The publishing marketplace has never been an easy one to navigate. It’s an incredibly subjective, overcrowded, and brutally competitive environment, even for authors who have already published successfully. First-time fiction writers face an even more daunting challenge in the effort to turn even the most promising manuscript into a published novel. One benefit of working with The Editorial Department is that when a manuscript reaches a point where we’re enthusiastic about its chances at publication, we’re available to step in and act as an advocate for that manuscript in the marketplace.
Ross Browne, president of TED, first introduced our formal agent matchmaking program in 1994. Using insights gleaned from the experience of reviewing manuscripts for The Literary Group International (where he recommended a manuscript from the slush pile that went on to become a national bestseller), he developed a comprehensive database to keep track of agent likes, dislikes, client rosters, past sales, personal interests, and just about anything else that could assist in making intelligent decisions as to which agents might be good bets for TED’s clients. He also began cultivating relationships with both well-established and up-and-coming literary agents, encouraging them to accept referrals from The Editorial Department when we were excited about a book’s chances. The success of these efforts resulted in our being able to help more and more of our clients find quality literary representation and became the basis of the much more comprehensive assistance we can offer our clients on this front today.
That assistance is more sorely needed than ever, for today’s constantly changing publishing scene stacks the deck against the debut author. Major publishing companies are obsessed with the bottom line. Bestseller status for celebrity-penned books and name authors, sluggish bookstore sales otherwise, decreased promotional budgets, and a reluctance to take chances on new writers have all led to fewer opportunities for debut authors. Consolidation among New York publishing houses has left fewer outlets for writers who want traditional publication. Instead of looking for the best book,acquisitions editors tend to look for the book with the best profit potential. Due to these factors and others, literary agents must be even more discriminating about what they take on, especially with first fiction.
It’s far from a lost cause, though. Publishing editors have to acquire some first fiction if they’re to find tomorrow’s stars. Debut authors do still find literary agents and publishers for their manuscripts; it’s just become a much more difficult and involved process. TED accordingly stepped up its efforts to keep a finger on the pulse of the market by hiring a submissions director, Karinya Funsett, who gives her undivided attention to the agent matchmaking program. She’s supported in her work by several editors on TED’s staff whose personal experiences and contacts serve as valuable resources.
Karinya studies industry reports and publications, new book deals, publishing trends, and the bestseller lists while watching and tracking the activities of literary agents and developing her own network of agents who share TED’s desire to help deserving new talent break into print. We’re very careful that every project our agent matchmaking program takes on is sound enough in concept and execution to be welcomed by the agents we submit to. However salable we believe a project to be, this is an unpredictable industry dependent on timing, individual tastes, and market conditions, and – as much as we’d love to be able to – we can never guarantee that participation in our agent matchmaking program will result in an author’s finding a literary agent or signing a publishing contract. What we can guarantee is that we will do everything in our power to increase your chances of securing representation of real quality. We’re proud of the successes our program has had in the past (you can read about some of the agents and agencies representing our clients and see some of the published titles we've worked on here), and we look forward to getting even better results in the program thanks to the contributions of Kaitlin Shaw, who joined our agent matchmaking team in 2008.
In the case of manuscripts we’ve edited that in our judgment have obvious merit but lack sufficient commercial appeal to be appropriate for the agent matchmaking program, we may be able to offer professional guidance and advice as the author seeks representation on his or her own. The main goal of the program is to help good agents and authors find one another. Our support in this effort helps writers stay focused on their writing and keeps them from having to deal with many of the frustrations of trying to land an agent on their own. We lament that today’s publishing environment makes the process of finding representation so much more difficult and time-consuming than it once was. But TED is more committed than ever to providing a stellar level of support to our clients in getting their manuscripts the attention they deserve.
More information about the program is available by contacting Ross Browne at (520) 546-9992 or by clicking here.
These are just some of the literary agents representing our clients. An asterisk next to the agent's name means the offer for representation came about thanks to our agent matchmaking program.
Richard Abate, International Creative Management (ICM) *
Carole Abel, Carole Abel Literary Agency
Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Grinberg Literary Management
Loretta Barrett, Loretta Barrett Books
Mel Berger, William Morris Agency *
Phillipa Brophey, Sterling Lord Literistic
William Clark, WM Clark Literary Agency *
Claudia Cross, Sterling Lord Literistic
Joni Evans, William Morris Agency *
Jane Gelfman, Gelfman Scheider Literary Agency, Inc.
As of August 26,
2008 we have 11 manuscripts in the program out with agents who have requested
them and dozens more inquiries pending. The number can swing pretty
dramatically from week to week so we will keep it updated regularly.
TED News
Special Offer
TED’s fall special
runs through October 15th, 2008. During this period
we will be offering 10 % off all manuscript and book proposal
evaluations. [Read More]
