I think the slush-pile concern is really coming from the idea that writers may submit to Diversion in hope of it giving them an “in” with the Waxman Agency, really. And while I would never suspect any of the Waxman agents of referring rejectees to Diversion, the fact is the possibility of that happening is there, you know?

I think the comments about an agent going to this epublisher, or any epublisher, are really there simply because we’re talking about an agency that is referring its clients to it epublisher. I’ve never gotten my agent involved in any of my epub work, either; I don’t actually know any writers who do. (My agent did scan my contract to make sure it didn’t conflict with my NY contracts, and we discussed his thoughts on the contract in general and requested a couple of changes, but that’s pretty much it.)

And no, I don’t think an agent would take on a writer whose prospects seem limited to epublishing, but again, the fear that writers would see Diversion as an “in” is there. Also, Diversion is looking for writers who already have an established online/epublishing presence, so I think for one of those writers the temptation to see Diversion as a bigger stepping stone to NY would be difficult to resist. That’s just me, though, and I don’t mean to imply those writers aren’t committed to what they do or are naive or whatever. But I know were I in that position, it would be tempting to see it that way; as maybe a shortcut to representation or something.

It’s my understanding that Diversion is offered to existing clients only if their project hasn’t made it in NY for whatever reason but is one the agent and author both feel strongly could be successful, and that it’s offered in a no-pressure way as simply an option. (Although I admit I’m not sure how that gels with the “we want writers with strong presences and healthy readerships online already.”)

And, like I said in the post, my biggest concern with this isn’t so much what Waxman will or will not do, as with the fact that there’s now a place for scam agents to point to when trying to steal from writers. I have no doubt that everyone at Waxman and Diversion are highly ethical and professional people, but I worry about the example. Kind of like when you hear that one story about that one author who got signed because he drew dozens of pictures in orange crayon and sent one a day to make up his query or something, and the agent or editor thought it was so funny they read the project? And every editor & agent in town just groans because they know they’re going to get a rush of orange-crayon drawings now, because someone insisted it was fine and a good idea.

And yes, you’re exactly right that outside the romance genre there aren’t as many alternatives available for those who want to epublish. But I also think that’s because ebooks are slowly making their way into the mainstream, and pretty much every book is now available as an ebook. I think romance/erotic romance/erotica have done so well in epublishing because those are books people don’t necessarily want to buy at the store or read in public (which has always bothered me, to be honest) so ebooks offer a great alternative. But for, say, a thriller? If you want to read a thriller in eformat you’ll go on the B&N or Amazon website or whatever, and pick one from a publisher or author you already know, you know what I mean? It’s not such a specialist market (I don’t mean romance is a specialist market, it’s a huge market, but there are reasons why some readers prefer to buy them in ebook form aside from their love of the e format). And I do know of a few epresses which publish other genres as well, or small presses which also offer ebooks. So while I see your point and his, I still think it sounded a little strange to say NO epresses out there publish new material, do you know what I mean?

When you say that for some genres there isn’t a healthy alternative to NY, do you mean YA? Or are there some other genres as well? Now that I think of it, I can’t think of any small YA presses at all (I ask about YA because I know that’s what you write). Hmm.

Do you think that as NY moves into epublishing more, those small epresses are going to find themselves losing business?

I will say that I got a comment from Mr. Waxman on my livejournal (the posts are mirrored) and he made it clear that Diversion has, as Theresa said, different management and employees, different shareholders, the whole shebang, and that the agency has no equity in Diversion. Unfortunately he didn’t return to answer my follow-up questions about what exactly the connection is between the two companies, or to give me permission to publish his comment in a new post. I’d intended to do a follow-up, but was waiting for his reply, and then we got into other things here so I never did the follow-up. So I’m doubly glad you replied here, lol, to remind me.

Anyway, thanks again, lovely to see you here!

Or is the agency merely looking to help their established clients with a project that might not have potential in NY, but that the client feels very strongly about? Again, to reference my own agent, she publishes most of her books with NY publishers, but she had a project that didn’t fit what NY was looking for, and she published it with a small epress, which turned out to be the perfect home. Which I think is exactly what Waxman is talking about when he says something like:

“I like the opportunity the eBook format presents to the author. There’s a sense of being able to control your own destiny for projects that the big houses don’ t want to bother with. I’ve been at this long enough to trust my own instincts on a book. So, just because a publisher says it’s “too small”, we can now attempt to prove them wrong and still make a go of it.”

And though there are healthy epublishing houses, they don’t exist for every genre or section of publishing, and for some genres a healthy alternative to NY publishing doesn’t exist at all. A lot of romance writers are going “Oh, well. Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, etc.) and not thinking about how that really is just a one part of publishing. Nothing I’ve written for large or small presses would be a good fit at either of those houses. And for these sections of publishing, sometimes the ONLY e-publishing option that exists is primarily focused on reprints (Amazon’s free kindle marketplace and literary classics, for example). And also, in terms of royalties — an agent is going to be comparing the solely (or primarily) ebook market to the ebook royalties of a NY publisher, AND to the options available to books in market segments where you don’t have half a dozen primarily ebook houses vying to attract authors. Royalty rates at romance ebook houses are comparatively high. These other markets that do other kinds of books aren’t necessarily as healthy.

Which is not to say that Waxman’s idea is a good one. Just that it’s not as simple as saying that alternatives already exist. They exist in some genres, but not in others.

I think the agency is trying to connect ebook readers with authors who could use the sales, but there are, as you pointed out, some big issues.

What I’ve noticed from watching Ravenous Romance is some definite instances of using Perkins’ agent pull to try to solicit writers and writers confusing being published by RR as “being represented by Lori Perkins”. I’ve seen people claim to be her client when they’ve merely been published by RR, which is misleading. Not being on the inside, I’m not sure whether the difference is in the head of the author, or the author is being led on by the press, but it does leave me with a very strong suspicion that Perkins’ rep is being used to keep authors hooked to RR in a way that mirrors author mills.

There’s also a question of just what exactly WON’T RR take? Because I’ve read some pretty awful blurbs, samples and reviews.

I think of course we should always strive for the top, but the market doesn’t always bear even our best efforts. And I do think ePubbing is a great break-in opportunity for writers, which gives it another good reason to submit there. I mean, in really no other industry are you expected to earn like crazy right out of the gate. A time of education, internship, etc is often the norm, whether that be college or through business stewardship.

I view ePublishing as selling short stories. It can help you break in. Regardless of sales numbers it can help get your name out there.

But the problem is, no matter how good the royalty rate is, that doesn’t guarantee readers will buy the books. Lots of startup epublishers offer great royalty rates, but even if they manage to be so much better than other houses–which as Jill Noble said, generally run around 40% anyway–that doesn’t do anyone any good if they only manage to sell a handful of copies, versus the hundreds or even thousands they might be able to sell at an established house.

Angie

PS — good to hear they’re not taking an agents’ commission on books they sub to Mr. Waxman’s e-pub. That’d be pretty outrageous, but then again, we’ve all seen newbies to this end of the business make worse mistakes. [wry smile]

Would you define "far, far better" better, please? The established houses I know of are paying upwards of 36%. Many are paying in the mid-to-upper 40s. At least 2 pay small advances on royalties (NRP being one).

And they do not take a 15% commission on the ebooks. To answer another question, why go with them rather than an already established e-publisher? Simple answer for most authors – the royalty rate is far, far better. And unlike other e-publishers, this house is designed to be a true author-centric place where getting back your rights if you wish to sell them elsewhere isn’t a huge issue.