This 2015 edition is printed in the trade paperback size with 627 pages – it’s huge! Much more than just another listing of literary agents, freelance editors and publishers, the first 63 pages contain articles for publishing success. Herman’s thirty years of operating a literary agency and fostering nearly 1,000 books into publication provide rich insights for those who want to break into this highly competitive business the traditional way. He also offers some advice for authors contemplating going the self-publishing route, including blogging and how to spot fraudulent publishing services.
The front matter explains how to write the most effective query letters, what working with an agent entails, and understanding standard publishing contracts. Not only do the listings describe the Big Six New York publishing conglomerates (now the Big Five with the merger of Penguin and Random House), but they also cover Canadian, university, and more than 300 independent publishers and imprints.
A new feature is a comprehensive index of categories and subjects, enabling authors to pinpoint the most likely agents and imprints for specific works. This topical index supplants a traditional one wherein you might look up a specific agent, editor or publishing company. There’s also a nifty glossary of publishing industry and book terms from “abstract” to “zombie” (in a literary sense, not the horror figure) to help beginners better understand the various descriptions in the entries of the directory proper. Another interesting, if quirky, segment is a section called Great Inventions that Will Change Writing and Publishing in Days to Come (or Not). Here Herman exercises or exorcises his humor imagining services like The Goditor. The mercifully brief few pages may provide comic relief for authors struggling to find a home or at least representation for their labors.
This is the twenty-fourth edition of Herman’s guide to the publishing world, so you can trust he knows what he’s doing and provides the most useful and current information possible. The publishers part includes specific information about named editors, such as their preferences and other personal notes. For the more than 150 of the most powerful literary agents, he provides personal anecdotes and an insider’s tips on how best to approach them. The book also lists:
- 29 independent book editors
- how to work with the editors
- instructions to prepare a book proposal
- insights on current publishing trends
- digital (ebooks) publishing information
I’ve listed Herman’s guide in my Writing Resources Listmania at Amazon for quite a few years. It seems like each year the book gets bigger and better as he adds information and refines strategies for authors to achieve publishing success. Half the job is knowing who to contact and the best ways to present your work to them. Here’s the secrets to the process, presented from the inside out.
