Read Get a Literary Agent: The Complete Guide to Securing Representation for Your Work Online
Authors: Chuck Sambuchino
“A mutual respect for one another’s time and efforts always goes a long way. I always hate asking an author to drop everything and get me something ASAP and feel similarly when the roles are reversed.”
—Elisabeth Weed (Weed Literary)
“A lasting relationship with an agent is not a guarantee. I have let go of clients, and they have let go of me. For me, usually communication style is the issue or authors who push the boundaries of the relationship—i.e., try and tell me how to do my job or when to do my job. I get a great deal of personal satisfaction from my relationships with my clients (more than they know). Life is too short to work with people you don’t like or can’t communicate with well. I value those authors of mine who are patient and understand that they are never far from my mind, even if they don’t hear from me. And I adore those clients who make me laugh on a regular basis—you know who you are!”
—Elizabeth Kracht (Kimberley Cameron & Associates)
“My dream client is someone who believes strongly enough in the work not to be deterred but who can also be flexible enough to take good editorial advice.”
—Michael Bourrett (Dystel & Goderich)
“A dream client is someone who writes wonderfully, understands promotion and knows how to build a tribe, always makes a deadline, is gracious with critique and direction, and is kind, grateful, smart, and makes me laugh.”
—Rachelle Gardner (Books and Such Literary)
“Respect my time. Don’t expect me to constantly call if there’s no news to report. Trust that I know what I’m doing, and don’t take the advice of writers at conferences or in your writing groups over mine. Have realistic expectations; don’t expect me to drop everything and read your manuscript (a manuscript that took you a year or two to write) immediately. Understand that publishing moves slowly at times and I’m just as frustrated as you are if we have to wait for a check, a contract, or a response to a submitted manuscript.”
—Jennifer De Chiara (Jennifer De Chiara Literary)
“A dream client is one whose talent continually surprises me, and my belief in it is what keeps me on my toes to make sure I’m doing right by his or her work.”
—Brian DeFiore (DeFiore and Company)
“The best writers I work with are flexible and adaptable.”
—Carly Watters (P.S. Literary Agency)
“Here are my dream client attributes: a natural ability to write—and well, a good idea of how to build a platform, a good attitude, and perseverance.”
—Dawn Frederick (Red Sofa Literary)
“(1) Figure out what the best form of communication will be. If you are a person who needs to talk things out on the phone, let your agent know this so he or she can either know to set time aside for you
or
let you know what to expect from them in terms of phone time. If you like to send e-mails, I suggest getting all of your questions queued up and sending one message instead of rapid-fire e-mails throughout the day. [Establishing how and when you communicate] can take some practice, so both sides need to exercise some patience. (2) Try not to take things personally. [W]hile there will certainly be room for creative and friendly conversations, at the end of the day, you are both in this for an end goal: to get published and make some money, yes? Keep an open mind when discussing everything such as ideas for future projects, edits, conversations with editors, and more. (3) Generate lots of ideas. And don’t feel you need to execute each one before talking about it with your agent. Be inspired by the world around you, and write about what excites you the most. But also be open [to input], and [be] realistic about what ideas need to be fleshed out now as opposed to being shelved for later.”
—J.L. Stermer (N.S. Bienstock)
“Be patient [and] flexible, and let your agent help you navigate what can be a long and winding road to publication and to future books. Try to remember it’s a marathon and not a sprint.”
—Stacey Glick (Dystel & Goderich)
One of the first questions you need to ask an interested agent is “What changes do you think need to be made before we submit?” Once you sign a contract with an agent, the key first step is making any final changes to the manuscript so the agent can attempt to sell it. This is the time when you work through those changes and create a finished product the agent believes she can sell.
After the manuscript is finalized, your agent is ready to submit to editors who seek what you’re writing. This is what agents do best. Pitching to editors is their forte, and it’s why you sign with them in the first place, so don’t butt in and evaluate their decisions at this juncture. Step away, and let your agent work.
Typically the agent pitches to various “ideal” editors first—those who can offer the most money and support, or individuals who may have a deep personal connection to the work. Following her contact of “top tier” editors, agents may also target “secondary” markets if the initial contacts pass on the book.
All this takes time. A lot of editors will reject the work outright, but concerning the rest of the submissions, no news is indeed good news. If an editor likes the book, he has to jump through several hurdles before a deal is offered to the author and agent. The acquiring editor will have to present it at an editorial board meeting, run it by marketing, create a profit and loss estimate sheet, and get everything signed off by some of the highest bosses at the company. This is a not a quick process. So the truth is that to get a book deal, you don’t just need one yes from an editor—you actually need several yes responses from key people who review it over the course of weeks or months.
“Everything takes longer than one expects, including the time from final delivery [of a finished manuscript to the publisher] until it’s published. Once delivered, it can be hard to move on to the next project, but that’s the best thing to do if you haven’t already begun doing so. I do not recommend [immediately] working on a prequel, sequel, or companion book, as the sale of one is too dependent on the success of the prior project. It’s better to move on to a separate, stand-alone project, especially when early in one’s career.”
