about the Founder

The Corn Agency's founder and current chairman, John "Jackie" Corn, is arguably one of the boutique-literary-agency industry's most powerful movers and shakers. He doesn't take "No" for an answer, unless the question asked is "Do you really want to continue haggling with Big Jack Corn?"

John "Jackie" Corn is not in the writer-representation business to make friends—I'm in it to make money. He has tangled with the big boys of publishing and nobody who is anybody wants to see Big Jack Corn coming anywhere near their negotiation table with his newest client's unsolicited manuscript in one powerful hand and a powerful publishing contract ready to be signed in Jack Corn's other strong hand.

John Corn is also the founder of the insider-access-only industry trade e-journal, The Bum List.

The Bum List consists of reviews of the worst of the worst of the thousands of unsolicited manuscripts that The Corn Agency receives every day—every one of which is read and judged with personal feedback--never a blank form rejection--because that's how The Corn Agency does business.

Bum-listed writers will never, should never and won't ever get a book published, if Jackie Corn can help it. By highlighting the sub-par work of the writers who are not accepted as clients of The Corn Agency, John Corn clears the way for his powerful stable of talent to rocket straight to the top of the literary world.

Why does The Corn Agency offer this useful resource to industry insiders, other agents, editors, publishers and even entry-level script readers? Aren't they all technically adversaries of The Corn Agency? Yes, but The Corn Agency makes The Bum List available "as a consolation prize" to the same New York hot shots who Jackie Corn regularly grounds into tiny grounds and eats for lunch while negotiating powerful book deals on a first-time client's behalf and squeezing powerful concession after concession from the industry big boys.

But reading bad manuscripts is just a part of Jackie's job, and he takes it seriously. But he's not too serious; when it comes to writers who approach him with a gimmick or attention-grabber, "Resistance is futile!" he roars, while gleefully giving extra attention to the unsolicited manuscript from the attention-getting, ambitious submitter. That's a difference between John "Jackie" Corn and weak, impotent agents.

From these bad manuscripts, the worst get Bum-listed, the very bad get returned to their creators with a personal critique, and the better of the lot receive representation that likely leads to high-octane record-smashing book scenarios, so long as authors managed by John 'Jackie' Corn are obedient and "listen to [my] instructions."

Please check Mr. Corn's agent profile for an up-to-date status report on whether or not he is currently accepting new manuscripts at the moment.