Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents: Who They Are! What They Want! and How to Win Them Over! (13th Edition) [Paperback]

Jeff Herman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 23, 2002 | Series: Writer's Guide

The Key to Unlocking Your Writing Success
This ultimate writer's reference connects you to who's who in the publishing industry. Inside, you'll find the names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail and Web addresses for hundreds of top editors and agents, plus essays from industry insiders who reveal the secrets to big-time success.

With the most up-to-date information on an industry that's constantly changing, this new edition offers everything you need to get past the slush piles and into the hands of the real players in the publishing field, including how to write attention-grabbing book proposals and thrive off rejection. Now, you hold the keys to getting published.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"On the road to becoming a bestselling author, my first step was buying Jeff Herman's Writer's Guide."
—Meg Cabot, New Your Times—bestselling author of The Princess Diaries

"A must-have."
—BOOKMOUTH.COM

"Writer's Guide has eclipsed both Literary Market Place and Writer's Market as a source of projects for our company."
—Michael Snell, Michael Snell Literary Agency

"We've found this book to be the best of its kind. Jeff Herman does his research!"
—Writer Beware, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (www.sfwa.org/beware/)

"One of the most thorough, up-to-date references in publishing. An essential tool for serious writers."
—Doris Booth, editor in chief, Authorlink.com

"Beats the pants off Writer's Market."
—Michael Werner, coauthor, Databases for Business and Using Lotus 1-2-3

From the Inside Flap

The Key to Unlocking Your Writing Success
This ultimate writer's reference connects you to who's who in the publishing industry. Inside, you'll find the names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail and Web addresses for hundreds of top editors and agents, plus essays from industry insiders who reveal the secrets to big-time success.

With the most up-to-date information on an industry that's constantly changing, this new edition offers everything you need to get past the slush piles and into the hands of the real players in the publishing field, including how to write attention-grabbing book proposals and thrive off rejection. Now, you hold the keys to getting published.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 912 pages
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles; 13 Sub edition (July 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076153735X
• ISBN-13: 978-0761537359
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #772,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money for something truly up to date!, October 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents, 13th Edition (with CD-ROM): Who They Are! What They Want! And How to Win Them Over! (Paperback)

I'm an editor (prefer to remain anonymous) who found my name as well as the names of my colleagues listed as working for publishing houses we left years ago. (I left my old house in 1998!) Stick to the professional directories or at least always call to confirm staff names.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Three..., July 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents, 13th Edition (with CD-ROM): Who They Are! What They Want! And How to Win Them Over! (Paperback)

raspberries for the latest cut and paste of Jeff Herman's annual rehash of representatives for starving authors.

People, I've written 12 books, and some of them were sold by agents and some weren't. I literally made 20 times as much money when I dealt with the publisher myself. Get to know your potential publishers as human beings. Treat them like human beings. Write a great book, and you'll succeed.

But an agent (and I'm not talking about Jeff Herman) can use your manuscript as a bargaining chip to get a better deal for another author. You can do the footwork for a groundbreaking book and your agent can sell a competing title by a better known author, blanking you out of all your hard work. And an agent can make an off the cuff comment that ends your career. Believe me, they can, and most don't care if they do. You exist for them to get commissions. That's pretty much an agent's view of you, with very, very rare exceptions.

There is one thing this overpriced and oversized tome is good for. If you find a sarcastic comment about writers listed as a quote from an agent, be very sure not to hire them! But if you just have to read a book as your security blanket, save your money and go with another guide like Rudy Shur's Square One guide for authors. It's vastly better.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sure, the information in this book is current if, July 31, 2003

By 

Bistero (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents, 13th Edition (with CD-ROM): Who They Are! What They Want! And How to Win Them Over! (Paperback)

Sure, the information in this book is current if your potential agent is doing a life term in Sing Sing. But of the five queries I sent out based on the information in this book, two were just unanswered and three came back addressee unknown. Maybe I picked the only five bad addresses in the book, or maybe current it isn't.