Publishing Hub: Getting an Agent/Publisher

Discussion

  • Oliver Brooks

    Oliver Brooks

    Lord of the reads: +3087

  • 14 Dec 13:15

    I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getting an agent/publisher.

    This is an area of great interest and is often seen as the holy grail. However I have heard many stories of sharks operating in this space and I thought it would be a good idea to open up a bit of discussion about peoples experiences.

    What is your story?
    What has worked for you and what would you recommend?
    what didn’t work and why?

    I’m particularly looking for writers who either have an agent, had an agent or have been in lengthy discussion.

    All the best!

    7 Posts

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    • Oliver Brooks

      Oliver

      14 Dec 13:15

      I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getting an agent/publisher.

      This is an area of great interest and is often seen as the holy grail. However I have heard many stories of sharks operating in this space and I thought it would be a good idea to open up a bit of discussion about peoples experiences.

      What is your story?
      What has worked for you and what would you recommend?
      what didn’t work and why?

      I’m particularly looking for writers who either have an agent, had an agent or have been in lengthy discussion.

      All the best!

    • Harry Sivertsen

      Harry

      14 Dec 14:00

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Hi Oli,

      I do have an agent but my type of work is out of fashion with publishers unfortunately, otherwise I would be watching the pennies roll in now!

      I contacted a few, some were interested as individuals but the work was not ideally suited to their portfolio…so they said. Eventually I tried Robin Wade who was very helpful and enthusiastic about my investigations, analysis and presentation. However, Robin simply run out of publishing houses that would take what is generally regarded as ‘fringe’ history on board. I suppose that a smaller house at that time may have taken the chance but they tend to follow the trend anyway and as agent he has to make money so aims for the best payers first with some at the other end of the scale not worth the effort from his viewpoint. In this case the trend was created by the publishing houses flooding the market with what serious researchers would term something not suitable for publication here…The public got fed up with imaginative rubbish masquerading as history and sales fell so ALL history has suffered accordingly. Some still gets out but little compared to a decade ago.

      Robin is still interested but now I have to find the public interest so that he has something with which to argue from a marketing point of view. To create this however is far from easy, at least with my type of work and although the subject of the one book is the Flood story and Atlantis, perennial areas of interest, I have to let people know that it is here…

      Something for newcomers to bear in mind is that a blanket approach to agents is not popular…look for those most likely to have an appreciation of your type of work and try singly…it takes time, is frustrating but that way only you and not potential agents get annoyed when it doesn’t pan out. In general they do want others to have access to what they are reading.

      I have had postings on a number of sites and am creating interest but these appear to be reading on site…although with the stats counter out of commission ++++++++!!!!!I cannot tell how many…

      Graham Hancock has shown an interest but is very busy himself and hasn’t the time to give Deluge or MOTG the time they deserve so I have been asked to put a 5-6000 word piece together for his website.

      In his words…

      I can see from the pages I have read that your study is thorough, and very professional. You obviously know what you are doing and what you are talking about.

      It all takes time. Knowing Graham’s interests, if he had the time to make as in depth study of the books as he [and I ]would like, I am certain he would fully endorse them.

      However, it all takes time and while we all want to get books in the shops etc, and not only to make money but as in my case to correct a number of historical misconceptions, we all need patience.[After 25 years of research mine is beginning to run a little thin!]

      It took around nine months to find Robin, four-six months to cover all the publishing houses and even then we got nowhere. Not Robins fault, so the message is… don’t build up your hopes, be patient and take note of any and all criticism. If your agent fails to find a market and it is apparent others will also fail, even if they could be persuaded to take your work on board, Join CN. Markets change and this way you have a chance to prove that you have a marketable product…but again, dependent upon your type of work, it can take a long time and a great deal of work so patience is the watchword.

      Cheers

      Harry

    • Alan Baker

      Alan

      14 Dec 20:17

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      I began writing at 16 (I’m 45 now), and all of my early stuff was drivel. No surprise there. After various awful jobs, then university, then more awful jobs – including a nightmarish stint as a packer in a Sheffield sausage factory (if Dante had been a butcher, that would have been his Purgatorio) – I decided to publish my own magazine in 1995. It dealt with the paranormal, in which I’ve always had an interest, and didn’t do particularly well: at its most popular, its circulation was about 50. Well, there you go.

