Customer Reviews

Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents 2009: Who They Are! What They Want! How To Win Them Over!m19th Edition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First of all, let me start by saying I was a little intimidated by the sheer size of this book. At 1,075 pages, it resembled the Cliff Notes for War and Peace. But being the voracious reader that I am, I looked at it in a positive light. I was definitely going to get my money's worth. You've heard the old saying, `You get what you pay for?' Well, I got a wealth of indispensable information.

This book is a must have for any author or aspiring writer hoping and dreaming to one day, become published. I initially purchased this book to get a list of agents who might be interested in representing a romance novel I'd recently written (which by the way, in my opinion, is the greatest romance ever written, but I haven't been able to convince anyone else of this fact, except my mother and my husband. And they don't count, because by default, they're obligated to tell me wonderful things about myself).

But Jeff's book was so much more than just a simple listing of agents. Not only does it contain a detailed summary of each editor, agent and publishing house ever known to human-kind, it also provides personal information, hobbies and recent book sales on the aforementioned parties. I appreciated the depth of the research involved in this endeavor. After two years of desperately searching for an agent, I thought I'd harassed every one - but this book showed me that I had not yet exhausted all the possibilities.

In addition to background information on publishing houses, this book provides the following:

* Instructions on how to approach/write/query/contact agents and editors
* A sample contract between an author and an agency
* The publishing process and how a book ends up - well, published
* A day in the life of a literary agent
* Advice for dealing with editors and agents
* Definitions of book genres and the future of publishing
* How to market yourself as a writer
* A list of writing groups/critique groups to help refine your manuscript
* Information on self-publishing and e-publishing
* A detailed list of websites and other resources for writers

This book truly exceeded my expectations. I gained invaluable knowledge about writing and the publishing business in general that I believe has made me a better writer. In fact, I'm thinking of contacting Jeff and telling him to republish it with a different title - The Writer's Bible. Once you read it, you may just agree with me.

I don't want to slam this book too hard, since it's well-respected and many readers seem to find it useful. My only problem with Jeff Herman's Guide is that it is NOT A GUIDE. A guide to agents and publishers should LIST THEM BY GENRE. Instead, Herman's Guide lists them alphabetically, which only helps if you know which publisher or agent you're interested in.

But there's another problem with the book: MANY IMPORTANT AGENTS ARE NOT LISTED. Eric Simonoff, Nicole Aragi and Lisa Bankoff are not here. ICM and William Morris are nowhere to be found. In fact, of the fifteen agents I targeted, only two were listed here. This is because (as Herman explains on page 502), the book only lists agents and agencies who responded to a questionnaire he sent out.

So...if you know what agent you're interested in, and they happen to have replied to Herman's questionnaire you might find some good info here. There is also some good basic info in the back section about the business of writing.

But if you're looking for an agent to send your work to, this is not the place to start. Instead, I'd recommend the latest edition of the Writers Guide. (You can probably find both books at the library and save yourself some cash--I wish I'd done that before I ordered Herman's Guide.)

Finally, here are two suggestions for the next edition of Herman's Guide: (1) add an appendix listing agents and publishers by genre, (2) list all AAR agents, even if they don't reply to your questionnaire.

This book lists tons of information about publisher, editors, and literary agents. However, if you write romance, and are looking for an agent, you won't find what you need. There are approximately 276 pages of literary agents in this book, and I found about sixteen agents that specifically list that they represent romance. Some say they represent commercial fiction and women's fiction, but they don't consider romance to fall in those genres, because when they list what the don't represent, they say NO romance. Also, for you sci-fi and fantasy writers, lots of these agents reject that as well.

That is the only real failing of the book that I can see. Herman has provided a wealth of information, it's just that for some writers in certain fields, the literary agents are going to be useless. You might be better served to see if you can find this at the library or order it through inter library loan before you buy it to make sure you can find agents that will represent your type of work. If you just skim through the listings and only look at what the agents represent, you should take about two hours to go through all the listings. However, make sure you find the 2009 version because the information in an earlier edition could be different.

Incidentally for romance authors, the Writer's Digest guide to literary agents is supposed to list more agents who represent romance authors.

