Agent As Editor

The whereabouts of Robert Astle have been identified. Formerly employed by Adam Chromy at Artists and Artisans, the newly created literary agent must have found something that he likes about the business. He's up and started his own agency.

Details about what he's doing and how you can join in the fun can be found at his website, which is accessible through Agentquery.com. I'd post a link but the link posting bit isn't working at the moment.

To give you a feeling for his philosophy:

"We believe that interesting people write interesting books, and it takes, among many attributes, energy and persistence to build a long-term writing career. We also believe it takes an agency that will provide detailed editorial notes and sound career advice to develop and support a writers' career in the sometimes-bewildering world of literary and commercial publishing. We believe that the manuscript and proposal must be both irresistible and professional. We work tirelessly to negotiate the best possible deal and continue our support and advice through publication, promotion, brand name building and beyond."

Very nice. Sounds lovely. Continue on to the rest of his services, however, and you have to wonder how long before the folks at Writer Beware are probing his agency.

Will give a complete analysis and feedback, plus an idea of where your project stands commercially. For works less than 50,000 words the turn around time is one week, for more than 50,000 words the turn around time is two weeks. You will receive a written 10 page editorial memorandum (double-spaced and 12 point font), with suggestions on how to take your novel to the next step. Structure, content, action, character, metaphor, narrative and voice will all be discussed. After delivery of the memo, we will follow up with phone call.

Red flags are flying! Can you say 'conflict of interest'? Although he promises to keep the editing separate from the agenting, and he won't promise to take on a manuscript he's edited, Victoria Strauss will no doubt have a few words to say about the idea in general.

He hasn't been around all that long, and there's no track record on his website to confirm or deny his authenticity. Should you long to seek representation from Robert Astle, however, you might want to keep in mind that your literary agent should not be charging you for editing.

Possibly he's perfectly legit and thinks he's come up with a brilliant new way to expand his business. Time will tell. And Victoria of Writers Beware will certainly be letting us know.