To Agent or Not To Agent

 

When Do I Need One and How Do I Get One?

By Mary Rosenblum

 

 

            Everybody asks that question sooner or later.  Real authors have agents, right?  So an agent can easily become a symbol of ‘making it’.  If you have an agent, you must be a pro.  But when exactly do you need an agent, and when can you get by without one?

 

            You don’t need an agent to market short fiction and magazine articles.  Most reputable agents won’t handle short work, except as a courtesy to the author.  There isn’t enough money in it.  But once you get to novel length work you do need to think  about acquiring an agent, but only if you are publishing with a traditional New York publishing house, or intend to write screenplays for Hollywood (and then you must get a Hollywood agent, not a New York agent).  Small press contracts are generally much simpler than the contracts used by a traditional publisher like Random House or Simon and Schuster.  Even then, you should ask a lawyer familiar with the publishing industry to look at the contract before you sign it.  Still, a single payment to the lawyer will probably cost you less money than an agent’s percentage. 

 

            Print on Demand houses and self publishing presses also offer a simple and straightforward agreement.  But again, it is a good idea to have a competent lawyer look at the contract.  If, by chance, the publisher is a scam, the contract may include some inappropriate expenses disguised within it.  Do take a look at my interview with  Daniel Stevens   He covered quite a bit of legal information during our chat together. 

 

            Generally, for all genres except science fiction, fantasy, horror, and romance, you will need to submit through an agent.  The guidelines in a market list will tell you whether or not this particular publisher or imprint accepts unagented material.  Alas, every year fewer and fewer publishers accept unagented or ‘over the transom’ submissions.  If you are not required to submit through an agent, then do submit your novel on your own, according to the guidelines provided.  Once an editor calls you with the news that he or she wishes to publish your novel, you have plenty of time to find an agent.  Contracts are not signed ‘today’, and often agent-publisher negotiations continue well into the editing process. 

 

             If you have an editor’s desire to publish in hand, you will have a much easier time finding the right agent for you, and you will have a wider selection of agents to choose from.  Many agents are very reluctant to accept first novels, or impose a limit on how many unpublished writers they will work with at any time.  So if your proposed publisher is willing to look at your manuscript without an agent, by all means send it off.

 

            So why do you need an agent, if the publisher is willing to look at your manuscript without one?  Why should you fork over a percentage of your advance and royalty checks to an agent?  Why not just go to your brother-in-law the lawyer when the contract arrives and have him make sure it’s all fair? After all, once you acquire an agent, that person is going to take a percentage of every dime your novel earns, right off the top. 

 

            A contract from a traditional publishing house can be frightening.  It may include ten or more legal sized pages, typed on both sides in ten point single spaced font.  It will include information on how your sales are counted and how profits are calculated.  It will detail the publisher’s obligations in case of a lawsuit, distribution  methods, and royalty payments, as well as book returns and remaindering obligations. It defines what rights the publisher will actually acquire, and how much control you retain over your work.   Some of these many many points are negotiable and should be negotiated to your benefit by your agent.  Other details are in effect ‘cast in stone’ and the publisher will not budge on them.  Even a lawyer will not be able to do the best job possible for you if he or she is not familiar with the publishing industry, the norms and standard practices.  It is a mistake to try and save money by foregoing an agent at the contract stage of the game. 

 

Let’s Do Lunch

 

            What else does an agent do for you to earn his or her percentage?  Well, an agent ideally should be located in or near New York City.  This is where the major publishers are located.  Your agent goes into the city once or twice a week, and drops in to visit editors that the agent has met personally at conferences and publishing industry events.  Your agent might take an editor out for coffee or lunch or just drop in to ask what’s new, what is that publishing house or imprint looking for?  If the editor mentions that they need a type of piece that you write, the agent will give you a call.  Putnam is looking for  a new mystery series, do you want to send me a proposal?  Remember that your agent only makes money if you make money.  Essentially, your agent lives in New York so that you don’t have to.  That agent is your contact with the publishing world.  He or she has an ear to the ground for new editors, new trends, new markets. 

 

 

Do It My Way

 

            Agents have had a lot of experience in your particular genre.  They keep up with what is being published and what awards are won by which books.  They note trends, successes, and failures.  They get to know editors personally. Often, an agent may make suggestions for changes after reading your submitted manuscript, especially if this is your first book.  These can be helpful, since the agent has an overview of the genre as a whole.  However, your agent is not your editor.  And many agents offer little or no editorial comment when you send them your book manuscript.  This is a topic you might want to bring up with a prospective agent.  Will that agent ask for specific revisions before submitting your novel to publishers?  Must you do what that agent tells you? 

 

            This is just one of the many questions you need to ask when you interview an agent as a prospective client.  For a list of Frequently Asked Questions and detailed information on the topic of acquiring an agent, visit the Association of Authors Representatives homepage.  The AAR is the professional association of agents, with a strict code of ethics.  They offer an excellent crash course on ‘Agent 101’ on their website.  AAR Webpage

           

 

 

When Do I Need an Agent?

 

            If your publisher will accept ‘over the transom’ submissions, you don’t need to worry about an agent until an editor tells you that he or she wishes to buy your novel.  But if you wish to submit to a publisher who will only take agented material, you will need to begin looking for an agent as soon as you have completed a submission quality draft. 

 

            A submission quality draft is not your first draft.  This is the revised and polished draft that you want the editor to see.    But while you are finishing your novel, you have plenty of time to do a bit of research and make a list of several agents who seem like good choices.  When you have that polished and submission-ready novel all ready to go, you then contact the agent.  If the agent thinks he or she can sell your book, he or she will take you on as a client.  This is when you will appreciate the time spent at the Association of Authors Representatives homepage, doing your homework. Once the agent has accepted your novel, you need to ask some specific questions about your working relationship. 