      Up until then, I had been writing science fiction novels and short stories, and, apart from a handful of appearances in (very) small press magazines, I met with no success whatsoever. Then, in 1996, I decided to have a crack at a non-fiction book on the paranormal (specifically, UFOs). When I had finished it, I followed the standard submission procedure: covering letter, synopsis, etc. I also enclosed a copy of my magazine, just to show editors that I was serious about my subject. As you might expect, most of them said ‘thanks but no thanks’.

      However – and this is the really weird thing – one editor wrote back to me, saying that the paranormal was still very popular, he was still keen to publish in that area, and he would be happy to publish my book. I could barely believe my eyes when I read that. I mean, he hadn’t even read the manuscript! Well, the paranormal was really popular back then, but even so…

      A few days later, I had a phone call from another editor to whom I had submitted, who said that while he would pass on the particular proposal I had sent, he was planning a series of books on the paranormal, and wondered whether I would like to write a couple for him – one on UFOs, and one on ghosts.

      I’m sure you can imagine my thoughts. ‘This is it,’ I told myself, when I had climbed down off the ceiling. ’You’ve done it! You’re going to be published!’ And it was true. Within a year, I had three books on the shelves from large and reputable publishers. ‘I am now a professional writer,’ I thought, with an unflattering mixture of relief and smugness. And for the next three years, it was true. I signed up with a very good agent, who got me some good commissions for pretty decent advances – not megabucks, but enough to live on fairly comfortably.

      Then … the bottom dropped out of the paranormal market. No one was interested in publishing that kind of thing anymore. The plethora of paranormal magazines on newsagents’ shelves vanished, apart from the venerable Fortean Times and one or two others, and my career as a professional writer of paranormal non-fiction seemed about to disappear in a puff of ectoplasm.

      What the hell do I do now? I thought. I did the only thing I could: I got a regular job. I had no idea how I could continue to publish (for some reason, the idea of returning to fiction didn’t even occur to me).

      Then, about a year later, my agent called me and asked me if I wanted to do a book on Gladiators. He had been thinking about possible directions for me, and thought I might try my hand at popular history. ‘Well, er, yes,’ I said. ’I’d love to.’ At this point, I was thinking: ‘Thank God, I’m back in business!’ And so I was. The Gladiator book (which is still ticking over nicely, with several foreign editions under its belt) led to another two commissions from a US publisher for popular history books. And then…

      …the bottom dropped out of the popular history market (or at least, that tiny corner of the market which I occupied). Once again, the commissions dried up, and I returned to work at the same company, who were kind enough to take me back. And that’s where I am now.

      A couple of years ago, I signed up with a new agent who secured a two-book deal for me within a month, and I have a superb working relationship with him (since he runs a one-man show, he can devote much more time and attention to his clients than a larger agency). At present, we have two of my novels on submission with US publishers. Fingers crossed, eh?

      And yet, in spite of the way I originally managed to get published, I would have to say that if you are serious about making money as a writer (I mean enough to live on, enough to turn pro), you must get an agent. These days, many publishers won’t even look at an unagented submission, so it’s worth doing for that reason alone. And if I went into all the ways in which an agent can guide and protect a writer, I’d be here all night.

      That said, Oli is absolutely right: there are a lot of sharks and scam artists out there. I would advise anyone who is looking for an agent to get a copy of the Writers’ Handbook or the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and only approach those agents who are full members of the Association of Authors’ Agents. That’s not to say that the others are no good – far from it! But that’s a good place to start.

      You also might like to visit an excellent website called Writer Beware, which is run by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. This site has a huge amount of information in the form of articles and blogs, pointing out the ways in which writers can be fleeced by the unscrupulous. Believe me, it’s well worth a look.

      Can’t think of anything else right now, but I’d love to read others’ stories.

