Hi All,

I gave Artellus Ltd a call a short time ago and I was told that they only consider full manuscripts but charge a £30 reading fee. That fee will guarantee a full reading plus feedback. Is it worth it, or should three sample chapters and a good synopsis be enough for an agent to see if a book is any good?

Any opinions? Does anyone know anything about this company?

Colin M

Don't do it. If they want cash from you, up front that say that something dodgy is going on.

Geoff

<Added>

One day I write a post that makes sense!

Dodgy!

<Added>

i'll*

Going for that authentic redneck feel there ;)

What you could do Colin, is ask them for contact details of their other customers who have coughed up the dosh so that you can judge the quality of their feedback.

My gut feeling is that it’s a scam. Personally, I wouldn’t read and give feedback on a full ms for £30. For useful, professional feedback on a complete novel you should expect to pay in the region of £250-£400. But this is not what agents do. Agents are brokers. They make their money by connecting authors with suitable publishers. They do not – NOT – charge for reading.

Sorry – I know this is not what you want to hear. But just remember this – the positive feedback you’ve had from the writing you’ve uploaded on here was not flannel. You have talent. Keep that at the front of your mind and keep looking for that agent who has the window to take you in and don’t even think about paying someone to buy your work.

Dee.
x

On the contrary, Dee. That is just what I want to hear. Even my wife said I would be mad to consider it. I mean, thirty quid, that's TEN bottles of wine (you get an idea of the quality I go for here don't you?).

And those are very kind words Dee. (I hope Katie is reading - I'm posting her a submission tomorrow )

love 'n' lager

Colin M

Look forward to reading it Colin!

Katie

Whoohoo



At least something's cheered me up today. Had a rotten, rotten day. My eldest son was supposed to have a major operation on his hip today. I spent last night in the hospital with him, couldn't sleep a wink. Watched Dracula 2000 - rubbish, except the bits that were unintentionally funny, spent the rest of the night reading Artemis Fowl (that was top!), made it through to this morning to find out the op had been postponed from this morning to this afternoon, then got to this afternoon to be told that the op had been cancelled because the roof of the HDU has fallen in. Now he has to have it in two weeks time, two days before his sixth birthday.

Sorry about this, just wanted to vent some spleen. Who knows, maybe it can form the basis for a black comedy.

Colin M ("M" for moany and miserable)

This has been removed from the main forum. Does this mean I've had my hand slapped for discussing personal stuff???

dear me.

Colin M

No Colin. It just means you're not a site expert so therefore not an interesting person... like the rest of us. Have a look at the 'new look' front page.

Heh heh. Yes, I see it's had a bit of clean up. To be honest, I think I would understand if it had been shifted somewhere else, at least in this case. But I still have a problem with the RLG posts being moved.

(oh dear, let's not dig that thread up again...)

Colin M