path to a literary agent

**A* Z* <a*@earthlink.net>**

Dear Billy:

Lois was 100% right.  In terms of submissions to agents and  
publishers, non-fiction and fiction are entirely different worlds,  
even though some agents handle both kinds of works.  For non-fiction,  
follow Lois' advice.  I will add, however, that if you do not have a  
track record as an author, your sample material will have to be VERY  
strong.  Give it your absolute best before sending it out.

It is desirable to have an agent (currently I do not) because  
basically all "major" publishers do not accept what are called  
"unagented" submissions, i.e., submissions that come directly from  
authors.  It would be easier to gain access to the White House family  
quarters than get an unagented submission read by one of these  
publishers.  So, without an agent, lots of publishers are off limits  
to you.  It's a rotten situation, but that's the way it is.

Also, "self-publishing" can mean many different things.  If your book  
requires a color interior, be aware that at the present time only  
offset printing can give acceptable results.  That means a  
significant investment on your part because you have to publish a  
print run and you have to be able to warehouse physical copies of the  
book and deal with all the problems that arise from that.  I am in  
the midst of establishing my own publishing company (having gotten  
good advice from Betty Mackey on this mailing list), but initially I  
will only be doing books with B&W interiors that can be published  
using print-on-demand (POD) technology.  My idea is to use these  
simple projects to learn the process and gain experience with book  
distribution and marketing so that, if and when POD technology for  
color interiors can ever match the quality that offset printing  
delivers, I'll be able to get a high quality gardening book project  
up and running quickly.  I can elaborate if you want.  Feel free to  
email me, online or off.

Best,
Amy

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