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FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS
If
you are
considering
sending Brandon
&
Associates
a
submission
we ask
that you
read the
following
questions
and
answers
first.
Sending us
the wrong
information
makes our
job a lot
harder and
your
chances of
success a
lot
slimmer.
QUESTION:
Are Brandon
&
Associates
still
looking
for new
writers ?
ANSWER:
 |
Yes.
We are
always
keen
to
receive
submissions
from
both
established
authors
and
first
time
writers,
but
this
does
not
mean
that
we
will
take
on
anyone. |
 |
We are
still
very
discerning
and
only
agree
to
represent
those
authors
whose
work
truly
stands
out. |
QUESTION:
Can
I email Brandon
&
Associates
an inquiry
letter ?
ANSWER:
 |
Yes,
of
course. |
 |
Send
it to
enquiries@brandon-associates.co.uk |
 |
In
fact
we no
longer
accept
inquiries
by
snail
mail. |
 |
However,
you
might
like
to
give
us a
quick call
on
01843 860610 |
QUESTION:
Can
I email Brandon
&
Associates
my whole
submission
?
ANSWER:
 |
Again
the
answer
is
Yes. |
 |
Send
your
submission
to
submissions@brandon-associates.co.uk |
 |
We
know
that
many
other
agents still
state
that
they
do not
consider
email
submissions
and no
doubt
require
submissions
to be
written
on
parchment
with a
fine
quill
pen.
However,
here
at Brandon
&
Associates
we are
living in 2012
so we
no
longer
accept
submissions
by
snail
mail. |
QUESTION:
What
should I
email ?
ANSWER:
 |
A
short
synopsis
of
your
new
work,
ideally
no
longer
than
two
pages. |
 |
Your
relevant
life
experience
C.V.
again
short
if
possible. |
 |
Enough
of
your
book
to
give
us the
flavour,
usually
the
first
30
pages
or so. |
 |
But
here
at Brandon
&
Associates
there
are no
strict
rules
about
this. |
 |
It
would
be
most
helpful
if you
could
attach
your
work
to
your
email
as a
Word
document. |
 |
Please
do not
send
it as
a PDF
file. |
QUESTION:
If
I have
already
published
my book
can you
help with
the
marketing
?
ANSWER:
 |
The
short
answer
is NO. |
 |
Sadly
many
writers
either
self
publish
or use
a
publisher
outside
the
main
stream
and
then
find
that
their
book
is not
selling
well.
We
regret
to say
that
there
is
nothing
we can
do to
assist
at
that
stage. |
QUESTION:
Can
I send you
my
manuscripts
by post on
a disc?
ANSWER:
 |
Again,the
short
answer
is No. |
 |
It
is our
policy
not to
open
unsolicited
CD's
or
DVD's |
 |
However,
if for
some
good
reason
you
need
to
send
your
manuscript
on a
CD
please
call
us
first. |
QUESTION:
Do
you accept
handwritten
and type
written
manuscripts
?
ANSWER:
 |
NO. This is 2012
and if
you
wish
to be
taken
seriously
by us
you
must
produce
your
work
as a
Word
document. |
QUESTION:
How
long will
it take
before I
get a
proper
reply ?
ANSWER:
 |
Brandon
&
Associates
have made it their policy to acknowledge all inquiries and submissions
by
return. |
 |
If
you
have
not
received
an
email
from
us
please
give
us a
phone
call
during
normal
office
hours Monday to Friday. |
 |
Normally
we
will
let
you
know
within
a few
days
if we
would
like
to
read
your
whole
manuscript. |
 |
We receive literately dozens of
submissions every week from hopeful first time writers. |
 |
Sadly,
we do not have the time to reply to all of them. |
 |
If you have not
received a positive reply from us within 2 weeks then regrettably the answer is No Thank You.
|
 |
If
we ask
you to
send
us
your
whole
manuscript
we
will
try to
read
it
within
3 to 4
weeks,
sometimes
sooner. |
 |
But
please
be a
little
patient,
we
deal
with
dozens
of
submissions
each
week. |
 |
Remember
we are
reading
and
correcting
your
work
for
free. |
 |
Whatever
you
do,
you
should
not
wait
months
and
months
waiting
for an
agent
to
send
you a
rejection
note. |
QUESTION:
Other
literary
agents say
that a
submission
must be
double
line
spaced on
A4 paper,
does this
matter to
you ?
ANSWER:
 |
No, |
 |
Do
not
worry
too
much
about
presentation
or
minor
errors
at
this
stage. |
 |
They
will
make
little
difference
to
whether
we
like
what
you
have
sent
us and
we can
always
correct
them
later. |
QUESTION:
What
are you
looking
for ?

