Sorry this is long but I thought it might help newbies like me to see what a fake offer looks like.
This is the actual email I was sent
again it's very long.
Thank you for your query to the WL Writers Literary Agency. Based on
your
query form information we would like to see your work.
1) Would you please send us an electronic copy
of your work for further evaluation?
Please email your manuscript to
manuscript@WLchildrensagency.com
2) Would you please answer these 2 questions
in the body of the SAME email? (Just copy and paste
the questions).
A. How long have you been writing, and what are your goals as a
writer?
B. Do you consider your writing 'ready-to-go', or do you think it
needs
some polishing? If you have been through a formal editing process,
please
describe it in detail, ie. name/company of editor(s) etc.
You may send either 3-5 chapters or the entire manuscript, whichever
you are
more comfortable sending. Your manuscript is completely safe within
our
company. We take care to properly manage all access and if we don't end
up
working together, we delete all files.
Please DO NOT include any questions with your manuscript submission.
If you
have a question, please send it to question@WLchildrensagency.com where
the
proper people may address your question. Most of the questions you may
have
are answered on the website and at the bottom of this email. Please
see the
FAQs below.
Our preference for receiving your manuscript is via email.
============================================
If the file size is greater than 5 megabytes you can mail it to us on
CD,
but please only send it once, either by email or snail mail (we prefer
email).
Or if your filesize is over 5 megs we also just recently found a free
service that will move large files. Take a look at
www.yousendit.com.
We've
used it successfully in the past. Just use
manuscript@WLchildrensagency.com
as the email address for the "send to" address and be sure to put your
email
address as the sender.
If you simply must mail your work or a CD, please email our question
email
and request a mailing code and address. Please explain thoroughly why
you
feel that you must mail the work. (Can you tell by now that we really
want
to make it difficult to mail? We hate mail. It costs money to ship,
buyers
don't want hardcopy, etc, etc.) Mailed manuscripts may take up to 6
weeks
to reply/process. Emailed manuscripts are processed much more quickly.
Please note: Due to the volume of material that we receive we cannot
return
anything you send us. Please do not send us anything that you can't
replace.
We believe we are very different than other agencies.
==========================================================
We believe that we are unique in that we are willing to develop an
author
and their talent. We like the metaphor of a "business incubator" as a
description of how we will take time to bring an author's work to the
proper
quality level, even if it takes months to do so.
We take pride in the fact that we answer every email personally within
2-3
days. Please, watch your spam filters!
Our job is to find a buyer for you, period. You may understand how a
Literary Agency works, but many authors don't. As your Literary Agent,
our
mission is to assist you in finding a publisher and to coach you along
the
way in various options available to you. We don't edit your work. Our
mission is to sell for you. Your mission is to meet or exceed industry
quality standards.
As for compensation, we get paid on success only. Typically we will
receive
10% of what you receive. We do not charge fees, so our compensation is
based on success only.
Important: We never promise a sale, but we can tell you that we have a
model
that works.
We look forward to receiving your materials.
Best regards,
Sherry - V.P. Acquisitions
p.s. You might as well get used to these long emails. Part of our
filtering
process is to see if you actually read them <grin>. Why the long
emails? If
you will read them you will actually get a decent view of the agency
business and what we see from our side. We try to explain as much as
we can
along the way and I am always pleased when authors tell me that they
enjoyed
learning from these emails.
Please don't be upset because we use forms and long emails. I spend my
time
doing two basic tasks, 1) managing submissions and evaluations
(currently
about 3000 applicants a month), and 2) answering questions. If I can
answer
your question BEFORE you ask it, then the entire process will proceed
much
more efficiently.
As a corollary to that, if you want long-winded, personalized emails
you
will probably not enjoy our process. If you are as busy as we are, and
you
pride yourself on operating efficiently (it is a business after all),
then
you will enjoy how efficiently we focus on the point, and that is,
whether
we can work together based on your writing and attitude.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WILL HAVE A MUCH MORE PERSONALIZED
INTERACTION
WITH OUR AGENTS IF YOU PASS THE EVALUATION PROCESS. This is the
biggest
complaint that we get and I wish I could spend oodles of time with each
of
you. I just can't. Sometimes it's like drinking from a firehose over
here.
