ThomasLitchford

[T]he key point in the business is that the investment is made in the wrong areas in the business, and I think that quality—which is more valuable over time—has been undervalued, and quantity—which is less valuable over time—has been overvalued. And I think this is a reaction to the dominance of the influence of the [...]

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Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises should get an award for efficiency in the generally inefficient field of literary submissions.
Many agencies use a form letter (stuffed in the self-addressed stamped envelope provided by the author).
Ms. Amster, or, more likely, her assistant, did one better: she wrote “Thanks, but not for us. Best of luck.” at the top [...]

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Three days after I sent out my batch of ten queries, first-class postage went up two cents. So, all my SASEs (Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes) had $0.39 stamps on them. So far, I’ve received three replies, and the agencies have graciously added the $0.02 postage.
How is it possible that this rate change snuck up on [...]

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Good news: my latest batch of queries has already generated a request for the full MS!
That’s the second request for a read. I’m trying to control my fantasies of fame and riches this time around. I haven’t been able to find out much about the agency. I know it’s a small agency of I think [...]

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I sent out about ten more submissions this weekend, some via e-mail, some via postal mail. I pulled some of the names from a print directory of literary agents. Others came from agentquery.com.
I’m noticing a new trend with regard to e-mail queries: agency websites state that they cannot respond to all queries but will respond [...]

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Posts have been slow, I know. It’s because I’m working on the new book.
The blog isn’t the only thing that’s suffering. I haven’t sent out any submissions since March. At this point I’m just querying blindly, anyway. I’ve exhausted the agents of contemporary authors I identify with — at least those agents who accept queries. [...]

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That’s what an annual subscription to Literary Marketplace goes for. Or $19.95 per week.
There is a free subscription option that gets users access to mailing addresses for agencies, but that is information is useless without info on what/who the agency represents.
And to think an e-rejection from Lippincott Massie McQuilkin was the source that led me [...]

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I believe I have now just about exhausted the ‘big names’ in literary representation. There are two agents who never bothered to reply to my e-queries (one reason I hate e-queries is their tendency to languish unresolved in the ether).
So, I’m reduced to the Guides — the directories of literary agents full of dubious contact [...]

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Apart from being the title of a great (read ’stupendously entertaining’) new film, that is the number of queries Mr. Daniel Lazar claims to receive each week in his form letter response to my own query.
It was really a very polite rejection, though.
More on the movie: don’t see it for historical accuracy; don’t see it [...]

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One of the more frustrating aspects of rejection is having to start all over again. Once again I’m straining to seduce agents and agents’ assistants.
I’m sending out another six queries. Two of them are e-queries (more on that in a minute), and the rest are snail mail. I have a few more agencies I’m thinking [...]

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