Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

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  • Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

    Hey folks,

    I used to be a regular here back when I was writing screenplays.

    I recently made an amazing discovery about consciousness and gravity.

    I've assembled a book proposal to shop to agents, but I'm not having much luck so far.

    Was wondering if anyone here was a literary agent or could put me in contact with one?

    Here is a link to my proposal if anyone is interested: https://drive.google.com/folderview?...U0&usp=sharing

  • #2
    Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

    http://agentquery.com/

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

      Hey, thanks for the link.

      The list of agents I'm working off now is from is from the Publisher Marketplace website that I'm paying $25/month for. I've already contacted half the list of non-fiction science agents, but like I said no luck yet so I'm not sure how serious that list is.

      I will check out your link to agent query.

      Someone else had also mentioned querytracker, so I will have to give that a look as well.

      Not sure what a good number of queries to send out is, but I have 40 in play and it's closing in on a month with no positive responses (but 7 rejections).

      Having to send out hundreds of queries doesn't seem right to me so I was looking at maybe getting a referral or something.

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      • #4
        Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

        For publishing agents or film rights agents.

        Gotta say, reading your proposal I cannot decipher what the book is nor the film rights potential. For me, it reads as an oversell with no real meat. Something to consider.
        DOPE CITY

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        • #5
          Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

          Originally posted by raisedbyacentaur View Post
          I recently made an amazing discovery about consciousness and gravity.
          Have you written a paper which details your "amazing discovery" and had that paper peer reviewed and published in a reputable scientific journal?
          Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
          "The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

            Originally posted by surftatboy View Post
            For publishing agents or film rights agents.

            Gotta say, reading your proposal I cannot decipher what the book is nor the film rights potential. For me, it reads as an oversell with no real meat. Something to consider.
            Well, there kind of isn't supposed to be any "meat" - that's what the actual book is.

            This would be like the "pre-appetizer", if someone wanted more like real appetizer I can furnish a detailed outline of each chapter instead of a summary.

            Proposal don't call for outlines though because proposal already run 50+ pages (this one is 46 double spaced the way editors like - i just single space and reduced it for casuals) and outlines would likely double that and now you're almost reading half a book to decide if you want to buy it.

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            • #7
              Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

              Originally posted by Crayon View Post
              Have you written a paper which details your "amazing discovery" and had that paper peer reviewed and published in a reputable scientific journal?
              I don't have money for independent research - who does? - this book is meant to get people interested in "ideas" based on previous researches and attract said money for future studies

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

                Originally posted by raisedbyacentaur View Post
                I don't have money for independent research - who does? - this book is meant to get people interested in "ideas" based on previous researches and attract said money for future studies
                So you weren't being entirely accurate when you said you had already made the discovery. You are describing an idea of something that you think might be true, and are looking for funding in order to find out if it is, so what you should be writing is not a book proposal to a lit agent, but a grant proposal to the NSF, NIH etc.

                You should definitely contact the DDP poster Hans Gruber and get him to work up a visual presentation of this pitch.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

                  Originally posted by raisedbyacentaur View Post
                  Well, there kind of isn't supposed to be any "meat" - that's what the actual book is.

                  This would be like the "pre-appetizer", if someone wanted more like real appetizer I can furnish a detailed outline of each chapter instead of a summary.

                  Proposal don't call for outlines though because proposal already run 50+ pages (this one is 46 double spaced the way editors like - i just single space and reduced it for casuals) and outlines would likely double that and now you're almost reading half a book to decide if you want to buy it.
                  Just saying… I can't tell what I'm [figuratively] selling.

                  I had a company that sold a few books to film rights. A few of the movies [3 of them] got made in the last few years, 2 were hits/Oscar nom bait.

                  Speaking for myself only: I'm not understanding the hook. Something to consider moving forward.
                  DOPE CITY

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

                    Originally posted by Staircaseghost View Post
                    So you weren't being entirely accurate when you said you had already made the discovery. You are describing an idea of something that you think might be true, and are looking for funding in order to find out if it is, so what you should be writing is not a book proposal to a lit agent, but a grant proposal to the NSF, NIH etc.

                    You should definitely contact the DDP poster Hans Gruber and get him to work up a visual presentation of this pitch.
                    Every discovery is different for how much "proof" people require. Einstein "proved" relativity with math - but math is just another symbolic language just like words are a symbolic language. Relativity wasn't experimentally "observed" until 7 years after Einstein had mathematically "proved" it.

                    Some people still don't feel like the "discovery" of evolution has been properly "proved' even 150 years later. The scientific theory of evolution is not something that lends itself well to "forward" predictions (it can look "backwards" at the fossil record to make some nice predictions there).

