New lit agency which guarantees feedback within 6 wks is prob scam :(

[Sea-shore]

Hi all, there's a new literary agency which say they guarantee a critique from their experienced editor within 6 weeks for every MS they receive. They have a contact form for submissions which looks very straightforward.

(I am in no way affiliated with the agency .)

Sue Lawrie Literary Agency|Submit your book with us|Manuscript Critique|Chester

Also, I'm not sure if it is too good to be true. Word of caution: writers should never expect to pay any fees to Agencies. They get their commission from the publishers.

 

[Lex Black]

I didn't see anything about a fee just browsing around casually. Do they require one?

 

[KG Christopher]

Does anyone use this site? Just wandering should I invest the effort into using it as a query platform.

QueryTracker | Find literary agents and publishers with our free database

 

[Paul Whybrow]

An impressive site, using an online submission form to query. I like her stated aims in the About Us section. She's based in Chester, and I've noticed that agencies outside of London try harder and are more courteous than those long-established in the capital.

One to add to my list of agents to query—thank you!

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Oops-a-daisy! All may not be as it seems.... I was wondering how they'd manage to read so many manuscripts and offer a critique, so Googled them.

I found this thread on AbsoluteWrite, which discusses their fees and links to vanity publishing....

Sue Lawrie Literary Agency

 

[Chase Gamwell]

Does anyone use this site? Just wandering should I invest the effort into using it as a query platform.

QueryTracker | Find literary agents and publishers with our free database

KG, I use QueryTracker to keep track of all the queries I send out. It's free, but you can pay $25/yr to upgrade to a premium account that adds a bunch of extra tools. I use the premium version of the site and it's especially useful if you plan to query for more than one book at a time (or if you want to see advanced data on the agents you plan to query). I've been using the site for over a year and I've never had issues with it other than some agents not being on their master list. Otherwise, I'd definitely suggest it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Kitty]

Oops-a-daisy! All may not be as it seems.... I was wondering how they'd manage to read so many manuscripts and offer a critique, so Googled them.

I found this thread on AbsoluteWrite, which discusses their fees and links to vanity publishing....

Sue Lawrie Literary Agency

Wow! A scam agent! well spotted @Paul Whybrow !

 

[Carol Rose]

Oops-a-daisy! All may not be as it seems.... I was wondering how they'd manage to read so many manuscripts and offer a critique, so Googled them.

I found this thread on AbsoluteWrite, which discusses their fees and links to vanity publishing....

Sue Lawrie Literary Agency

YEP! Exact same concerns were racing through my mind as I read through their site. Blanket statements that have no basis in reality, the us-versus-them mentality, and simply the overall tone of the site told me it's not as great as it first appears. Plus, nowhere can you find who they already represent, or what books they've sold or to whom. Legit agents aren't reluctant to put that info on their site. Why would they be? Selling to publishers is how they make their money, and they're proud of their authors. You want to work with someone who is, obviously.

My advice: RUN AWAY

 

[KG Christopher]

The website is totally naff.

 

[Sea-shore]

Oh dear. Well, cross them off my list then. I did do a quick Google, but thought the editor's feedback would be useful if nothing else. Oh well, when it's too good to be true...

 

[Sea-shore]

Does anyone use this site? Just wandering should I invest the effort into using it as a query platform.

QueryTracker | Find literary agents and publishers with our free database

Yep, I've started using it too. Looks good so far.

 

[Sea-shore]

Oops-a-daisy! All may not be as it seems.... I was wondering how they'd manage to read so many manuscripts and offer a critique, so Googled them.

I found this thread on AbsoluteWrite, which discusses their fees and links to vanity publishing....

Sue Lawrie Literary Agency

Thank @Paul Whybrow and @Carol Rose . It's good we have this writers' community to check things through with, especially for naive, new writers such as me.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Unfortunately, there are a few bogus or no-hopers literary agents around, as well as one outright fantasist—Jane Dowary. I made the mistake of contacting this lunatic, and for six months she pestered me with entreaties for worldwide rights to my novel.

See: Jane Dowary Agency

Preditors & Editors is suspended at the moment, while they seek a new caretaker to update their database—there's a job going for somebody on a voluntary basis.

All the same, it's wise to check as much as you can about a literary agent. I've been trawling through the list of 160 agencies I queried last year, removing ten of them as being suspect. I feel for the plight of someone trying to start out as an agent, for I know how hard it is to get attention as an author. But, respectable new agents have a biography on their site showing where they learned their skills at long-established agencies.

We work too hard on our manuscripts to throw away thousands of hours in one email to a useless or criminal agent.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Query Tracker is proving tricky...not to sign up to the main site, but to join the forum. Some It glitches or password issues, but anyone who is currently active in that forum - not the main site- see what someone there said about Litopia. Not true, not fair and not nice.