ANSWER:
 |
We
have a
wide
range
of
interests,
providing
that
your
work
is
commercially
viable. |
 |
We
are
looking
for
full
length
manuscripts,
both
fiction
and
non-fiction. |
 |
Other
agents
will
be
better
equipped
to
deal
with
your
serious
poetry
or
short
story. |
 |
Please
do not
send
us
hard
core
sci-fi
or
your
fantasy, supernatural or
horror
story. |
 |
Before
sending
us
your
memoirs
please
seriously
consider
whether
your
story
is
commercially
viable, |
 |
or
merely
of
interest
to
your
family
and
friends. |
 |
There
are
specialist
agents
and
publishers
who
will
welcome
your
religious
work
so do
not
send
it to
us. |
 |
Finally
we
will
scream
if
anyone
sends
us yet
another
book
on
psychology or social work. |
QUESTION:
Do I need
to make my
submission
stand out
against
the others
?
ANSWER:
 |
Yes. |
 |
Getting your first book published is very hard work both for you and your
agent, and much harder than many first time writers hope.
|
 |
The fact
that your family or friends like your work is not a good reason for a
publisher to take the risk and publish your book. |
 |
We
receive
well
over
200
submissions
per
month,
so you
need
to
make a
great
effort
but
not by
sending
it in
wingding
or
some
odd
shade
of
purple. |
 |
Start
with
an
interesting
and
well
constructed
short letter
of
introduction.
This
is
important
to us and
many
writers
get it
totally
wrong
or
worst
still
do not
write
a
letter
at
all. |
 |
Simply
writing "Attached is my submission" is very likely to result in us pushing
the delete button. |
 |
If
there
are
two
spelling
errors
in the
first
paragraph
of
your
letter
we are
very
likely
to
reject
your
work
without
reading
any
further. |
 |
Then
put
serious
effort
into
writing
your
synopsis.
We
know
that
this
is a
difficult
task
but it
is
your
only
chance
to
sell
your
manuscript
to us and if it is good we may use it to sell your work to the right
publisher. |
 |
Sometimes
we
have
made
up our
minds
about
a
potential
client
before the
end of
their
synopsis
If we
are
bored
by the
synopsis
it is
very
unlikely
that
we
will
want
to
read
your
manuscript. |
 |
If
you
are
sending
us a
synopsis
about
a
novel
please
do not
tell
us the
ending
but
write
a
synopsis
that
will
compel
us to
read
the
whole
manuscript. |
 |
Finally,
and this is very important, go
back
to
your
manuscript
and
make
sure
that
the
first
paragraph on the first page
is
truly
gripping. |
 |
Whatever
you do
don't
sent
us
pages
from
the
middle
of
your
manuscript.
We
really
do
need
to
read
from
the
first
paragraph.
If you
think
that
we
should
start
at
Chapter
69
then
rip up
Chapters
1 to
68. |
QUESTION:
What
happens if
you like
my
manuscript
?

ANSWER:
 |
If
we
believe
that
your
manuscript
is
commercially
viable
|
 |
we
will
immediately
send a
draft
agency
agreement
for
you to
carefully
consider. |
 |
We
have
written
our
agency
agreement
in a
straight
forward
and
clear
manner. |
 |
However,
please
feel
free
to
take
advice
from
your
solicitor
or the
Society
of
Authors
before
signing
the
agreement. |
 |
Once
we
have a
signed
agreement
in
place |
 |
we
will
start
the
long
process
of
convincing
a
mainstream
publisher
that
your
work
should
be
published. |
QUESTION:
Will Brandon
&
Associates
provide
feed back
if they
reject my
submission
?
ANSWER:
 |
No. |
 |
We
are
not
usually
able
to
provide
detailed
feedback
as to
why we
have
rejected
your
submission
because
of the
large
amount
of
material
we
receive. |
 |
There
are
many
reasons
why
manuscripts
are
rejected,
so
please
remember
that
this
is not
necessarily
a
reflection
on the
quality
of the
work. |
 |
We
regret
to say
that
many
promising
manuscripts
are
rejected. |
QUESTION:
Do Brandon
&
Associates
charge any
fees for
reading or
considering
my
manuscript
?
ANSWER:
 |
No |
 |
We
work
solely
on
commission
payable
once
the
book
is
published. |
 |
There
are no
hidden
fees
or
expenses. |
QUESTION:
Will Brandon
&
Associates consider publishing my work
?
ANSWER:
 |
Maybe. |
 |
There are many great manuscripts out there that never get
read by publishers and so in
the
right
circumstances, with the right author
and
with
the
right
manuscript
Brandon
&
Associates
may agree to
publish your manuscript. |
 |
However, the decision to
publish your work will still be made on strict commercial grounds. |
 |
If we can find the right
authors with the right manuscripts then our plan over the next 6 months is
to publish at least two books per month. |
 
If you have further questions please telephone
Brandon
&
Associates
on
01843 860610 |