Customer Reviews

Jeff Herman's Guide To Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents, 2006: Who they are! What they want! How to win them over! (Jeff Herman's Guide to ... Book Editors, Publishers, & Literary Agents)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Notwithstanding Jeff's mantra that flawless grammar and orthography are essential features of successful writers (i.e., attention to detail), it is amazing how sloppy this book is. It boasts incorrect addresses, incomplete addresses, and sometimes, in the agent profiles sections, the "Subjects that you would most love to agent" and "Subjects that you definitely never want to agent" sections contain the same thing! According to page 536, for example, fantasy and science fiction are both subjects that Peter Rubie would "most love to agent" and "definitely never want to agent." Either the agent is schizophrenic, or Jeff Herman is an extraordinarily sloppy writer. Also, this book features almost no valuable information on query letters for fiction books; this book seems to assume that all aspiring authors want to write non-fiction.

The first thing I did when I got this book was go to the back of the book - I wanted to look up "children's authors" or something to that affect. Much to my chagrin, there is NO INDEX. Ok, so I go to the front to the TOC (Table Of Contents). It's 2 pages long. And the agents aren't broken down in any user-friendly way. I wanted to see something like "Literary Agents - Children"; Literary Agents - Fiction", etc. Any huge reference guide like this should have a more comprehensive TOC, and an INDEX. I don't know about other writers, but doing the administrative tasks needed to get published is far more painstaking than writing, and you want to get the information you need as quickly and easily as possible, without having to hunt and peck to get what you need. I think the editors of this book got lazy, which makes this book a disappointment.

Jeff seems, for the most part, to list agents that perfer non-fiction and literary fiction. Neither is my gig, so the value was limited. Also, while he tells a lot about the individuals in an agence -- he does not reveal which agent in the agency specializes in what type of work. It's ok if you are not using it exclusively.

It's a shame that some sour grapes are tainting some of these reviews. Jeff Herman is most definitely not a scam artist. His guide is not simply a listing of addresses and emails, but a human look at the seemingly impenetrable world of publishing and agent acquisition. It was a great idea: to give an insider's view of the publishing community, to take time from his own work to give us these listings, profiles, and articles. This guide will prevent you from sending blind submissions to places that don't even deal in your genre.

Bought this book through Amazon, and will be using info from it when I launch my assault. That's the positive side.
Do be aware that phony "agents" may have ads lurking closer than you think. Do do due diligence. Beware of do do. "Writer beware" makes a good search starter.

I had been using the 13th edition of Jeff Hermann's writer's guide. I found it quite useful and relied on the index heavily. Since 2002 many of the addresses were no longer up-to-date. I purchased the 2006 edition to get more recent information. To my dismay I discovered that the 2006 Edition has no index whatever! An 806 page guide with no index is of limited value to me.

Jeff Herman's guides have always been at the top of the heap when I recommend resource books to aspiring or published authors. He provides enough detail for the profiled agents and editors that it genuinely helps readers pinpoint appropriate "targets" for their work. For a number of years our agency was profiled in these guides, but in the past few we opted out. Not because the work isn't an excellent one, but rather because our client lists are already relatively full.

For just one example of how these guides might be effective, I believe that my client Cara Lockwood found us through this book. I've placed many books for her since and also a made a movie deal with Lifetime (I DO BUT I DONT stars Dean Caine and Denise Richards.)

Anyway, I felt that a personal testimonial from an agent's perspective might help--I think this guide is worth the money, and although not every listing is fully current, the benefits here far outweigh any criticisms.

Jeff Herman's insider knowledge of the book publishing industry helped me get my first book published. Sex with Kings was on the New York Times best seller list six weeks last summer and is now out in 12 langauges. I don't think I could have pulled it off without his books. This annual guide, the excellent advice on submitting queries and manuscripts, was invaluable, as was his book "Ten Perfect Book Proposals."

This book has everything. What agents are looking for (from the agents themselves), their addresses and phone numbers, whether they accept email submissions/queries, which agents handle which genres, other books represented by said agents, etc. (The rest is true of publishers, but I spent most of my time researching literary agencies.)

The agents and publishers reveal not only what they're looking for in submitted work, but also in the writers they hope to represent. Small interviews with the agents and publishers, if read, will greatly increase your chances of finding an agency (or publishing house) willing to look at your work.

I'm not sure when I'll next be looking for an agent or a publisher, but when I do, if my version is outdated I'll be buying the new one.Homefront

I work in the publishing industry and Jeff Herman's guide is hands down one of the most efficient and accurate versions on the market. A must read for anyone trying to learn the buisness!