas when agent hunting. Honestly, in spite of the usual efforts, the only way you can know how someone works is by working with them. I don't want to seem like I have sour grapes, but when an agent wants your book, they tell you what you want to hear. The actual day-in and day-out relatonship often bears no resemblence to what's been discussed before signing.

They go on with other clients and meanwhile, your book has been shopped (albeit to only a handful of publishers) and you have to start over with a fresh book.

Querying agents -- may God help us all.

Has anyone read Nicholas Sparks story? In a nutshell, he sent out 25 queries and 24 were eventually rejected. He got a call from a young woman who said that the agent he'd queried had died and, while cleaning out his desk, she came across his query. He sent her the manuscript and she offered representation. He asked her how long she'd been agent and how many sales she'd made. She'd been an agent for a few weeks and had never made a sale. Feeling he had no other options he signed with her anyway. She sold The Notebook at auction for $1 million.

In my own case, five agents wanted partials, but only one offered representation. Since there are a limited number of agents handling my genre, and I'd queried them all, I went with her. She's AAR , RWA, etc. but still a small agency. The book's still out on submission so we'll see how things play out.

I suppose authors feel the same way about new agents that agents feel about new authors: it might work, they might be the next big thing, but they might not.

I know I want an agent who loves me work and the genres I write. There are several excellent agents whose blogs I read and who I'd love to work with, but they don't rep what I write. And as nice as it would be to have the Big Name Agent's clout in my corner I want the person who's trying to sell my book to editors to absolutely love what I write.

Wow. So many good responses to this post. I agree wholeheartedly that no agent is better than a bad or inexperienced agent. You may as well keep that extra 15% for yourself if your going to end up slogging the Slush piles because your agent has no contacts to help you.

I was approached by an agent back in August who had read my very first MS eight months earlier and rejected me at the time, saying the story and writing were great but she didn't like the ending and the market was too tight for the length of the book.

Well, she CALLED me on the phone out of the blue those eight months later (without my having heard a word from her since the rejection) and said she'd tried to throw away the MS, but everytime she did, she would start reading it and mark editing notes on it. She decided she wanted to represent me after all.

Well, of course I was ecstatic, because I'd still been sludging through the querying murk for almost a year with requests for partials and fulls but no offers. Plus, I had written two more MS since then. I was so tempted to take her up on her offer.

But--even though I had researched her the first time around for legitimacy, which she was, although she wasn't AAR--I spent the next few nights researching her track record: sales (to which houses and for how much), conferences she attended, even emailed one of her clients to ask them if they were happy with her services.

I ended up deciding that she didn't have a wide enough web of contacts for my style of writing (my voice is VERY different, and will take someone with lots of contacts to know the right houses to send it to--Harlequin is out of the question, and that was one of her biggest contacts).

So I emailed her, asked her to please shred my MS from all those months earlier (it still freaks me out that she kept it so long--one of my writer buds wondered if she'd been shopping it around w/out my knowledge and getting some positive feedback, that's why she contacted me again--let's hope she's wrong). In my email, I told the agent the truth, that I needed someone with a more solid list of contacts to handle my different writing style.

There were moments since that I wondered if I had made a mistake, when I kept getting rejection after rejection. But just recently (6 months after the first agent's offer) I wrote the MS that snagged me a bona fide AAR agent who loves my writing style and has the contacts to get me published. Not to mention she was an editor before becoming an agent, so she has lots of experience making that story shine.

Just goes to show you--don't jump at the first thing that comes along. Respect your work enough to hold out for the real deal. Your stories deserve the best representation. So hold out for it.

Google the agent and the name of agency. You'll turn up all sorts of interesting tidbits which will help you make your decision. There are a few poor sports among aspiring authors, so do cross-check and take it all with a grain of salt.
;)

There's a difference between someone who's just starting out as an agent and isn't a member of AAR yet, but is working at, say, Writers House--and someone without any sort of contacts or background in the publishing business.

My former agent's assistant, who works at one of the larger lit agencies, was promoted a couple of years ago. Now he's got a great client list with a lot of sales, along with a very popular blog.

My critique partner signed with a well-meaning agent who'd had a couple of books published with one of the major publishing houses. The agent frequented conferences, was communicative, etc. But she didn't have the contacts. That agent recently closed her doors.

