I'm looking for agents, need help

[Blizabeth]

I've recently been published by Authorhouse, but I would like to send my manuscript to agents in hopes of getting on with a bigger company. The only thing is, I don't know of any agents or where to find info about agents. Can someone help me? I would appreciate a list of agents that would be interested in Sci-fi work. Most of the ones i've come across so far only accept works about religion or nonfiction, I guess i don't really know what to look for.

P.S. I'm working on my website, but it isn't up yet. This address takes you to the publisher's site. [link removed by I, Brian]

Thanks.

[I, Brian]

Hi Blizabeth, and welcome to the chronicles network - sorry about delinking, but we get an awful lot of aspiring writers who join up simply to try and promo their book, so it's something that generally applies, not just to you.

As for asking about agents - I have to admit to being a little surprised that you have the time to pay for publishing via Authorhouse, but haven't even begun to think about agents and traditional publishing until after. In which case, I think you'll find you'll need to prove your worth via your book sales, as you have already become a published author in one sense.

As for lists of agents - which country are you in? There are different lists for the UK and USA and I can't tell which one you're in from the information above.

Anyone after information on UK agents in SFF may find this list useful:
http://www.chronicles-network.net/wr.../agents/uk.php

However, I'm afraid I don;t have a comparable list of US agents.

Hope that helps for starters.

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Blizabeth

I've recently been published by Authorhouse, but I would like to send my manuscript to agents in hopes of getting on with a bigger company.

Are you trying to sell the same manuscript as you have had published by Authorhouse, or a new one? It will make a lot of difference as to your chances of success.

[aurelio]

Hi Blizabeth. Congratulations on publishing you book! Best of luck with it.

I found this site that might help you:

Guide to Literary Agents

Hope it helps! Let us know how it goes.

[Blizabeth]

The reason i went with Authorhouse instead of finding an agent is because a bunch of people told me that it was almost impossible to find an agent and it was just a waste of time. So i didn't try, but now i'm finding it incredibly hard to market the book on my own and still try to write the sequel. I was talking to someone the other day and she said she had been recently taken on by an agent and you never really know what will happen until you try, so i'm going to try.

This is the same book I've published through Authorhouse, i just want to take another route with it.

I, Brian, I live in the USA and it's okay about the link. I'm sorry for posting it, i was unaware that i wasn't allowed to do so.

[cleasterwood]

Sorry to hear that you were steered in the wrong direction. Yes it is difficult to get an agent, but not almost impossible. I learned after having to do a major revision on my first novel not to always listen to what everyone else is telling me. What I did was go to the Preditor and Editor list and picked from out of the recommended agents and went from there. I had one who even went so far as to request the ms but after having read it wasn't 'won by the writing', which was something I changed because I listened to other people. BIG MISTAKE because during the editing process I got rid of a lot of what some call 'unnecessary adverbs and adjectives' and the writing was actually flattened out because of it. You will probably have a hard time getting a real agent after having it self-published. And I don't hold Authorhouse highly as anyone who wants your money is a scam.
Anyway the link to P&E is: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubagent.htm

[aurelio]

Ohhh, Don't get me started on the link thing! Grrrrr!!!!

I self-published my book, Blizabeth, and I don't think it's been "the wrong direction" at all. Yes - the job of marketing your book falls completely on you, but I know an author with several books published through big name publishing companies that still has to drum up her own publicity, solicit her own reviews, etc., (and one of her books was a best seller) so a big publisher will not guarantee that you'll be able to depend on them to do it all for you either.

I also see nothing wrong with you pursuing an agent now. These things don't have to be mutually exclusive, and there are no hard set rules to this game. Many self-published books get picked up by agents and larger publishers - I believe that happened with Legally Blonde, now the author is represented by Levine/Greenberg and published by Dutton. Whatever gets your book noticed and read is all that really matters.

And I doubt that sending a self-published book instead of a manuscript to an agent is going to scare them off. My guess is they see them as about the same thing.

To me, going down the self-publishing path was a dollars and cents (or, pounds and shillings) issue. It costs a lot of money to copy and send out manuscripts. For what I spent to self-publish, which wasn't much, I now have a real book I can sell AND use as a "manuscript" for agents if I so desire. I also wanted to avoid the waiting game of sitting around and wondering if my manuscript would actually get read or not. (And before I'm told by others here that that is part of the process, know that I will simply reply that it doesn't have to be.) In the meantime, I can continue to write my next novel, share my first one with anyone who is interested, and possibly get noticed by the big guys too.