    • simon goodwin

      simon

      17 Dec 19:14

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Hi everyone, this is a subject close to my heart because as Oli said, I did have a rather costly experience with a certain so-called agency that is based in the States( I won’t name them just yet in case there are any legal ramifications but if the admin on this site say I can I will). They are on the internet and are pretty high up in the search engines. I submitted a portion of the book I had written back then and they emailed back to say that it seemed worthy of their time and effort. However, they said that if I paid for a professional critique through them then they would be able to progress further. It was going to cost me

    • Anna Lewis

      Anna

      18 Dec 19:33

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Thanks very much for sharing your experience Simon although sorry you had to go through that.
      I think that highlights that it’s important not to asssociate a high google ranking of a site with inherent good quality of its service. Although Google is getting pretty hot at identifying good content, it can’t always tell if the service itself lives up to what it says on the page. And what’s worse is that bad press about a website can improve its ranking because it has more links to it!
      But you are right – it’s good to do some research first!

      Alan wrote a useful article on why sometimes script evaluation services (by reputable companies of course!) can be beneficial for your work, if you can afford it. You can read the article here.

      Best of luck with the writing and thanks again!

    • Rasmus Hansen

      Rasmus

      31 Dec 01:08

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Andrew Lornies remarks are mostly hilarious – agents look for stuff that is marketable. period.

      www.andrewlownie.co.uk/2009/11/15/a-literary-agency-week

    • Colin Theakston

      Colin

      21 Jan 14:59

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      I think I’ve mentiond this before but at the moment I have an agent (Who advertises on this site) reading my manuscript. She has been reading it for over a month now, and I am uncertain as to how long I should give her. answers please. I sent a submission to another agent (again on this site) in Mid December and so far have not heard from them. (I mean acknowledging the submission, which I would have expected within a few days.) I have followed the guide lines of many agents who tell me how I should submit my work. I followed these to the letter and some of them have never replied, even to once again, acknowledging my submission. It seems there are a bunch of ‘sharks’ out there, and we are the little fish. One agent was very helpful and courteous in her rejection, so if I can get a publisher, I will approach her again for representation.

    • Alan Baker

      Alan

      21 Jan 17:28

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Hi Colin. I would advise giving an agent six to eight weeks before sending a gentle, polite reminder. With regard to acknowledgement of submissions, I wouldn’t hold my breath – unless you have enclosed a stamped, self-addressed postcard with a request that they use this to acknowledge receipt. It sounds harsh, but agents and publishers won’t waste their time acknowledging every submission, unless – as I say – you make it really easy and convenient for them to do so. Maybe you’ve done this, in which case they really should respond.

    • Alan Baker

      Alan

      21 Jan 17:30

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Oh, I forgot something! What I’ve said only stands for unsolicited submissions. If you’ve already sent an initial query letter, and the agent has agreed to take a look at your work, then they should send an acknowledgement.

    • simon goodwin

      simon

      29 Jan 23:27

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Okay, as a follow up to my previous post, I’ve done a bit of googling now and apparently the ‘literary agency I had experienced has now become the subject of an investigation by the Florida Attorney General, so I think it’s fair to say I can name them. It was the WL Writers Literary Agency which actually appears under a few other names as well but you can usually spot it because it comes high on Google’s hits.

    • Colin Theakston

      Colin

      01 Feb 15:21

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      A follow up to my past posting. You would think that an agent would get a feel for the writing, characters, plot etc after reading the first three chapters (some 12,000 plus words) wouldn’t you? This particular agentsupposedly after reading it, together with a synopsis and covering letter, requested a hard copy of the entire manuscript. Some 266 printed pages, chapters interleafed, front cover and accompanying letter. It cost me over Twenty English pounds to send ( A big chunk out of my One Hundred and Five pounds a week pension) The reply, four weekws later said that she had read part (part) of the book, found the writing dated and the characters and plot unbelievable. I did write back asking for an explanation but so far have not had a reply. Six chapters of the book have been reviewed by over Forty reviewers and I have received well above average reviews on this. So much so that the book will be published later this year. I weould love to hear from Susan (the agent) on your site, as to what she meant by ‘dated’. I must agree there was no foul language in it and it is a bit down to earth at times. What’s the odds on getting a reply?