I agree with you Anon @ 12:38, but a young agent working for a reputable publisher is no guarantee that s/he isn't flaky. I ran across a book written by someone in my town, so I called the author and asked about her agent. She was (too) careful not to say anything bad about the agency, but did mention that her young agent had left in the middle of her publishing process to pursue her own writing. Someone else took over the author's ms, and she felt that not only did he not have the same enthusiasm for it, I think she also felt betrayed by the original agent.

A lot of people are bringing up agents who don't have any contacts or sales, or aren't part of AAR, and I just want to point out one thing: at some point, every agent was new, and didn't have any of these things. This doesn't mean they're bad agents, just that they haven't become established yet.

Thus it's doubly important to do research--research the agency as a whole, what (if any) experience the agent has, if they have anyone who's played a mentor role for them, how they plan to establish relationships and contacts, etc. I'll admit that when I go agent-hunting, I'd feel comfortable with someone more established, but if my perfect agent was new but had a good foundation/support structure with their agency, I'd accept it. There may be some good agents out there who are still gaining experience, and hopefully a lot of research would distinguish them from agents who truly are lazy, give up easily, or have no contacts.

I signed on with an new agent that another agent referred me to. That was a long time ago and I was one of her first clients. I chose to sign with her after talking with her and hearing how professional she was. Her only background was a course in publishing at NYU, I believe. She was unable to sell my book, but it was the book, not her, that got in the way. She's still an agent today, and very successful, but she hasn't repped fiction for many years.

Recently there has been a number of new agents just getting started, some coming from other agencies, some from editorial backgrounds, even bookstore backgrounds. They're not AAR members yet, obviously, since they don't yet have the sales, but I would never hold just that against an agent. There are a number of experienced agents with dozens of bestsellers in their list who aren't AAR members.

My agent is a member of AAR, but that's not why I signed with her. She is, however, the VP of the oldest literary agency in New York and that's one reason why I chose to go with her.

I *belive* (from reading on another agent's blog ages ago) that agents who do package deals can't join AAR?? I may be phrasing this wrong...Jessica do you know the answer to this one?

That said my first agent was young and new to the biz but with a reputable agency. It didn't work out. I'm on my third. She was recced by a friend's agent (her former asst) and she is with an agency that does mostly non-fic (which really made me stop and think bec. I write commercial fic). In the end I went with her because she was so enthusiastic about my work (which contained elements that normally don't work for her).

Heavens...you do NOT want an agent with no contacts. You don't want an agent with poor communication skills and you don't want an agent who won't keep you in the loop. Unfortunately, sometimes we writers have to learn things the hard way :(

I want to say I agree with southern writer on not signing with an agent who isn't a member of AAR, but the thing is I can't in all honesty agree.

I'm not saying you wouldn't need to check out an agency who is not a member with AAR, and check them out well. But every agency had to start somewhere. As well as every agent.

What if that agent / agency is new, they have a few clients, and are making some sales, but their not yet a member of AAR? They could turn out to be the next Bookends, or Nelson, or Knight Agency. (there are more, just can't name them all here) :)

I do think the agency Jessica commented on, is a major red flag, but it also doesn't mean every new agency is.

There's some good advice here, but no one has mentioned any actual resources, and I'm sure new writers (as I was) are unsure as to where to go to research agents.

Check out Preditors & Editors, Agent Query, the Absolute Writer Water Cooler, etc.

These are excellent resources for a new writer looking for an agent. You can find the links (and a few others) on my site under "Writerly Resources."

Good point, Robert. You can also count on the reliability of the agents in the querytracker.net database. They've all been prescreened, meaning they're legitimate and endorsed by Preditors and Editors, but whether or not an agent is right for you and your book can only be determined by you.

I don't think I would query a brand new agent in a brand new agency, neither of which had any track record of experience.

I'm OK with a junior agent in an established agency, even if the junior agent has no experience, because I know she has resources to draw on.

I'm OK with a brand new agency with no track record if the agent herself has had some experience, perhaps as an assistant/junior agent in another agency or editor for a major publisher.

I'm OK with agents who aren't AAR members yet because I know it takes time to meet the requirements for membership, and a lot of good agents just aren't qualified yet (I would, however, expect them to say they follow AAR guidelines).

But an agent who had nothing? No experience, no established agency to help, nothing? I'm just not that desperate yet.

I'll query agents that have left other firms to start their own agencies as long as they aren't new to the publishing business. As a new writer I would avoid agent with little or no experience. After all, that's exactly what I need from an agent: experience and contacts.

