Home
page | More useful articles |
Search for more information | Purple
Crayon Bookstores
A Guide to Agents
Independent and Growing:
A Website Case Study of the Firebrand Literary
Agency
|
|
Impressions: On the home page, a close-up photo of a bundle of matches appears to leap out of the screen, accompanied by a definition of the word "firebrand." One immediately gets an impression of the Firebrand style--lively, hip, and confident, an impression that is reinforced by the mission statement on the Our Story page. The site is attractive and easy to use, though some sections were unfinished when I visited.
Qualifications: Nadia Cornier is the owner and founder of the agency. She had some prior experience as an agent at CMA and also ran a one-person PR firm; she has gained considerable experience in the last three years. She was recently joined by Ted Malawer; I couldn't find any information about him on the site, other than his interests ("literary and commercial middle grade as well as high concept YA. He’s also considering humorous chapter and picture books, especially from author-illustrators").
On the other hand, the information on the site about their clients and books sold tells a visitor that this agency does have the experience that most matters: they've sold books to publishers, and good publishers at that.
Clients: Information about clients is easy to find. You'll see it first on the home page, which has a small "Now Available in Bookstores" feature, which highlights a book the agency sold. An entire section of the site lists authors and books represented by the agency, and clicking the author's name leads to a bio. page (some of which are not finished) and a list of the author's books. This section provides information about authors whose books have not yet sold as well as published authors--a nice touch.
Terms: Firebrand has a lengthy FAQ that answers questions about their terms, as well as questions about the agency and their submissions procedures. This information is a bit hard to find; in the Our Story section, you click on Learn More. But the information is there, which is what matters, and it will tell you not only what their terms are, but how they handle payments and work with authors generally.
Conclusions: This site has all the information I would expect to find on a legitimate agency's website, and none of the red flags I've learned to associate with agencies to avoid. And that's not surprising, as you can find Firebrand listed in the standard guides to agents. Even better, the agency's site provides information and an introduction to their approach, which helps a writer know what it might be like to work with them, before contacting them.
Information given here is based on visits to the Firebrand Literary site during the week of April 21-25, 2008.
Copyright © Harold D. Underdown. May not be reproduced in any form without prior permission. Terms of use
