To: Moominoid who wrote (53204 ) 7/19/2001 11:57:39 PM From: GROUND ZERO™ Read Replies (1) | Respond to That's right... early on, I tried contacting publishers, but they never replied... one publisher responded and told me they only correspond with bona fide literary agents and they wished me good luck... I then began my long and suffering search, rejection letters filled my mailbox for weeks, months, and years, it dragged on forever... one day, when I finally received a telephone call and an e-mail from an agent, I didn't know what to think, I never thought anyone would represent me, I actually thought the guy was probably desperate... the agent told me my manuscript was very marketable and he was convinced he could place it with a publisher quickly... it is all but impossible to find an agent... agents specialize according to genre, and there are so many... most of the agents are already swamped and have only a short list of repeat authors... I guess once an agent has a good handful of successful writers, they can make a very decent living off them at 10% or 15% of sales..... once I was able to find an agent willing to take me on, the first publishing company grabbed me up immediately and sent me an unbelievable contract offer, including advance royalties on future book sales... I didn't do anything for about a week and a half, I was stunned, I felt as if I won the lottery... I did back flip in the livingroom for three days straight, then I showed the contract to my attorney who is a major multi media entertainment and copyright attorney in Miami and represents numerous well known musicians, actors, and performers... the deal was struck and the contracts were signed, pictures were taken, a regular photo shoot for the press, all organized by the attorneys (they know how to make a big deal out of a contract signing)... at the publisher's expense, they'll arrange a book signing tour and pay for my travel and accommodations..... this is all very new to me, and very exciting..... A miami/Fort Lauderdale television station reporter wants to do an interview and story about me since I'm a local guy with a possible best seller..... it might just be my fifteen minutes of fame.....<g>