Signed up there today so did something about that.

 

[Emurelda]

This part in the 'about us' section is a bit rude to the current industry..

"After many years I realised that literary agents and publishers are unwilling to take a risk with new authors no matter how talented and they have developed a complicated system of denying new authors access to the market. They do this to keep the sales of their existing authors at high levels, the thinking is that if there are too many similar authors the reader will inevitably choose different authors than their established clients. "

To me this just feeds off some of the angst some authors have (rightly or wrongly) and abuses it to their ends. That's cheap.

 

[Peggy Lou]

Definitely bogus. Bona fide agents are never rude about each other - at least in public! A new agency may not have published clients but this lady doesn't mention the names of any agencies/publishers she worked for previously.

Query Tracker is very useful. And reliable.

 

[Kitty]

This part in the 'about us' section is a bit rude to the current industry..

"After many years I realised that literary agents and publishers are unwilling to take a risk with new authors no matter how talented and they have developed a complicated system of denying new authors access to the market. They do this to keep the sales of their existing authors at high levels, the thinking is that if there are too many similar authors the reader will inevitably choose different authors than their established clients. "

To me this just feeds off some of the angst some authors have (rightly or wrongly) and abuses it to their ends. That's cheap.

That statement certainly set my alarm bells ringing! Not to mention the complete lack of any biographical information. I followed Paul's link to Absolute Write and went over to see what they were up to on twitter that everyone was talking about. There were several reputable agents calling them out about their fee's for reading a full MS! It's all extremely dodgy.

 

[Carol Rose]

Query Tracker is proving tricky...not to sign up to the main site, but to join the forum. Some It glitches or password issues, but anyone who is currently active in that forum - not the main site- see what someone there says about Litopia. Not true, not fair and not nice.

Can't get in there to see it, but we know the truth about this place, so the heck with them.

 

[AgentPete]

Definitely bogus. Bona fide agents are never rude about each other - at least in public! .

Well, I can be a bit acerbic about my "competitors"

Not enough info on that website. She worked in the "business" - ok, where? That would be a selling point - no reason to withhold it. Legit publishers often become agents, initially without clients but their contacts are good and commercial instinct for material ought to be good, too.

Inviting a torrent of submissions and *guaranteeing* a response time is either pretty naive (great way to go bust) or a bit dodgy.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Well, I can be a bit acerbic about my "competitors"

Not enough info on that website. She worked in the "business" - ok, where? That would be a selling point - no reason to withhold it. Legit publishers often become agents, initially without clients but their contacts are good and commercial instinct for material ought to be good, too.

Inviting a torrent of submissions and *guaranteeing* a response time is either pretty naive (great way to go bust) or a bit dodgy.

Agent Pete, are literary agencies regulated in any way, shape or form? Is there a professional body that you join, to decide on policy, to protect members' interests and maybe offer legal advice?

In my search for representation, I've come across some real villains and other agents who are simply delusional or too inexperienced to be in the game. As with the agent that started this thread, the Sue Lawrie Literary Agency, I recently found an agency that looks and sounds too good to be true. Started sometime this year, Blue Boar Books has risen out of nowhere—yet they offer a slick service that includes editing, agenting, ghost-writing and publishing.

Home

I searched for information on them, including registration as a company, but could find nothing. This is the sort of outfit that, on the surface anyway, reminds me of W.C. Field's assertion: 'Never give a sucker an even break'—but they might be genuine....

 

[AgentPete]

In the UK, there’s the Association of Authors’ Agents. Was a member for a few years. Found it unhelpful, small-minded, irrelevant to what was happening in the marketplace, so I left. Membership used to be a modest indication of legit-ness (tho by no means of ability)... far less so today, i.e. I wouldn’t have left if I thought it would have counted against me in any way.

A very quick once-over of that site...

• No names. Why not?
• Stock photos. Why?
• “Make a free website”. Gives me pause.
• Editing. Who are you and what have you actually edited?
• Agents. Ditto.
• Writers. Hmm.
• Publishers. What do the offer beyond sticking it onto Kindle (for a fee)? Case histories?
• General – by no means enough info. EG Where are they? Even in this digital world, most agents are physically in London or NY, close to publishers. I would drop them a line, if you’re seriously interested, asking for a client referral, i.e. someone who has been through their process and is happy about it... and then have a word with them. However... to me, this site looks way too skimpy to be any good.

 

[Bernard Stacey]

Following the website link now - it seems to have disappeared. My IT, or their realisation of being outed in online forums?

 

[Paul Whybrow]

As Bernard says, Sue Lawrie appears to have disappeared—but Blue Boar Books are still there—watch out folks!

 

[Paul Whybrow]