Literary Group International

The Literary Group International (http://www.theliterarygroup.com/) has no connection with The Literary Agency Group.

It's common for scammers to take names confusingly similar to legitimate companies.

What the?????

I just logged onto the web site for The Literary Group International, apparently a prestigious agency. They're so prestigious in fact that this is part of their guidelines for fiction:

Send them fifty pages.
We don't get back in touch with you unless we're interested.
Oh, and by the way, we demand exclusivity.

Let me see if I understand: they want exclusivity, but they don't get back to you unless they're interested. But they don't give a time frame, like, if we're interested we get back to you in a couple of weeks.

No, theoretically, they can hold onto your 50 pages for months and months, until you finally get the message, not that they're going to give you one.

If this approach starts catching on, then I guess it's hello Lulu for us all.

Yes, they are. They represent one of my favorite writers, Homer Hickam.

The "exclusivity" cause is for 30 days only.

Pretty much just submit but don't bother us. The 30-day is your clue to move on if you don't hear anything... which is fair.

Ian Kleinert

Hi ... I'm new to fiction writing so I don't have very many of the answers yet.

Now that I have a manuscript completed, I am looking for an agent. What do you people know about Ian Kleinert?

I've done the P&E, Agent Query, Goggling bit. The results don't really answer my questions, and he isn't listed in your index. Has anyone worked with him before?

Thanks

Haven't worked with him.

He has major agency chops and some major clients.

Other peoples' experiences with him.

Have found a little more info about him, but when I wrote the request, I had little more than a listing. (Ah, the wonderful listings of names and addresses and little else.) ... Yeah, P&E and Agent Query are religiously checked.

I just wanted to ask if anyone has dealt with Ian Kleinert, yet? He's now, apparently, with 'Objective Entertainment', but it's suspcious how little I can find of him.

Objective Entertainment has their own thread:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1574759

No first hand reports on Ian Kleinart. Not sure what that would be suspicious though. He pops up on a number of pages in a google search and agentquery shows some new sales by him including some by high-profile clients.

Does anyone have any experience with, or thoughts about, Literary Group International? I see from the posts above that Ian Kleinert is no longer there.

Related issue: I received a request for a full manuscript from LGI -- the request came from John Schuster, the firm's Director of Acquisitions, rather than the agent who had previously requested the partial. The firm's website says it "asks for a 30-day exclusivity period, beginning the date the material is received." However, the request for the full said nothing about exclusivity. Any thoughts on how to resolve this ambiguity? I'm inclined to think that they're not asking me to be exclusive since the e-mail included no such request. (I could, of course, simply ask. But it's more fun to post about it here.)

Going by the deals on the Publisher's Marketplace, Ian Kleinert has been at Objective Entertainment for most of this year. (I love this new toy and just wish I could justify keeping a subscription when I'm not researching agents. )

Unless you're a celebrity or name-brand author, stay away from Kleinert. Like his mentor Frank Weimann, he'll send you an onerous contract. If you ask for changes, he'll drag his feet. Weimann would "rescind" his offer. Don't know if Kleinert also "shotguns" proposals like Weimann; didn't get that far. In publishing, there are scammers, and then there are "legit" agents who won't treat newbies or mid-list authors with respect. Best to sign with an agent who at least expresses a sense of urgency about your work.

The Literary Group International?

I received a request for a full ms from them. Actually from an acquisitions editor, which seemed odd for an agency. Consistent with this, they seem to be a very large enterprise.

Anyone with experience with them? Are writers lost in the crowd here?

Welcome to the cooler.

There's a search button located at the top and if you type in an agent's or publisher's name you'll discover many of them already have running threads. LGI's is here. It just helps to keep the place neat and tidy.

brianm said:

Welcome to the cooler.

There's a search button located at the top and if you type in an agent's or publisher's name you'll discover many of them already have running threads. LGI's is here. It just helps to keep the place neat and tidy.

Click to expand...

Thanks, sorry. I had tried the search and got flagged for using "the" as a term (The Literary Group International) and for some reason (it was late) gave up on the search function and just posted a question!

So, it sounds like it IS a big enterprise, perhaps often not treating new writers the best? They claim to have a good track record placing new authors with major publishes, but I wonder what their batting average is with that.

If anyone has any more experience with this agency or knowledge, please feel free to share it! Thanks!

I do not have any experience with this company, but it is my opinion that reputable busy companies do not take on new clients unless they feel they can sell their work and recoup their investment in time and energy expended. I would not fret about whether or not you should sign with this company until you have actually been offered representation.

Again, just my personal opinion.

brianm said:

I do not have any experience with this company, but it is my opinion that reputable busy companies do not take on new clients unless they feel they can sell their work and recoup their investment in time and energy expended. I would not fret about whether or not you should sign with this company until you have actually been offered representation.

Again, just my personal opinion.

Click to expand...

Yes, don't get ahead of myself. Hard not to wonder though....

The search function here is ... barely functional. Try using Google and including the term site:absolutewrite.com in your search. That's what I do.

Meanwhile, may I be so bold as to ask the name of the editor who wrote to you requesting your full?

James D. Macdonald said:

The search function here is ... barely functional. Try using Google and including the term site:absolutewrite.com in your search. That's what I do.

Meanwhile, may I be so bold as to ask the name of the editor who wrote to you requesting your full?

Click to expand...

It was John Schuster. Hopefully that hasn't jinxed me now!

I see that no one has posted in this thread in almost two years. I just got a request for partial from this agency. John Schuster, the acquistions director, I guess, was the one who replied. I'd queried Frank Weimann.

I'm looking them up, of course, but I'd love any first hand knowledge. It's my first partial request, and I'm a bit nervous! They did say they would require a 30 day exclusive on the partial. I don't have a problem with that, and in fact, would welcome a month of not wondering who to query next, and instead focus on my current WIP. I think I only have a couple of outstanding queries now, so the timing is good.

Okay so....I'm looking at their site...and am either a bit blind or they don't have it up strictly.

Where do you send the submissions to?

In one of those Guide to Lit. Agents books, it says E-query and other stuff...but I can't tell if that's what they want on their site.

Help a new kid please? XD

Use QueryTracker.net

Do a search for 'agency name'

Three agents pop up for me, two accept e-queries to them personally, the third takes snail mail only. If you click on the names it gives more detail.

QueryTracker is a very useful tool by the way. Well worth signing up for the free account.