Agents

We honestly feel we should be earning a commission from MediaBistro for all the business we’re drumming up. We’ve been an AvantGuild member for quite some time, and find ourselves confused: has the Bistro recently ramped up its offerings to paid members or did we sleepwalk through the first year of our membership? This week, members are treated to the insider scoop on agents Frank Weimann, Anita Diggs, Ian Kleinert, and Steve Laube of The Literary Group. Maybe it’s the way the article was written, but they seem like a fun gang to us. P.S. – They have a website.

Kara Baskin is joining the Gail Ross Literary Agency as a part-time agent. We don’t know how it will work, but that’s not really our business. As she’ll be continuing her role at The New Republic, we’re wondering if this is a new variation on the “don’t quit your day job” concept. Regardless, feel free to welcome Kara to her position. Also, while the fact that the agency has a living, breathing website is enough to make us sigh with joy, there is an added bonus on the site. If you poke around until you reach the end of the

We cannot force you to pay good money for an AvantGuild membership at MediaBistro. But we can tell you they’re making more content available to paying members. We see it as a subscription worth our while — you may decide for yourself. For instance, we were able to devour the article on pitching to Lowenstein-Yost Associates, while you may be in a position to only hear about it from us. We can tell you it was good and thorough. You, of course, know what needs to be done. Pitching an Agent: Lowenstein-Yost Associates (AvantGuild members only) Lowenstein-Yost Associates (we are,

Agent Farley Chase, formerly of Goldfarb & Associates, has joined the Waxman Literary Agency. Waxman is a full-service boutique agency with international and domestic contacts. As always, we encourage welcoming new employees to their jobs — Waxman makes it easy…click on the Submissions link on their website. Other agents out there: take note of the ease and availablity of the Waxman website. It nearly makes us weep. Waxman Literary Agency

We don’t think it’s a surprise that we like our literary fare mixed with a dose of…fun. How else to wash the bad taste from the mouth after slogging through pages of characters we want to die (or our guilt when we cheer at said characters’ deaths)? Andrew Wylie wishes the public didn’t devour novels like Peyton Place (which the Literary Saloon points out is still in print, contrary to Wylie’s belief). We admire Wylie’s decision to only represent and sell those books he enjoys reading; we also assert our right to read anything without condescension. An international agent argues

It’s nice when agents take time from their busy schedules to explain things to us. After all, there is so much of this industry clouded in mystery (what are reserves for returns and why do I want them?). Fiction Addiction has convinced the fine folks at Graybill & English — who serve as both literary agents and literary attorneys (to learn the difference, as them) — to answer all the crazy questions we can think to ask. And not to rub other agents’ noses in the fact, but Graybill has a website. Graybill & English Answer Your Questions Graybill &