Agents or Publishers?

[Jane Mitchell]

My roommate and I published our books this year with BookSurge and are currently handselling copies. Naturally, we would LOOOVVVVEEE a commercial publisher or agent. I've published POD twice before and this is his first book. Mine is crime fiction: BEAT OF MY HEART focusing on a 10-year-old girl in Lower Alabama who is kidnapped, sexually abused and forced into the porn trade in Pensacola. His: THE LIME STREET MASSACRE is an interconnected collection of short stories (roman a clef, bildungsroman variety) of a child in Liverpool growing up in a dysfunctional family and convinced he is living under a Nazi regime. Any useful advice other than the Jeff Herman's/Literary Marketplace/Writer's Market? All replies are welcome.

[Harry Hunsicker]

I have a short article about getting published posted here on my website. You might find it helpful.

You also might consider joining Backspace, an online writing community similar to Publishersmarketplace but more geared toward writers. They have a five-day trial membership.

[David Terrenoire]

I got my break by publishing short stories in EQMM. An agent noticed them and offered me a chance to ghost novels. That led to my own book deal.

That's what worked for me.

[Karen Dionne]

Agent Query is a wonderful resource if you're looking for an agent - up to date, and searchable by genre. There are a handful of agents who manage to get listed in Jeff Herman's book and the Writer's Market that are marginal, so be careful there.

There's good information on what to look for in an agent and what to watch out for at Writer Beware.

And it was kind of Harry to point you towards Backspace. The discussion forums are available by paid subscription, and the cumulative knowledge of members make them an excellent resource for learning about the publishing business (just have to boast about our members for a moment - when I went into my local Borders yesterday, FIVE Backspace members' novels had front-of-store placement on the new fiction tables, including Crimespree's Toni McGee Causey's BOBBIE FAYE'S VERY (very very very) BAD DAY, and one member, Sara Gruen's, novel WATER FOR ELEPHANTS was nearby on the vertical displays because the just-released paperback version happens to be at #2 at the moment on the NYTimes list). But we've assembled quite a few articles by agents about the querying process on the free, public part of the site.

Good luck!

[Jane Mitchell]

Thank you so much for this. My roommate and I will take a look at it over the weekend.