OT Literary Agents

M

munk

Joined
Mar 22, 2002
Messages
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Does anyone know of a reputable Book Agent? I've finished my SF book and need to take the next step. I sure would appreciate it if any forumite knew of an agent or even publisher that I could start the submission process with.


thanks,


munk
 
here is mine:

Marlene Connor
Connor Literary Agency
2911 West 71st Street
Minneapolis, MN 55423

Phone/Cell: 612-866-1486
 
Thank you for your post, Danny. I'm not new to submissions, but to Agents. I'm not going into this field cold any longer. I understand one of the things you do is to check on the track record of the Agency. Has Marlene Connor experience? Are there any people I might have read she has represented?


thanks,
munk
 
Yes she does, but I dont remember it all offhand. I know that she has worked for some of the largest publishing houses in the country and knows many of the "boys" personally.
If you give her a call, Im certain she would be happy to tell you and maybe you'd get some advice on your book proposal.
 
Munk, no experience, but from what I've heard: go fully armed. Dot the eyes AND the tees.

Maybe JP could point you to one. His work is obviously of a different nature, but...

I will look forward to your publication. Or draft, or whatever. I read a lot of SF. Not as much recently as before, but still my favorite genre.

Good luck with this.
 
Thank you, Aardvark, the book is done. It took me 49 years to get to the point I could do it. I sold a short story many years ago, but had no success immediately afterwards and became discouraged. One of the last things Bill told me was, 'Hell, if you have to write it to look the Angels in the eyes, go ahead and write it." The publishing world is a bleak prospect. It's not unlike all the minority kids hoping they are going to grow up and become Magic Johnson. I really didn't have all that much choice though. The damn Angels have been screaming at me all my life to get 'er done. Josh asked me when I was going to get off my ass and do it. Many of you here have, over the years, written to me privately and in public post that they thought this would be a good thing. I can tell you what that friendship means to me. I'm not quitting, and I'm not going back to the way I was before Rusty and Bill passed away. A certain amount of change has happened to me.

The lead character in the book has a kukri. (Did any of you doubt it for a second?) I told Yangdu if by some miracle a miracle does happen- that maybe she'd sell a whole bunch more khuks because of it, and those kids in Nepal could get a lot more legs up.


munk
 
"The lead character in the book has a kukri. (Did any of you doubt it for a second?)"

LOL I'm collaborating on a Screen play starring demon Hunters who all use thrice blessed Kuks 90% are HI stock

first scene has a impressive film debut of a 21" chainpuri in the hands of a Navajo

Demon Inc
 
I'm so glad to hear this, Munk! I've been waiting for this post. One of those first 50 will surely adorn my desk!

Nam
 
Thank you, Nam.
My best friend and Lawyer, ( Can you figure this out? I am doubtful of Psychologists so I marry one, I mistrust lawyers so my best friend is one. ??!!! ) and I agreed tonight we are going to take our time finding the right Agent. An Agent can be a lifetime friend, a boon to health and welfare, or a chisler, leech, hanger on, good time charlie, fair weather friend, and kicks the cat on the way out the door. I believe God has had a hand in my life, writing the book, and will help me with an Agent. And God waives the 15% gross on the income. No, I haven't flipped out guys, but two weeks ago my life started changing, and it's not done yet. I don't know where this road is leading me, but I'm in the right hands. If the worse that can happen happens- write 10 books which end up guarding the closet- I'll will have done what I do best. I didn't chicken out. I put my money where my mouth is. I believed.


Trustworthy blades, friends, sons and wife around me, with a couple of Pine trees for seasoning, aint a bad way to finish.



munk
 
Why do you need an agent? This may be naive, but what do they do for you that you can't do for yourself?
Also, be sure to read the fine print in any contract. Publishers are like sharks....not like the sharks in the Cantina.
 
Some of the big, respected publishing houses will accept new writers only through an agent. Even 10 years ago ( a little longer than that actually) solid names in the "Writers community" were being quoted in such places as Writers Market that they didn't see how anyone could make it submiting blind. I sold a short story at that time doing just that. But I've noticed even within my lifetime, negative changes in the way manuscripts are being handled. In the 80's my stories almost always came back intact in the prepaid envelopes I'd provided. By the early 90's you could count on your work being entirely lost, or with pages missing, and in bad shape. I got so tired of it I wrote one editor and asked if I'd done something wrong in the submission process? "No, it's these kids that screen the works. They are college students and sometimes get sloppy." She aplogized. It was funny then, because even though I wasn't being published, editors would write to me. Send us more, a few of them said. By 1995, I wasn't even sure if my stuff was being read at all. Everything deteriorated. Our Society was taking it rough too- there were signs everywhere showing our America is not what she should be.

(and no, in case anyone is thinking this, I assure you no one knew munk and was 'blackballing me. I was just another envelope with paper inside it. )

I told myself if I ever got serious again, I'd go through an agent.

Hey, if they do their jobs right, they should negotiate for a better deal than I'd get on my own- enough to pay the extra 15% I hope.


munk
 
I'm not published yet but have some experience with literary agents. Your agent may read your manuscript and then return it to you suggesting that it needs professional rewrite help. If the agent suggests the name of a person to rewrite, run the other way because the agent is a scam artist.

Good luck with your book.

Ice
 
Sharp Phil, AKA Phil Elmore, is a published author. He hangs out in Practical Tactical and has a website called The Martialist. He had published a fantasy piece of his a couple years back.
 
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