 

            It is worth reading the AAR’s ‘Cannon of Ethics’ since it is a guide to exemplary professional behavior by agents in general.  Knowing what the AAR requires of its members will help you ask the right questions if you interview an agent who is not a member.  On the website, you will find a list of topics to discuss with your agent, as well as a database of agent contact information that you can search by genre.

 

 

Are There Better Ways to  Find an Agent?

 

            If you can attend a writers’ conference, you can chat with authors who are also attending.  Most authors are flattered when fans compliment them on their work and happy to chat for a few minutes.  You can tell them that you are working on a book length work and ask for agent recommendations.  They may refer you to their own agent, or suggest an agent they know.  If you have sold work to an editor – perhaps a short story or article – ask the editor for recommendations.  He or she may know several good agents by name. Ask your writing instructor.  He or she may know of one or more agents in your genre who are accepting first novels.  You can also find agents listed in a variety of sources, including Literary Market Place, a directory of the publishing industry, which is available at most libraries, in the reference section.    If you are not sure of the genre the agent you query handles, you can simply pitch your manuscript.  If that agent does not, say, handle suspense, he or she may well suggest an agent who does. 

 

 

Now What?

 

          Once you have a list of several agents who handle fiction, or specifically your genre, you need to pitch your book.  You write a query letter to the agent and tell him or her what a dynamite book you have just finished, what publishing credits you have, if any, and you ask the agent if he or she would be interested in looking at the book.  You also ask what form that agent would like the submission to be in:  complete draft, or synopsis  and chapters.  Many agents will merely want a synopsis and a chapter or two, while others will ask to see the entire manuscript.

 

            However, they will not ask to see your book out of idle curiosity.  Agents, like editors, are very busy, and handle a full slate of clients.  Your query letter is your very first step toward selling your book and it is a critical one.  A simple…I’ve written this cool mystery, and I want you to sell it for me…is going to earn you a rejection by return mail.  What kind of mystery?  Do you even know how to write?  Is it a saleable topic?   Believe me, that agent has at least a dozen other query letters from novice authors on his or her desk right now.  Why should that agent ask to see your book, if three other query letters offer specific details?  That agent may only have room on the client list for one or two new authors.  You need to catch the agent’s eye with your query letter.  You need to tell the agent instantly, here is someone who can write well, and has something to sell.

 

Now Bowing and Scraping Allowed

 

            We are taught as children that modesty is a virtue.  Aw shucks, we might say when someone compliments us.  It wasn’t anything…  That is a great way to remain an unpublished author.  Agents and editors are flooded with queries and submissions daily.  Your book may be outstanding, but if you tell everyone it’s not much, why shouldn’t they take your word for it?  They have tons of other proposals on their desks.  Why read yours if you don’t think it’s good?  Modesty is a virtue in most walks of life, but not here.  Here you need to say to that agent, My book is good, it’s right for the market, and it will sell.

 

            Here’s an example of a pitch letter to an agent.  We’ll pretend that our Ms. Author is unpublished as yet, although she has attended a mystery conference or two: 

 

Dear Mr. Agent,

 

            The open front door and the screaming teakettle filled Paul Whitefeather  with foreboding.  The discovery of his friend and client dead in the basement confirmed his worst fears.  The philanthropic jeweler had been murdered.  But by whom?  His disaffected daughter, whose embezzling Whitefeather had uncovered?  Paul’s suspicions grow after he is attacked viciously after confronting her.  Hampered by the antagonistic Detective Lee, Paul finds himself drawn inexorably into a dark and twisted web of politics, drugs, and corruption.  And when the net snares his young teenaged protégé, Dirk, Paul declares war. 

 

            An Olympic class fencer, Paul must use every ounce of his skill and dexterity as he plays a deadly game of cat and mouse on the steel beams of a construction site, fifteen stories above the ground.  He must survive or Dirk will also die. 

 

            I recently completed the mystery Blood Rain  and am looking for an agent to handle it.  The book is a fast paced suspense mystery  story set in the lovely Pacific Northwest.  We delve into local corruption and the drug trade hidden behind the shady streets and idyllic vistas of the Willamette Valley, as Paul strives to identify his friend and client’s killer and to clear Dirk’s brother of blame in the jeweler’s death.  As the tangled skein unravels, Paul finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into Portland politics, following the thread right into the mansions of the rich and powerful. 

 

            I recently attended BoucherCon and had a chance to speak with Ellen Duray, an editor for Putnam.  She expressed interest in this book.  If you are interested in looking at Blood Rain  please let me know, and I will be happy to send you the manuscript immediately.

 

            Yours,

 

            Ms. Author

 

            Notice that Ms. Author opened with a taut and intriguing blurb for the book, much like the blurb you’d read on a paperback.  She is out to hook that editor’s attention.  She offers enough of the novel to arouse the editor’s attention, but since she is only offering to send the manuscript, she doesn’t bother to include the ending.  She describes the book as fast paced, and cites other selling points, such as the lovely Pacific Northwest setting.  By now, the agent’s appetite is whetted.  She then mentions that she has chatted with a Putnam editor and that editor seemed interested. 

 

            Be proud of your book when you pitch it, and don’t be discouraged by agent rejections.  Most good agents will only take on your book if they are pretty sure that they can sell it to a particular editor.  So an acceptance from an agent is a big deal!  Unless you are lucky, you will get a lot of rejections before you find your agent.  But keep at it.  Like a good marriage, a good agent is a long term commitment.