Having written a manuscript is only the first and initial step toward being published. In many ways, it is the easiest part of the publication process. Turning that manuscript into a published book requires special knowledge, targeted skills, and useful contacts beyond those required to simply write well. That's where a reference and resource like "Jeff Herman's Guide To Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents 2009" will prove invaluable. Now in a completely updated and substantially expanded 19th edition, "Jeff Herman's Guide To Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents 2009" is a 1070-page compendium of practical and descriptive information that begins with five individual sections listing publishing conglomerates, independent U.S. publishers, university presses, Canadian publishers, and literary agents. That alone would make this exhaustive reference a worthwhile addition to any writer's reference shelf. But "Jeff Herman's Guide To Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents 2009" is made even more useful with the inclusion of an impressive 'Advice for Writers' section providing 'real-world' information on all aspects of the publishing process from literary agents, to book proposals, to time management, to rejections, and more. Of special note are the concluding sections dedicated to providing insight and information with respect to Independent Editors and Resources for Writers. Enhanced with a Glossary and an exhaustive Index, "Jeff Herman's Guide To Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents 2009" is an enthusiastically recommended resource guide for novice and experienced authors alike!

I should have paid more attention to the reviews and checked out a copy in the library first. If you are looking for agents that deal with a certain type of writing or fiction genre, you're going to have to look elsewhere to figure that out; otherwise you will have to read the bulk of this over-1000-page book to figure that out. There are online sources, but you typically only get a few agents per page, and you have to write down (or copy/paste) the names to make a list, then go back to the book index to see if the name is there--not all of them will be. I think this book will be a good source for information concerning those few agent names that I zero-in on, but it won't help me find those names, and most other references advise against going directly to publishers unless you have compelling reasons to do that. After that, it will make a good door stop.

This review is based on the 2006 edition.

If you're trying to find an agent, Herman's Guide is certainly the place to start. Perhaps the best thing about HG are the detailed responses to Herman's queries about each agent's attitudes towards writing and writers, as well as the sorts of books they are or aren't interested in.

Prospective writers should be aware that agents will say they're interested in a particular genre, then when you submit your query you're told that /isn't/ the type of book they're interested in. These self-descriptions should, to some extent, be taken with a grain of salt.

Mr. Herman should find an editor. His typos, spelling errors, and mangled sentences are startling.

An earlier edition of Jeff Herman's book changed my life! I found a great agent in it and now I have had nearly 17 books published, most of which have been since I was accepted by my first agent, Bert Holtje (now retired) whose name I found in Jeff Herman. This is a book written by a literary agent and gives us all the inside scoop on what individual literary agents are seeking. Most of the worthwhile publishers these days only take agented books, and any sensible author nowadays has an agent. This is the best book by far for those wanting an agent, and as someone whose publishing life has been changed by it I cannot recommend it too highly to my fellow authors! Christopher Catherwood (author of CHURCHILL'S FOLLY: HOW WINSTON CHURCHILL CREATED IRAQ, agented by Gene Brissie of James Peters Associates, MAKING WAR IN THE NAME OF GOD, agented by his successor Ed Claflin, and now represented by the legendary Frank Weimann and Jaimee Garbacik of Literary Group International, for WINSTON CHURCHILL: THE FLAWED GENIUS OF WORLD WAR TWO, all of whom have appeared in earlier and current editions of this book)

Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents 2009 is up to date and full of useful information about agents, including what they like to buy and what they enjoy reading. I purchased it for my writer's group, the DFW Writer's Workshop, whose members have sold over 270 books during its 31 year history.
Carolyn Williamson, Author
There IS Life After Lettuce
cookbook for heart patients, diabetics, and dieters.

How I wish I'd had this book when I first started writing! It would have saved me years of hounding agents and submitting proposals to publishers. The only bright side is I made great bathroom wallpaper out of all my rejection letters.

If I'd had "Jeff Herman's Guide to Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents," I could have saved a fortune on buying stamps, nursing paper cuts, and pulling all-nighters trying to figure out where to send my proposals.

All I can say is, if you're crazy enough to want to be a writer, click "Add to your shopping cart" right now. Express delivery.

I consider this the best reference on book publishing. I have used it myself as a literary agent and recommended it to authors for over a decade. It offers detailed information on what individual imprints and editors are seeking to acquire, and also educates new authors about query letters, proposals, contracts, collaboration agreements, and making a living as a writer. I own plenty of other reference books on my field, but this is the indispensable guide. The one suggestion that I would make is that Jeff should allow purchasers access to a website that would provide up-to-the-minute information about where the editors are currently working. This is a business that is always in flux so the book, though updated yearly, is somewhat out of date even when just purchased.