Barbara Bauer Literary Agency
cra...@interport.net
Agent Alert! Beware the Barbara Bauer Literary Agency of Matawan, New
Jersey! This agency lures potetential "clients" by praising their
work, then asking for a whopping $500 to $600 "fee" in order to
represent their work. They comport themselves with an air of
officiality, offering a contract, a telephone consultation, etc., but
they are apparently unable to get a manuscript into the hands of an
editor. Apparently they do not have the proper contacts in the
industry or are not taken seriously by publishers.
When asked what titles they have placed in the last year they are
likely to tell you that they cannot divulge that information on
account of "privacy reasons." -- Yeah, right.
Beware!
Ralph Roberts
cra...@interport.net wrote in article <332ea5a...@news.interport.net>
...
>Agent Alert! Beware the Barbara Bauer Literary Agency of Matawan, New
>but they are apparently unable to get a manuscript into the hands of an
>editor. Apparently they do not have the proper contacts in the
>industry or are not taken seriously by publishers.
Actually, we get submissions frequently from the Barbara Bauer Literary
Agency, so they do get mss. into the hands of editors. As to the fees, et
at, I have no knowledge of that, so won't address it. As both author and
publisher, I do not recommend paying ANY agent a fee, it's usually
counterproductive.
Our problem is that the mss. submitted by Bauer are always totally
inappropriate to our needs. Nothing irritates a publisher more than wasting
time on stuff the agent should know is not commercial enough to justify ink
on paper. I even went to the trouble and expense of explaining this to the
agency on the phone, but we still get stuff like poetry collections and the
like. None of which we pay good money for. Which means Bauers submissions
now seldom get opened, much less looked at.
In general--speaking as a longtime writer (look me up in BOOKS IN PRINT),
the final responsibility for sale of a book rests with the WRITER. I've
sold over 70 books to national publishers by doing marketability studies
and providing the publisher with a package that he or she can immediately
see will make enough money to justify publishing. In that case, an agent
with good contacts to get you a proper hearing with Random House or one of
the biggies, can sell your book. If you haven't done your homework, NO
agent can sell the turkey.
As a publisher now, with over 300 titles already in print, we expect our
authors to have done their homework also. That way both publisher and
writer makes money.
These are the hard facts.
By the way, for those curious: while I have a "big name" New York agent, of
all my 70+ book sales, he only sold 3 (albeit, three NICE sales). I've sold
direct to Random House and various divisions of McGraw-Hill, Prentice-Hall,
and Macmillan by dint of finding the right editor for the subject and
hitting her desk firmly with succulent, potentially profitable proposals
until she saw the sweet light of reason.
In other words, do it for yourself if you want it done. Then an agent can
be helpful, but no agent can create a career for you.
And we are always looking for well-researched, marketable books in the
fields of collectibles, how-to, America's Civil War, and other Americana.
Please send only professional proposals and don't ask us what that
is--we'll buy your book, we won't hold your hand.
Thanks for your time in reading this. I lurk a lot but seldom am impelled
to post. If we get some decent submissions out of this post, I'll be around
more.
--Ralph Roberts, Publisher
ALEXANDER BOOKS
BLUE/GRAY BOOKS
WORLDCOMMŽ
65 Macedonia Road
Alexander, NC 28701
http://www.abooks.com/ralph