What
Your Literary Agent Won’t Do
Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com
There are lots of good reasons to use a literary agent,
but there are also a lot of things even the best literary
agent won’t do for you. I’m always surprised
to discover what people think their literary agents could—or
should—be doing for them. Here, in a nutshell, is
what your literary agent probably won’t do for you.
(For more information on what they will do, see the dozens
of other articles on the http://www.PublishingGame.com
website, and sign up for the [free] email newsletter.)
Bargain till they drop. Working with a literary agent is
much like working with a real estate agent: On the one
hand, their job is to get you as good a deal as possible,
and they don’t make money unless you do, since they
make a percentage (usually 15%) of your sales. On the other
hand, their relationships with publishers are complex,
and although they’d like to get as much as possible
for your book, they also need to stay on good terms with
the publisher for all the other books they’re discussing.
So in the same way that the realtor will try to get you
a good price (but will be reluctant to jeopardize the sale
by asking too much), your literary agent won’t ask
for a killer sum just because you think your book is worth
it.
Play hardball with your
publisher. Again, agents make their
living by having good working relationships with publishers
and editors. They’ll track your payments and make
sure you’re getting a fair shake, but they’re
not going to jeopardize those relationships by being obnoxious,
aggressive, or overly demanding. So don’t expect
them to play hardball. That’s not their job.
Be your phone buddy. It’s important to remember that
while agents need to stay in touch with their authors,
that’s only a small part of their job. They also
need to: Read the slush pile for new properties, read a
lot of current books to see what’s selling, deal
with contracts and lawyers and payments, meet editors and
publishers for lunch to discuss other books, go to conferences
and trade shows to keep up with the rest of the industry,
and a myriad of other activities. And agents, unless you’ve
gotten to know them well over a long period of time, are
your business partners, but not necessarily your friends.
So don’t expect your agent to stay in touch daily—or
even weekly. Some agents are better at keeping in touch
than others, but most agents are too busy to be as attentive
as their authors might prefer.
Never run out of patience. It would be lovely if agents,
once you finally find one who is dying to work with you,
would be faithful and submit your work forever. The reality,
however, is that agents tend to be excited when they first
sign an author, and are able to maintain that enthusiasm
only if they’re able to sell the book relatively
quickly. It’s a rare agent who is incredibly responsive
to your phonecalls after 18 months of unsuccessfully peddling
your book.
Help with your publicity. This may be the single most common
misperception of what a literary agent does. Literary agents
help you get your book to a publisher. They oversee your
payment. If you’re incredibly lucky with your choice
of agent, they may even help to oversee your career, recommending
books for you to read and conferences for you to attend.
But one thing they absolutely, positively won’t do
is help you with your book’s publicity. Agents get
paid (a percentage) because of the work they do in brokering
the agreement between you and the publisher. They don’t
take any responsibility for the publicity of your book
after a publisher has accepted it. (Unfortunately, neither
do most publishers, these days, which means that most books
are off bookstores shelves in just six months. See my book,
The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days, if you want
to learn how to publicize your book successfully.)
Having said all that, having a relationship with a literary
agent can be a valuable and rewarding experience. Just
keep in mind what you can, and can’t, expect.
Fern Reiss is CEO of PublishingGame.com (www.PublishingGame.com) and Expertizing.com (www.Expertizing.com) and the author of the books, The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days, The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days, and The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days as well as several other award-winning books. She is also the Director of the International Association of Writers (www.AssociationofWriters.com) providing publicity vehicles to writers worldwide. She also runs The Expertizing® Publicity Forum where you can pitch your book or business directly to journalists; more information at www.Expertizing.com/forum.htm. Sign up for her complimentary newsletter at www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm.
Copyright © 2011 Fern Reiss
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