Questions about agents

Loaded said:
clearly your opinion of others resides more in the sink of slang and ad hominem
Click to expand...

I suggest you look up the word ad hominem, because you are using it incorrectly. It's a common mistake.

And while you are writing out some of your "clear, crisp, and well thought out criticism," you might check for other misused words.
 
I have and they're only misused as you understand them, Darling, but not as I've written them. As regards ad hominem, Teresa, you have chosen to attack my character and not my words with language such as 'stupid', and that, to me at least, is embracing all the folly of ad hominem.
 
I don't think the thread should be closed as the discussion about how to coerce, cajole, and curry an agent to publish one's performance in literature is a commendable one.
 
I think you should listen to Teresa, when it comes to getting published she knows her stuff.
 
I would listen to Teresa, Vladd, but it would be nice to listen to hard criticism and not cheap criticism with words like 'stupid'. I am on the brink of getting an agent, and If I don't get him this week, I'm an idiot! I've offered 85% for my book and he's haggling for 90%.
 
It's not cheap criticism to call something exactly what it is, and it is a stupid tactic. It is a monumentally stupid tactic. It is a tactic of such stupidity that it almost beggars the imagination. (Note that I am attacking the tactic, not you.)

Whether you are as stupid as you would have us think you are is another question entirely.

A real agent would not engage in such a discussion as you describe. Either you are dealing with a scammer or you have mistaken the purpose of this particular part of the forum, which is to discuss fiction, not write it.
 
'...you are as stupid...' = ad hominem

Your language, Teresa, is charged with emotion, and as much as I admire such feeling in literature, it's incongruous with a fellow you've never met.

The agent is an 'agent' and lives two doors down the road from me. Fact.
 
I am sorry. After 20+ years in the business I cannot let that stand. No legitimate agent would behave as you describe. No, no, and NO. Either you have been duped or you are willfully spreading dangerous misinformation.

That will stop now, or this thread will be closed.
 
I don't wish to name the agent, as that would highly unprofessional, Teresa, but I can state that I have known for many years now the agent, ever since my youngest befriended one of his sons and they ended up in court, and we both had to attend. It was on this day he told me, or announced to the court his manner of employment. A couple of years passed, and when my eldest fell pregnant to his 2nd eldest, I seized the opportunity and availed myself of what I'd always wanted: to be published!

He resisted every effort, primarily upon the price of 15%, but I was not to be denied, and this week will see the deal struck!
 
We wish you every success, Loaded. And should your agent prove able to place your work with an established and reputable publisher, I have no doubt we will all be suitably impressed. Unless and until that happens, I don't think you are assisting other prospective authors by suggesting to them that this is a valid way of proceeding.

Whatever the reality, I think, again, this particular line has been exhausted. As and when someone has something to say pertinent to the original topic, that would be welcome. Until then a period of silence would be appreciated.
 
Fair do's, Judge, but the world will wait with baited breath the cataclysm of my arrival upon the beautiful stage of literature.
 
Whose using size 9's to crack a nut?

Loaded why dont you post a sample of your work on the critiques section - you perhaps have the necessary contibution. It might be worthwhile getting some constructive feedback.
 
This thread is very interesting. Ive wrote 2 novels but both are around 30,000 words and im still going through the editing stage, although currently im going through a bit of a "my work is crap" moment. Any advice people? :)
 
Starlights, sling some up into the critique section. Loaded, you too, let's see some of this cataclysmic verbiage.
 
Or good news.

Starlights, at 30,000 words each, what you have written are two novellas, which would be tremendously hard to place with any publisher, as book publishers almost always want novels and magazines almost always want short stories (though they will go for novelettes from established writers).

So my first bit of advice to you would be to expand what you have ... expand it a lot. Are these YA novels (that is, do they fall into the so-called young adult category for readers in their early to mid-teens) or are they meant for adult readers? If YA you will need around 70,000 words, although some go much longer. If meant for older readers, and you are writing fantasy, you'll probably need at least 100,000 words.

Are these books directly related, or do you have two entirely separate stories? If you have a story and its sequel, you may be able to combine them into one book, and that will partly address the problem of length.

Otherwise, when you have been here long enough and have made the necessary contribution to the site, then you might indeed want to put up a short sample of your writing for critique and perhaps get some advice, not only on improving your writing in general, but on where and how you might expand in a way that will enhance what you have.

J Riff, it's nice of you to encourage new members to join in, but you do know that we have rules in the Critiques section about posting around the site for a while before "slinging" up work for critiques, don't you? Or do you? Maybe you should drop by and read the rules if you don't, because it would be a pity if a brand new member followed your advice, only to be disappointed when their thread was locked.
 
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