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Why Poets Should Not Seek Literary Agents

Writer Beware hears from a fair number poets. Much of the time, they’re contacting us to ask about self-publishing, or to check the reputation of a journal or a contest. Sometimes, unfortunately, they’ve gotten mixed up with one of the vanity anthology companies, such as Eber and Wein.

Indian Writers Beware:
Literary Agent Scams in India a Growing Problem

When Westerners think of major book markets, India may not be the first country that springs to mind. But India’s publishing industry is the sixth largest in the world, and fully a third of it is devoted to English-language publishing.

Just as in the USA and the UK, the success of debut novelists in India fuels the dreams of legions of aspiring writers. And where there are aspiring writers, there are writing scams.

Guest Post: The Greatest Challenge Agents Will Face

The unpublished often believe that agents exist because of the publishing funnel, and to be sure, that has helped cement agents’ central importance to the publishing business. But what really enables agents to exist is the fact that up until recently, every deal, big or small, was up for negotiation–the size of the advance, the terms of the contract, the rights up for discussion.

Best Solution Author Agency (or, Beware of Agent Solicitations)

I don’t often write posts like this, because it’s really like shooting fish in a barrel. And there are so many red flags here that savvy writers may wonder why I bother. But there are a lot of new writers searching for agents, many of whom are probably new to Writer Beware, and may not yet be clear on what to watch out for.

HOW TO FIND A (REAL!) LITERARY AGENT

by A.C. Crispin Introduction Agents–When Do You Need One? Getting Started–Compiling a List, Researching Agent Listings, and Following Submission Guidelines How to Recognize Real Agents Writing the Synopsis Writing the Query Letter Sending Out Your Query Letters Playing the Waiting Game Make Sure Your Manuscript Lives Up to Your Query The Psychology of Querying Introduction […]

Are Agents Underpaid?

A fascinating discussion began today on Twitter (as of this writing, it’s still going on–check it out under the #agentpay hashtag), kicked off by agent Colleen Lindsay, who asked, “How would publishing change if agenting moved from commission-based payment to billable hours?”