I ran into a variation of this agent problem: I encountered an agent who had lots of experience, but had taken a rather large hiatus and was essentially starting over by establishing a new client list. To her credit, she is very knowledgeable about the industry, having started out with a major publisher before becoming an agent.

She gave a fantastic presentation at the conference I attended. She did five-minute appointments, and asked me to send a partial. I was surprised, because she didn't really sound interested in my manuscript.

I found out after the fact that she asked everyone with an appointment to send a partial. Then I looked at her web site, and discovered that she hadn't had a single new book come through her authors in more than three years.

She requested a full manuscript, which I sent, even though by this point, I didn't feel right about it. An editor who read my partial in a contest asked me for a full manuscript, and I passed that information on to this agent. She then told me that she didn't really like my manuscript, but that I needed someone to help with the contract if I received an offer, but if not, we would go our separate ways.

What I learned:
- I need to learn to trust my gut. The markers were there - the fact that she asked for my manuscript even though she obviously wasn't interested, the fact that she hadn't sold any books in a long while, and the fact that she was willing to take the 15% commission but not willing to actually try to sell the book. And yet still, I hemmed and hawed over what to do.

- I need to really research the agents attending/speaking/holding appointments at conferences. Just looking at her web page, I knew she wasn't the right agent for me, and really, I wasted my time and hers by going to the appointment.

- I will probably be more careful about telling an agent that I have an editor who is interested in my manuscript.

Let me add to Robert's post about the Absolute Write messageboard. There's a forum called Bewares & Background Checks, where you can search the Index to see if the agent/agency has a thread about them. (For example, here is Bookends' own thread. If a thread on an agent doesn't exist, start one. Many, many great agents and agencies have threads (and some are very long); it's not just about scammers.

Anonymous 9:49-- awesome Nicholas Sparks story. Has anyone read the "Getting Published" anthology with J.A. Konrath and Clive Cussler contributing? Clive's story (about how he sent a fake letter to a top-notch agent, pretending to be an agent himself) took the prize.

We all know it so hard out there for an emerging writer. Personally, I've been getting the same rejection from agent after agent - my work is really good, good to read, interesting characters, well put together etc, etc, but the agents have all said the same thing: they just weren't passionate about the over all premise. I guess my point is there comes a time when taking a risk on an emerging agent might seem like a good idea, but I suppose we have to remember the advice of those who know when they've said "no agent is better than a bad agent"

Little warning lights would be going off in my head and I am notorious for being overly trusting.

Ask the questions and be comfortable with what's happening before you go forward.

As for the editing part, that would set off little alarms also. I will polish, edit and put my work through a fairly tough novels workshop before I send it to an agent. Even so, reading and agenting is a subjective craft. If the agent finds nothing he or she would change, it makes me wonder if anything is going to be glaring enough to spark such a request.

I don't expect an agent to be my editor, but I do want them to help me make it the very best it can be before it goes to publishers.

Neither of us win if it doesn't sell.

I'd be suspicous. About the twenty copies for sure and the fact that she has no suggestions for the edit?
Jessica? How many perfect manuscripts do you get?
I'd investigate this agent's track record, maybe email the authors she lists on her site, (is that okay to do?), find out where and when her last sales took place.
Do other agents link to her site? I'm finding most of the "better" agents link to each other. I think they do this out of mutual respect.

I just wanted to chime in that while asking to put money up front can be a warning sign to dig deeper, I've been surprised at how many legitimate agents ask for the author to supply the hard copies for submission.

My agent asked for 10 copies to shop and is with a top and well-respected NYC agency. I have other friends who were in similar situations. So it's not necessarily a red flag that should have you running and screaming.

However, you should always do your homework to ensure the agency is legitimate before you even bother querying. I already knew that my agent was legit, but I also knew my agent's submission strategy and where those copies were going before I even sent them.

The way my agent explained it to me was that its a lot cheaper to go to a local Kinkos elsewhere in the country, and print out your MS than it would be if the agency went to a Kinkos in NYC.

Since many agencies do have reimbursement issues in place for things like copies, this is just a way to keep their overhead low, and save you money in the long run.

I didn't want an agent who edited; I wanted an agent who found me an editor. Thus I specifically shopped for an agent who didn't attempt to revise my work. We've been together for six books now, and we're very happy.

Having said that, she has never once asked me for a hardcopy of my manuscript. I find that unusual, but not suspicious.

I don't know why things like this would weird you out. What is suspicious about not editing? NOTHING. It's something you can even SELECT for in your agent search.

Haven't you already checked her track record to show that she has a host of sales to various publishers?