So, please rest assured that there will be plenty of personal
interaction
with your agent but not with me. I am a real person, and I do look at
every
email. After that we have some pretty sophisticated tools for managing
emails.
Typical Frequently Asked Questions
=============================
Q) Do you return manuscripts?
A) Sorry for the inconvenience however, WE DO NOT RETURN MANUSCRIPTS or
MATERIALS due to the volume of submissions we receive. Please do not
send
us anything that you can't replace easily. And if you do send
something,
please don't tell me that you are going to sue me if I don't send it
back...
egads.. if you only knew.
Q) Would you prefer me to email or mail my manuscript?
A) WE MUCH PREFER EMAILED MANUSCRIPTS.
Q) How should I attach my manuscript?
A) PLEASE DO NOT PASTE YOUR MANUSCRIPT INTO THE BODY OF THE EMAIL.
Please
send it to us as an attachment, otherwise it hangs up the mail system.
If
you can't create an attachment, please get a friend to help you do so.
I
think we have every software program known to man. However everything
works
easier if you have a .pdf, .rtf, or .doc filetype. We also support Word
Perfect and MS Works.
Q) Is my manuscript safe with you?
A) Your materials are safe within our company. If you are
uncomfortable
sending your entire manuscript, please only send 3-5 chapters. If we
do not
end up working together we will destroy and delete any copies of your
work
that we have. Furthermore the idea of people stealing someone's work
is a
bit of 'urban legend'. It really doesn't happen.
Q) Do I need to copyright my work before I send it?
A) Not really. Your manuscript and creations are completely safe
within our
company. We take care to properly manage all access and if we don't
end up
working together, we delete all files. You may also want to copyright
it,
but we don't need it to be copyrighted to analyze it. Regarding
copyright,
there are two ways you can go. One way is to do it yourself at
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ . The other way is to let someone who
does it
all the time do it for you. We found a list of copyright services here.
http://www.inktip.com/protect-scripts.php Some of the services do books
and
some screenplays.
Q) How long does this review take?
A) About 7-10 days. We're faster than most other agencies.
Q) Why is there no phone number? I want to talk to someone...
A) Quite frankly, we are deluged with submissions. It is our policy
to
provide a contact number later in the process, assuming we would like
to
proceed with you. If you would like to talk with someone for the
reassurance of hearing a voice, just email me and I'll connect you to
the
proper party.
Q) Where are you located?
A) Our agents headquarter in executive suites in New York, NY where we
meet
with buyers. Our admin team lives in Florida. Our review and editing
teams
headquarter in California. Our screenplay team has presence in Los
Angeles.
Other than that, we travel extensively and our employees have the good
fortune to live in Florida, Connecticut, and California (and at least
10
other states) depending on the time of year. Sometimes we think that
we
live in airports.
Q) Why aren't you in the Yellow Pages? I can't find you listed
anywhere?
A) Buyers certainly don't go to the Yellow Pages to find authors
<grin>,
just nervous authors go there. We use toll free phone numbers and cell
phones. Those simply aren't in any phone directories. Yellow Pages are
'old
technology', and they cost money. The Internet is a much better form of
advertising. We haven't been in Yellow pages for 10 years.
Q) Are you a member of AAR, BBB, Alphabet Soup...?
A) We have chosen to belong to industry associations where the buyers
are,
We spend our money going to the big book tradeshows in the US, England,
and
Germany. BBB, AAR, and other organizations of that type mainly exist
for
nervous writers, and frankly, we have too many applicants already, so
we
choose not to spend time and money on those organizations. I hope that
helps you understand why we belong to associations that help us sell
your
work, not organizations that help us recruit more writers. We prefer
that
you judge us on the professionalism of our communications and not
whether we
belong to an organization.
