Customer Reviews

2010 Guide to Literary Agents

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found this book to be the ultimate resource if you've just written your first book and are wondering what to do next, like I was. It has listings of hundreds of agents as well as detailed information about each one and what they are looking for. The first half of the book is dedicated to helping you write a query letter (with examples of good and bad letters) and helping you edit your book. It also has tons of other information on the do's and dont's of trying to get an agent and on what happens after you get one. This is the only book you'll need. I highly recommend it for new writers.

I had high hopes for this book. But it's largely a regurgitation of old Writer's Digest articles with a dry listing of agents in the back. Especially irritating was the insertion of "see page XXX" (literally), where editors of this book for aspiring authors didn't bother to copyread and update their own work.

Is it too much to ask that a guide to the details of finding a literary agent get it's own details correct?
In past years the Guide had icons by the agency to represent the agencies needs or if the agency is new. The key to these icons is in the book but they failed to apply them to the agent entries.
Also, the key points that agencies wrote for their entries were printed twice per entry. How many pages were wasted on this mistake?
Why is a book that's supposed to represent publishing industry insiders so poorly edited?

I bought this book thinking that it would be the most up to date source for literary agents. It is laid out well and does include valuable information about each of the agents. However, on a great many of them, the email addresses are not current which gets me to wondering what other information is stale. In this business being up to date is critical but this books just doesn't seem to be the best choice.

Any writer looking to find a literary agent should have a copy of the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents by Chuck Sambuchino. It is more than just a market guide with the contact information for agents. There are six different sections to the book. The first four include informative articles by Sambuchino and other writing professionals with topics like, how to research an agent, how to write a good query and synopsis, negotiating your book contract and marketing your book. The next section is the market information and the last section has resources for writers. Most writers understand that acquiring an agent is an important and in some cases necessary step to getting their book published. In the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents, Sambuchino provides the tools needed so writers can all find the right agent.

This is a good book. It could be better. At times, because of the way it is organized, it is overwhelming. You can learn from it however I have found many agents were left out and many errors in their contact information are not up-to-date. Buy it for you can learn a lot from it. I would cross check the names and addresses with the I-Net to be sure of your query information.

ADVANTAGES---- the book briefly (not thoroughly) encourages writers to ensure that their manuscript is error free, have a great query letter, understand how to sniff out corrupt literary agents and how to sharpen the skills needed to relate to agents. It's reader friendly. More than three quarters of the book contains reference information for writer's conferences and literary agents even though much of this information is outdated and accessible online at links which the book provides.

DISADVANTAGES----Too much emphasis is placed on expensive writer's conferences as the solution to meeting literary agents. The writers insufficiently address the growing fact that literary agents are just as difficult to get as a publisher because many literary agents are driven mostly by big-name writers.

From the overall tone and content of the book, I deduce that the writers are forcefully promoting literary agents, literary agent organizations and writers conferences, all of which are perhaps fundamental to their careers. The book barely addresses self-published authors and the overwhelming concerns of writers who have had bad literary agents. It also inadequately addresses frustrated writers who have read dozens of books on how to get a literary agent. The book should be titled as a Reference to Literary Agents. I give it a 4-star rating since the book is informational and shows promise.

Another Must Have item for all serious writers!!! The world changes and so do the participants of the game. IF you're using an older version of this book, you need to upgrade immediately. Don't waste you time in trying to contact people who are no longer in the business or are no longer available!

This book was recommended to me via email by Sara Zarr. It was the best suggestion I received along with Jeff Herman's guide. Every aspiring published author should own a copy of these two books. Follow Chuck Sambuchino on twitter!