Meredith -- I agree that they are interested in my money.

Dianne -- I want an agent not an editor. The book has already been edited and self-published, but I would prefer to go the traditional publishing route.

Dotsie -- That's a great idea about writing magazines. That never occurred to me.

Firstly, I'm going to submit it to the Bukowski agency because they are particularly interested in Canadian talent and they received an excellent review by P&E.

Thanks everybody :-) Wish me luck! Sigrid

Sigrid, Hi! I second the other letters...never pay an agent fee. I sent queries to 50 reputable agents (using Writers Market Online). None charge fees and warn authors not to send to those that do. And ALL sent form reject letters. That's why I went to POD. I'm putting my time and money into my own publicity/marketing. Even if you get it published traditionally, they're only going to peddle it for a brief time. No limits when you do it yourself. And you get much smaller royalties. I'd be more interested in how the crossovers happened...asking POD authors who made the transition, how it happened. Karen

Karen,

So nice to hear from you :-) Yeah, I've spoken to a number of authors who have received one rejection after another. I'm bracing myself for the possibility. However, royalties are only higher with POD if you're selling books!

My first book is nonfiction. That is selling quite well, particularly if I spend a little bit of money to market it via pay for click. But my fiction book is not moving off the shelf :-( It's a great book! I'm not bragging but I really like it. So do most of the people who've read it, but despite an inordinate amount of time marketing that book, I can't seem to generate sales.

If you look at the Amazon figures for POD authors, the rankings always seem quite small in comparison to the traditionally published authors. I don't know. I just want to give the traditional route a chance, but thanks for the warning about not paying a reading fee. I totally agree.

Hope all is well and that you are approaching publication.

Best, Sigrid

Sigrid, best of everything. Continue to keep us posted. Remember, perseverance is key. Onward...

Thanks for your encouragement, Dots. I need to give this novel another shot because I can't get it off the ground on my own. Five different people are supposed to be reviewing it but they've had the book for months. I just wanted to explore another avenue. I appreciate your support :-) Sigrid

Hi Sigrid.

I just joined this site after doing a goodle on author's marketing service and your forum came up!
I just received the same reply as you, and am looking for some input into this agency.
From what I understand it is extremely unprofessinal for an agent to charge a reading fee. However, I was aware of the reading fee, as I had spoke to them prior, but for some reason chose to send in to them anyway as opposed to others who also charge that I did not send.
I also did a search on P&E, yet nothing came up. how did you search? We can perhaps compare our letteers should you be inclinded.

Sushi,

Nice to hear from you. I'm pretty sure that I did my search on P&E alphabetically, so the agency should have shown up in the "A" section.

Yes, I'd be very interested in seeing your letter. Perhaps you could send it as a private message. I'll do the same. I wonder if they send out the same letter to all prospective customers.

Too bad because I was excited when I first received their letter :-(

TTYS, Sigrid

Hi Sigrid, You're absolutely right about the net being low even though the royalties are high if you don't sell any. But, especially for fiction, it seems like much more of a crap shoot trying to find a traditional publisher. I'm getting too old to wait around any longer. And I'm certainly not "connected" in any way. I wish us all luck in pursuing whatever avenues are open. Karen

Karen,

Right now I have the best of both worlds. I have already published my book with Lulu. It is out there. If it starts to do well suddenly, I will proceed as a self-publisher. However, in the event that does not occur, I am trying to protect myself by applying to agents.

I do understand how competitive the market is. Just about everyone I have spoken to has had their book rejected BUT a few folks have not. So, there's no harm in trying.

I think your book will do really well. It sounds so fascinating! Can't wait to read it.

Sigrid

Hi Sigrid,

Thanx for the note, and no do not worry I am certainly not going to submit by novel to them. I was just curious what his reply was, and I agree with you that there is no way that they take only 2-3 a month if they said yes to both you and I:)
Thanx!!