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Question: Need of an affordable agent!. do you know one!? are you one!?
i have been writting all my life, though i am only eighteen i have wrtten a novel and one more is on the way!. the one i am working on now will be a trilogy!. i have ten more ideas that i desperatly want to start on but i have to finish my recent novel before i move on!. i want to get signed with a publishing company but i need an agent!. and i tried looking on that website but none hae emailed me back!. i know my books can be a hit if given the chance i just do not know where to start!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
The best source of information is Literary Marketplace!. Find it in the reference section of your library!. It costs 300 dollars a year, so don't buy one!. It is more comprehensive than Writers Market, which is more for the novice and has many more listings!. Just bring along a notebook to take notes - you cannot check it out!.
As for the idea of an "affordable agent"!. Let me explain this to you the proper way!. Agents do not charge you a reading fee for their services!. They get generally a standard 15% of your royalties!. BUT there are many services that an agent IS by law allowed to charge you for!. Making copies of your manuscript, long distance phone calls and mailing services are among them!. You will be billed for those items!.
The agent search is a long and hard one!. If I had a dime for everybody who said they just knew their book would be a hit, I would be very rich indeed!. Remember Gone With the Wind was rejected 37 times!. You have to do the research and advocate for yourself!. Nobody is going to knock on your door!. And agents do not have time to hover here looking for the next Stephen King!.
A few things!. NEVER tell an agent or a publisher you are writing a trilogy!. Your first book MUST stand alone -- even if others will follow!. Publishers get very nervous and will not purchase a series from a novice author!. If the first one bombs, they do not want to be stuck having to publish other books for you!. On the other hand, if the first is a hit, you have more bargaining chips for selling the rest of the series!.
But most importantly, you are putting the cart before the horse!. You need to finish your book!. Then you need to tuck it away for 2 or so months and take it out and do a rewrite!. You must do at least one!. And the person above me is correct, poor grammar and spelling will get you sent off to the slushroom extremely fast!. Often publishers and agents are so stacked up with material that they can only devote a couple paragraphs to you!. If what they see is sloppy and poorly written, off it goes!.
There is a wonderful book called The First Five Pages!. You should read it along with On Writing by Stephen King!. They are vital to any writer's reference library!. Pax-CWww@QuestionHome@Com
Try looking for a publisher that doesn't require an agent!. Most agents yes are good but they are ridiculously expensive!. I publish with Dorchester for romance without an agent and I have to say I don't think I would want one!. I get much more of a say in how things come out (book cover, format, etc) You can continue to look for agents but if you have never published it will be much more costly than you can afford!. Try instead hiring an editor and then google smaller publishing companies!. Plus once you get your first book published it will be easier to get bigger deals with bigger publishers and then the agents will be looking for you!.
also try joining a writing group!. Many of them have conventions where you have the opportunity to meet not only other writers but agents and editors in the business!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
google publisher's market!. it's a website that lists agents and agencies!. oh yeah you only get charged for an agent if you get a publishing deal!. Don't get tricked by an agent who's only out for your money!. check out this webpage and it has articles on finding an agent and not getting duped!.
http://www!.writing-world!.com/publish/ind!.!.!.
this link shows about contracts for getting published and copyrights
http://www!.writing-world!.com/rights/inde!.!.!.
oh yeah congrats on finishing a novel!. i envy you!. By the time i'm 18 i want to have a complete novel, published, and bestsellingWww@QuestionHome@Com
A couple things!.
First, bad grammar will not attract the attention of an agent!. Not the good kind of attention, at least!.
Second, agents don't charge you for their services!. You can send your work to one or hope you get noticed through short stories in magazines etc!. They'll only take you on if they think they can make money off of you in the long run!.!.!.you are an investment, and you have to show you're a good one!.
This is not the way to do that!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Buy a copy of Writer's Marketplace 2009 where they list hundreds of possible agencies!. Find some, because the first one isn't guaranteed to agree to represent youWww@QuestionHome@Com