Any1 got anyfink 2 say on it?

I read in a magazine that he got a £500,000 deal for a teenage writer but that was the first I'd heard of him.
Sue

Robin was the first agent I contacted. I cringe now when I look at what I sent him and, needless to say, he rejected it. But he was wonderfully encouraging and I'll never forget him for that.

Dee.

"Have you had time to read my manuscript yet? I should be grateful if you could kindly let me know whether you wish to proceed. Thank you". (Me)

"no, sorry, I haven't got to it yet. But if you're in a hurry I'd better say thanks but no thanks and best of luck with it elsewhere" (Him)

I'll let you make up your own minds about this and my response!! hehehehe

Traveller,

His response seems perfectly reasonable to me. You said somewhere else that you were 'chasing' him about this. My sympathies lie with him. No agent owes you anything when you send in a piece of work that is, let's face it, just one of literally hundreds, even thousands, he receives in a year. You are the one who's seeking a favour - and it is a favour if an agent uses his time to read your stuff. Agencies and publishers are businesses, believe it or not. What's wrong with suggesting you go somewhere else if you want a quick response? What's so special about you, that he should put you at the top of his reading list, above all the other writers who've sent in stuff? If your stuff is so brilliant (and it may well be for all I know) why do you need an agent anyway: why not just send it direct to a publisher? More crucially - working with an agent needs to be a flexible relationship. Which means the writer needs to show he is willing to listen to advice and make changes to his writing where necessary. Giving off the air that you are such hot stuff it's everybody else's loss if they don't recognise your genius immediately is probably not the best way to demonstrate that you have this professional adaptability.

You should be an agent instead of a writer mate.

Terry is right. Be patient, and be nice. And don't think of agents as 'them' and writers as 'us'; think of it as a partnership, not WW3! :-)

No, think of it as this:

An artist, who pours their heart and soul into creating a work of art they hope will be appreciated.

An agent, someone who makes money out of somebody else pouring their heart and soul into creating a work of art they hope will be appreciated.

Yes agents do make money out of writer's 'heart and soul' but, and obviously I cannot speak for all agents but in my career to date I have had three. All three devoted huge amounts of time to the creative process, giving me extensive editorial comments and notes on the work, guiding it in the right direction, putting me up for work I wouldn't have known about or arranging meetings with producers etc I wouldn't have had access to. It is very much a partnership. Of course there are good and bad agents and I am lucky to have been represented by some very good agents at highly respected agencies but I can assure you that my agent earns every penny of her commission. She works very very hard and certainly doesn't sit back riding off the talent of her writers. She finds that talent, cultivates it, promotes it endlessly and ultimately makes a lot of money for those clients. Agents may take their 10 or 15% but what you have to remember is 1) they earn it and 2) 85 0r 90% of something is a whole not better than a 100% of nothing!

This disgust at agents I don't understand...Is it because they reject our work? Many upon many have rejected my work, but I don't blame the agent, only myself (and probably lack of talent).

Agents are there is do a good job for you, and if they accept you as a client, yes they take money from you, but they almost certainly make you more than you would have otherwise got.

Yes, I was being flippant. Being nasty about agents is all part of the cult of being a writer isnt it? Even if most of us know they are valuable and that some of them are actually worth it.

However, anyone slogging up the long steep road towards publication, is bound to feel this bitterness from time to time.

True wax.

Obviously they are all philistines for not publishing us. Want to join my revolution?

Perhaps I should start a similiar thread where I could rant about terrible writers or difficult clients or rude publishers. But alas, I suspect I might end up talking to myself and besides, this site probably isn't the place to do it.

And although I tend to get twitchy when I think I can smell a bonfire, I do understand the frustration.

And on behalf of myself and my kind, thanks to those of you who put in a good word for the big bad agents!

Katie

Well, I'd like to put in a good word for Katie specifically. Apart from all the useful comments she's put on this site, she's also helped, at least with me, behind the scenes too. For example, I recently asked her for some specific feed-back on work I'd sent her as an agent and she kindly provided it. As a result, I am re-writing the opening chapter of the novel concerned. Now, given that she was not taking my work on and that she is a professional who's time is money, to provide such feed-back was, as far as I'm concerned, above the call of duty (and greatly appreciated).

Now now Terry, there's no need for all that. I only slipped you a tenner, and I reckon that was at least fifty quid's worth of flattery.....

K