Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Agency Merger Du Jour

Literary agents come and literary agents go and then they decide that size does matter.

What does all that mean?

Jason Allen Ashlock left a big agency to start his own firm, taking along a couple of other agents and their clients.

Thus was born the Movable Type literary agency.

Adam Chromy ran a small agency that had two other agents at his side, most of the time. You see, agents come but they also go when they abandon the business or get a better paying job elsewhere in publishing.

Businesses have fixed costs, and if you merge two companies, you can cut those costs down to size if they're too gargantuan. In addition, if staff leaves and takes clients with them, it becomes more difficult to meet costs of any type.

Thus is born Movable Type Management.

Agents Ashlock and Chromy have merged into one entity, and those who follow the literary agency roster will notice that former Movable Type-sters Meredith Dawson and Rachel Vogel are not on the team.

That's not all that's changed.

At one time, Movable Type wasn't interested in a query letter. They wanted the opening pages of the novel for their consideration, believing that the writing was important. Not all authors are marketing gurus who can pen good sales copy.

This time around, there's an online form to be filled in. You'll be needing a proper query letter in future.

So fire away with your queries. Often, a fresh start can inspire a literary agent to feel the pressure to take on and sell some new manuscripts. It could be yours. You won't know unless you give it a go.

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