Q) Tell me more about your company.
A) We are bigger than a small agency and smaller than a large agency.
We
market to the larger and medium sized publishers and producers. At any
one
time we have 20+ books in serious review. That's an amazing number by
the
way. (fyi: most agencies only have 1 or 2 deals every couple of years,
if
that). We do NOT market to vanity presses. All told we probably have
20
people working in various capacities. We are proud that we are going
to
become an employee owned company and we treat our people well.
Q) Have you ever been sued or in legal action with your
clients/authors?
A) We are very proud of the fact that we have NEVER been sued or a part
of a
legal action. (Note: We are bringing suit against a number of writers
that
have been bad mouthing our company, but that's different. We are very
concerned about our repuation and will protect it strongly. As you
know,
there are nay-sayers everywhere if you want to look for them.)
Q) You're not a vanity publisher or a self-publisher are you?
A) No we're NOT A VANITY OR SELF-publisher in any way, shape or form.
We DO
NOT sell to vanity or self-publishers. Our mission is to sell your
work to
TRADITIONAL publishers who will pay you (and us). And, that's how we
get
paid. If we sell your work to a publisher, then and only then do we
get
paid (usually 10% which is the industry standard for Literary
Agencies).
Q) What are you looking for during your evaluation?
A) We mainly look for COMMERCIAL VIABILITY in the work coupled with
good
solid writing skills. "Is it something that will sell?" is of
paramount
importance to us. (We ARE NOT scrutinizing every word, spelling, and
grammar
usage. There's plenty of time later for that.) We believe that great
writers
are made, not born at least 99% of the time. But if a work doesn't have
commercial potential, then we want to let you know as quickly as
possible.
Being willing to grow talent, we believe in the old adage, "luck is
when
opportunity meets preparation and hard work".
Q) How can you evaluate work so quickly?
A) Our mission in the Acquisitions Department is clear. We answer 3
questions:
1. Will the subject matter sell? Is it commercially viable?
2. Is the writing good enough, or would it be good enough with some
degree
of assistance?
3. Did you as the evaluator like the work and would you believe in it
if you
were selling it?
If we get the "3 yes" designation then you pass. The next item we look
for
in our filtering process is your willingness to listen or whether you
are a
prima donna who wants it 'their way'. We will very quickly wash out a
great
writer with a bad attitude. Life's too short for drama and overly
demanding
writers.
Q) What if you find errors or problems with my manuscript? Should I
spend
time revising now, or later?
A) We receive very few 'ready-to-go' manuscripts. We believe we are
unique
in that we are willing to work with our authors along the way. Most
manuscripts that we receive need some level of polishing before we can
submit them to buyers. Some need very little polishing. Some need a
lot.
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.
Q) My manuscript isn't finished....
A) As long as there is enough finished to determine your skills as a
writer
we are willing to look at your work. As mentioned previously, we take
a
long term view and we are willing to develop talent. Also, we
understand
that somtimes life gets in the way, and we are willing to wait for you.
Q) Who are some of the authors you represent? Why aren't they on your
website?
A) Every time we've placed the names of our writers, our agents, or our
sales on the website, they are deluged with very weird emails from some
very
weird people, so we just don't post them anymore. We'd rather lose a
new
author applicant, than an existing client or buyer. We don't post our
deals. It's not worth the risk to try to impress an applicant and lose
a
buyer.
I can tell you though, that if accepted, you will be among a very
diverse
and elite group. We are proud to represent a very diverse group of
authors.
Our roster of authors includes authors with the following occupations:
* Doctors
* Lawyers
* Entrepreneurs
* Journalists
* Professors and teachers from universities, high-schools, and
elementary
schools
* Coaches
* Accountants and bankers
* Advertising Executives
* Stay at home moms... students, etc.