    • Alan Baker

      Alan

      01 Feb 19:56

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Hi Colin. Reading your latest post, I sympathise with your frustration one hundred percent. I know from my own experience that it really is tough at times. However, I would offer you some advice (and please feel free to tell me to go jump in a lake). Once an agent has rejected your work (whether you agree with their reasons or not) it is a Very Bad Idea to write back asking for further explanation. The agent (or publisher, for that matter) will almost certainly not oblige; and it’s also worth remembering that agents and publishers talk to each other all the time, and it’s very easy for an unpublished writer to pick up a reputation for being “difficult”, which can only work against you. Some smart arse once said that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Wrong. The only thing to do in these circumstances is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get that query letter off to the next agent. This isn’t an exact science, and what one agent flings across the room in exasperation may have another agent hanging on every word and turning the pages in breathless anticipation. I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to book reviews on the radio, where one critic will tear a book to shreads, and another will say: “I couldn’t disagree more! I thought it was wonderful!” The most important thing is to retain the faith in your own work – and if more than forty people have praised it, then that faith is clearly well-placed.

      On a happier note, you mention that your book will be published later this year. Congratulations! Who by?

    • Colin Theakston

      Colin

      02 Feb 12:38

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Thanks Alan for your advice. Of course I agree with you one hundered per cent but in this case the agent in question appears to have no contact with any publisher. According to information the writers on her books have recweived no offers for publishing but I take your point.
      As for my book being published . Nothing grand (at the mement) I am doing it through a site that I use. I did consider this site for publication( as well) but decided against it after some extensive research. It would be embarrassing for me to extol it’s vitues on this site so I will refrain from mentioning it. Most ‘would be authors’ are familiar with the site which is sponsored by the Arts Council of Great Britain.
      Thank you for your comments and advice which I do appreciate. I have one other agent who appeared to be mildly interested. He has asked for a further two chapters from later in the book. To get a fair assessment on my site, I downloaded Chapters 1&2. 5&6, 19&20 of my novel ,‘A Time for Living’ and as I said received very good ratings in all of the eight categories, Characters, Story (Plot) Pace, Structure, use of Language, Narrative, Dialogue, Settings and Themes. It was twenty eighth in the Charts until I took it off and rewrote one or two paragraphs. Now I am collecting reviews again until I get the required number for inclusion on the charts again. 1st march should do it. Hope you don’t mind all this blurb but I find that once I start writinf it’s difficult to stop. thanks again

    • Bryony Allen

      Bryony

      05 Feb 16:05

      Colin said: Thanks Alan for your advice. Of course I agree with you one hundered per cent but in this case th...

      I have used the same site you mentioned Colin (in fact I’m sure of it). You read the work of other people in return for a review of your own work and gain points to upload more work. Then the top 10 ranked works in a month period qualify for a review from a professional publisher. This is all fine in theory.
      I got my Young Adult novel excerpts up to a ranking of 18 after about 3-4 weeks of uploading them to the site. The site is very good for getting good feedback from people you don’t know. It at least iron’s out any chance of family and friends being totally biased in their opinions. The only thing that I’m not comfortable with is the fact that you get a gnawing feeling that too many people know each other on there and that there is a form of culture where the current top ranked story authors don’t quite give out higher marking reviews on the 1-5 scoring system categories (even if some of the comments are quite complementary about the work). This would potentially affect the possible ranking of their own top 10 story or novel if your own is in the same category and cause it to slip down in the rankings, potentially losing out on getting the prized review. For this reason I haven’t done much on that particular site recently and the excerpts I uploaded will probably be ranked somewhere in the 100’s by now. I don’t know if this is too cynical a take on it but it

    • Colin Theakston

      Colin

      07 Feb 19:04

      Bryony said: I have used the same site you mentioned Colin (in fact I'm sure of it). You read the work of othe...