Eww... What's that fishy smell? I could possibly understand 5 to 10 copies, but 20? Is this agent using a scatter shot method rather than identifying just the right editors to match the book? I mean, if that's all she's doing, why is she needed at all? Just for the agency letterhead? If I were an editor, I'd find this approach mighty fishy as well.

I know it's expensive to have copies made, and electronic is the better alternative. Sigh. Which publisher is it that bought all its editors Sony ebook readers so they could download manuscripts and read them that way instead of on paper? Genius.

I'm just now preparing cover letters to go with the 4 manuscript requests I received just in the past few days. At $20 per manuscript, and then figuring in the postage costs, a couple with return postage, my restaurant budget for the month is severely compromised. So I can certainly sympathize with the agent who asks for help footing the bill for such costs up front. I just don't agree with a scatter shot approach to editor submissions. That seems highly unprofessional to me.

I don't think the non-editing thing is a red flag, necessarily. But I would want to know what your agent is planning to do with those 20 copies. (I know writers who signed with agents who asked for 5 or 10 copies, but never 20. At the least, it's wasteful. At the worst, it suggests your agent is going to scatter-shot your ms.)

I assume this agent has sales in your genre to reputable publishers. Did you talk with any of your agent's clients before signing?

Interesting topic to me esp. with the "should agent edit your work" thing. I know a first time author who recently hit it big with a gigantic deal, but only after ten months of her agent tearing her book apart and having her put it back together.

Then I know another first time author who also hit it big recently with a major sale -- after her agent submitted her ms. to various editors TWO DAYS after she read her submission, with absolutely NO editing on the agent's part.

My friend with the ten months of editing swears that unless an agent makes you edit, and edit hard, especially for a first book, you aren't going to make it. The other first time author feels the opposite, of course, that there's not always a reason to edit.

I expect editing when I finally do snag an agent, though I'm working as hard as I can to do the work up front so I don't spend another year editing a book I already worked so hard on.

Oh, I thought of something else. If the agent does a blanket submission, what happens when editors offer helpful feedback? Maybe revisions are requested, or the feedback switches incites a light bulb moment that helps make the book better. Maybe the book is so much better it goes to auction! But if 20 are sent out all at once, and everyone gets to see the same flaws, the chances of submitting a new and improved version are nil. That would be a real shame.

What does your contract say? You have a contract right? Do these copies get paid for out of the advance before the % is deducted? Is this agent's rate lower than typical because you pay for the copies? What about postage?

NOT EXACTLY GRABBED, GORGEOUS AND GRINDING MAD

(Eleventh in the series at BookEnds, LLC)


A minute later, we were browsing Jacky Sach's office, taking in the landscape, hunting down the banging sounds. The good news was the office looked normal, comfy actually with warm golden walls and a laughing Buddha. The bad news was the orgasmic sounds had amped to Alpha-girl devours paradise and wants more.

"Spankin', unh?" Stink said and tiptoed toward to sounds before earing-up to what looked like a closet door.

My guilt was so choking I couldn't speak. What kind of crazy bastards were we? Jacking BookEnds's stuff, dissing their quirks, earjacking on their sex. Better late than never for sanity to take front stage, I told myself. "Come on, Stink. We're not voyeurs, let's bounce."

Too late, Stink had inched open the closet door. Damn, damn, damn.

Suddenly he slammed it closed. "Run for your life! It's the gerbil lover!"

Oh my God! Oh my God, the gerbil lover was in the closet! I wheeled around, launched a few steps, then froze in confusion. Stink raced around me, clueless to my bewilderment. I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back. "Who the hell's the gerbil lover?"

Stink rolled his eyes. "Don't you read the National Enquirer? Richard Gere, man. And he's chained to a desk, bondage style."

Cripes! Jacky Sash had Richard Gere chained up. To be honest I was expecting someone scarier. But oh well, crazed Hindu kissing Buddhist have their creepy qualities too. "He's shackled? Is he by himself?"

Stink nodded, tugging out of my grip and bookin' to the hallway door.

There was another round of orgasmic groans. Against better judgment, I hurried to check it out, but before I grabbed the knob the closet door started to rattle, the rattling shook the wall and the door whizzed open.

"Whoa!" I said to Stink. "That's Richard Gere all right."

"Good evening, gentlemen." Gere's voice sounded a little breathless. "Would you be so kind and unchain me?"

Stink craned over my shoulder. "Make him crap out the gerbil first."