NobleDead.org - High/Dark Fantasy Fiction by Barb Hendee and J.C. Hendee

Official site for the high/dark fantasy books of authors Barb Hendee and J. C. Hendee, including the Noble Dead Saga (a.k.a. The Noble Dead series), the Mist-Torn Witches series, the Vampire Memories series, and TNDS: Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga.

If You Want to Get Your Manuscript on the Desk of a New York Editor, You Need an Agent

Barb here. Okay, that title probably lays out the point of this blog post pretty clearly, but this is a complex topic.

Of late, I’ve heard some rather “loud” voices in the industry telling new/hopeful writers that not only do they not need an agent to be successful, but that an agent will actually be damaging to their careers.

In one online discussion, I recently (stupidly) jumped in to say, “Well, of course if someone is self-publishing, he or she doesn’t need an agent, but if a novelist wants to be traditionally published, an agent is necessary. How can a writer get a manuscript on the desk of a New York editor without an agent?”

I was instantly—and quite vehemently—told that I was “wrong,” and that no writer requires an agent to get a manuscript on the desk of a New York editor… and that unagented writers sell novels to New York editors all the time.

I bowed out of this discussion quickly, but I did worry that a lot of new/hopeful writers were listening to what I considered very poor advice.

A Year in the Life...

#fantasybooks, #nobledeadsaga, #nobledeadseries, #themisttornwitches, #thedeadseekers, #barbhendee, #jchendee

J.C. and I rarely put up posts of a personal nature. We tend to be private people. And yet, it's been quite a year for us both personally and professionally.

Press Release: To Kill a Kettle Witch - Barb Hendee

About 24 hours to the release of TO KILL A KETTLE WITCH, available in ebook and massmarket paperback. The fourth episode in The Mist-Torn Witches series by Barb Hendee. Set in the same world as (but separate in story/characters from) The Noble Dead Saga and the coming first book of The Dead Seekers (Jan. 2017).

Learn more under Novels (and select “Mist-Torn”) at NobleDead.org.