So, you tried self-publishing and now you have doubts about it? That's okay! Not a problem! It's all part of YOUR process to find out what works best for you!

It's ALL GOOD if it eventually gets you where you want to be.

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by aurelio

So, you tried self-publishing and now you have doubts about it? That's okay! Not a problem! It's all part of YOUR process to find out what works best for you!

It's ALL GOOD if it eventually gets you where you want to be.

I definitely agree - everybody has different aims with their writing, and as these change, so does what we need to know.

I have to admit, Blizabeth, what really seems to come through is a general ignorance about the publishing industry, which means that you are almost certainly killing your chances of moving into traditional print unless you otherwise exhibit astonishing luck and talent.

In which case, my first recommendation is to get reading about the industry - there are a number of writer's resources here:
http://www.chronicles-network.net/writers/resources/

but what I *definitely* recommend is that you read a book such as Carole Blake's "From Pitch to Publication", which is written by one of the major UK agents, and a lot of which almost certainly applies to the US market.

That should give you a clear idea of the submissions process, and some of the important considerations from the agents end.

One thing she absolutely emphasises is the need for professionalism in approaches and submissions, which she determines as being a main reason for rejection for about 90% of everything her agency receives.

So definitely worth reading up what you can. Hopefully some of the links in the resources I've pointed to will help, but if nothing else, buy Blake's book, even if you only ever read the first 100 pages - it's information from the horses mouth that most aspirants get wrong, and I entirely include myself in having done this.

[Cimmerian]

I too, am with AuthorHouse. And so far, J.R Harris has told me everything will be paid for, and I won't have to pay a cent. Mind you, it may be a while before and if my book generates any royalties that it would climb out of the advance that I recieved and all of the costs for publishing and such. But as far as literary agents go, search on Yahoo for literary agents. You'll see "The Writers league" or something to that effect, in there are many many agents in alphabetical order (I think there are like 50 for sci-fi) Only problem is, they only accept unsolicited manuscripts... And as a friendly suggestion, don't pay an agent to read your work, (for some companies, that's how they make their money) Any good agent will read it for free, and will take percentages off from anywhere between 11% to 25%. Hope this helps

[cleasterwood]

Please, please, please check any and all agents through the P & E website. Some are not reputable and the Preditor and Editor site lists them all. They also list site links to these agents as well. Use caution.
Lynn

[dustinzgirl]

www.writersmarket.com

Is the best resource I have found. Yes you have to pay for it, but the organizational factor is so worth the five bucks a month.

[BUSHLEADER]

Having narrowly escaped being drawn into the deceitful web cast by the New York Literary Agency (also know by several other similar names run by Sherry Vine), who, apparently, according to many blogs and writer's warnings, cajole one into paying $80+ for a "professional" critique, and then (again apparently) send your manuscript off in bundles to a laundry list of publishers (with no apparent results to date), I have recently email-queried the Barbara J. Harris Literary Agency.

My email query sparked their interest, and I was asked to snail-mail the first fifty pages (plus 5 page synopsis and 1 page description). That done, only a week or so later, I received an email request to send by snail-mail the whole manuscript.

As my 50 pages were posted by normal mail from Africa to the USA, I thought this was a rather quick response... and slightly worrying.

I therefore googled the Barabara J Harris Literary Agency, and discovered that many writers had beem scammed. Essentially, once they have accepted to represent you (and they accept everyone), they ask that you supply by snail mail fifty (50) copies of the 1-page description and the 5-page synopsis, and five copies of the first 50 pages, and five copies of the entire MSS. You also are required to provide mailing boxes and postage.

If you feel this is too much work and hassle, you are invited to send them a payment of $250 as a deposit payment to cover their costs of doing the same on your behalf. You are warned that other costs may also be attributed to the writer. Those writers on the blog sites who sent the $250 have heard nothing since of the whereabouts or status of their MSS. So, it looks like another lucky escape!

Be warned!

Steve

[Chrystelia]

BUSHLEADER, that sounds scary!

[dustinzgirl]

Originally Posted by BUSHLEADER

Be warned!

Steve

Buyer beware goes along with anything you spend your money on. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Hey, Bushleader, I just noticed you were published in Soldier magazine, Combat & Survival magazine--- what year? My dad gets pretty much every US based gun, ammo, combat, mercenary, and so forth magazine on the planet, he is a huge survivalist.