      Hi Bryony You are probably quite right about the ‘clan’ culture’ on the site. You can get some idiotic reviews and some reviewers tend to mark you down to maintain their own position on the Top Ten chart. I have discussed this and various other points with the site manager. Recently a new system of discarding a review every five reviews (instead of the previous figure of eight)has been instituted. The Arts council occassionally put a little money in. I understand that they have donated some recently and as a result the publishing fee has been reduced for the new set of publishing offers , soon to start. I found the reviews helpful because they gave me a great deal of help with the presentation etc. I recently removed my novel from the Top Ten. rewrote a small section and I have now placed it back for review. The ratings (so far) give me a higher average than my previous batch. Maybe thats the way to do it. I think the site does not suit all people, but I have personally got a lot out of it. I will certainly publish through it when the offers shortly become available. Nice to hear from you. My novel (sample)’ A Time for Living’, should be on site 1st March, drop in and have a read. Nice to hear from you and the best of luck with your writing. Remember it’s never too late to be what you might have been.

    • Anna Lewis

      Anna

      11 Feb 13:14

      Bryony said: I have used the same site you mentioned Colin (in fact I'm sure of it). You read the work of othe...

      One of the things that we are trying to do with CompletelyNovel is encourage more of a mix of readers and writers on the site, to try and avoid writers having to rely too much on other writers (who may have their own vested interests) in reviewing. I mentioned to Colin here in another discussion about our plans to introduce various incentives and points systems to encourage people to write reveiws.
      I was wondering if you had any thoughts or suggestions on this – do you think feedback from other writers is more valuable (because they are more likely to understand the writing process that you are going through) or would you prefer to get feedback from readers, who are your future audience?

      Thanks,

      Anna

    • Harry Sivertsen

      Harry

      11 Feb 17:03

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Hi Anna,
      I agree with the concept of incentives for review writing but while this is relatively easily applied to those of us on CN whether as reader or writer, any ideas of how it could be applied to those who are only directed here to look for a specific book [as in the case of my works] and who otherwise are not interested in the site or its content? This I view as a problem, most punters are only looking for an item to buy [or as is currently the case, read on line for nothing] and not be involved any further.

      Feasibly this could be somewhat improved via the likes of Twitter etc and e books as an increasing number of people are becoming involved with such sites and electronic readers [I am old fashioned in this respect and prefer a good old fashioned book, no gadgets or batteries etc etc] Perhaps a reduction in price for a second book [electronic or conventional] could be applied in return for the insertion of reasonable length review as an incentive or maybe the electronic version first and a reduced print price in exchange for a review?

      It is those outside CN who look in occasionally who require grabbing and who ultimately will then swell the numbers and hopefully become more involved. If more can be encouraged via these or any other suggestions we shall all benefit in the long term.

      Cheers

      Harry

    • shea lovekin

      shea

      14 Feb 19:56

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Will you please take a monment out of your busy life to rate my book and give a review. I went to this site because I thought I would get dupport since I do not get it from anyone at home, please!!!

    • Bryony Allen

      Bryony

      25 Feb 11:43

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Given that there are already writers in this community that have representation from an agent I wanted to ask a couple of things if that is okay with you, more for my own education as a “newbie writer” as well as the interest factor.
      I have held off applying to agents for representation of my next work since the last time I queried an agent back in November 2009 a reply came back after months with something along the lines of “I do assure you that we have considered your work carefully and I am sorry to say that we feel that it is not going to be one for us. Of the hundreds of samples we receive each month, we do, in fact, only ask for a handful of complete manuscripts.”

      I have instead used the time to re-evaluate my manuscript gaining feedback each time and then thought about ways in which it can be made to work for me prior to looking at gaining representation for it again. This is where I believe CN has the potential to assist me and others like me. It seems it isn’t just as simple as writing to an agent and asking for representation as there are already thousands out there doing it already and getting rejected daily.
      A little bit of recent research has shown me that even that first step is almost like writing a book in itself since it has to deliver certain things in the first instance before most agents will even look at the sample of the manuscript.
      I myself had approached 5 different agents through last year while I was finalising parts of my second novel (as well as the edit and re-edit stages) and it seems from reading up on things that there are many out there that have had something like 50+ rejections (enough to make you wonder if it is all worth it I think) and it also seems this is almost taken as normal. I guess luck and timing may also play a big part.

