My literary friends. I am trying to get something published and came accross an agency in New York.?

Question

Has anyone ever heard of The New York Literary Agency - they seem keen and are offering a contract but I am dubious having not met anyone?

Answer 1

red alert red alert
stay well clear . i have just had a bad experience with these shysters who offered me a contract for my work. first they want you to send off money for a critique of your work, £42 then ask for money to promote you on their website, £200 approx then tell you no one is seeking your genre at the moment. fortunately all i lost was the money for the critique and after doing a google search, the new york literary agency is listed in the twentiest biggest scamsters known. Please as exciting as it is, don't be a fool like me and fall for their lies. My search for a genuine publishing house to accet my workk continues and i wish you the best of luck with your endeavour. doa google search and see for yourself how many peole have fallen foul of their scam. the trouble is there are a lot of them out their. get yourself a copy of writers and artists yearbook 2007, it's full of genuine publishing houses and the genre they are currently accepting manuscripts for.

Answer 2

What Kathryn W said. The "best" agent or publisher for a first time author is the one who says yes when all the others say no. You often don't have any choice. And why do people who ask this sort of question never say what genre they write, or even what country they live in? If you're a romance writer in New Zealand, there's no point sending your book to a horror publisher in Canada who just happens to be looking for new authors this month. (Though even if you had said, I wouldn't name any agents or publishers. That's your job. Honestly - you've spent months or years writing this book, and you can't be bothered to spend a few days slogging through a list of possible publishers?) If you suck at queries, either learn how to not suck, or accept that your book will not be published by a traditional publisher (the sort who pays you, not the other way round). Yes, it's unfair that they judge your book based on text that doesn't appear in the book, but they hold (nearly) all the cards in this game. Far more people want to be paid to write books than the book-buying public is willing or able to support, so publishers can be - have to be - very choosy about which books they accept. Look on it as an aptitude test. If a writer doesn't realise how important the query is to the publisher or agent, and hasn't bothered to learn how to write a good query, what are the chances that they've bothered to learn how to write a good (ie marketable) story?

Answer 3

Don't get involved with them. VERY BAD.

"The New York Literary Agency is one of several new "agencies" under the umbrella of The Literary Agency Group Inc. The Literary Agency Group Inc. appears to be a spinoff of the infamous Stylus Literary Agency (until recently known as the ST Literary Agency), owned and operated by Robert Fletcher. Writer Beware has received scores of complaints about Stylus Literary/ST Literary, which charges fees, promotes its own paid editing services, and submits in a haphazard fashion to inappropriate publishers (when it submits at all). It uses a boiler room-style operation, with clients receiving substantially identical e-mails and response"

Writer Beware has documented that these agencies all operate in much the same way, using the same boiler-room-style approach as the original Stylus, with nearly identical intake materials and contracts. Right now, the main focus of the operation appears to be persuading writers to buy paid critique services (at a cost of between $50 and around $90) and editing services (anywhere from $99 to over $2,000) from a service that's described as a "sister" company but in fact appears to be under common ownership with the agencies (this is a conflict of interest: if an agency can make money by recommending critiques or editing, how can the writer trust that the recommendation is in his/her best interest?). There may also be other paid adjunct services, and it's possible that there are vanity publishers somewhere in the mix.

Neither Stylus Literary Agency/ST Literary Agency nor any of its spinoffs have any commercial book or script sales, as far as we're aware--despite their claims to the contrary.

Answer 4

The New York Literary Agency is one of several new "agencies" under the umbrella of The Literary Agency Group Inc. The Literary Agency Group Inc. appears to be a spinoff of the infamous Stylus Literary Agency (until recently known as the ST Literary Agency), owned and operated by Robert Fletcher. Writer Beware, a writers' blog, has received scores of complaints about Stylus Literary/ST Literary, which charges fees, promotes its own paid editing services, and submits in a haphazard fashion to inappropriate publishers (when it submits at all). Best to use caution.

Answer 5

Please be careful! Often these Literary Agencies are just trying to get you interested and then pounce with 'an offer you can't refuse' which sounds so good that you part with cash. Only to find that you have to part with a lot more later.

I speak as a publisher and editor - Manuscript Publishing. I will be happy to answer questions like this from anyone either in the uk or not via email: [e-mail]

Answer 6

If they don't charge any fees (a reputable agent will not, they earn money on taking a percentage of any publishing deal, usually 10-15%) then it is likely that they are legit - well done!

It does seem as though this is a small agency though - if you think that you have a very good work, especially commercial fiction or non-fiction, it might be worth sending it to a few other agents to compare. Look for a website that lists current clients and what they have published to find an agent that specifically deals with your type of book - they will know the editors who also deal with that genre.

Don't sign anything until you have checked it carefully. In the UK there are the books The Writers and Artists Yearbook and the Writers Handbook which have all the agents and publishers listed and what type of submissions they are looking for - I imagine that there are similar publications for the US.

Answer 7

As with any type of contract - read everything and have it professionally checked first before committing yourself.
As for whether or not they are a 'kosher' outfit?
You would be better off checking around the local area rather than in an international forum such as this!
Most people know of the 'major' publishing firms ( Penguin, Bantam, DelRey) there are also hundreds of smaller companies publishing 'local' authors works.
If it turns out that they are above board then congratulations on becoming published!
If they are not, well done for doing your research on them!

Either way, Good Luck!

Answer 8

Be wise, call them. Ask some questions. Each agency represents the work to other publishers. Find out if they are indeed the publisher or a Representative to you the author.
Did you copyright your work before you sent it to them?/Will they copyright it for you, and will they charge you the fee? (All published works need to be copyrighted before being published or being handed to a publisher.) A poor man's copyright is taking
a sentence from mid book and placing it on the outside of a copy of the manuscript and mailing it to himself registered mail.
Contact the BBB in New York and ask if any complaints have been filed against them.
Ask what other books they've published, and then contact the writer. And congratulations, I hope everything goes well for you.

Answer 9

A lot of these agencies specialise in what is called "Vanity Publishing". They will charge you loadsa money, publish a limited run (single figures) of your book and that's it. No distribution, marketing or anything else. All you have is a lighter bank balance and the ability to be vain and say "yes I've been published".

Answer 10

Are they asking you for money? What does the contract say? Are they in The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook (or whatever equivalent where you are)? Are they asking to meet you? Normally, agents sort of interview prospective clients as the relationship between you is as important for prospects as the work itself.