Oscar Whitfield

So there's this guy named Oscar Whitfield who queries me and a whole bunch of other agents every day. The query is exactly the same, with the same email subject title and content. However, he does seem to be using multiple email addresses, which means he can escape my junk filter from time to time. 

I wrote him about a month ago, asking him to stop querying me because 1) he wasn't using my submission form; and 2) I had no interest in his work. He responded obnoxiously, telling me he was going to continue querying me despite my request, and he was going to "knock down" the doors of publishing.

It's people like this that help contribute to the negativity sometimes involved in the querying process. So my plea to you at the start of what I hope will be a beautiful Memorial Day Weekend is the following: if you know Mr. Oscar Whitfield, please ask him to stop. And if you know any other people spam querying, ask them to stop too.  

More Google Book Search

Publisher's Lunch has a good article about how there's no good solution to the Google Book Search and the proposed settlement.

Google Settlement Update

Two updates for you regarding the proposed settlement for the Google Book Search. First, the judge reviewing the case has extended the deadline for authors to opt out of the settlement by four months, to September 7th. 

Second, as a result of complaints from some groups opposing the Google Settlement, the Justice Department has opened up an antitrust inquiry into the matter. The New York Times has a surprisingly decent summary of the situation.

Multiple Submissions

I know I've written about this before, but it came up a few times at the ASJA Conference this weekend, so I thought I'd revisit it. 

Some agents have an exclusive submission policy regarding materials - i.e. you can't send your query or manuscript to another agent while they are reviewing it. I STRONGLY believe that this is an unfair policy. The only times I can think that an exclusive might be appropriate is if the agent is an absolutely perfect fit for you or they happen to be one of the biggest and best names in the business. Otherwise, my suggestion is to submit to multiple agents at a time. 

Most agents are extremely busy and out of necessity are slow in responding to submissions. If you wait for a response from each of us before sending your project on to the next agent on your list you could be querying the same project for years and years.

My only caveat with multiple submissions is that you need to tell agents who have your partial or full manuscript when another agent has expressed interest in representation and give them at least a few days to get back to you.

Do you like contests?

My client Kelly Meding has launched a contest to count down the release of her debut novel Three Days to Dead. Check it out if you like science fiction/fantasy trivia! Oh, and Mogwai rule!

New Query Policy

Starting today Lyons Literary LLC has a new policy regarding queries. 

I still will only accept queries sent via the electronic submission form found on our website; queries sent in any other manner will not be responded to. Assuming you fill out the submission form properly (i.e. provide a proper return email address) and your spam blocker allows it, you'll receive a confirmation email from the agency that your query has been received. 

If you don't hear from us within three weeks of sending the query (besides our initial response confirming receipt) then we are passing on the project. If I'm interested in seeing more (likely either the first thirty pages or a proposal) I'll write you back before then.

Finally, if you've sent me a query using my submission form before today then you'll still hear from me at some point, though I'm admittedly still far behind on these. 

I hope this addresses the most significant concerns of aspiring authors, but let me know if you have any suggestions. 

Agent for a Day

In a surprise for most of the people involved, but not a surprise to me or likely other agents, only two people successfully guessed all three published books in Nathan Bransford's Agent for a Day Contest, and none of the books were among the top five most requested queries. 

On a different note, I am thinking of changing my query policy based on some of the discussion I've seen on the Web. As of now I'm still trying to respond to every query sent to me via my agency submission form and filled out properly (e.g. with an email address for response). However, I've fallen severely behind and since I continue to receive over 75 queries a day, I'm not sure when I can ever fully catch up. I also continue to get frustrating responses from writers after rejections asking for more details or simply just insulting me for deciding to pass. I'm also getting more and more emails from writers reasonably wondering when they might hear from me.

So here's what I'm thinking. I'm going to set up a mailbox that sends an auto response confirming receipt of a query, and a note will be included saying that if the form was filled out properly AND I'm interested in the project that you'll hear back from me within three weeks. If you don't have a response within three weeks, it's a pass. Thoughts?