Agents

Previously, we established it was a given that all literary agents are seeking quality, innovative work. Frankly, this makes our job much easier — we can start to focus our thoughts on what distinguishes one agency from another. One would think this is easy: they all have different names, ergo they are all different. Not so fast — when we talk about different, we mean the subtleties not easily discernible with the naked eye. Yes, the stuff we like to call reading between the lines. Let’s take, for instance Andrew Stuart and Jeffrey Kellogg of The Stuart Agency. Both are […]

Cricket Pechstein (founder of the Christina Pechstein Agency — we’re sensing someone has a nickname) and Jeffery McGraw (late of Harpercollins) have joined forces to form The August Agency. Since they have a website, we leave it to you know learn all about submitting and what they want from you. We will go out on a limb and suggest that knowledge of Latin might be a bonus, though, obviously, not required. The August Agency, LLC

We’re sure you’ve heard about the white shark swimming around at the Monterey Bay Aquarium? We thought we were safe by, well, not going anywhere near the beast (to say we were permanently scarred by Jaws is to say too little). However, it appears the shark was merely passing through Monterey on its way to world domination, Hollywood style. It turns out that Paradigm Talent and Literary Agency (we will not, for the sake of getting through this post, dwell on the subtle, yet pointless, differences between the two) has gobbled up Writers and Artists Group; absorbed Monterey Peninsula; and,

At this point, we must ask: is there an agency out there not looking for quality literary fiction and compelling narrative non-fiction? We’re not trying to suggest the market is getting crowded, but, well, it seems like the market is getting crowded. How are authors supposed to make informed decisions as consumers? Oh, right, by reading lengthy agent interviews. MediaBistro does the work so we don’t have to (being lazy is a virtue, from what we’ve been told). So, while you can guess what the Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency is seeking, you can also learn that Rittenberg and associate Ted

We’re going to be honest — we are so glad we don’t live in a swing state. We recommend those that do invest in TiVos and employ them early and often. The next week will be one constant commercial. Makes us wonder what will happen to the advertising economy on November 3…yes, the things we wonder about when we’re taking time to wonder . Times like this, when we’d prefer to avoid the world, make us think about our favorite books from the past. If you remember the books of your childhood vividly (and we do), it’s a sign of

Normally, you don’t hear much about agents and scandal — they leave that up to the authors, but this week we have two stories. What are the odds? Hmm, now that we think about the number of agents out there, we suspect very high. That’ll teach us to do math. Sarah’s got the scoop on what reads to be a rather bizarre case of an agent pocketing advances and disappearing into the wilds of the Pacific Palisades (those windy streets and cul-de-sacs will fool you every time). Looking into the agency in question, Sarah doesn’t find much to support their

It seems the post-Labor Day doldrums lasted forever — nobody wanted to switch jobs. We suppose it’s hard enough dealing with the inexplicable increase in traffic. No need to add figuring out a new route to the office to the mix. However, there were some org chart changes of note. First, Rebecca Gradinger has moved from the Mary Anne Thompson Agency (no website, but we’re sure that’s just a matter of time) to Janknow & Nesbit (also no website that we can find). Her title is junior agent. We don’t know the protocol here, but we imagine that all it

We will admit that we’re big fans of the split accounting concept. We like that authors get paid in a timely manner (checks do not go to the agent for processing before the author receives a share), and we like that authors get paid in the event something happens to the agent. It’s not personal and doesn’t create additional work for the agent (if anything, it reduces administrative costs…yes, we know, we give, we give, we give). Today’s cautionary tale (aka a memo from the Author’s Guild) reminds us that it is indeed your money, and you should do everything

At first glance (that’s Tim McCarver’s “I’ve been a sports announcer too long” hairstyle), RLR Literary might not seem hospitable to first-time authors. As MediaBistro tells us, if you’re writing a sports-related book, it’s possible — they pretty much have that area covered (but never say never). However, agents Jennifer Unter and Tara Mark go beyond the sports book (because, let’s face it, how many books does Don Zimmer have time to write?). A little smart chicklit here, some cool non-fiction there. Have a story about the entertainment industry? Hmmm, they might be interested. Unter gets extra credit points in