DLA and the Canon of Ethics of Association of Authors Representatives (a/k/a AAR) - This is my week to write the newsletter, so Id like to jump right in and answer a question that has been put to my staff and I several times: Is Denouement Literary Agency, LLC a member of AAR? AAR - Association of Authors Representatives - states this as their requirements to become listed as a literary agency with them: Literary Agents - Prospective members must have at least 2 years as a fulltime working agent, with at least ten reportable sales over an 18 month period, and primarily responsible for executing publishing agreements, translation or performance rights in these properties. Applications need to be accompanied by two letters of reference from current members. DLA was legally formed June 19, 2014. So the first part isnt possible yet. DLA has not had yet. DLAs partnering agents - Evelyn Rainey and Daniel LeBoeuf both are So we are eligible to join AAR on this stipulation. Once we have been in business for 2 years and have 10 sales, I will contact 2 current AAR members for their letters of reference. So the answer to this question is that DLA is not YET a member of AAR. We are working towards that, but we do adhere to AARs Canon of Ethics Association of Authors Representatives, Inc. - Canon of Ethics in as much as those items match the vision and policy of DLA. OH! I heard that! Thats ok. We all know that DLA does things differently than traditional, old fashioned agencies in that we do not charge a percentage of royalties, we charge a flat fee at the successful offering of a viable contract with a publisher. So the whole #2 is out of sync with DLA with the exception of the first paragraph. Also, #1 is a given. #3 states that we can charge you for things that were expensive BEFORE the use of the internet. In that this is 2014, we will be utilizing the internet for most of our communications with publishers, so I dont foresee any charges will be amassed - because we are very innovative and contemporary in our communication practices. I am also proud to be a tree-hugger (dont roll your eyes, Daniel), so I very rarely would print out copious amounts of paper. Although there are a few houses which still expect snail mail submissions, I prefer email and website based submission practices: faster, cleaner, world-friendly. #4 Well be doing this every 6 weeks as stated in our contract. #5 and #6 If someone were to offer my partner, intern or me a packaging fee or a secret profit, Id tell him/her we dont accept bribes, take his/her publication OFF our list of acceptable houses, and definitely tell my client why. #7 is a given. We will not sell your name, demographic information or financial situation to anyone. #8 is the BIGGIE. There obviously is a fine line in a great number of literary agencies between helping clients polish their manuscript with any/all means necessary and charging hapless victims exorbitant editing fees. So here it is. We will not consider taking you on as a client if you cannot follow the requirements to submit a proposal package as stated on our website. If we believe your proposal packet shows merit and promise, we may suggest you find someone to help you get it right and resubmit it. If you need suggestions as to who could help you do this, we do have a few people we are confident could help, but the payment situation is between the author and whomever he/she chooses to help. Once Daniel and I agree that we can successfully represent your manuscript, we will offer you a contract and ask to see the manuscript. You will then be assigned a writing coach and a pitching coach. The pitching coach will do just that - pitch your proposal packet to as many publishers as it takes to find you a publishing contract over the course of the year. The writing coach will work with you to polish your novel during that year to make it as marketable as possible. Yes, this may entail outside sub-contractors, but that is part of our service; we pay their fees. (Unless of course you bow out of our contract before the year is up. -- All of that is covered in the contract and need not be discussed here, since the topic of this newsletter is AAR membership). The section of #8 which begins is hugely important. It is DLAs policy to differentiate our services between clients and non-clients. If you want Daniel to be your writing coach - and may I say from personal and professional experience, he is the best writing coach I have ever known - you and he can arrange the payment and expectations for services for any of your manuscripts. HOWEVER, that manuscript can never be submitted to DLA for representation. So here we are: 1. We can read your manuscript and give you some friendly advice for free. You may not then submit that manuscript to DLA. (non-client) 2. We can work as writing coaches and charge our rates for various services including grammar, mechanics, voice, authenticity, plot, marketability, etc. You may not then submit that manuscript to DLA. (non-client) 3. You may submit a manuscript to DLA and any polishing we require and/or suggest as writing coaches is part of the flat fee. (client) 4. AARs Canon of Ethics has no bearing on DLAs Marketing Packets which we provide after the book is published. (client - whether we brokered the contract of your novel or not) So, I hope I have answered the question as to why DLA is not yet a member of AAR and assure you that - though not yet eligible, DLA still abides by AARs standards in as much as we can since AAR is still rather - in my opinion - anachronistic in certain aspects of its approaches to the publishing world of 2014. - Evelyn Rainey, Owner, Denouement Literary Agency denouementlit/home.html
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:15:28 +0000
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