My first two novels are romantic thrillers. I'm writing a paranormal about a vampire named Wade and his human love, Jui. Not your typical Twilight story...this has a different feel and twist to it because these are adults and like my other two books, there's a whole lotta angst goin on. All three are steamy...Conversely, I just got a contract on my children's book today. Is that psycho music I hear? LOL

Welcome to the Book Marketing Network. You will find many wonderful people here to share videos, blogs, forum posts, etc.

Thanks for coming on board.

John Kremer, founder
author, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books

Hi,
I toyed with getting an agent and question whether it really benefits me in the long run. Especially to a new author (or unknown. Regardless of whether you are signed to Harper Collens or Simon and Schuster or you self-publish on Lulu.com; the marketing falls to the author. Period. And, the royalties from the big publishing houses are minimal for fear that they will not recoup any expenses from signing an unknown.

I think those days are long gone. Just my 2 cents though.

Hi Franny. Things may be different over in Canada but here in the UK finding an agent is as difficult as finding a publisher. They get thousands of mss but only take on one or two new clients a year. There are very few large publishers who will consider submissions directly from authors. Do not be misled by advertisements. There are many thousands of writers who are the easy prey of those who make easy promises and take your money. (I fell prey to one who was in it for the glory — getting his 'kick' from issuing false reports from top publishers with contracts in the offing. Until the scam was revealed) The same goes for publishing. It is easy to get a book published, with computer skills you can do it yourself. Promotion and Marketing is time consuming but it is the only way for a self-publisher to get known — not guaranteed to sell books though. My Magpies Nest Publishing was set up to publish a book I wrote for charity. Because of finding a genuine agent and therefore a publisher, my other books are now published through Magpies Nest too. But I sell mostly locally (and I get my books into some libraries). I believe some authors are good at selling on the Internet — you may be one of them. I live in the UK and postage to foreign parts can cost nearly as much as the book. My books on Amazon.com are at ridiculous prices (About $100 or more added). My books on Amazon uk are the actual price of the book - or less. But they can all be got straight from Magpies Nest Publishing. Fortunately, my books are now being published by AGPress in the USA (with royalties going to charity). Some of my books can be got as Ebooks too - no postage there. Go to the Predators and Editors web site - you will get a LOT of info there. I hope this helps.

If you already have a contract, why need an agent — unless to find you a larger publisher ?