Review Catch-Up: The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

Title: The Icarus Girl
Author: Helen Oyeyemi
Genre: Fiction
Page Count: 322
Publisher: Bloomsbury


( Review: The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi )

Industry thoughts

If you'll notice, I don't talk as much lately about publishing industry things. It isn't that I'm not keeping up, but it's that I'm at a point where I think most of what can be said has been said, as far as advice goes.

As far as news and other things? Well, there are better sources than I.

But I got intrigued by reading some discussions on Twitter and in the blogosphere about opinions on whether legitimate agents should charge reading fees for queries. What surprised me, however, were some of the defenses.

Anyone who's gotten into the query game knows that one of the first things most sources of advice tell you is that no legitimate agent charges a fee for reading your query. They don't get paid until you get paid. Money flows towards the writer.

I think this is good advice, and agents charging reading fees bothers me deeply, I'll admit this upfront. I've read the defenses, thought about them, and they don't sway me. I think they're bad news for both writers and agents - and mostly agents.

( My reasons beneath the cut, to spare those who couldn't care less about industry blathering. )