The first part of this annually published guide comprises articles that advise writers in fiction, nonfiction, and the screen how to edit and act in preparation for literary representation, how to write query letters, and how to negotiate contracts and ensure a fair deal. One chapter contains first person accounts from agents, writers, and editors illustrating some successful strategies and pitfalls in the search for a literary agent. In the second part, approximately 550 contacts for. Literary and script agents, publicists, and conferences are listed alphabetically. Most listings are in the U.S., but some from the UK, Canada, and Australia are included as well. Listings indicate whether each agency is actively seeking writers and in what kind of publishing they specialize. In this 16th edition, agents that charge critiquing fees have been excluded, along with listings for production companies and script contests. In addition to a general index, there are others that. Group agencies by specialty, geography, and openness to submissions. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

The madness of art /Joyce Carol Oates -- Acceptance speech: The 2003 National Book Award for distinguished contribution to American letters / Stephen King -- Why we write horror / Michael McCarty -- What you are meant to know: twenty-one horror classics / Robert Weinberg -- Avoiding what's been done to death / Ramsey Campbell -- Workshops of horror (and seminars and conferences) / Tom Monteleone -- Degrees of dread: horror in higher education / Michael A. Arnzen -- A world of dark and disturbing ideas / J.N. Williamson -- Mirror, mirror / Wayne Allen Sallee -- Going there: strategies for writing the things that scare you / Michael Marano -- Honest lies and darker truths: history and horror fiction / RIchard Gilliam -- Such horrible people / Tina Jens -- A hand on the shoulder / Joe R. Lansdale -- Eerie events and horrible happenings: plotting short horror fiction / Nichalas Kakufmann -- Reality and the waking nightmare: setting and character in horror fiction / Mort Castle -- He said, she asked: some thoughts about dialogue / David Morrell -- Keep it moving, maniacs: writing action scenes in horror fiction / Jay R. Bonansinga -- Dark enchantment of style / Bruce Holland Rogers -- Innovation in horror / Jeanne Cavelos -- Depth of field : horror and literary fiction / Nick Mamatas -- Splat goes the hero: visceral horror / Jack Ketchum -- Darkness absolute: the standards of excellence in horror fiction / Douglas E. Winter -- On horror: a conversation with Harlan Ellison / RIchard Gilliam -- No more silver mirrors: the monster in our times / Karen E. Taylor -- Fresh blood from old wounds: the alchemist meets the biochemist / Joseph Curtin -- More simply human / Tracy Knight -- Possibility of the impossible / Tom Piccirilli -- Take a scalpel to those tropes / W.D. Gagliani -- That spectred isle: tradition, sensibility, and delivery or ghosts? What ghosts? / Steven Savile -- New horrors: a roundtable discussion of horror toady and tomorrow / Joe Nassise -- Archetypes and fearful allure: writing erotic horror / Nancy Kilpatrick -- Writing for the new pulps: horror-themed anthologies / John Maclay -- Freaks and fiddles, banjos and beasts: writing redneck horror / Weston Ochshe -- Youth gone wild / Lee Thomas -- Writing horror comic books, and graphic novels / David Campiti -- Acts of madness: writing horror for the stage / Lisa Morton -- Fear spins off: the tie-in novel comes into its own / Yvonne Navarro -- Play's the thing on the doorstep: writing video and role-playing games / Richard E. Dansky -- Now fear this: writing horror for audio theater / Scott Hickey and Robert Madia -- Good characters and cool kills: writing the horror screenplay / Brendan Deneen -- Dark fluidity: online research and marketing resources / Judi Rohrig -- Small press: filling shelves with rare books / John Everson -- Sharing the creeps: marketing short horror fiction, version 2.0 / Edo van Belkom -- For love or money: six marketing myths / Bev Vincent -- One reader at a time: promoting your horror novel / Scott Nicholson -- Afterword: quiet lies the locust tells / Harlan Ellison.