Teri Kanefield

I did it. It's a blog post. Ideally, publishers—like librarians—should see themselves as guardians of the culture, but, well . . . 🤷 Ready for a legal breakdown of the literary agent model? Me: Why make all those people angry? Also me: But this is what I'm thinking about. Along the way, I’ll offer a personal publishing horror story and advice to writers considering traditional publishing. So here goes. (Warning: I think the rebel in me is coming out.) https://terikanefield.com/traditional-publishing-and-the-pitfalls-of-the-literary-agent-model/

Hi, Mastodon Peeps: I haven't been blogging much, so instead the usual blog page, I created a new (super cool) page. I went back over my key pieces from the past 7 years, updated stuff, and added new stuff. https://terikanefield.com/things-ive-been-thinking-about/ (Maybe you missed something interesting?) Adding: Making website pages is fun. Who knew?

I will conclude this thread by quoting the great bard: "Let every eye negotiate for itself and trust no agent." William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing (Act 2, Scene 1).

Scholastic Magazine asked me to write an article about Barbara. You can read it here: https://terikanefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/imagine-this-was-your-school.pdf And now I hope you all have a wonderful Barbara Johns Day. 6/

I've also done a fair amount of self publishing which usually happens when I say, "It's not worth the aggravation. I'm doing this one myself."

People finally trusted me enough to pull letters and photographs out of closets and attics. I met a lot of people and learned more than went into the book. Now the Moton Museum celebrates Barbara Rose Johns Day. One day I won’t be the author of the only book about Barbara Johns, but I will always be the author of the first book. 5/

If you clicked my piece, please refresh. My proofreader (who doubles as my technical support staff) my husband, found a big error at the end, and you know how annoying big errors are.

Lawyers are expected to follow strict rules when handling client funds, but every month large numbers of lawyers are disbarred for mingling funds or mishandling funds. If you think that a person who calls himself or herself a literary agent is less likely to mishandle funds than a person who has studied for (and passed exams) on how to handle client finds, well, I have a bridge to sell you. 9/

Iran is empowered and, because a school was hit, has an argument that it is entitled to reparations. The political situation is lose-lose as well. If Congress steps in, the war can be framed as "thwarted success." Trump. blames Congress for not letting him finish and “win.” If Congress ties Trump’s hands, it owns the resulting mess. If Congress refuses to step in, the war continues and the power of the Executive Branch continues to expand at the expense of the Legislative Branch. 2/

Taylor Branch, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, argues that Barbara wasn’t given credit because she was a child. I’ll add that she wasn’t recognized because she was a girl, poor, and black—what scholars call the “triple invisibility.” I believe I am still the author of the only book written about Barbara Johns. Today there are monuments and museums in her honor. But when I started writing this book in 2021 (wait, what??? that long ago!) 3/

she called in the NAACP. The NAACP took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Barbara and her classmates became plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that ended segregation in America. Their case was combined with cases from other states. OK. Why wasn’t she given credit for her role as an early leader in the Modern Civil Rights movement and one of the first to use nonviolence as a means of achieving racial equality? It's 2026, so people probably know the answer. 2

. . .nobody knew who she was and her family was afraid to talk to me because so much violence had come their way. After the NAACP took up the case, the family home was burned down. A cross was burned in front of the school, and Barbara was sent south to Alabama to live with her uncle for her safety. (Wait? South? For safety?? Yup.) I could write a book about the experience of going through Virginia trying to get the information for this book. 4/

I just did some poking around and the problem I see with the nonfiction trade market have been widely discussed. What isn't discussed as much are the legal issues with the literary agent model, but that really only effects people looking for an agent, and they will not heed my advice because the system is what is is and they want in. Two legal problems: (1) Agents are essentially outsourced slush readers. In the old days, when I started (ancient times, the 1980s) publishers had . . . 2/

would be hired to read through the slush pile and look for good books. Lots of good books were picked out of the slush pile. Literary agents are essentially slush readers for the publishers. There is no more slush pile. Here is the first problem: There are only a handful of major publishers, and the "power" an agent has is their access to editors. You might say they work for the publishers but are paid by the writer. They have a legal conflict of interest. 4/

. . . because the only thing they have to offer new authors is access to the publisher. Conclusion for this issue: The agent is an out-sourced slush reader, so there is a conflict of interest. Here is the definition of conflict of interest in relation to laws governing lawyers: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_7_conflict_of_interest_current_clients/comment_on_rule_1_7/ (2) second issue. Agents negotiate contracts but they are not trained in contract law. This is called unauthorized practice of law . . . 7

. . . The literary agent model has never been challenged in court, but I find it hard to believe that what the agent does (negotiate a contract, represent a third party, and explain contract terms to a third party) would not be considered illegal. Finally, one more. Publishers generally send the entire royalty check to the agent. The agent deposits the money, and then sends the author's share to the author. Lawyers do the same but the industry is highly regulated. 8/

Also it's myth that you need an agent. I sold every one of my books without an agent. I have worked with agents, and they only caused me grief and aggravation, with one exception. A literary agent in the early 1990s loved one of my books. She couldn't sell it. We became good friend sand I still onsider her one of my closest friends. I think our friendship was helped by the fact that I never asked her to be an agent for me :) I sold every single book myself. How? well, that is another story

