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What Literary Agents Do...
.. and how to find and work with them. Literary agents can help you find a publisher for your manuscript, guide your writing career and help with publisher negotiations.
By the way, agents don't deal with publishing poetry and short stories because there is no money in it for them. These works are usually published in literary journals -- which is a non-paying market.
Editor's Note... I've received a lot of requests for a good listing of literary agents. It seems like people are encountering agents that charge reading fees to review your manuscript. Legitimate agents never charge fees. Visit www.bookpublishingagent.com to get an up to date listing of over 350 agents for free. The great thing about this listing is that you can download it to your computer and it includes full name, address, and emails of only legitimate agents. |
Why Do You Need Literary Agents?
- Guidance. Book Agents can help provide you with guidance in approaching the correct publisher or editor for your work. The can mentor you by offering suggestions on crafting your proposal or manuscript.
- Negotiation. They can negotiate your book advance and help you understand publishing contract language. By the way, there is no standard book contract in the publishing industry.
- Subsidiary Rights. Book publishing agents can help you sell subsidiary rights of your book to other markets. Including foreign countries, movie/TV and magazine articles.
Attracting an Agent
- Conferences. A great way to meet an agent is to attend an Author's Conference. So you must be comfortable networking in large crowds.
- Query Letters. Write a query letter to an agent the same way you would to a publisher.
- Referrals. A referral is the best way to find literary agents. See if you can get a referral from one of an agent's clients -- an established author. It's easier than you think to find an author/agent client. Go to your local bookstore and find out when an author is appearing for a book signing. Talk to the bookstore staff and find an author with a similar book topic as yours. Talk to the author during the book signing and ask if you can contact his agent.
Choosing an Agent
- Review his/her client list. Request a list of major publishing contracts the agent has obtained within the past year. Every agent can obtain a few contracts over a 10 year period, only the great ones obtain contracts on a regular basis. Any successful agent will provide a list of titles sold.
- Find a Specialist. Seek out an agent that specializes in a particular genre. You can find child book agents, horror literary agents, screenplay agents etc.
- Writers Beware!!!! Be cautious with Literary Agents that charge an upfront fee for reviewing or reading your work. Some legitimate agents do charge a reading fee, because their time is valuable... but others secure most of their income from these fees and do not place titles successfully. Check the agents AAR membership and titles placed. Do not sign a Literary agent contract until you review it with your lawyer.
- Commissions. Expect an agent to receive commissions of 10-15% plus expenses.
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