Hello, I have also received a letter from Author's Marketing Services Ltd., In toronto and they are interested in my first novel. However they are asking for a reading fee to be sent "at some point" after I send the book electronically. The fee is $395.00 Canadian. I have done a bunch of reseach on them and have found that they are legitamate and have about 20 clients with all the major publishing houses. But... I am warry of the reading fee, even though more than half of the agents in Canada charge them espite all the advise not to.

I was never been my intention to submit the full book to an agency that charged fees as everyone is clear that this is unethical. When I sent the query letter to them, it was not stated in their package that they charge fees. Hense my surprise.

Larry Hoffman, the president of the agency has some really good references and some good clients as well, but I am extremely conflicted. I have talked with past clients and they say he is good but they all seem to have left once they got their first book published.

There seem to be only about 14 agents in Canada that don't charge fees while there are around double that who do.

I certainly do not want to throw any money at an editor or book doctor as it has already been through that process and has garnered rave reviews from several non-biased readers.

Unfortunately, despite the books topical, Canadian and marketable nature, I have receive very positive rejection letters from five agents, nothing from eight and one from Author's Marketing Services who liked the premise, the method.

I have been deliberating over this for almost a week now and still cannot make up my mind despite the massive amount of advise: "don't pay fees!"

I don't want to be an idiot, for certain, and I am not going to go with POD as that is an even less finantially viable and marketable approach, but there just seems to be so few options in Canada.