Hello everybody!

I am trying to get a grip on a question involving a novel I have written and a literary agent I might contact about this novel.
I am a beginner in horary and this is my first contribution to this board, so I hesitate to post the question here - but maybe some people might give me advice regarding the significant houses.
On the web I found two examples treating similar questions as 1th/7th house matters. While I understand the reasoning behind this - the literary agency is some kind of business partner for an author - my personal experience of the matter resembles more the situation of an exam. Exams are 9th matters, right? Also, the final goal is, of course, to publish the novel - again a 9th house matter. Agents, on the other hand, belong in the 3d house, and so do books.
And so I am confused before I have even started ...

Hello Gesine:

I would assign the seventh house to the agent, because they are like business partners (as you note). In addition, if the agent decides to work with you, then you will have a legal contract, which is also a seventh-house thing.

I assign creative works such as novels to the fifth house, which represents "children of the body or the mind." I know that there is disagreement on this issue, with many people using the third house for books. However, I have always used the fifth and find this to yield successful answers.

Try searching through the archives on this site, because there are some threads dealing with publication that you may find helpful. Here is one with a known, successful outcome:

http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic ... highlight=
http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic ... highlight=

Namaste--

LP

If your question concerns the prospect of making a successful contract with an agent then I'd definitely view it as a 1st= you/querent and 7th = agent situation. Also, you might say that books are 3rd, publishing 9th, creative things 5th, etc, but if this is a professional matter about something you want to have published, then the 10th house is most important for indicating the prospects of success for your product - it doesn't matter what your product is, if you view this as your business, then the 10th house gives a major indication of its potential for success.

Hi Deborah and Leo-Poet:

Thanks for answering!
Following your advices, I have assigned the agent to the 7th, the novel to the 5th and taken special notice of the performance of the 10th house of succsess.
May I share my attempt of reading the chart?

Gesine

Yes - please do!

"Should I submit the manuscript of my novel to this agency?"

The background: I have already contacted many agents and received only negative answers (if any at all). Discouraged as I feel, I had nonetheless decided to have a second try, proposing the manuscript now directly to publishers. Then I realized there was one agent left on my list - for some reasons I had first delayed and then forgotten about him.
Now, what I was actually thinking in the moment I casted the chart was something like: "Should I even try with that one?" Paraphrased: "Should I put my hopes on this last agent or should I proceed with my plan B?" (can't do both at the same time - if I contact the agent I will have to wait at least two months for his answer).
October 22, 12:42 pm CED
Tostedt, Germany
53N17 / 9E42

Sagittarius is rising, day of Jupiter, hour of the moon.
Significators:
Me: Jupiter, Moon
Agent: Mercury
novel: Venus as Ruler of 5th house
Success of my 'business': Venus, Sun

Ascendant, Lord 1 and Moon are in different triplicities, so the chart doesn't appear to be radical. Might that be a reflection of the somewhat twisted way I posed my question? (Why didn't I simply ask: will I get a contract wit this agent?)
Also, the 7th cusp is afflicted by a square from Mars. However, as this house is relevant to the question, I don't read it as a consideration against judgement. According to Lilly, "the Lord of the ascendant out of his essential Dignities, Cadent, &c., shows the Querent is out of all hopes in his business", and that is an accurate description of my present state of mind. And then again, Jupiter is in his own Terms, and if I had no hopes at all, I wouldn't bother to pose the question?
Mars is separating from Jupiter and Ac/Dc, hinting to a hurtful experience in recent past. However Venus, ruler of 5th (creative work) and 10th (success), and exaltation ruler of 3rd (books, agencies) is applying to conjunct him. Venus is in fall, but dignified by triplicity and face - she should be able to "perform somewhat" as a benefactor. She receives Jupiter in her triplicity and is received in his terms. So this looks as if my prospects will change somewhat for the better in the near future.
But what about the question?
Mercury, the agent, is also cadent in the 9th, but has dignity by terms and out-of-sect-triplicity. I see that he (as well as Venus) is applying to the 'outer infortunes', but for the moment I choose to ignore them and proceed with the central question - would my request be successful? Mercury and Jupiter are in mixed reception, but as there is neither aspect nor translation of light, it won't be enough to secure a positive outcome.
Before leaving the sign, the Moon will favourably aspect both angles and trine the Sun in 10th. In a way that looks very much like the desired outcome! - Only, I fear that moon aspects to house cusps aren't considered relevant? Also, Sun is in Fall and Moon in her detriment, so I shouldn't maybe expect to much from that trine?