. . . what they called a slush pile. These were the manuscripts that people send in They were of course printed (usually photocopied at a photocopy place) and put into a manuscript box. The author was directed to include SASE (self address return postage) and when I tried to tell one publisher (recycle the paper and send me a letter) the response I got was, "Do you not value your manuscript?" (me: It's a copy!!) Anyway, eager beavers with freshly minted English degrees , . . 3/

. . . the agent is torn and would probably have to step aside. It is often the case that what the writer most needs isn't a larger advance but better contract terms. You'll find editors saying, "We prefer to work with agented authors because if a dispute arises, we can talk to the agent instead of the author." Why? Because all most all the time, the agent needs the publishing company more than it needs the author. . . 6/

I suppose I could add this to the blog post as Exhibit A

They have to keep going back to the same publishers, so they cannot make the publisher angry. Aspiring authors are fungible. There are thousands at the gate. The objection you will hear is "Some agents are tough negotiators and they don't mind making editors angry." Certainly, they may be "tough" when angling for a large advance, because that is how they get paid. Editors get that. But if an actual legal dispute arises . . . 5/

@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @maccruiskeen@social.linux.pizza I am a nongeek so there are a lot of words in those two posts that I didn't understand LOL I'd say close to illiterate with high tech stuff. Part of the problem is my husband is an IT guy so when I have a problem or question I call him and he takes care of it. But to be fair, I handle the legal stuff. Also I do the decorating, so that's something

I'm hoping there is something I can do. Soon they will be able to prove they are human. What is annoying is that it comes into my email from "Contact Teri" so I can't mark them as spam.

@timo21@mastodon.sdf.org Right. And it's easy to see how a political trap was set for the Democrats and Congress. I have always believed that people underestimate Trump. People like to portray him as an incoherent fool. I don't think so.

@PamelaBarroway@mstdn.social @timo21@mastodon.sdf.org He is also smarter than people give him credit for. People mock his word salads and underestimate his cunning.

@stevenjackson57@mastodon.social Such good questions. I may add these. I'd like to be able to give a good answer like "the first time my editor cheated me" (Yes, I've been cheated) The industry has changed so much since I started. I think each decade I had different issues. Now I understand the problem of supply and demand. In some ways, it is the positive result of the civil rights and FDR improvements. Lots more people can write.

@vees@jawns.club Thanks. I stopped paying big bucks to maintain my mailing list, so I hope this one can find an audience without that.

I updated my "Things I've Been Thinking About" page with the new piece: https://terikanefield.com/things-ive-been-thinking-about/ For now I put it at the top, but later I'll put it where it goes conceptually. Why am I doing it this way? Well, I'll suggest I'm a rebel and I don't like running with a pack. Also I see the problems. If you read my new piece, you will understand whatI see as the problem with blogging and newsletters. My new piece: https://terikanefield.com/things-ive-been-thinking-about/ 1/

Yes, in the old day (prehistoric times, the 1990s) I communicated with editors through the mail. I sent my manuscripts in boxes. Anyway, a friend's husband, noticing how hard I was trying to get published, said, "Isn't the fantasy that you write someone great, leave it an attic, and hope someone finds it one day." At the time I had no words. Did he not understand the need for external validation? I wanted to be a PUBLISHED writer. But his words stuck with me. 3/

@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange Precisely. A good friend who is also a world-class scholar got 10K for a book that she spent 10 years writing. On one hand, there is not a huge audience for academic books. On the other hand, everyone in the publishing house was earning a living wage.

@PeterLudemann@mathstodon.xyz Because it's a website, I can continually update and revise, so dates really have no meaning. At the bottom of the page, I link to the blog, so you can see things in order, but there is a lot of repetition with my final version on the main page I created.

@PeterLudemann@mathstodon.xyz Put another way, having a page like that gives me a new way to deal with my thoughts and material. Traditional publishing has a date, and it's done.

@n1xnx@tilde.zone @Sablebadger@dice.camp Correct. I agree. The war was a stupid mistake. My point is just that getting out of this isn't so easy.

@slott56@fosstodon.org When Congress takes control, it will own the resulting mess. That is why my argument is that the idea that Congress can end this is wrong.

@Bodling@deacon.social 1965 overturned the others.

@Sablebadger@dice.camp Trump inflicted. I think people underestimate Trump. I think he created a lose-lose situation for Congress and the Democrats.

I tried it. Thanks

@sashin@veganism. This is brilliant.

@alpha1beta@libretweet.com I'm not sure. Sometimes they are letters that look like they were written by AI. Some even claim to have read my books when it's obvious that they used an AI summarizing thing.

@kshernandez This link? https://terikanefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/imagine-this-was-your-school.pdf

@cy maybe that’s why he has nothing to say. I read it too fast.

@maccruiskeen@social.linux.pizza @paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange After I wrote that, I realized that most of the people the publisher uses to work on my books are freelancers who probably are not treated much better than writers. The acquiring editor and the editor's assistant are full time, as are people in marketing and management, but the proofreaders and book designers are freelance. The problem for writers is that the establishment supports itself. Prizes consider only trad published books, etc.

@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @maccruiskeen@social.linux.pizza Some of us thought it would happen with self-publishing, but the big publishers adapted. It changed what many of them do, and it does give authors options, but the big corporations sailed through that particular disruption.

@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @maccruiskeen@social.linux.pizza Interesting. Do you have an idea how it might develop?