How to find reputable agents and publishers

Over on Lee Goldberg's blog, one of the current discussions is on the topic of the legitimacy (or illegitimacy) of various publishing operations. A reader posted a question that I thought was a good one:

Where do you go to find reputable agents and publishers?

Here is my advice...

For agents: Read the deal announcements on Publishers Marketplace. See who is selling books in your genre and to which publishers. That should give you a clue as to who is actually doing business. If an agent sells books to Putnam, St. Martin's, etc., they're legitimate.

For publishers: Go the bookstore or check out Amazon. See who is publishing the books you like and the authors you respect. They are likely to be legit.

You can also check out the accepted publishers lists maintained by MWA and ITW:

If you've never heard of the publisher, see which books they've published. If you've never heard of any of the authors or books, that should tell you something.

Comments

[Steven Torres]

Wait. This all sounds like research...

[Lana Lang]

Unfortunately, all of this requires hard work, which I am allergic to. I would much rather send spam e-mails and ambush authors with my brilliant unfinished manuscripts.