Monday, June 11, 2007

Fee-charging agents

A friend wrote to me and said a friend of his was interested in an agent who charged a "registration fee." This wasn't a fee to read the manuscript, the agent said.

Sounded like a crock to me.

So I asked Linda Konner, a literary agent in NYC that I met through ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors), and here's what she said:

"Registration fee? Hmmm... What precisely are you registering for? It does sound like a convenient variation on a reading fee which, as we know, isn't charged by respectable agents, eg, members of AAR (Association of Authors Representatives). Some agents will charge clients minimal expenses fees associated with the submission and follow-up of proposals and related author materials. But unless this agent is promising something beyond the standard agent duties, no up-front fees should be paid."

Enough said?

2 comments:

blog does not exist said...

Thanks for sharing this information!

Anonymous said...

I actually found a lot of those listed when I was looking into an agent several years ago. There are a LOT of Fee agents listed all over the web. I just kept thinking, "What kind of agent are you if you aren't making money from your authors and feel like charging unknowns for the priviledge of your time?" 8)