Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents 2004: Who They Are! What They Want! and How to Win Them Over! (Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents.)

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Summary: listen to your heart
Review: Send in your query or your three chapters to fifty of these guys and then wait. First, they don't want to read them. They hire someone to do this task. They don't want to do it either. They send you their rejection card and don't even acknowledge the title of your book. Once they did. Now they're too many of you. They do get shills to write good things about their own published book because they want the expectant writer to buy it. That's how they make money. You must have a contact with a publisher or an agent or they won't touch your stuff. Even Hemingway was going nowhere until Scott Fitzgarald reccommended him. Enough though of opinion. Ask anyone that you know who is an aspiring writer if they ever got a positive response from an agent. Michael Blake "Dances With Wolves" never got an agent until Costner said he was going to make the movie. Even then it was like pulling rotting teeth. The publishers sent regection after rejection until Blake sold it for $5,000 (to be published in paperback)with a $1,000 bonus if the picture was actually released. He had given up writing after 35 years when "Dances" sold. But who did he have to know...Kevin Costner of all people. Another agent, not Blake's, said he had only taken one client on in one year and only because the guy sent him a bottle of French wine. He liked French wine. Go to the agent. (How badly do you want to be published?) Talk to the agent. Find out if they are even in the neighborhood of what it is that you're writing. Call publishers. Talk to their assistants. They'll talk to you if you keep it short. Find out what they really want. Go to the library or the internet but don't encourage these "Write and be published authors." They are conning you. None of these agents have the slightest intention of reading your chapters. Anyway, one way or the other you will find out. Don't use someone else unless you have an "in;" be your own agent. Good luck you writers. Some of you are great and are anguished over nothing. You will succeed. Do it yourself and don't forget foreign publishers that publish in English. They will read your stuff. For heaven's sake's don't just sit there! Good hunting!

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Summary: This book literally changed my life!
Review: This book - and its predecessor editions - literally changed my life. No more sitting on slush piles, unread by junior executives in publishing houses! I am now a published author with a great literary agent - and all this is thanks to reading Herman's book. As he says, and as I can say more easily on his behalf, this really does knock the daylights out of Writer's Digest. If you want to get a book published, read, buy, mark and inwardly digest everything that Herman says - and good luck to you thereafter! Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan 2003) and lots of books in 2004 that I was able to get contracts for after reading Herman's book

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Summary: So-So
Review: This book is fair. He is a little to negative for my taste, and his contempt for writers seems to come through a litte to much. Also, there are agents listed in his book that are known scams and con-artists, so he does not do that much research. If you want to find a good literary agent or publisher, go to the website "Preditors and Editors", and you find out all you need to know for free.

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Summary: Need your book published? Buy this book!
Review: This guide written by Jeff Herman and his wife along with a slew of qualified contributors is about the most comprehensive compendium regarding advice for first time or even experience authors. Herman's approach is simple. Don't waste your time bothering publishers with your over-weighted manuscript. Find yourself an agent. Jeff Herman is thorough in listing the why's, the who's, and the how's when it comes to getting yourself noticed by those who can help you. Then it's basically up to you. If you have the talent and can write, then Jeff Herman's book will definitely help you find an agent that can guide you in the publishing process. Of all the books for first time authors, Herman's guide is perhaps the easiest to understand and the most helpful in pointing the author to the agent who will do him the most good. The odds are against anyone from actually getting published. You know that. They're worse than hitting a jackpot in Vegas. However, if you must live the dream, buy this book. It will help to give you a glimmer of hope on those dark days ahead.