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offer from agents wanting reading fee

mandy0799mandy0799
edited June 2007 in - WM and WN

Comments

  • mandy0799mandy0799
    i wonder if anyone can help me. i have recently sent out my sample chapters to a number of agents for my new novel. today i got slightly excited(serious overstatement) when i received a reply back from the alexandra nye agency in dunblane. they are requesting a reading fee of £2.00 per 1000 words of the rest of my manuscript. what do you think i should do and do you think this could just be a scam. help, i'm so bleedin confused now
  • dorothyddorothyd
    basic advice from everyone, everywhere in this industry, is never pay an agent to read a book.  Never.  It brought down my earlier agent, Hill & Hill, they asked for reading fees, were shown up and went out of business.  (Oddly, he never asked me for money but then I don't think he offered my work anywhere either._ It's a scam. Don't fall for it.
  • mandy0799mandy0799
    thanks dorothy, you just get so excited when something other than a large brown envelope lands on the mat. i found this agency in the writers handbook and the new writers market uk and thought they might be a reputable company. it sort of makes you feel sick when you think it could be a scam.
  • CarolCarol
    Although I have to say that I have heard of legitimate agencies who do charge a reading fee unfortunately.
    I checked in the latest  WH, and some say no reading fee, but others don't say anything.
    Are they a Member of the Association of Authors' Agents?
  • mandy0799mandy0799
    I have just looked on the association of authors website and they are not listed. I think they have tried to scam me, so I think I have to put it down as a lesson thankfully learned before parting with money. It's bad when companys like this trample on the dreams and aspirations of new writers just so that they can make a quick buck. Thank you for your response carol.
  • CarolCarol
    I do know that whenever small agents have been discussed, many of them have not been members.
    It might be worth asking politely why they ask for a reading fee, and could they give you the names of any other writers they represent.(You can then check to confirm this.)
    If they are legitimate they will understand your concerns.
  • KazKaz
    The best advice I can offer comes from one of the best agents in the business: Carole Blake, of Blake Friedmann - in her excellent book, 'From Pitch To Publication' - she advises that no writer should ever be charged a reading fee from a reputable agent. I'm not saying it's a scam, but certainly I would advise parting with any cash. Your money will definitely be better invested elsewhere.

    Good luck!
  • StirlingStirling
    No.  No.  No!.

    In seven years I have never been asked for a reading fee.  For a manuscript of 100,000 words they are wanting £200, you could use that money for an appraisal from Cornerstones etc.

    Like pop music and acting, there is a whole industry built around wannabe writers/popstars/actors, and it's worth millions.  Unfortunately a lot of them think we are all suckers.
  • carocaro
    On the subject of agents trying to charge for reading a ms, I have a friend who has been doing an MA in creative writing at a university, I think it's called Trinity College, in Carmarthenshire in Wales. Apparently, some of her tutors have been teaching her class that a lit agent is someone you hire, like a lawyer, and that the reason most aspiring writers don't have one is that they can't afford one! Talk about misinformation. I'm amazed that an MA course could teach such rubbish.
  • CarolCarol
    If only you could hire them!!!
  • StirlingStirling
    They're slightly right.  Writers do hire/pay agents to represent them, but only after the cheques start coming in.

    The trick is persuading an agent to take you on.  Do these people think models and actors just walk in and pay, and agents take on just anyone?.
  • carocaro
    The tutors on my friend's course were of the opinion that you just choose an agent, pay them some money and get them to represent you. They didn't understand that it's the other way around. The agent chooses the writer if they think they have  talent, and they'll only make some money out of the writer if they find a publisher for them. I read somewhere that some agents get about 300 submissions a week, and they only take on about 5 new writers a year.
  • StirlingStirling
    I think 5 is optimistic at best, more like 2 or 3.
  • dorothyddorothyd
    If you try the Writer's Markets, link above the categories on this page, you will find that publishers give percentages of how many unagented previously unpublished authors they have taken on.  I've found it useful so far, the free trial runs to the 20th June after which I need to decide whether to pay for the service.  It's only £2.50 a month. My comments to David and Charles on the website is that there is no feedback option and sometimes that is very useful to tell others about your experience with a publisher/agent and that some of the information is about six months out of date.  That's the publisher's fault, not the site.  (But if someone says they are closed to submissions to the end of 2006, it would be good to know if they cleared the backlog six months into 2007 and are looking at new work, would it not???) Take a look for free at the website, see what you think of the statistics listed there and see who you want to take your chances with.
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