Great post! I’d also add that at least for me, I’m always down to intro a prospective new client to current clients who can speak to my communication style, contacts, and shark’esque approach.
Thank you so much for reading! And that's such a great point. My current agent had me set up with two different calls if I wanted without me even having to ask her. Looking back I realize she was selling me, haha, as there were multiple agents interested. She's a great salesperson, and her instincts there were on display from day one.
Thanks for this, it’s very useful. Do you think it’s possible to properly evaluate an agent on all these traits before signing with them? Or do you think some of them only show up further down the line, and all you can do is stay aware and break up with them if/when it happens?
I think you can get a lot of info before signing by asking the right questions, speaking to past clients, and googling their deals. Of course there will be some surprises but I think you can protect yourself from most of them. I might publish a very clear checklist of what to ask on a call with an agent next. I think people are so afraid of not being chosen by agents that they/we forget that they work for us!
This is terrific! One thing I'd add to that final point: You want an agent you like because THEY ARE TAKING 15% OF YOUR EARNINGS. I don't want my hard-earned money to line the pockets of someone I think is an asshole, you know?
YES! I was going to go off on a whole "remember you're paying them" tangent but I forgot haha. BUT REMEMBER YOU'RE PAYING THEM. It's okay to ask for stuff! And you don't want to support a bad person!
What those seeking representation usually don’t realize is that, with the rare exception of top tier agents, agents are beholden to the publishers, not authors. Especially in fiction. Agents have only so many tokens to spend before they wear out their welcome with editors.
Publishers are few, authors are endless. So don’t expect an agent to throw all his/her chips in for you, even once you’re “represented”
I agree that it should definitely be a respectful relationship all around, between agent and editor, agent and author, author and editor. That said, if your agent is advocating for the publisher more than for you, you definitely have the wrong agent. There is definitely nothing about advocating for an author that should cause an agent to wear out their welcome with a house.
I think real estate is a great example here. If you have an agent who acts like a real estate agent, that's really not a good thing.
I do know agents who have done that. Who've encouraged their authors to take crappy deals with editors they sub to frequently. I have told those authors to leave those agents!
So useful, thank you! My mother, who was a very successful agent, always reminds me that my agent works for me... which I also think is worth bearing in mind! Easy to be so grateful you forget they're getting their commission!
Great content, Leah! Thanks for writing this. I am still drafting and trying to decide when I might query, so I have saved this gem of a piece for when I am ready. One hang up I have is that I live in Europe, and am not certain how I could publish in the US market from Europe. Any thoughts?
Thanks for reading! Assuming it's an English language novel, I would still sub to US agents. There are small tax issues, but an agent can help you do it so you don't have to pay double. Many of us publish in Europe and all sorts of other places. You can also sub to the UK market, but the only reason why I wouldn't suggest this as a first approach is that the advances are typically much much lower there vs. US.
This is great, thank you! I'm planning to query agents in the next few months and for so long the question was "will anyone want my book?" but more and more the question is starting to be "what if they want my book. What do I do then? How will I know if they're going to represent me well?"
Along those lines, in your article you said "no agent is better than a bad agent" so I was wondering what your stance is on submitting your book to the slush pile at reputable indie publishers instead of getting an agent for your debut?
Thanks, Evelyn. As for indies, it depends what you want out of the book. For me, I only ever had my first book pubbed with an indie and it wasn't a good experience. It's not for me. So I would not do it and if I had a project that didn't work, I would write something else.
But I know for a lot of writers, it's important to them that the project is published somewhere. In that case I think indies make sense. And you can always, once you have a deal, approach reputable agents with it to find one to help you negotiate the terms.
If they like working with indies, yes. If not, I don't think yes or no either way. Also depends on genre and goals. FWIW, most of the advice I give here is for a traditional-pub big-house or big-house-adjacent strategy. I'm not an expert on indies or self-pub, but that's kind of what I've gathered.
Thank you for addressing this much needed topic to discuss. Question: what is the etiquette if you do decide to switch agents? Inform them before the breakup or look for another and then inform once another agent is secured?
Proper etiquette (and potentially contractually required) is to inform them before querying. That's what I did. I wanted it to be all above-board, and I had been with my agent for years so I felt that was best. That said, she did ask me if I already had someone lined up (ha!) so many people don't do this.
That said, it's a tiny business and treat others how you'd like to be treated really applies here. So I still advocate for doing it the proper way.
There’s a court case going on right now where a screenwriter, John Musero, is suing his agency, the CAA, for secretly blacklisting him. They stopped finding him work and even talked him down to studios, all while acting like they were representing his best interests. I know this is screenwriting, but from what you wrote @Leah Konen, sounds like this is possible in the fiction world, too.
Great post! I’d also add that at least for me, I’m always down to intro a prospective new client to current clients who can speak to my communication style, contacts, and shark’esque approach.
Thank you so much for reading! And that's such a great point. My current agent had me set up with two different calls if I wanted without me even having to ask her. Looking back I realize she was selling me, haha, as there were multiple agents interested. She's a great salesperson, and her instincts there were on display from day one.