                    I feel like I have already made the "discovery". Now, it's just a matter of getting people to "accept" it. I will most likely include some math to prove points with calculations of gravity anomalies. But sometimes math is still not enough because theoretical math says string theory has been proven and a lot of people are not ready to "accept" that theory yet based solely on math. I have some other proof besides math I will include in my book, observations recorded on video of consciousness leaving the body - of course skeptics will say a human didn't see it so it didn't happen - well, telescopes see things humans can't and people accept those observations as facts. Basically it's a multi-pronged approach with math, observations, experiments and predictions (forwards + backwards) to the results of those experiments.

                    Science doesn't always have to come through "officially recognized" channels. If it's useful to humans and makes our lives better we don't really care where it came from. If you lived in Roswell and a UFO landed in your backyard - you wouldn't say well this didn't come from the NIH or NSF - so this crater and weird machine in my yard doesn't exist and neither do the technologies you ripped out of the ship - fiber optics, lasers, integrated circuits, night vision, silicon chips, etc, etc.

                    I will definitely contact Hans Gruber, like you mentioned and see if there is something we can work on together, so thank you for the guidance and the time spent looking at my work.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

                      Originally posted by surftatboy View Post
                      Just saying… I can't tell what I'm [figuratively] selling.

                      I had a company that sold a few books to film rights. A few of the movies [3 of them] got made in the last few years, 2 were hits/Oscar nom bait.

                      Speaking for myself only: I'm not understanding the hook. Something to consider moving forward.
                      So, the hook is - the first (testable) scientific explanation for how and why out of body experiences happen during a near death situation.

                      But then the scope of the book goes beyond that to develop an overarching theory of consciousness using the same mechanism applied to observations of the entire natural world. Think of books like The Secret or The Law of Attraction but with a scientific explanation for how we get things we want or why things happen in general.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

                        You need to work on the query. The first sentence is a total turnoff. It's the equivalent of saying, "This book is sure to be a bestseller."

                        I would lead with the second sentence of the second paragraph--What is a mind and how does it work? That's getting in the neighborhood of being a hook. The rest of it is too hard for me to follow.

                        ~Dixon

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

                          Originally posted by Dixon View Post
                          You need to work on the query. The first sentence is a total turnoff. It's the equivalent of saying, "This book is sure to be a bestseller."

                          I would lead with the second sentence of the second paragraph--What is a mind and how does it work? That's getting in the neighborhood of being a hook. The rest of it is too hard for me to follow.

                          ~Dixon
                          I can see where someone may think that. There's a lot of things that really are truly revolutionary that don't become popular for years later or never.

                          In the same way that agents screen letters for grammar/spelling/content, I almost feel like this is my way of screening agents who can't handle being right on the absolute cutting edge with the glaring burning spotlight.

                          To make a golf or sports analogy there's a ton of guys ranked in the top 50 in the world who easily have talent to be #1, but some of them are content to lurk near the top 10 or top 25 and bring home a nice paycheck and avoid the enormous stress and hassle when all eyes are on you.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

                            Originally posted by raisedbyacentaur View Post
                            I can see where someone may think that. There's a lot of things that really are truly revolutionary that don't become popular for years later or never.
                            I'm not sure you're understanding the comment you're responding to.

                            You promise "revolutionary" and "paradigm altering." Yet, you seem to be stating the book is about a "theory" you have developed. I think it's overselling what you have.

                            Originally posted by raisedbyacentaur View Post
                            In the same way that agents screen letters for grammar/spelling/content, I almost feel like this is my way of screening agents who can't handle being right on the absolute cutting edge with the glaring burning spotlight.
                            I'm a reasonably intelligent person, yet I cannot make sense of this statement.

                            Couple thoughts: Agents don't screen emails for grammar and spelling [they assume it's a given that writers can write], they do screen for content and that's my issue with your proposal. I cannot decipher what the MOVIE is. Therefore, agents [who are not writers] will have a near impossible time deciphering what the movie is. From that standpoint, I do not believe the document is effective for film rights.

                            If this is, instead, designed for a publishing agent, I feel you're on the wrong site. Agents who deal with film rights don't wish to read documents like the one you're presenting here. They wish to read manuscripts or published books [that's normally how they receive material: Film rights lit agent has a relationship with publishing agents. Together they share clients. Publishing agent submits books and manuscripts to said film rights lit agent]. I'm not clear on why your dipping your toe into a film and television related forum with what appears to be a more academic book proposal.

                            The book itself sounds interesting to me from the standpoint of research [I have had a NDE]. I'd love to read it when it's published.
                            DOPE CITY

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Looking for a literary agent for a non-fiction manuscript

                              Originally posted by raisedbyacentaur View Post
                              Hey, thanks for the link.

                              The list of agents I'm working off now is from is from the Publisher Marketplace website that I'm paying $25/month for.
                              Just FYI, you can access the Publishersmarketplace.com list of agents for free. Being a paying member gives you access to deals, who sold what and to whom etc., but the list of agents, along with what they want and how to contact them, is free

                              Beyond that, you just need to do the research and put in the hours and hone your logline. There ain't no mystery--or any magical corner-cutting-- to the process, unfortunately, unless of course you know people who know the right people.

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