Read Get a Literary Agent: The Complete Guide to Securing Representation for Your Work Online
Authors: Chuck Sambuchino
Now fee-charging agents have been essentially eliminated from the mainstream marketplace. Today it’s standard practice that an agent will never charge a writer any amount of money to review his work or represent his books. An agent should only make money when
you
make money. All agents are different, sure—with different personalities and skill levels and experience—but the biggest thing to watch out for is that agents do not charge you money up front.
“Watch for red flags. Reputable agents generally don’t charge reading fees or require other up-front payments, they don’t sell (or at least, don’t brag about sales) to vanity presses, and they will readily identify other authors and projects they’ve represented.”
—Howard Zaharoff, copyright and publishing lawyer
While today’s pool of literary agents won’t have a “fee-charging” category, the new danger to watch out for is false agencies on the Internet. Some scammers got wise to the Web years ago and realized that people who were uneducated in the publishing world were relying on Google too much and simply searching for “literary agency” online. This led to the creation of fake agencies.
These supposed agencies work like this: After you submit, the agency sends you a form letter saying that they read your novel and love the writing. They offer you representation, and you agree, even signing a letter of consent. Then, once you’re hooked, they say the book needs some work. This is where the euphemisms come into play. It’s never a “fee”; it’s always something like a “marketing investment” or an “editorial review.” You fear you’re already in too deep to stop now, and you fork over the money and hope for the best. But the fake agency never provides any worthwhile edits, and they pocket the money. And whether the agency edits it or not, they have no true ability to sell the book, because they’re not a legitimate establishment and have no real connections. Bingo—you’ve been scammed.
But like I said, writers today are generally savvy to the submission process, and the mere fact that you’re reading this book makes me think you have nothing to worry about. All you have to do to protect yourself is two simple things.
If you ever have a strange gut feeling about dealing with someone, feel free to check out the following popular watchdog sites that alert writers about deceitful individuals.
Both of these sites were created to protect writers from scammers. Use them on your journey.
If you do your homework and only use trusted databases of agents (whether in print or online), your likelihood of running into a scammer is virtually nil. Furthermore, now that you’ve read this chapter, you’ll recognize the warning signs should you come across the website of an unknown, untrusted agency. But there is one more thing that you should be aware of:
editing service referrals
. This problem is rare, but it happens.
It works like this. An agent rejects your submission and says that the book needs more work or that it needs an editorial eye. She then suggests a specific editing service or individual who can help. The problem here is that the agent may be getting a kickback from the editor for each successful referral, and that’s bad. The only times I’ve ever felt comfortable with agents referring writers to editing services is when they suggest several to choose from and openly state that they receive no financial compensation in the matter. Sometimes, on their websites, agents will refer writers to editing services run by their clients. As long as the agent is forthright that (1) yes, these are her clients’ services, as she’s trying to help them, and (2) she gets no kickbacks whatsoever, it’s okay to check out her suggestions. If you’re leery, simply look for editing services elsewhere.
Did you ever personally think about becoming an agent and representing writers? Well, guess what—all you have to do is snap your fingers, and it’s done. I’m not kidding. There is no exam or degree. All you or I or anyone has to do is simply print up some business cards, build a website, and put out a call for queries. That’s it.
This may sound like a shaky proposition, but that’s where the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) comes in. The AAR is the closest thing to an accreditation body for an agent, and it exists as a verification organization for representatives. The following statement can be found on the AAR website: “Authors can be confident that our agents pledge to follow the highest standards of professional conduct in serving the needs of their clients.”
To be accepted into the AAR means meeting certain criteria set forth by the group: An agent “must have at least two years as a full-time working agent, with at least ten reportable sales over an eighteen-month period, and be primarily responsible for executing publishing agreements, translation or performance rights in these properties. Applications need to be accompanied by two letters of reference from current members.” The AAR also accepts representations at an “associate agent” level, which is a tier below established agents. To be in this second tier, an agent “must be currently employed at an agency and should demonstrate an increasing level of responsibility. Applications need to be accompanied by a letter of reference from a full member at your current agency.” The AAR has more than four hundred member agents—most are book agents, but some are dramatic agents dealing with theater.