Summing this up - with this particular agency I can't see much hope: there is no perfection between the significators (unless you count the house cusps),plus there is the Mars square to the 1st/7th cusps, which doesn't look like a harmonious partnership at all.
However in a general way the chart seems to offer a mildly optimistic prospect for my "going public", as L10 is applying to L1 and the Moon is applying to the Sun in 10, and the MC is with Spica.
Also, the perfection of the moon's last aspect on 29? seems to say that something about this project will change in a way that I can't forsee at the moment.

Any thoughts and comments are, of course, very welcome!

Hi Gesine:

Thanks for posting the chart. I took a look at it very quickly.

Venus rules the 10th of professional success and the 5th of creative endeavors. Mercury rules the 7th of agents/legal contracts, as well as the 9th of publishing. Venus and Mercury are in mutual reception by domicile. I would consider that to be a very positive sign. Of course, we'd like to see you and the agent coming together by aspect, preferably with reception. However, I think that the agent and the novel having a connection can also indicate a positive outcome. Full-on mutual reception can yield a "yes" answer, even if there is not an aspect. The MR would certainly indicate that the agent likes the novel, if nothing else.

I have not taken a look at the rest of the chart in any detail. I hope someone else will. It may be that the prohibiting factors outweigh the positive factors. I just wanted to point out the MR because I believe it is very important.

Good luck--
LP

I agree with your judgement Gesine but in your summing up you say:

However in a general way the chart seems to offer a mildly optimistic prospect for my "going public", as L10 is applying to L1 and the Moon is applying to the Sun in 10, and the MC is with Spica.

But lord 10 is Venus in fall, and Lord 11 is a malefic which is squaring the angles, so I think you were right in noting that Mars is not an assisting planet but an afflicting one. The Moon's application to the Sun and MC is well beyond the limit of its orb, so that is not something I would recognise as a promising indication.

Also, the perfection of the moon's last aspect on 29? seems to say that something about this project will change in a way that I can't forsee at the moment.

If you mean the Moon's application to the Sun, I would not even consider that because the separation is far too great; in the here and now, the relationship of the Sun and Moon is that the Moon is squaring the Sun, though that aspect is now separating and now out of sign, yet still in orb. This describes you as still being affected by past-disappointment. The more relevant consideration is that the Moon moves from this past square of the Sun to the trine of 7th ruler Mercury, and this is just able to be classified as an in-orb contact (within 12.30 degrees); Mercury is also making good aspects to 1st-7th axis. This holds a little promise, it seems descriptive of you being willing to now consider an agent that you rejected before because the disappointment has made you less demanding in your expectations. However, Mercury is peregrine and cadent - the cadency is not such a concern because Mercury is in and rules the 9th which has an association with publishing. Its peregrine status, in a chart that holds other indications of problems and weakness is more worrying.

On the negative, the presence of Mars is a little too strong in this chart for my liking - it is not only the 11th ruler but also the 4th ruler, and the 4th house is afflicted by the presence of Uranus - I would take note of that because angular planets gain potency of expression, and I wouldn't want to build anything on a foundation that sits on Uranus.

On the positive - well, really only the Moon's applying aspect to Mercury, which is pretty wide in orb and the Moon is in a fixed sign so that suggests things will move slowly. But when looking at this it is worth noting that the Moon is the 8th-ruler and placed in your 2nd, in sextile to its dispositor Saturn. This could show a financial offer put to you, but nothing is great about this chart and there are too many indications of dissatisfaction for me to want to encourage you unless you feel you really have no other option.

Hello Deborah,

thanks for your insights. I follow your judgement about mars being too malefic and too prominent in this chart to justifiy a positive outlook. However, some other things you said made me suspect that you were actually looking at another chart than I ... cast exactly 24 hours earlier, maybe? - Because in the chart of the question, as uploaded above, the Moon is clearly separating from Mercury and applying to the Sun!
On another note, I have an update to the state of the matter: I got a belated response from another agent (not the one this question was about). It was again negative - however I had a short, but rather interesting email-conversation with her and decided afterwards to put some additional work on the first chapter of the novel, bevore proposing it to anybody at all.
So maybe that is the meaning of the Uranus-IC, the late degree of the Sun-Moon and, last not least, the consideration against judgement?
Should I propose the manuscript?
Answer: Not now.

I definitely was looking sat another chart, not the one I now see in the thread - has it been changed? I can't explain that (!). But, the good thing is that you know to change the manuscript rather than worry about this iffy agent - that is surely the way to go! Sorry for any confusion I caused and good luck!