—Marcia Wernick (Wernick & Pratt Agency)
Different agents will have different styles of keeping writers abreast of happenings—this is why discussing communication style is so critical when signing with an agent—but you should always be able to get a status update if you occasionally ask for one—such as potential markets considering the work, as well as those that have formally rejected the book already. This stage of the process—the agent’s submissions—has very little to do with the writer, and this is a great time to focus all your efforts on writing your next project or building your platform.
As the submission process continues, one of two things may happen: (1) Your book may hit some walls (i.e., lots of rejections), and the agent will touch base with you to regroup and discuss next steps moving forward, or (2) the book will attract the interest of one or more publishers as a deal comes closer to fruition.
If your book is not attracting interest from editors, your agent may suggest the submission process temporarily stall so changes can be made to the manuscript in an effort to make it more attractive to publishers. It’s a time to evaluate your status and discuss next steps, whether that means a major overhaul of the book/proposal or abandoning the project and starting anew on another.
If the fortunate, opposite situation happens—interest does manifest for your novel or nonfiction book—three different things may happen, none of which are a bad thing.
There are several major items that your agent and the editor must agree on before a deal is made. These are called “deal points” and involve things such as how much money you’ll be paid up front and what rights to the material you’re selling away. Once these crucial points are ironed out, the deal is, in all probability, going to happen. This is when your agent will call and tell you to finally pop open the champagne.
And although you can personally celebrate in this moment of happiness, it’s wise to keep the good news under wraps for now. Yes, if your agent says the deal is good, then there is an overwhelming chance it’s all said and done. But no contract has been signed yet, and anything can happen. Several years ago, my agent told me to pop the champagne on a book deal, and I did just that. (It was delicious.) But in the weeks to come, an unexpected disagreement concerning royalty rates in the contract shut down the negotiation process and the deal fell through. I was told this doesn’t happen 95 percent of the time, but evidently this deal just fell in that 5 percent. For months, relatives and co-workers were asking me when the book would be out, only to hear my sheepish reply that there would be no book.
Besides running the risk of counting your chickens before they’ve hatched, if you celebrate too early and tell the whole world via Facebook, somebody could try to beat you to the punch. This is a much more common problem for nonfiction authors than novelists. Let’s say you come up with a unique hook for your nonfiction book—such as the history of salt or a memoir “written” by God (both of these are real books), somebody can see that concept posted online and self-publish a book in an attempt to beat you to the punch. While nonfiction authors cannot completely prevent this type of idea theft, they can do themselves favors by not spreading the word until the book’s marketing plan begins—perhaps at six months prior to its release.
Since an agent’s job is to submit your book to all the editors she feels are a good fit for the work, chances are she’s met these editors personally at least once, if not many times. That’s what agents do—get to know editors. So if one of these editors makes an offer, your agent should be able to quickly give you the lowdown on the editor and what he’s known for. In fact, there is a good probability your agent has sold to this editor before and can explain the process of how their previous collaboration transpired.
This is also when your agent will explain all the ideas and concerns that the editor has brought to the table. Before you say yes to the deal, it’s important that you’re completely aware of what you will get—i.e., money—and what you will give up—i.e., rights you’re selling away. But it’s also important to understand how the editor wants to change the work during his editorial process. Perhaps he wants to trim 10 percent of the book. Or perhaps he wants you to eliminate a subplot. You must be A-OK with these changes before signing any paperwork.
The reason you should be completely aware and comfortable with any suggested changes is this: Once you sign the contract and Publishing House XYZ is now paying you money for your book,
they
are in charge. They have purchased your material and therefore have the final say. Don’t panic: Your opinion will factor in during the editing process. After all, you created the work and will have valuable thoughts on any changes to the story as well as other elements such as the cover and marketing ideas. A good editor will welcome your suggestions and start lines of dialogue on points that need to be ironed out. But when push comes to shove, remember who makes the final decision and who holds the purse strings.
Ideally your experience working with an editor will be pleasant, but that’s less likely to happen if every little change to the manuscript generates an argument for you. Keeping a positive relationship is good for your future, too—you want to sell another book to this publishing house and work with the editor again. So keep the future in mind throughout the process, and remember that many writers praise editors after the fact for making their books stronger.
To keep your relationship with your editor positive, voice your concerns and frustrations to your agent first. Make your rep your sounding board and go-between. A good agent can help talk you down from ledges and explain why an editor’s idea or opinion is actually not a bad thing and that it will help with the finished product. And if you have a legitimate problem with something the publishing house proposes (such as an unwise change to your title), it’s better to let the agent bring up these thoughts with the editor. Remember, an agent, not you, should play bad cop. It’s too important for an editor to have a good opinion of you so you’ll work together again.