Earlier this month, after leaving Peterson's Publishing Group, Roger Williams stated that he didn't have any talent to be an author, "so the only things I haven't done in this industry are librarian or agent" (Shelf Awareness, May 7, 2009). Well, librarian is now the only thing he hasn't done.
Williams has set up the Publish or Perish Agency, which has an unusual aspect: an affiliate program under which booksellers, librarians and sales reps who refer writers to the agency share in the revenue of their placed works.
"I remember from when I was a bookseller--and any bookseller will tell you--people come into the store all the time" with manuscripts and questions about writing, Williams said. "There's talent out there, and this program brings booksellers, librarians and sales reps into the process."
Gayle Shanks, ABA president and co-owner of Changing Hands bookstore, Tempe, Ariz., praised the idea, writing to Shelf Awareness: "I am regularly asked by customers who have written books how to find an agent. Or they ask me if they should self publish or pay a vanity press to publish their book. I think Roger's model is the perfect answer to these queries. As one so knowledgeable about our industry, knowing it from so many perspectives, he will have a good idea what might or might not be marketable and the idea that he would share a percentage of the revenue with booksellers for sending authors his way makes his model even more interesting."
Williams has worked as a sales director, sales rep, a bookseller, owned a bookstore, Wit & Wisdom, which he operated from 1989 to 1995 in Lawrenceville, N.J. (His agency's logo is the logo of Wit & Wisdom.) He also worked on Bookwire.com in the earliest days of the Internet. In addition, his wife, Gina Cascone, is a writer and he has agented her books and helped her sisters negotiate contracts.
Williams is also proud of the submission form on the agency's website, which aims to "take the place" of the pitch letter to publishers, which he says should be done by him rather than by the author, as is often the case.
Williams is also offering a range of services for publishers and booksellers, including, for publishers, channel management, marketing, supply chain management, e-book planning and more. For booksellers, he can provide help in coop management, marketing and publicity, merchandising, buying, staff training and development and publisher/wholesaler relations.
He may be reached at Roger.Williams@PublishOrPerishAgency.com or 609-865-0982.