But a search of the invaluable Publishers Marketplace deal archives shows that Fischer-Harbage represented country music star Trace Adkins, magazine editor and journalist Louise Sloan, among others. Fischer-Harbage also previously worked at Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

Keep an eye out for a new website in the coming days and weeks. Most experts agree that it’s a good idea to query new agents (and agencies) as they are liable to be a bit more receptive to potential new clients. Although Fischer-Harbage might have taken some current clients from Vigliano Associates, there’s always a good chance that the new agency will need to bulk up its roster.

Tonight, I was surfing around and noticed that the company’s website is now up and running. It looks like the agents got to keep some of their big-name clients and they’ve also built an informative submission guidelines page. Be sure to check it out and see if Folio is a good fit for your work.

But here’s the thing… and I say this is my best serious-dad-tone, don’t go wasting their time with queries about 1,500 page epics on the magical kingdom of cockroaches under your bathroom sink. Don’t pitch a novel about a demonic yoga instructor who leaves his victims in contorted knots. Especially don’t pitch that novel if it’s not finished. And don’t suggest a novel that is going to prove how The Da Vinci Code “got it all wrong.”

In short, follow the rules, people. Kleinman is one of the good guys. Let’s show our thanks by respecting the company’s submission guidelines.

Mediabistro also reported that Rachel Vater joined Lowenstein-Yost Associates Inc as an literary agent. Vater was previously employed as an assistant agent at the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Contact information has not yet been announced, nor has anything been said about which of their current clients will follow the agents to the new firm.

But I was glad to see this bit of good news for Jeff Kleinman. You may recall our Slushpile interview with Kleinman. I’ve always found him to be responsive, respectful, approachable, polite, and incredibly caring about literature. In short, he’s one of the good guys.

So congratulations Jeff and best of luck with your new venture.

There were a whole bunch of changes in the publishing and magazine world last week. Big names leaving positions, big names starting new gigs, changes all around.

–Heather Jackson, previously at Rodale, joined Crown as an executive editor.

–Dan Lazar was promoted to full agent at Writers House.

–Anita Diggs joined Thunder’s Mouth Press as a senior editor. She has previously worked as a features editor at Savoy Magazine and also as a senior editor at Random House.

–Charles Coxe stepped down from his position as executive editor at Maxim.

–Debbie Stier was promoted to senior vice president/group publicity director of a number of HarperCollins imprints including William Morrow and HarperEntertainment.

–Elizabeth Sullivan joined Collins, an imprint of HarperCollings. She previously worked in the marketing industry.

–Michael Korda is stepping down as editor-in-chief at Simon & Schuster at the end of the year. He will continue with the company as a part-time editor-in-chief emeritus.

–Former Time Warner Books CEO Larry Kirshbaum announced his own literary agency, LJK Literary Management.

On Wednesday, there were numerous published reports that put a whole new spin on this story. Manhattan media, news, and gossip site Gawker reported that an email sent to publishing industry insiders might have come as a bit of a surprise to Collins. The email announced the launch of McCormick & Williams literary agency, led by Mr. McCormick and well-known agent Amy Williams. The agency’s staff is fleshed out by managing partner Leslie Falk, PJ Mark serving as senior agent and foreign rights director, and Gillian Linden as the office assistant. What’s so salacious about that? As Gawker writes “McCormick. Williams. Falk. Mark. Linden. Um, that would be everyone who worked at Collins McCormick. Except for Collins. And her assistant.” Oops. Variety reported on the split and stated there was “tension between the two partners.” Well, yeah, evidently.

Meanwhile, Publishers Marketplace continued its great service to aspiring authors everywhere by reporting that the new agency’s phone number is 212-721-3482. Reports are also that the agency will follow the protocol of first initial, last initial at mccormickwilliams.com for email purposes. Publishers Weekly reported that the agency is temporarily located at 104 West 70th Street in New York for those of you using snail mail. Although I’d recommend that you guys at least let them settle in before bombarding them with submissions.

MediaBistro reported that Maureen Graney has been named executive editor of The Globe Pequot Press. The website also reported that Steve Zeitchik is leaving Publishers Weekly after a tenure of nearly seven years in order to join Variety.

A number of outlets such as MediaBistro, Publishers Weekly, and Publishers Marketplace reported that Bill Shinker was promoted to president of Gotham Books, a Penguin imprint. Shinker retained his title of publisher, but got a promotion to senior vice president. One of these days, I’m going to track down an explanation of exactly what the publisher position does as opposed to the various editors and presidents and what have you. I think the publisher is like the CEO of a company, but I’ll find out for sure.

Publishers Lunch reported that Kate McKean was hired as an agent at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management and that Doug Jones joined Putnam and Riverhead as vice president/marketing director. He was previously a sales director at Random House.

Meanwhile, the graffiti outside my apartment in Baltimore reported that Crackhead Carl has accepted a new position on a different corner. He will now be featured doing the dope-fiend-lean on the corner of Pratt and Calvert.

The Quandary

First, a bit more set-up is needed to fully illustrate his query. Let’s say that I research Big Time Publishing Company. Big Time has a bunch of editors, but two of them, Bob Headbanger and Joe Cropman, handle memoirs. It’s often difficult to find out much more information beyond that simple genre designation. In this case, all I know is that these two gentlemen handle memoirs. Keep in mind that most editors build up a list of dozens of books, from many genres, so even a familiarity with the person’s body of work sometimes doesn’t yield specifics.

