tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post8683002804366307943..comments2023-06-12T17:08:36.320+01:00Comments on How Publishing <i>Really</i> Works: How Literary Agents Earn Their KeepJane Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411253302725735470noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-8452254643434645472008-06-23T13:26:00.000+01:002008-06-23T13:26:00.000+01:00Marian, thanks for that link. How could I have fo...Marian, thanks for that link. How could I have forgotten about Mr Meredith? He's used so often by the more unscrupulous agents to rationalise fee-charging. <BR/><BR/>I can remember when many of the agents listed in the UK edition charged a reading fee, which was usually around £25. This was probably around twenty or thirty years ago, and it was used as a way to filter out all but the most determined. Such fees are now pretty rare, thank goodness, as there's an obvious conflict of interest in charging them.Jane Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03411253302725735470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-51945911215601490172008-06-21T14:15:00.000+01:002008-06-21T14:15:00.000+01:00I have a copy of Writing to Sell by Scott Meredith...I have a copy of <I>Writing to Sell</I> by Scott Meredith, who owned a fee-charging agency which was nevertheless successfully represented some very famous authors. In the book, he justified the fees that his agency charged. I can't remember the exact rationale, but I think it had something to do with covering overhead while sifting through the masses of unusable stuff in the slush pile.<BR/><BR/>The problem is that a lot of other agencies (and publishers) also cover overhead while sifting through the masses of unusable stuff in the slush pile, and they don't charge fees to do so. And the practice of fee-charging may lead to situations like the one described in <A HREF="http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1464802&postcount=74" REL="nofollow">this post</A> (scroll down a bit to read about the Scott Meredith agency.Marian Pererahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15700524210146863718noreply@blogger.com