Agents and Hollywood

This is a late posting but I guess it is better to be late then to never be. I was a little perplexed by what I wanted to write today as two topics caught my attention. I decided to touch on both and see how it goes.

Recently I have been reading and responding to comments regarding agents and the things they might or might not require. I touched on this in the past with a few articles but the direction I felt like this particular conversation was going sent a red flag up in the air. Now before I go any further I want all of you to know that I don't pass judgment on the decisions of others I may read about nor do I attempt to change anyone's mind with this article. I do, however, what to address a concern that I have. That concern stems from the thought that one of us may fall prey to a shady agent or editor who wants to charge an up front fee for their services.

Wait a minute Brian, I know that. We have heard that from day one.

This is all well and true but it is amazing how our minds work when we get to that point of thinking we have achieved our goal. We work so very hard on our manuscripts and we are diligent with our submissions to agents only to be rejected. Then the day comes when we are not rejected and all those depressed feelings disappear, replaced by the euphoria and excitement of being one step closer to publication. It is in this exact moment that we must keep our feet on the ground because this is the place where we can get pulled into an undesirable situation. Imagine being at the height of joy and excitement because an agent wants to represent you or an editor with major credentials wants to work with you only to have them charge you a fee to do so. At this point in time you have a decision to make - decline and keep searching or pay them because you have an agent/editor after months of searching. I can't tell you what you or I would do in a situation like this. At this moment I can say that I would walk away because we, as authors, should not pay anything to an agent or editor from a publishing house. Most likely this will lead us to losing our money, having nothing to show for it and starting over with our search. Please be careful as you journey further into the world of publishing. Respectable agents, editors, and publishers are out there in large numbers and none of them want you to lose your money or be scammed. Remember, we should not pay one penny to an agent or an editor from a publishing house.

The second issue would center on all the celebrities from Hollywood who wake up one day and decide they want to write a book. There are publishers and agents who look specifically for these celebrities because they know the book will sale even if it stinks worse then a septic tank. Hearing these things may discourage you, I mean, we work hard to get noticed and finish our books. I cannot type this enough, do not get discouraged and do not give up. Truth be told many of these celebrities have ghost writers who prepare the manuscripts. These ghost writers deserve a lot of credit and work just as hard as we do. We know that we cannot take things from Hollywood at face value. Behind these books, just like movies, are people just like us who work hard for what they have and what they want.