Publishing Excerpts

Questions for the resident (former) agent
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calsea
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Joined: January 18th, 2013, 8:33 am
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Publishing Excerpts

Post by calsea » January 18th, 2013, 8:45 am

Hi Nathan -- I am currently looking for an agent to represent my memoir. I am not published elsewhere and have no on-line presence. (I am working on both.) I have written an excerpt--in a slightly different form than the ms--and am thinking of submitting it to established journals in hopes of publication.

Is this a good idea? I have heard that agents will like the idea a portion has been published and that agents won't like it.

Thanks for the help --

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Nathan Bransford
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Joined: December 4th, 2009, 11:17 pm
Location: Pasadena, CA
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Re: Publishing Excerpts

Post by Nathan Bransford » January 19th, 2013, 10:59 pm

calsea wrote:Hi Nathan -- I am currently looking for an agent to represent my memoir. I am not published elsewhere and have no on-line presence. (I am working on both.) I have written an excerpt--in a slightly different form than the ms--and am thinking of submitting it to established journals in hopes of publication.

Is this a good idea? I have heard that agents will like the idea a portion has been published and that agents won't like it.

Thanks for the help --
Here's a post on publishing credits and how much they help/don't help: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/03 ... shing.html

It can be a bit of a boost, but honestly an agent is going to care more about the work as a whole. If you do decide to share excerpts, be very very careful about the terms of the agreement you sign and make sure you're totally free to use the excerpt going forward. You don't want to tie up the rights.

calsea
Posts: 3
Joined: January 18th, 2013, 8:33 am
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Re: Publishing Excerpts

Post by calsea » January 24th, 2013, 12:00 pm

Thank you Nathan -- This helps, and I will be careful about any agreement I sign --
BTW: I don't know why I didn't see your answer right away. Please know I appreciate your response and time
carol

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