I just saw that literary agent Ayesha Pande, formerly of Lyons and Pande, has now moved over to Collins Literary Agency. On that note, I thought I would provide more information on how to submit to all three agents at Collins.

Collins Literary Agency

30 Bond St., New York NY 10012. Phone: (212)529-4909. Fax: (212)358-1055. Web site: www.collinsliterary.com. Member Agents: Nina Collins (memoir, literary fiction, lifestyle, young adult, travel, psychology, and women and/or mother/daughter issues); Matthew Elblonk (literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, pop culture, music, young adult and anything that is slightly quirky or absurd); Ayesha Pande (literary to popular fiction, including women’s fiction, African-American and international fiction; nonfiction interests include biography, history, popular culture, multicultural, science, and some how-to). Seeking new and established writers. Prior to opening her agency, Ms. Collins was a literary scout for foreign publishers and American film companies. Established: 2005. Represents 30 clients. 40% of clients are new/unpublished writers. Writer's Guidelines: www.collinsliterary.com/submission.php

How to submit: Query with SASE. Send queries via snail mail. No e-mail or fax queries. Accepts simultaneous submissions. Responds in 2 weeks to queries; 1 month to manuscripts. Returns materials only with SASE. Recent sales: Why the Devil Chose New England to Do His Work, by Jason Brown (Open City Books); The Mother Daughter Project, by Hamkins & Schulz (Hudson St. Press); Over the Hill and Between the Sheets, by Gail Belsky (Warner); Evo-lution, by Stephanie Staal (Bloomsbury); Gonzo Gardening, by Katherine Whiteside (Clarkson Potter). Agent receives 15% commission on domestic sales; 20% commission on foreign sales. Offers written contract.

Is summer bad because of so many agents (and editors) on vacation? Is sending a submission during the holidays a huge waste of time?

Good questions both - and the man who has answers for these questions is Brian Klems, a Writer's Digest staffer who runs the Questions and Quandaries Blog for WD.

Check out Brian's full response on when to query an agent.

It's been too long since I spotlighted great agent blogs around the Web.

That said, let me sing the praises of the BookEnds, LLC Blog. BookEnds is a literary agency based in New Jersey and is part of the AAR. The agency's three agents are Jessica Faust, Jacky Sach and Kim Lionetti. (To learn more about all three, check out their "About Us" page.)

The most recent post I read was this post on why exactly agents request exclusive reads. The blog is worth a long look, so give it just that!

Jacqueline Hackett, formerly of Watkins Loomis Agency, has founded Literary Works, LLC.

Jacqueline has not yet responded to our GLA questionnaire, but her page on Publishers Marketplace will get you started. She specializes in Commercial and Literary Nonfiction, Commercial Fiction (comic novels, Fiction with a strong suspense element), African-American and Pop Culture. See the PM page to learn how to query her.

They haven't responded to the GLA full questionnaire yet, but I wanted to tell you about PlainSmart Publishing Agency. Check out their Web site to learn more. If you have feedback about them, good or bad, feel free to leave a comment here.

The Florida First Coast Writers' Festival has canceled its 2008 writers conference. The Jacksonville-based annual conference, which usually featured a number of agents who took pitches, is indefinitely canceled because of funding issues. A return in 2009 is possible.

See their Web site to learn about their continuing contests, though.

Some screenwriting news this Monday afternoon...

1. First of all, the big news in Hollywood is the pending strike by the Writer's Guild of America. As the strike looms, script agents are having to get into the fray. The Los Angeles Times did a great piece on how all this affects agents. See the full article here.

2. I just received an e-mail from the Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles, updating their already impressive list of attending screenwriters who will be presenting. Recently added presenters include William Goldman (All the President's Men), Scott Frank (Minority Report) and more. This would be an awesome conference to attend if you're into screenwriting, though I admit I do not know how the looming strike will affect the conference going-on's, if it affects the conference at all.

William Goldman.