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SERVICES "My novel, SAVING MAX, is slated to be published in August 2010. I will also be attending the Harlequin annual sales conference in Jacksonville, Florida, where I hope to meet a variety of vendors and bookseller reps. I want you to know that I have finished the acknowledgements for the book. You figure largely in my thanks. Without your support and wise counsel, my manuscript would have been burned in the backyard long ago!" Antoinette van Heugton SAVING MAX Coming from Mira in August 2010 AVOIDING THE SLUSH PILE In the customized reports that are the core of our business what we say to clients and what our experience since 1996 has proven is that if you have a ms that's ready for prime time, you'll be enormously aided by our input. See more about how this works at Customized Fingerprint Report. The short explanation of what we do is offer clients an opportunity to back and forth with an experienced, much published author (Beverly), who has access to an exceptional database of agent information (compiled by Bill and in the making since 1980). After which we'll tell you the 5 to 8 agents we think you should approach, supply highly detailed and comprehensive information about them and their clients, and include a lengthy memo telling you how best to approach them. The rest is up to you. With the Customized Fingerprint our guiding philosophy is that we do not set out to pick winners and losers. But sometimes we do. Occasionally a project is of such superior quality that Beverly is willing to put her own hard-earned reputation on the line (check out her bona fides) along with that of AR&E, and personally ask a particular agent to read a submission. In the end the agent may or may not agree to represent the manuscript, and he or she may or may not successfully sell it, but it has definitely been read by a few agents (three or four is the usual number) who are absolutely right for the project. Your ms has been singled-out and thus leapfrogged the slush pile. As one agent said recently when we congratulated him on the major sale of a client's debut work, 'You folks have become the matchmakers for the matchmakers. I think that's cool.' So do we. But as you can imagine, we can't recommend the work of every writer who approaches us. In fact, we are enormously selective. That's why this succeeds, and why the agents value our assertion that of all the unsolicited mss flooding their inboxes, this one is worthy of serious consideration. We've been doing this for years, but lately we've been asked to do so more and more frequently (all those out-of-work journalists out there deciding it's finally time to do a book-length work?) and we've decided to experiment with codifying this very special leg-up. MAKING THE CUT We can't rely on a questionnaire for this; we have to actually take a look at the ms. Please realize, this isn't a full-bore, read-every-single word, in-depth probe; it's a highly skilled professional analysis of whether or not this particular piece of work may be worthy of us and the agent spending what for each of us is our most valuable capital, time. If in our sole judgment this is not the case, we're not going to charge you a penny and we're not going to explain why we will not recommend the ms. (If that's what you really want see Manuscript Analysis, though we have to say that's even more competitive.) If, on the other hand Beverly believes in the project, she will tell you the agents she thinks she should approach (top class agents only, no also-rans), and we'll send you the agents' full database records so you can examine their credentials for yourself. After that you'll be kept fully in the loop as she puts your work out there. Will you get an agent? We can't say, and certainly we can no more guarantee that you'll be picked up than an agent can guarantee to sell your work. What we can promise on the basis of past performance is that the agents we approach on your behalf will take a serious look at your material. In other words, you will have avoided the slush pile. Getting the ms read is what we're going to charge you for. (Meaning our fee isn't dependent on your actually being taken on by an agent, much less having that agent sell your work.) When you send us your ms (as an e-mail attachment, after we have discussed the possibilities) we will ask you to give us your credit card number either by telephone or fax. If after examining the ms Beverly does not feel she can recommend it, no charge will be made. If she is going to go forward, we will charge your card $725.00 after at least one of the three or four agents you and Beverly have decided to approach agrees to read the full ms or proposal. (The mathematicians among you will have figured out that's twice the cost of the Customized Fingerprint Report - this takes at least twice as much time). To discuss this service further please e-mail Beverly@agentresearch.com. MANUSCRIPT ANALYSIS This is an even more exclusive option. Beverly does this with only a few writers during the course of a year. To discuss this service further please e-mail Beverly@agentresearch.com.
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HOW TO GET AN AGENT Customized Fingerprint
What's in an AR&E
Report? Literary Agents
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