If you see the letters AAR by the name of an agent, you can feel secure that she’s a tried-and-true rep with a history of sales and is dedicated to treating clients with top professionalism.
But what does this imply regarding non-AAR personnel? Can those agents be trusted? My answer is: In all likelihood,
yes
.
The AAR has four hundred agents in the organization, but there are one thousand–plus agents nationwide. So taking a strict view of the matter (such as “I need an AAR agent or bust”) is not the wisest approach. I can speak from experience: My agent, Sorche Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Representation, was not part of the AAR when I signed with her in 2008, though she joined the organization years later. If I would have turned down her offer of representation simply because she lacked three initials after her name, we wouldn’t have sold any of our six books together.
If you’re concerned about protecting yourself and your work during the query process, remember to research and look for key elements: what the agent did before agenting, if she is part of a larger agency, if she has sold any books to publishers, and if there are complaints against her online concerning any kind of fees or work practices. The initials after a name are great to consider but should not be the absolute, deciding factor.
NOTE:
You can read the entire AAR Canon of Ethics in this book’s resources section.
What I want to do in this chapter is not spell out
how
to self-publish your book but rather
how to pitch
an existing self-published work to literary agents. Doing so is a different proposition than pitching an unpublished “new” manuscript. This topic is especially relevant in today’s marketplace, as the ease of self-publishing and e-publishing has made such a path more reputable and much more common.
When you contact agents to pitch a self-published book, you must disclose that the work in question is indeed previously published, as well as through what channels it is currently available and how long it’s been out. You do not have to mention any previous self-published books that have nothing to do with what you’re pitching (though you certainly may include mentions if sales are good).
A self-published book is any book where the decision to publish the book was the author’s alone and/or the transaction involved the author paying any up-front costs for services. This includes:
Basically, if you think your book falls under the umbrella of “self-published” books, then it almost certainly does, and that means you must pitch it as one.
Pitching a self-published book to a literary agent is a tougher road to submission than other roads. That’s because when agents review a query for an unpublished novel, they’re looking for voice and story. When agents review a query for a self-published novel, they’re looking for voice and story—and they’re
also
looking for one or several good reasons why this book deserves a second life via traditional publishing. So give them those good reasons!
Agents look for factors that hint at money and success. You are trying to show that your book is head and shoulders above the other million items that are self-published each year and thus demands fresh attention. So here are four elements to include in a query letter for your self-published book that can impress an agent.
Many authors hope that, after a book is self-published and available for purchase, a literary agent will come across the work and come calling. Does this happen? Occasionally. Does this happen with any degree of regularity? Absolutely not.
Some agents make an effort to scan Amazon’s e-book bestseller lists and find hidden gems that are blowing up the charts.
In fact, this happened to Colleen Houck, author of
Tiger’s Curse
. After she e-published her book and spread the word to friends, it remarkably made its way to the number one spot on the Kindle children’s bestseller lists for seven straight weeks. Getting to that spot for just one week would have been impressive, but seven straight weeks is quite amazing. This feat attracted attention from all kinds of places. Says Houck: “Costco contacted me about selling my series in some of their stores. I was contacted by China, Thailand, and Korea to see if the translation rights had been sold. A film producer e-mailed me. My world was spinning when a literary agent contacted me. He said he’d found me on Amazon and was impressed with my reviews. Two days later I had representation at one of the top, if not the best, agency in the country, Trident Media Group. My new agent went to work immediately. Within a few weeks, I had a [traditional] book deal.”
So this possible path to an agent can indeed happen, but it’s a rarity in a marketplace glutted with self-published works. That’s why, rather than waiting for an agent to swoop in from out of nowhere and take control of your career, you should take one of three other routes with your book instead.