      What experiences did you all have in finding your representation and what advice can you give to new writers looking to get an agent? Also knowing what you do, is it essential to have an agent. In the “New Layout” discussion I have mentioned that I feel you can only truly succeed in the bigger piction with people in the industry by your side, however do you agree?
      Also do you think the agents and publishers listed here on CN would actually bother to look at new writers here or are they just interested in pushing and listing the work of existing clients in order to get extra publicity? (maybe Anna could answer that part)

      Thanks
      Bryony

    • Harry Sivertsen

      Harry

      25 Feb 12:12

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Byrony, I feel you have most of the answers to your questions…It is a long job unless you strike lucky. We have all heard of the umpteenth time that a submission is made and out of the blue everyone is enthusiastic. Basically, if you have a good work then it is luck of the draw whether you hit the jackpot or not, and much depends upon fashions in publishing, fads that are created by the publishing houses. If a particular genre is doing well they push it…too much until sales drop off instead of keeping some sort of equilibrium and a reasonable volume in all markets. That is the way of modern business practise unfortunately, short term not long term with a continuum.

      The slush pile is the bit that we all dread…most submissions end up there. This, I feel is where the likes of CN will eventually score. If an agent scans our site and spots a book that is popular and has good reviews he already has an idea of the probability of it being a popular work. Even better if sales are reasonable from outside CN. This hypothetical agent may feel inspired to take that work on board and push it as he already has evidence of appeal sufficient to interest a publisher, he has evidence of sales which of course he does not have via the conventional method.

      This, then, reflects up my previous post to you regarding reviews. If writers here review fellow writers work and indeed readers post reviews, then adverse crits we take on board and hopefully rectify and good crits again, hopefully, encourage further interest. As yet the site is not being utilised to the full and while the organisers are doing their bit not all of us are doing ours for the operation to work as well as it could. Perhaps time is problem for some, I am pushed myself in this respect but if want others to read mine[which is of a minority interest unfortunately although millions have read the flood tale in Genesis and various interpretations of Atlantis] then I should be prepared to read the works of others, a bit of the old ‘do unto others etc etc’which ultimately benefits all in all activities.

      Cheers

      H

    • Alan Baker

      Alan

      25 Feb 13:01

      Oliver said: I was talking to a new member, Simon Goodwin and he was telling me about his experiences in getti...

      Hi Bryony. You’re quite correct: each agent has his/her own preferences for the format of submissions made to them; and it’s absolutely essential that you follow these guidelines exactly. Although many agents are routinely on the look-out for new talent, they get annoyed very quickly with writers who don’t respect these preferences. However, they are all variations on the query letter/synopsis/sample chapters package; so if you’ve got a finished novel and you’ve written a concise synopsis of it, you’re already halfway there.
      I have an agent for non-fiction, but he does not handle science fiction & fantasy, which is what I’ve been turning my attention to more and more in recent months, so I am also approaching agencies, both in the UK and US, for representation of my F/SF novels (in particular The Martian Ambassador).
      One thing I’m finding particularly useful and fascinating is those agents who include a blog on their website. Some of them actually post query letters from prospective clients which they have found interesting and well-written enough to pursue (and these are from unknown and unagented writers), which goes to show that a well-thought-out and executed submission package can yield results.

    • Bryony Allen

      Bryony

      13 Jul 12:45

      Hi Alan,

      I’m currently enjoying the Lighthouse Keeper, intriguing story. I love anything with a Scottish backdrop.

      Have you had any luck with approaching agencies given that you are generating good reviews and awareness of your work?
      Also how are you finding CN in terms of getting their attention, do you refer to it in your queries and are they receptive or not? (i think by that I mean are they dissmissive at all, given that CN is still new on the block and growing or do they take the site seriously).
      I will soon be putting up my completed teenage novella once the artist has finalised the rear cover very soon and wish to use CN as a vehicle to prove its readership and potential. I would love to know your thoughts on this.

      Bryony

    • Georgina Lewis

      Georgina

      13 Jul 12:54

      I’m really interested in how you can use sites like CompletelyNovel to get the attention of publishers – seems like the publishing industry is changing a lot these days so there could be plenty of potential for changing the way things work.

