# Question



## Zaphod (Feb 20, 2011)

I recently submitted a full manuscript to a lit agent, and they came back to me saying that they'd be interested in representing my work if I can fix a few faults with structure and suchlike. They suggested that I do this via a literary consultant - the one they suggested was Daniel Goldsmiths. 

The only thing is it's going to cost me a bomb to have my manuscript assessed, and I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and give it a shot, or carry on passing the script around agents and hope someone will take it as it is? 

Are literary consultants a good idea? Has anyone worked with Daniel Goldsmiths already? 

I didn't expect to get this far and I don't want to end up giving up on something with potential just because I was confused. >.>


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## strangedaze (Feb 20, 2011)

sounds a bit fishy to me. what agency? you can pm me if you don't feel like making it public. sounds odd that they'd recommend a specific 'consultant,' though i do know that this kind of thing is becoming more common.


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## Penelope (Feb 20, 2011)

I'm with strangedaze.  Made me wonder, immediately, if they were affiliated with him or if he was one of their staff so they got a referral fee.  I'd be asking them the question too and if not that at least asking them for references on their choice which you could contact independently.


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## WriterJohnB (Feb 20, 2011)

Steer clear. This is common practice in literary cons. No legitimate agent would make such an offer. Have you checked them out at Preditors and Editors?

JohnB


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## Ilasir Maroa (Feb 20, 2011)

Sounds extremely fishy.  You should never have to pay money for a literary agent to take you on as a client.  This guy's website is well put together, but it raises several red flags for me.


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## Zaphod (Feb 20, 2011)

So it's likely I'm being punk'd?


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## Ilasir Maroa (Feb 20, 2011)

There's a good chance this is not a legitiate agent.  A real agent would either take you on and work with you, or decline because they didn't feel the book was up to scratch.


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## TWErvin2 (Feb 20, 2011)

While a legit agent _might_ say that a manuscript isn't quite ready, and suggest some revisions (not really that common), it is _very_ unlikely that they would then suggest a specific literary consultant.

So, as others have said, it sounds quite questionable.

Questions to consider: Who (what authors) does the agent represent? What recent sales has the agent made (and to what publishers). Can this information be verified?


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## strangedaze (Feb 20, 2011)

Chambers Literary Agency


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## Zaphod (Feb 23, 2011)

Damn. Well, thanks anyway. :C


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## troplogic (Mar 2, 2011)

You can check out a few websites to find someone you're needing to do any of this type of work for you. 
Check out Odesk.com, Elance.com and I believe scriptlance.com  The people on these sites will bid on your work, and the prices go down instead of up. You can also check out their past work for something related to this.

Hope this helps


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