On the Road to a Best Seller

We have seen these questions before and realize that you are 'copying and pasting' the questions to me. Here they are with my copy and paste answers.

Thank you for everything that we have received from you thus far. Our review team believes that your work has commercial potential and we would like to proceed by offering to represent you. We feel that your concept and writing thus far has potential and that if polished and presented properly, we can sell it. To take the next step, please let us take a minute to tell you a little bit about how we think and do business.

To take the next step, please read the information below and follow the instructions at the end of this email.

Best regards,
Sherry Fine - VP Acquisitions: New York Literary Agency

P.S. We apologize in advance for the length of this email. This is at the behest of our lawyers. They like it when we say it the same way every time. If this email appears truncated at the bottom, please let me know.

INCUBATING TALENT: We are willing to develop new, fresh talent.
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We did see a few improvements are needed in your work, but don't worry, we receive very few 'ready-to-go' manuscripts. Most manuscripts that we receive need some level of polishing before we can submit them to buyers. Over the years, we've learned that it is worth our time and effort to do what it takes to develop new talent. We've learned that incubating new talent makes good business sense.

We'd hate to lose a good writer by not accepting someone who is willing to improve. There are very few literary agencies that will take the time to develop talent. Most barely return emails. We've answered every email you've sent us, and we've kept our promises regarding turnaround times. We hope that you will acknowledge that our level of communication and professionalism already far exceeds that of other literary agencies. We pledge this same level of professionalism and courtesy in all
subsequent communications should we work together.


HOW CAN WE TRUST EACH OTHER?
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You don't know us, and we don't know you. We like your work, and hopefully so far, you appreciate that we have treated you professionally and efficiently. Yes, we use forms, but that's so that we have more time to answer your questions about specific problems or nuances. We are looking for authors that are reasonable in their expectations and in their own evaluation of their work. We don't want prima donnas.

If we were in your shoes, we believe you should be looking for a professional relationship with professional people who will ultimately benefit your writing career, whether your work is sold or not. We never promise a sale. However, we do promise that we will work with you on a professional basis and do what we can to promote you and your work to our buyers.


What do we mean by "Polish your work"?
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We are very concerned about what we present to our buyers. At a minimum they
expect the mechanics of punctuation, grammar, spelling, and format to meet or exceed industry standards.

I think you can agree that your work needs some level of polishing. However,we don't think you should take just our word for it; we would like to have an independent review of your work that shows you where the improvements can be made.

This step is equal to an investor trusting a certified public accountant; if there is an independent review on the table, we can each relax and trust each other, and spend our time strategizing marketing, not arguing over whether the work is ready to present or not.

What we have learned over the years is that nothing is more invaluable than having an unbiased, critical review of an author's work as a roadmap for bringing the work to market. In writing circles this is called a critique. We want you to have a critique of your work. You might already have one, or you may need to get one.

HAVING A CRITIQUE PROTECTS YOU from unscrupulous agents. Having a critique protects US from egocentric writers who think their work is just fine like it is. If the critique says, "Green light--good to go" then we can start marketing immediately. If the critique says, "Some improvements can be made in grammar, punctuation, etc," then we can pause with you while those changes are made.

Dear Writer:
Thank you for your interest in (agency and website). Please know that I appreciate and respect the time, effort and imagination you have put into your manuscript. I wish that time would permit me to respond to your work in a more personal manner, but the volume of submissions that I receive does not allow me to do so. I have read your query letter and brief synopsis and am sorry to write that I am declining further interest in this project. Please feel fre to query me with future work.
Sincerely,
Agent B

Dear Author:
Thank you for submitting your query to our agency and giving us the opportunity to consider your work. Unfortunately, in today's increasingly tough publishing market, we cannot offer you the support that you need for your project. Currently, we are cutting back on our client list and are extremely limited as to what type of fiction and non-fiction we will be pursuing.

Our limited time precludes us from recommending other agents or publishers more suitable for your book. But, for an excellent resource on finding an agent and publisher for your book, we recommend Jeff Herman's WRITER'S BUIDE TO BOOK EDITORS, PUBLISHERS AND LITERARY AGENTS (Prima, 1998)

Please do not allow this letter to discourage you. Many best-sellers have been passed on numerous times prior to being successfully published.

We wish you the best of luck finding an enthusiastic agent and publisher for your book.

Sincerely,
Agent D

Dear Writer:
Because we receive a high volume of mail, we are unable to respond personally to each query. We appreciate your contacting us about your project, but it does not fit our need to expand our current client list.

We may not request more material because we are not taking on new clients in your genre at this time. We have a broad and balanced list and do not want to represent too many similar books. Perhaps you have written something we don't represent such as sci-fi, fantasy, horror, children's or young adult, sports, essays, scholarly subjects, poetry, cookbooks, gift books, coffee table books, short stories, war memoirs, stage playes or screenplays. Or, we may have recently accepted something that is too simliar, which is often the case with nonfiction. As a matter of personal prefernce, we do not choose to represent works with pervasive themes of physical, sexual or substance abuse, gratuituous vioulence or violation, or those with an unredeemably negative or dark done. It could also be that we just don't feel you are ready for publication yet and are too early in your career. It takes a long time to master the craft of writing - and even the greatest writers were once beginners themselves and received many rejections.

Of the thousands of query letters we receive every year, only about a dozen manuscripts a month are requested. From these, about ten new clients each year are accepted and their work sold to publishers. And even then we have received numerous rejections for writers who are now bestsellers.

We do wish you success in your publishing ambitions and regret the necessity of sending you this form letter response. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to represent you. Our website, has information that you may find helpful in pursuing publication in the future.

Regards,
Agent N