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Q: Do you accept queries or submissions from unpublished writers?
A: We welcome them. Please refer to our submission guidelines for
information on how to submit your material for consideration.
Q: Do you handle poetry/screenplays/teleplays/children’s books?
A: No, we do not. Our Submissions page details the sorts of projects we
represent and actively seek submissions regarding.
Q: Why are you not responding to email queries if you are not interested
in considering more of my work?
A: This agency receives over 100 email queries (and at least 30 by regular
mail) a week making a personalized response impossible.
Q: Do you charge a reader’s fee?
A: No, per AAR guidelines. You can find more information on this subject at
their website, www.aar-online.org. Except in very rare circumstances, you
should always be very skeptical of any agency that asks for any money up
front.
Q: Do you consider unsolicited full manuscripts?
A: No. Please submit a query letter regarding your work and if we are
interested in seeing more, we will ask for it. This method saves both parties
time and money. Unsolicited manuscripts will be returned without a cover
letter.
Q: After querying your agency, I have been asked to submit my full
manuscript. Is there anything I should bear in mind?
A: Yes. We request a four-week period of exclusivity while considering your
work for representation. If there is a problem with this, please advise us in
your cover letter. In addition, remember to enclose sufficient postage with
your work to cover the cost of returning it to you should this ultimately prove
necessary, or let us know your preference to have your material recycled. For
more information, please visit our Submissions page.
Q: Can I submit my manuscript to you via email?
A: Yes. We would ask that you email us first to let us know this is your
intended method of submission so that we might look out for your
subsequent email with the manuscript attached.
Q: I submitted a query to your agency and all I received was a form letter
stating the project is not right for you. Why can't you provide more
feedback than that?
A: Please bear in mind two things: one, that we have clients for whom we
spend the bulk of our time working making a great deal of time to respond to
queries impossible. Two, our role as agents is not to provide help for
authors to improve their writing or submission material, it is only to
determine whether we believe the project has potential to find a publisher
and whether we can be the ones to do so effectively.
Q: What is your commission structure?
A: We charge the standard 15% on all domestic income and 20% for all
foreign sales. We also charge some expenses to the author such as
manuscript copying and excessive FedEx/UPS shipments. All fees and
commissions are discussed thoroughly prior to a business arrangement if
an agreement of representation is reached
Q: I have read on your site “Member AAR.” What is AAR?
A: AAR stands for Association of Authors’ Representatives. Our membership
ensures we adhere to the very highest standards of ethics regarding literary
representation. For more information, please visit their Web site at www.aar-
online.org.
Q: I live in/will be in the Brooklyn/New York area. May I stop by to discuss
my manuscript?
A: Please do not. We ask that you contact us via email or regular mail. Until
we have read your material, there really isn't a basis for a conversation, and
we are usually engaged in work for our current clients. After we have
considered your work, we can discuss a meeting if it seems appropriate.
Q: I have some other questions regarding the business as a whole.
Where do you recommend finding such information?
A: Your best bet is the Literary MarketPlace, or LMP, a reference volume
containing all sorts of information on agents, publishers, foreign and co-
agents, and the like. There are also several other good reference books on
the market that explain the process of finding an agent and getting
published.
We encourage all prospective authors to do as much research as possible
prior to submitting work to agencies.
Are you still unable to find answers to your questions? Please email
mark@janechelius.com.