Now, the reality that is widely known inside the walls of Big Time is that these men actually like very specific types of memoirs. Bob Headbanger is only interested in memoirs by coked-up hair metal guitarists. And Joe Cropman really only wants to hear from corn farmers. But although that may be the reality, most aspiring authors looking through The Writers Market or at some of the online resources probably aren’t going to be able to learn those fine details. All they’re going to know is that these men like memoirs.

So I package up my manuscript and mail it off to Big Time. Since I couldn’t find any more info about these editors beyond just the fact they handle memoirs, I just pick Joe Cropman because I thought his name seemed more inviting. Bad choice for me. You see, for this example, I spent the mid to late eighties on the Sunset Strip, wailing on a Charvel superstrat at the Whisky and my memoir recounts the few moments of debauchery I can actually remember. I’m convinced the world is interested again in my band, Thunder Junkie, and my memoir will at least earn me a place on Behind the Music. Be sure to keep Nikki, Tracii Guns, Ricki Rachman on speed dial, they’ll want in on this!

However, Joe isn’t quite as thrilled because he only wanted to hear about crop rotation and discing fields. So he rejects my manuscript.

Here’s the crucial moment… anyone who has read Writers Digest or any of the How-To books available knows that you are supposed to target editors because their tastes vary widely. That’s how I narrowed down my search to Bob Headbanger and Joe Cropman at Big Time. But all those same articles and suggestions will also tell you that you should NOT submit your manuscript to multiple people. But why? I mean, Joe Cropman rejected my manuscript because it wasn’t about farming, but Bob Headbanger wants to hear from coked-up hair metal guitarists. So why can’t I resubmit my manuscript to Big Time, but this time, send it to Bob Headbanger? What’s the problem with that?

The Answer

I didn’t have an answer for the fellow that asked this question so I turned to the expert… editor extraordinaire Jason Wood at MacAdam/Cage. I’m going to shoehorn Wood’s information into the example from above.

In almost all publishing companies, including Big Time from our example, the editors are all part of the same house. “No one acquires books in a vacuum,” said Wood. There are generally weekly editorial meetings to discuss processing submissions and to trade-off manuscripts that would be better reviewed by another editor or reader. So when I sent my memoir about snorting lines off the frets of my Jackson Soloist to Joe Cropman, if he thought the manuscript had merit enough to warrant a good solid look, he would have handed it off to his colleague Bob Headbanger.

“Bob, this might be something you should look at,” Joe would say. “You know that spandex and hairspray aren’t my cup of tea, but you like it so why don’t you read this manuscript from a guy in Thunder Junkie? That’s the kind of thing you like.”

Joe isn’t reading submissions with an eye towards what HE wants to publish, but what he thinks would be good for Big Time. Of course, he has his personal tastes, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t keeping an eye out for books that will be good for the company.

“The majority of authors who resubmit are only doing so as a means of blanketing the office. They are not submitting because they’ve uncovered new information or have done a little research, they just want the manuscript in as many hands as possible. It seems logical and I certainly understand the desire to give yourself every opportunity as possible, but it’s grossly unprofessional and it instantly red flags the author as a nuisance,” said Wood. Almost all industry professional echo this sentiment. In an interview with MediaBistro, Elise Proulx, an agent with Lowenstein-Yost had but one warning: do not submit to multiple agents. This feeling is shared by almost every editor and agent in the literary business.

So, even though these folks do have their own personal tastes, you can’t treat Bob and Joe as though they are separate companies. If one rejects you, then the whole publishing company has rejected you. Don’t pester them again.

In a later post, I’ll explain the tiny, infinitesimal, less than 1% of the time that it’s okay for me to resubmit my hair metal memoir to Big Time publishing so keep an eye out for that.

PublishersLunch reported a few interesting deals in the last couple of days.

–Willie Nelson’s The Tao of Willie was sold to William Shinker at Gotham Books for publication in 2006. Represented by David Vigliano of Vigliano Associates. No word if the book contains info on settling pesky disputes with the IRS or not.

–Susan Kouguell’s The Savy Screenwriter: How to Sell Your Screenplay (and Yourself) Without Selling Out! was, ahem, sold to Sheila Curry Oakes at St. Martin’s Press. Represented by Ted Gideonse at the Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency.

–Michael Thomas’s debut Man Gone Down about a four-day journey of an unnamed narrator who is trying to reconcile his past while he finds himself broke and living in the bedroom of a friend’s six-year-old child was sold to Elisabeth Schmitz at Grove Atlantic. Represented by Eileen Cope at Trident Media Group.

–National Book Award Nominee Kevin Young sold two collections, Confederate Dead and Dear Darkness to Deborah Garrison at Knopf. Also represented by Eileen Cope at Trident Media Group.

–Scott Heim’s We Disappear about a troubled young meth-addict who returns to his hometown in Kansas to tend to his dying mother but finds himself increasingly drawn into her obsession with investigating the cases of missing children. Represented by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Agency.

News item courtesy of PublishersLunch.