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I am filing a complaint against Langtons International Agency, in particular the president, Linda Langton who informed me she was interested in publishing my book as long as I did some editing. She provided the name of the editor and over the past two years I have paid the company $9000.00 for editing services that did not result in the publication of my book. The editor they provided was useless and I had to use her services three times because after each revision there was virtually no progress made toward improving the book. In fact, very little of the manuscript was changed. Finally I hired my own editor and for $1000.00 she edited the entire manuscript. The changes were dramatic and the manuscript is ready for publication according to my editor.
When I sent my revised manuscript to Langtons International, they said it was nearly ready and they mentioned three instances in the novel that might have required minor changes. They insisted that I use their editor again to complete the revisions.
The following is a copy of their reply on November 7th, 2022.
Dear Lina,
We hope you are well.
Thank you for submitting your latest revision of Delilah's Murder which we have now had time to review.
We continue to enjoy the premise of your story, and would like to commend you on your edits, as your manuscript has majorly improved. There are still a few areas that need some fine tuning. There are still some areas where the dialogue is unnatural. Examples of this occur on pages 20-23, during the interrogation, and on pages 31-33. We also feel that some scene transitions need work, as Marcia discussed in her edit. For example, the chapters endings on page 12 and 33 feel abrupt.
We are sorry, Lina, but we still do not feel that Delilah's Murder is ready to be sent to commercial publishers. Your manuscript definitely has potential and it is almost ready, but it needs to be 99% ready before it can be sent to commercial publishers. Please let us know if you would like for us to connect you with Marcia again.
Whichever editor you choose, we will be happy to read your book again once it has been revised.
Thank you, Lina, we look forward to hearing from you, and to helping you further.
Best wishes,
Lindsay
Assistant to:
Linda Langton, President
Langtons International Agency
40 Central Park South, #14E
New York, NY 10019
[protected]
I inquired as to whether they would publish the manuscript after I made those minor changes. The following is a copy of my reply on November 14th, 2022.
Hi Lindsay,
If I make those changes, will you publish the book?
At this point my editor said that you are just nitpicking and you will never publish my ms., which she thinks is fine as is.
Best,
Lina
I have not heard from Langtons International since I sent this reply. Perhaps they feel too guilty to even send me a reply. But I am left in limbo after having worked with them for two years and spent $9000.00 that they charged me for editing.
The following are additional messages that the sent me over the last two years in response to my various revisions. This messages were similar.
On Jun 13, 2022, at 11:57 AM, Langtons International wrote:
Dear Lina,
Thank you for your response.
The issue of 'telling versus showing' does occur throughout the manuscript, we only provided a couple examples from the beginning of the manuscript to provide you a reference for our comments.
Marcia did, in fact, address telling versus showing in her edits. She provided comments on areas that needed expanding, and used track changes to remove some passive language and add description and action... there are comments throughout chapter five regarding this.
Editing is a process. Your book has made major improvements, but there are still some areas that need work. Even bestselling editors must edit their books many times before they are ready.
We would love for your book to be ready, and we do hope you will work on revisions.
Best wishes,
Lindsay
Assistant to:
Linda Langton, President
Langtons International Agency
40 Central Park South, #14E
New York, NY 10019
[protected]
This message was sent to me on...
On May 31, 2022, at 11:11 AM, Langtons International wrote:
Dear Lina,
We hope you are well.
Thank you for submitting your latest revision of Delilah's Murder which we have now had time to review.
We continue to enjoy the premise to your story, and felt that the manuscript has immensely improved, particularly the pacing and characterization. However, there are still some areas that need work. We felt that the structure needs to be clearer, as some of the flashbacks and scene changes need clearer transitions. Examples of this occur on pages 13 and 19. We also still feel that there is too much telling and not enough showing at times, as Marcia mentioned in her edit. This happens particularly when you share Elizabeth's thoughts directly. Some examples of this occur on pages 6-7, and 21-22.
We are sorry, Lina, but we still do not feel that Delilah's Murder is ready to be sent to commercial publishers. We do feel your book has potential, and we would love for it to be ready. We do not want you to be discouraged, as your manuscript has come a long way. As you know, even best-selling authors must edit their books many times before they are ready. Please let us know if you would like for us to connect you with Marcia again, as we felt your work with her was beneficial.
Whichever editor you choose, we will of course be very happy to read your book again once it has been revised.
Thank you, Lina. We look forward to hearing from you, and to helping you further.
Best wishes,
Lindsay
Assistant to:
Linda Langton, President
Langtons International Agency
40 Central Park South, #14E
New York, NY 10019
[protected]
www.langtonsinternational.com
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Country of complaint: United States