Consolidating The Market

For a time, literary agent Joe Veltre was partnered with Diane Bartoli in a small literary agency. I never had any luck with either one of them, but if they had considered one of my manuscripts, would they still be together today?

At any rate, Ms. Bartoli left for another job in a different area of the publishing business, and Mr. Veltre carried on as a small operation at The Veltre Company. Put together a fabulous website and everything. Again, he wasn't interested in anything I'd written.

It's tough to sell manuscripts to publishing houses that are so busy watching their bottom lines that they fail to see what it is readers want in their fiction. I have to wonder, though, if Joe Veltre had considered one of my manuscripts, would he still be compelled to sign on with the powerful Gersh Agency and leave his boutique agency behind?

The Gersh Agency snagged Phyllis Wender when her company, Rosenstone/Wender, dissolved. They've been expanding of late, and Mr. Veltre will find plenty to do as head of Gersh's book department. As before, he'll continue to push film and TV rights while acting as an agent, but with the Gersh umbrella to protect him.

Office staff, interns, and all the rest of the overhead won't trouble him any more.

Now that those pesky details are cleared away, will he maybe consider one of my manuscripts in his new position at Gersh? I wonder if the form on his website is still functioning.