The Creative Writer's Survival Guide: Advice from an Unrepentant Novelist

Agents

106 Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The relationship between the agent and the writer is often a curiously intimate one. Emotionally intimate, that is. You speak to your agent regularly; you e-​ mail daily during certain stages of the bookselling process; you call on your agent to defend you when a conflict arises with your editor; you want sympathy from (or get frustrated at) your agent when your book isn’t selling; and you celebrate with your agent when good things happen in your career. And yet, since you are only one of many clients, there are times, especially when you feel you’re not getting as much attention from the agent as you deserve, when you’ll sulk like a spurned lover. We forget sometimes that the agent-​ author relationship is a professional one. If the author always wants more than the agent can provide—round-​ the-​ clock emotional support, perhaps, or second-​ by-​ second updates on a book submission—the agent may feel the need to break things off with the author. On behalf of all agents, I would like to remind you that, should you sign on with an agent, you won’t be her only client. Yes, getting a book deal is important, but your agent shouldn’t be the person you depend upon to fulfill your emotional needs. For that, I recommend getting a dog or a cat instead. Below are the most common questions I’m asked about agents. What Does an Agent Do? A lot of younger writers (and, again, “younger” here means less experienced) think that getting an agent is the golden ticket to book publication. Let me dispel that myth. Having an agent guarantees nothing. Even the best agents can’t sell every book they agree to take on. An agent attempts to sell your book. Before she starts shopping it around, the agent may make editorial suggestions on your manuscript and ask for a revision.The amount of revision an agent asks for will vary rather dramatically from agent to agent. Bear in mind that many agents are former editors. It’s not uncommon for editors to become agents after they’ve lost their editorial jobs during corporate downsizing or mergers. And if you’re a writer who wants an agent who’ll take the time to comment on your work, you should try to find one who used to acquire books for a living. Getting Published 107 Once your manuscript is ready to be sent off, the agent puts together a list of editors who might be interested in the book. How do they know who might be right? Agents get to know editors’ likes and dislikes by familiarizing themselves with the other books the editors have acquired and by socializing with them. Oftentimes, an agent will get to know a few editors’ preferences so well that she’ll sell most of her books to those three or four editors. Friendships in this business sometimes go a long way. Of course, the editor still needs to get approval from an editorial board, so getting an editor excited about a book is only the first step toward publication, and as I can attest, hopes can get dashed prettydamned fast, especially when the editor is the only one who loves your book, or if no one else at the publishing house sees how the book can be marketed. If, however, an editor gets the green light to make an offer, the agent tries to negotiate for more money. Even when there’s no other offer on the table, my agents have usually been able to push the advance up some and, in one instance, by as much as fifty percent. It’s always easier, of course, to get publishing houses to pony up more money when there are other offers on the table. The agent will also negotiate to retain certain rights, as well as various terms within the contract that would otherwise favor the publisher. (The publisher ’s contract always favors the publisher in every regard until the agent begins picking it apart, clause by clause.) Contracts are written in the foreign language of legalese, and as often as I’ve read over contracts, I still can’t make heads or tails out of them. The contracts are especially tricky these days in regard to two issues: electronic rights (which are always evolving, especially now with handheld readers) and what constitutes a book being out of print (short-​ run digital printing, which is used...