Not O/T - Literary Agents?

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I have written a mystery novel surrounding vintage baseball cards (and therefore not off topic). I look forward to sharing it with all of you, because it is right up our alley in it's details regarding the hobby and our site's sense of humor and sarcasm.

So I ask... do any of you know any literary agents to whom you can refer me?

I can always just pay to have my book self-published, but I figure I should try to send the work to some agents first. Therefore, any personal connections you guys and gals might have would be a HUGE help!

Thanks!

PS - One of our board members is a key protagonist in the book... unless he decides NOT to let me use his real name!

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I'll bump it once, then let it go. Thanks for your patience.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Hal sent me a portion to read and I will say he writes very well. Where does a busy lawyer find the time to write a novel?

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Posted By: leon

Excuse my ignorance. When you say "literary agents" are you looking for a publisher ie.....a company to publish the book? I would love to read it when you are finished....What exactly do you need? I know our good friends at OldCardboard Magazine know some publishing folks....as I think Lyman was in the business before.....best regards and keep us informed...

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I'm the ignorant one, since I've never done this before!

I would love to find a publisher who would publish it if they liked it... but it sounds like the only way to get the attention of the publishers is to have an agent pushing my work for me.

I'll keep you all posted.

I wish I could share parts of the book with everyone, but even with it copyrighted the whole fictional concept would be ruined if someone else used it first.

Barry got to read it only because he is IN the book. Plays a big role...

but we're changing his name to Larry Sloan to protect the innocent, as Sgt. Joe Friday would say.

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Posted By: barrysloate

That would work. Novelists often base their work on real characters, but change the character's name.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I thought about Barry "Mr. Mint" Sloaterosen.

He didn't think it was funny!!

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Don't worry Barry, I also won't name your card store:

"Broadway Barry's Strike Zone"

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Posted By: Jason L

Unfortunately, I cannot help you, but the simple creation of the name Mr. Sloaterosen is reason enough to buy whatever you wrote!
I love it - now you just need Chevy Chase to say it a few times in one of his movies and you're gold!

Can I get a cameo?
perhaps a lost soul who frequents a card shop so that he has people to talk to, people that pretend to laugh at his jokes...but you know, one of those brainy types that gets the girl in the end for some inexplicable reason?!


Best of luck with it!

Edited to add: Will the book incorporate any of Wonka's photoshop genius?

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Posted By: Anthony

Hal-
Have you considered self publishing? I"ve used lulu.com and been very happy with the results. The production quality is excellent, you set the royalty rate, and I would think the publicity and promo would be fairly easy for a book of this genre.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Thanks for the tip, Anthony.

I have definitely considered self-publishing if need be (which it probably will be)...

so I will check them out for sure!

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Posted By: peter chao

It sounds like you are serious. I'm reserving my copy now.

Peter

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Posted By: barrysloate

I'm in the book, which should make it awfully intriguing.

Peter- I have a question, since you are a Giants fan. I saw Willie McCovey on TV the other day and he is walking on crutches. What happened to him?

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Posted By: peter chao

When you are a slugger like McCovery, the big swings wear down the knees. He's had about a dozen knee surgeries in recent times and presently needs crutches or a walker to get around. It's tough seeing him hobble like this, in his youth, he was pretty intimidating at bat.

Peter

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Posted By: barrysloate

He was one of my favorite players. Sweetest left handed swing around.

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Posted By: Wesley

Willie McCovey has a restaurant in Walnut Creek, CA called McCovey's. Lots of great sports memorabilia and photos. The last time I went to the restaurant with a few board members, we got to shake Willie's hand and talk to him for a brief moment.

Peter, You might want to reopen discussions about the location of the SF get together.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Wesley- did he look healthy when you met him? Someone told me he actually is pretty sick.

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Posted By: Wesley

He was sitting down having a birthday cake at one of the customer's birthday party. Willie has always been a larger man, but he did look big and he was in a wheelchair.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Too bad. Sounds like he can't really walk anymore.

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Posted By: Wesley

About four years ago at the Hall of Fame induction, Willie was in the group photo and already in a wheelchair at that time. This past weekend, Willie was at AT & T park at the 1962 Giants/Yankees reunion. There was a photo of McCovey with Richardson and Willie was using walking braces, so I am not sure whether he is improving or getting worse.

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Posted By: barrysloate

That's what prompted me to bring this up- when he was finally introduced to Bobby Richardson 45 years after the '62 Series, I saw he needed braces to stand.

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Posted By: Paul S

Hal,

About 8-9 years ago a friend had a novel published. He would hang out on writers forums and discuss his work. A small publisher saw his posts, they exchanged a few emails, he got it read, it was published. He said the key was the fact that he had actually COMPLETED the novel, and secondly, he knew the subject matter he was writing about.) Make sure you emphasize that if you go this route.

Paul S

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Posted By: peter chao

Hal,

Another approach would be to see if you can get the attention of one of the hobby magazines like Tuff Stuff or Beckett's, perhaps you can simply write a letter to the editor. Give them a general outline of book you would like to write and see if they will help you publish it.

Peter

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Posted By: mr. moses

I actually understood all that you just said. Not sure what that might imply but I'm getting worried Interesting idea. To alter the suggestion just a tad; maybe a major sports publication or hobby magazine might want to introduce a running cereal (lol 4 peter) for any number of reasons along the lines of increasing or solidifying readership. I for one always enjoy reading about the hobby and a mystery twist seems in keeping with today's everywhere-possible-a-smoking-gun climate "-O