|
Reading Fees
The idea of paying an agent a fee to read and evaluate a book length manuscript seems reasonable enough. An unpublished writer unable to attract the attention of a literary agent who doesn't charge fees isn't going to let a couple hundred dollars stand in the way of finding an agent and getting published. If the writer isn't confident that the manuscript is publishable, why submit it in the first place? Nothing in life is free, why would acquiring an agent be any different? How many physicians give free check-ups? The problem, however, is not the fee itself nor the rationale behind it. The problem is the agent, why this particular agent has to bill up-front for manuscript reading when others read manuscripts for free. The degree to which this will be a problem for the writer depends upon why this agent is in the business. But how can a writer determine if the agent is sincere – they all sound sincere – or simply making a living out of reading manuscripts? Again, it's not the fee that counts as much as who the agent is.
Reading fees range from $50 to $600. The average fee, what most agents charge, is in the vicinity of $125. An agent charging $125 who reads twenty-five manuscripts a week – a modest number for agents who advertise – will make about $160,000 a year. If the agent works at home and issues boilerplate evaluation reports requiring nothing more than a general knowledge of the manuscript, eighty percent of that income is profit. Not bad for a job requiring no skill, no talent, and very little time. No wonder so many people are doing it.
An agency based in New York City responds to queries from aspiring writers with a form letter that begins:
Thank you for your recent letter regarding your book (title). Because of the high volume of submissions received (the agency) must be very selective about which projects we decide to consider. Unfortunately, we do not feel that this is a project which we could successfully represent at this time.
If you are interested in improving your work, (the agency) does offer an editorial service which many new authors find to be quite helpful . . . . The written report, generally 5-7 pages in length, analyzes a manuscript in detail, pinpointing the work's literary craft as well as its commercial potential . . . .
While most reading fee agents proclaim they evaluate manuscripts to determine if they want to represent the author, this agent knows that the manuscript needs work without have to read it. This agent must assume that all manuscripts sent to the agency are equally bad because the rates are based on a book's length, not how much editing is required. For example, a 200-page manuscript brings in $350; a 300-page work, $400; and a 400 pager, $450; a 500-page job $475; and for every page over 500, a dollar extra. Compared to most reading fees this is high, but compared to line-by-line editing jobs, it’s fairly inexpensive. This agent has found a profitable way to work the middle ground between manuscript evaluation and book doctoring.
Reading fee artists with a quick tongue and a post office box lose interest in the writer the moment the money is exchanged. Because they don't take on writers as clients – they merely traffic in manuscripts – they don't have any clients. This avoids pain-in-the-neck writers and makes being an agent a much more pleasant, and easier job. Following the canned evaluation report, these agents kiss off the writer with a form letter. At this point many writers figure out they have been taken for a ride, victimized. But what is the crime? What is the outrage? Where does the writer go to complain? Unless the victim can prove hard core fraud, or theft by deception, local police and the FBI won't be interested. Better Business Bureaus are no help either. Fee-charging agents make it clear from the beginning that paying them a reading fee does not guarantee representation. And who can judge the quality or sincerity of the agent's evaluation report?
What the reading fee victim had gotten for his or her money is a lesson. If the writer, at this point in the game gets the message, the money was well-spent. Too many writers, however, do not learn or benefit from the reading fee experience. In eager if not desperate search for legitimate agents, they fall prey to even bigger sharks in the literary waters. They let their hopes and dreams, their ego, get in the way of their better judgment and common sense. They allow themselves to be led further down the fee-charging path.
|
