Craft Chat Literary Agents' comments and can I use them

Like most in this esteemed hall of literary endeavour I have touted my words round the entirety of the UK literary agencies. Most saw me as being beneath their contempt and didn't even bother to respond to my query and submission no matter how much I tarted up and teased the query and MS to suit their discerning delectation as great arbiters of art.

However, some dear sweet, lovely and hugely tasteful literary agents did write me a response. Their responses were quite complimentary and did show that they had read what I sent in to them. They like my tarts, but unfortunately they had lots of tarts already and I just wasn't their kind of tart (that's the last time I play the tart for them!).

What I was wondering about is whether or not I am legally able to quote the agents and their names/agencies on my website at the Newrick author website and in publicity? This is very much a ubiquitous publicity 'style' in the literary world that a few words by someone significant are printed on covers, opening pages, social media, posters etc. But does that have to be with agreement or does the fact that they actually wrote that in an email reply (for example) mean that I can legally use it with impunity.

@AgentPete - what's the deal here?

I don't know about the legality of this but in the past I have quoted 'studios' or "The Black list" (for my scripts) with their accolades etc. but never the person's name. But now I wouldn't do it just cause I feel it lowers my self-worth to quote someone who ultimately rejected me. Like you said---they are now discerners of great art? I'd move on.

The problem with doing this is, that while tempting, it risks becoming the elephant in the room. Or an ouroboros. Those other agents may have offered positive or even fulsome feedback and encouragement. But they didn't say yes. Nor did they, unless they specified otherwise, agree to be quoted. Nor will the encouragement of Agent X favourably influence the decision of Agent Y, but it may, perversely, have the opposite effect.

@AgentPete may of course, see it a bit differently.

I'd only suggest, let your title/market comparisons do that heavy lifting. And if you have any endorsements for work already published, I see no reason you couldn't use those. Good luck!

Coming from an academic perspective re quoting, as long as you state the full name of the person/publication/date/page no (I know some of this isn't appropriate), you can quote short sentences without permission. However, if the person's email had a disclaimer - which most do - stating anything about not using or sharing what is in the email, you cannot quote it. However, If in doubt, I'd check with the agent/s in question.

Following on from the above comments I would just add that I have just bought a pack of books and they all say 'number one bestseller' on their covers. They all have endorsements on them too.

Can they all be number one bestsellers? Can they all genuinely deserve such fulsome praise by big names?

Lets be honest here - publishing is a murky world and those of you with deep consciences who want to do 'the right thing' are just going to get eaten alive by the rest. Having given this a little thought further, I could use their comments but unattributed - works for me!

David Newrick said:

Following on from the above comments I would just add that I have just bought a pack of books and they all say 'number one bestseller' on their covers. They all have endorsements on them too.

Can they all be number one bestsellers? Can they all genuinely deserve such fulsome praise by big names?

Lets be honest here - publishing is a murky world and those of you with deep consciences who want to do 'the right thing' are just going to get eaten alive by the rest. Have thought further I could use their comments but unattributed - work for me!

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As most know, quotes on books are acquired/paid for/requested from individuals and which is the slippery side, some of the quotes often derive from those published by the same publisher/agent and or who are known by someone at the publisher, etc. I'd say, yes to the No. 1 bestseller question because there are so many ways to be a number one best seller and the term is so indefinable, that I'm sure for the majority using it that it's true. That isn't to say they were no. 1 bs for very long or in a particularly great list, but if they were on it, then its okay. I'm sure there are people out there using bs from a bs perspective, if you get my drift? But do you want to go there?

Rachael Burnett said:

Coming from an academic perspective re quoting, as long as you state the full name of the person/publication/date/page no (I know some of this isn't appropriate), you can quote short sentences without permission. However, if the person's email had a disclaimer - which most do - stating anything about not using or sharing what is in the email, you cannot quote it. However, If in doubt, I'd check with the agent/s in question.

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Yes. thanks Rachael, a very balanced reply. As someone from a partial academic background myself I see exactly what you mean.

Legal or not, I wouldn't quote them without their permission. You might sub to them in the future with a different book and if they hate that you quoted them ...

I suspect since they wrote the comment, it's 'under their copyright'. But I don't know.

If you quote them without mentioning the name ... It means nothing. It could have been your relative who said that. As a reader, if I saw an anonymous quote, I'd assume the author made it up and that they're an amateur.

Ask them.

David Newrick said:

a few words by someone significant are printed on covers, opening pages, social media, posters etc.

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I'd assume they've always been asked. Or if someone very famous, that someone in their organisation or on their staff has been asked, and agreed.

FWIW as a consumer I never pay attention to recommendation blurbs and bs tags, and I was like this even before I entered the biz and now know all the games. To me it comes off as trying too hard. The best recommend is if I see an interesting review online or another friend tells me about a book.

This is the sort of question that’s best addressed in the Steam Room or the Huddle. Without that shield of privacy I can only make fairly general comments.

David Newrick said:

Most saw me as being beneath their contempt and didn't even bother to respond to my query and submission no matter how much I tarted up and teased the query and MS to suit their discerning delectation as great arbiters of art.

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Rejection is often hard to handle, but it’s an inescapable part of the writer’s life, and indeed the agent’s life, too. Don’t assume that, because you haven’t had a reply, there is some vast literary conspiracy targeting you.

Agents are busy people, and their first duty is towards their clients. There may not be much time to handle the submission pile after client duties are done.

It’s nice to think that every submission might receive a thoughtful response, but that’s a dream, not the reality of running a business. Who is going to pay the overhead for processing thousands of not-very-good submissions?

You are trying to sell your work to an agent. That is the simple truth. It is your responsibility to create work that pushes the agent’s “wow!” button. The work you sent them has obviously failed to do that. The onus is on you, not the agent, to initiate the sales process by creating something outstanding. You didn’t. In point of fact, the agent owes you nothing.

This is a hard lesson for most writers to learn. But until you do, you’ll remain stuck in the submission pile.

David Newrick said:

However, some dear sweet, lovely and hugely tasteful literary agents did write me a response. Their responses were quite complimentary and did show that they had read what I sent in to them. They like my tarts, but unfortunately they had lots of tarts already and I just wasn't their kind of tart (that's the last time I play the tart for them!).

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Agents (and indeed publishers) often try to soften the blows of rejection by finding nice things to say. Don’t read much into those comments, other than the likelihood that they are probably quite nice people, and they don’t like writing rejections any more than you like reading them. A nice rejection is still… a rejection.

David Newrick said:

What I was wondering about is whether or not I am legally able to quote the agents and their names/agencies on my website at the Newrick author website and in publicity?

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As Rachael says, check the disclaimer on the email. Most of them do state that the communication is made in confidence.

However, I can’t imagine you’d get into serious legal trouble for quoting (although it’s possible – I did once receive a threatening legal letter from a law firm who outrageously claimed copyright in the letter concerned, seeking to prevent me from showing it to third parties – it went straight to the Daily Mail who did a nice feature about it).

David Newrick said:

This is very much a ubiquitous publicity 'style' in the literary world that a few words by someone significant are printed on covers, opening pages, social media, posters etc. But does that have to be with agreement or does the fact that they actually wrote that in an email reply (for example) mean that I can legally use it with impunity.

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Why you’d want to quote rejections is hard to understand. I have a little collection of publishers’ rejections for projects that went on to be big. It gives me an occasional chuckle, but I’d never think about publishing them.

More seriously, if you were to quote selectively, to give the impression that the agent endorsed the ms when in fact they don’t, then you’d be looking for a legal letter, at the very least. Also, I’d argue that you’d be breaking trust with your readers, probably even more important.