Hey Leah,
Thanks for this, it’s very useful. Do you think it’s possible to properly evaluate an agent on all these traits before signing with them? Or do you think some of them only show up further down the line, and all you can do is stay aware and break up with them if/when it happens?
I think you can get a lot of info before signing by asking the right questions, speaking to past clients, and googling their deals. Of course there will be some surprises but I think you can protect yourself from most of them. I might publish a very clear checklist of what to ask on a call with an agent next. I think people are so afraid of not being chosen by agents that they/we forget that they work for us!
This is terrific! One thing I'd add to that final point: You want an agent you like because THEY ARE TAKING 15% OF YOUR EARNINGS. I don't want my hard-earned money to line the pockets of someone I think is an asshole, you know?
YES! I was going to go off on a whole "remember you're paying them" tangent but I forgot haha. BUT REMEMBER YOU'RE PAYING THEM. It's okay to ask for stuff! And you don't want to support a bad person!
Leah, you're doing much good here.
Thank you!!!
What those seeking representation usually don’t realize is that, with the rare exception of top tier agents, agents are beholden to the publishers, not authors. Especially in fiction. Agents have only so many tokens to spend before they wear out their welcome with editors.
Publishers are few, authors are endless. So don’t expect an agent to throw all his/her chips in for you, even once you’re “represented”
Think real estate
I agree that it should definitely be a respectful relationship all around, between agent and editor, agent and author, author and editor. That said, if your agent is advocating for the publisher more than for you, you definitely have the wrong agent. There is definitely nothing about advocating for an author that should cause an agent to wear out their welcome with a house.
I think real estate is a great example here. If you have an agent who acts like a real estate agent, that's really not a good thing.
I do know agents who have done that. Who've encouraged their authors to take crappy deals with editors they sub to frequently. I have told those authors to leave those agents!
So useful, thank you! My mother, who was a very successful agent, always reminds me that my agent works for me... which I also think is worth bearing in mind! Easy to be so grateful you forget they're getting their commission!
Yes, exactly! You have hired them! We are so afraid to be at all an imposition that we can forget this.
This was so useful! Will keep in mind when I start looking for an agent, hopefully next year, for Dark fantasy.
Great content, Leah! Thanks for writing this. I am still drafting and trying to decide when I might query, so I have saved this gem of a piece for when I am ready. One hang up I have is that I live in Europe, and am not certain how I could publish in the US market from Europe. Any thoughts?
Thanks for reading! Assuming it's an English language novel, I would still sub to US agents. There are small tax issues, but an agent can help you do it so you don't have to pay double. Many of us publish in Europe and all sorts of other places. You can also sub to the UK market, but the only reason why I wouldn't suggest this as a first approach is that the advances are typically much much lower there vs. US.
Thank you for the insight!
This is great, thank you! I'm planning to query agents in the next few months and for so long the question was "will anyone want my book?" but more and more the question is starting to be "what if they want my book. What do I do then? How will I know if they're going to represent me well?"
Along those lines, in your article you said "no agent is better than a bad agent" so I was wondering what your stance is on submitting your book to the slush pile at reputable indie publishers instead of getting an agent for your debut?
Thanks, Evelyn. As for indies, it depends what you want out of the book. For me, I only ever had my first book pubbed with an indie and it wasn't a good experience. It's not for me. So I would not do it and if I had a project that didn't work, I would write something else.
But I know for a lot of writers, it's important to them that the project is published somewhere. In that case I think indies make sense. And you can always, once you have a deal, approach reputable agents with it to find one to help you negotiate the terms.
Do you think having a book deal with indies makes you more marketable to an agent for long-term representation?
If they like working with indies, yes. If not, I don't think yes or no either way. Also depends on genre and goals. FWIW, most of the advice I give here is for a traditional-pub big-house or big-house-adjacent strategy. I'm not an expert on indies or self-pub, but that's kind of what I've gathered.
Thank you for addressing this much needed topic to discuss. Question: what is the etiquette if you do decide to switch agents? Inform them before the breakup or look for another and then inform once another agent is secured?
Proper etiquette (and potentially contractually required) is to inform them before querying. That's what I did. I wanted it to be all above-board, and I had been with my agent for years so I felt that was best. That said, she did ask me if I already had someone lined up (ha!) so many people don't do this.
That said, it's a tiny business and treat others how you'd like to be treated really applies here. So I still advocate for doing it the proper way.
There’s a court case going on right now where a screenwriter, John Musero, is suing his agency, the CAA, for secretly blacklisting him. They stopped finding him work and even talked him down to studios, all while acting like they were representing his best interests. I know this is screenwriting, but from what you wrote @Leah Konen, sounds like this is possible in the fiction world, too.
Oh gosh, what a nightmare! I thankfully haven't heard of anything like that, but I have heard of people's agents ghosting them--and that's awful, too.
Thank you, this was super helpful! I’d love to hear some specific questions to find out more about this when talking to an agent!
I’m gonna do a follow up post with exactly that!
Excellent list!
Great points. Thank you!
Thank you! Truly helpful and honest!