    • Anna Lewis

      Anna

      13 Jul 13:10

      Hi Bryony – just thought I would pop in a reply from our perspective. We’ve talked to a number of literary agents and the response that we have received, in terms of whether they see CompletelyNovel performance as something they would take into consideration, has been largely related to how open to changes in the publishing industry that agents are. There are some who are very enthusiastic – Andrew Lownie, for example has said that he will mention an author’s ‘performance’ (for want of a better word) on CN to publishers that he is pitching books to. On the other hand, there are a number of agents who are happier to keep doing things exactly the same way as always – only taking on books from people they know or the very occassional submission that they get in the post.

    • Bryony Allen

      Bryony

      13 Jul 13:50

      Anna said: Hi Bryony - just thought I would pop in a reply from our perspective. We've talked to a number of...

      Thanks Anna.

      I think it will be quite interesting to see how many do change the way they do things going forward and utilise things like CN to take on new authors. Would you say the tide is turning in this respect? (albeit probably slowly)

      Bryony

    • Alan Baker

      Alan

      13 Jul 19:11

      Hi Bryony. I agree with Anna’s comments regarding agents. Andrew Lownie is very internet-savvy, and is keen to use a writer’s online presence as a marketing tool for prospective publishers. As to how many more there are like him, I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess. In my own approaches to agents and publishers, I always include a link to my page on CN in my queries. Whether they visit the site is unclear. However, I have had some very serious interest in The Martian Ambassador from a new independent publisher, Knightstone, thanks solely to its presence on CN.

    • Visitor

      Leila

      13 Jul 21:17

      Blimey, this thread is active!
      I am a bit shy myself of hunting for an Agent just yet… it doesn’t seem right since I haven’t even joined yet, properly I mean. Maybe next year might do it… might be lucky. There’s been a lot of stress and Psychic junk in my life this year. Too much Death sadly.

      I figure… Paris or Dublin might be nice. New York is so noisy and dirty, THE SMELL is like some kind of olfactory assault. I always said I would never submit to living up in the air on top of people like shoeboxes, or indeed on top of a thousand and one matresses. *huffs. Unless of course it was a nice loft apartment with big windows. But personally I find these days that I’m more grounded. I like greenery. Pink tulips are my second favourite.

      But personally I think Dublin is gorgeous. Trinity College especially. Plus you know, I’ve always had a bizarre fantasy about suddenly meeting Cecelia Ahern in Bewleys. *laughs. I would probably DIE of shock. I’m sure she’s lovely though.

      You know I don’t have a copy of her book “If you could see me now” ? I really liked that one best. It really should’ve been a film. Hugh Jackman pulled out of being Ivan. So rubbish of him. I think someone kind of like Richard Armitage should play him. Emily Blunt should be Elizabeth and for Saoirse… Whichever one of Bruce Willis’ daughters it is that has red hair. The kid should be a complete newcomer… or maybe that Blondie out of Tristan and Isolde n’est-ce-pas mes amis? x

    • Bryony Allen

      Bryony

      14 Jul 08:35

      Alan said: Hi Bryony. I agree with Anna's comments regarding agents. Andrew Lownie is very internet-savvy, a...

      Hi again Alan,

      In respect to the to the interest you had from Knightstone, had you approached them or are you saying they simply came across the work on CN and then made enquires from that?
      If it is the case that the publisher had been actively looking for “new blood” on something like CN then it would suggest that what CN are doing is starting to take effect to some degree. This would bode well for the future in terms of seeing the old publishing system change to some degree for the benefit of newer authors.

      Best regards

      Bryony

    • Alan Baker

      Alan

      14 Jul 10:22

      Bryony said: Hi again Alan, In respect to the to the interest you had from Knightstone, had you approached ...

      Hi Bryony. Actually, they approached me. Knightstone joined CN a while back (can’t remember when), and are actively looking for new writers. I think that independent publishers are much more open to the idea of submissions from unagented first-time fiction writers than the big ones (even though they are still overwhelmed by the volume of submissions). A lot of people out there want to get published!

    • Bryony Allen

      Bryony

      14 Jul 10:58

      Hi Alan,

      That’s great. It just shows there are open minded publishing companies out there, hopefully many more will follow suit. Thanks to CN at least the ones approaching things a different way have somewhere to tap in to.

      Bryony

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