Here are just a few bios:
1. The author was born in Baltimore, Maryland and is a Professor at a
major
university. She is an author and editor of 16 books and 12 proceedings
and
monographs. She has written 50 chapters and 100 papers, and given more
than
150 presentations nationwide. She has graduate degrees in Music,
Science,
and Education. She and her husband are now living in the British Virgin
Islands, where her time is spent sailing and writing. She has published
scientific articles and written more than a hundred concert reviews as
a
freelance music critic.
2. The author is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of
Edinburgh,
and of Canada, and a Member of the American Societies of Hematology,
Clinical Oncology, Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the
International
Society for Cellular Therapy. For the year 2004-5 he was a scientific
advisor to the Cancer Vaccine Consortium. He was a past recipient of
the
Elmore Research Scholarship of the University of Cambridge.
3. The author has also won numerous awards honoring him as one of the
top
sportscasters in the country. He has been richly honored as a
professional
speaker as well, thrilling audiences with his career highlights and
inspiring messages. He has a rich history of being on the air in radio
and
TV for a quarter of a century, working in major markets such as Los
Angeles,
Chicago, London, Cincinnati and now Dallas. Before settling in
Dallas, he
lived in London doing on-air work for both the BBC and ESPN.
4. This author started singing professionally with the singing group
The
Montells in her early teens. They later signed with Golden Crest
Records &
then went to Atlantic Recording Studio where they recorded, Under The
Broad
Walk with The Drifters & Gee Baby. In 1997 she was elected into The
International Poetry Hall Of Fame with her Award winning Poem. She
appeared
at The Crossroads Theater in 1998.
5. The author is a retired veterinarian living in Bethlehem, South
Africa.
He was in rural private practice in various towns before settling down
in
Bethlehem where he practiced for 35 years. For ten years or more he
had a
monthly column in Veterinary News. He also was the script-writer for
the
SuperSport TV series The ABC of Golf.
We DO NOT give out names or contact information except to qualified
buyers.
(If you'll think about it, if you were one of our authors, you'd feel
the
same way. There are a lot of wierdos on the Internet. Sometimes we
think
that there is a higher incidence of psychosis among writers than any
other
occupation.)
Q) Is this an automated email? Is there a real person out there?
A) Yes, and yes, and yes... We personally review each query form and
email
that we receive. Our company receives about 10,000 emails every 15
days.
It's a busy world over here. Then, yes, we do use a form to provide
these
FAQs. Can you imagine typing this time and time again? We pride
ourselves
on using technology to be as efficient as possible. This allows us to
work
with authors from anywhere in the world. By automating certain
elements of
our communications we can spend more thoughtful time on your questions
that
are specific to you and your situation.
Q) Do you accept everyone?
A) Of course not. However, we accept more than most. Why is that you
may
wonder? Think about what we do for a minute... our job is to contact
a
publisher and ask them, "what are you looking for now?" and then try to
fill
that request. One of our biggest frustrations is to have a publisher
say,
"is there any chance you have xxxx yyyyy?" and for us not to have that
type
of work. We want to be able to say "Yes, we have something just like
that,
or very close to that!" So, this is the core reason why we will accept
previously unpublished authors that other agencies won't.
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Thank you again for your time in reading to the end of this email. I
hope
that you have a better feeling for our company and our acquisitions
process.
I look forward to receiving your materials.
IF YOU EMAIL YOUR MATERIALS TO US WE WILL ALWAYS NOTIFY YOU WITHIN 2-3
DAYS
OF RECEIPT. Please refrain from asking "did you get it?" for at least
3
business days. If you haven't been notified of receipt within 3 days,
then
by all means resend it (don't ask, just resend it to the email address
above.
Also, please don't email me and say, "did you get it?" I also don't
need
emails that say, "I sent it".. I'm sorry to be so tough here, but every
email has to be read and that takes time and costs money.
Also, if your email to our manuscript@ email won't go through, just
'reply'
to this email and attach your manuscript.
Whew! Thanks again and we look forward to hearing from you and looking
at
your work.
Best regards,
Sherry - VP of Acquisitions
We Grow Talent
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
(blkonyx488@yahoo.com) on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 05:18:40
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