06-26-2003, 12:27 PM
I can't see a reason why agent details should be confidential considering they're all published in 'The Writers and Artists Handbook' each year. Definitely worth getting, or at least photocopying the relevant pages in the library, which is what I used to do.<br>
<br>
I did send my manuscript to only one agent for the simple reason that I had run out of money and photocopying a typescript is an expensive business. In times past, when I had more cash available, I would send anything up to twenty copies at the same time and then have the joyless experience of seeing them returned to me each day when I came home from work. I never bothered to keep the standard rejection letters, though one or two were quite helpful, with some scrawled advice in the margin. I won't go through the whole history, but suffice it to say, I have a lot of bundles of paper in my attic and only one is any good, in my opinion. The rest were part of the learning process - which still goes on, of course.<br>
<br>
At one point, I even put a hair from my head in the pages to see if anyone had read it. Sadly, the hair was often still there, though what this actually proves I don't know.<br>
<br>
Using the W+A Handbook, I would choose an agent who represented the kind of books I was writing. I did try publishers direct for a while, with absolutely no success. I think the old rule is worth mentioning here. They may take ten or even twenty percent, but that's better than being left with one hundred percent of nothing.<br>
<br>
Looking back on it, there are a number of things my agent has done that would never have occurred to me - foreign deals and placing it with more than one publisher are the two most obvious.<br>
<br>
The problem is, of course, that there are huge numbers of typescripts sent to agents and publishers EVERY DAY.<br>
The result is a 'slush pile' and though many employ readers, I'm sure a lot of publishable stuff is missed. It does reinforce the need to have a good first page however, as that is all anyone mught read before dropping it for the next one.<br>
<br>
My agents are :<br>
A. M Heath & Co. Ltd. 79 St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4RE. It's worth checking their entry in the W+A to see if they take the sort of fiction (or non fiction) you may be writing.<br>
<br>
Stephen King said anyone who wants to be a writer should 'read a lot and write a lot' which is the best advice I've heard.<br>
<br>
Conn<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>
<br>
I did send my manuscript to only one agent for the simple reason that I had run out of money and photocopying a typescript is an expensive business. In times past, when I had more cash available, I would send anything up to twenty copies at the same time and then have the joyless experience of seeing them returned to me each day when I came home from work. I never bothered to keep the standard rejection letters, though one or two were quite helpful, with some scrawled advice in the margin. I won't go through the whole history, but suffice it to say, I have a lot of bundles of paper in my attic and only one is any good, in my opinion. The rest were part of the learning process - which still goes on, of course.<br>
<br>
At one point, I even put a hair from my head in the pages to see if anyone had read it. Sadly, the hair was often still there, though what this actually proves I don't know.<br>
<br>
Using the W+A Handbook, I would choose an agent who represented the kind of books I was writing. I did try publishers direct for a while, with absolutely no success. I think the old rule is worth mentioning here. They may take ten or even twenty percent, but that's better than being left with one hundred percent of nothing.<br>
<br>
Looking back on it, there are a number of things my agent has done that would never have occurred to me - foreign deals and placing it with more than one publisher are the two most obvious.<br>
<br>
The problem is, of course, that there are huge numbers of typescripts sent to agents and publishers EVERY DAY.<br>
The result is a 'slush pile' and though many employ readers, I'm sure a lot of publishable stuff is missed. It does reinforce the need to have a good first page however, as that is all anyone mught read before dropping it for the next one.<br>
<br>
My agents are :<br>
A. M Heath & Co. Ltd. 79 St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4RE. It's worth checking their entry in the W+A to see if they take the sort of fiction (or non fiction) you may be writing.<br>
<br>
Stephen King said anyone who wants to be a writer should 'read a lot and write a lot' which is the best advice I've heard.<br>
<br>
Conn<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>
