1) my agent did all the marketing to editors work for me after working with me on a sellable proposal. I didn’t have to do research, learn the names of relevant editors, figure out what kinds of proposals sell. If you don’t know how to do this work yourself, trying to find an agent to do it is smart.

2) my agent also knew a lot more about my contract than I did. For example: she knows the industry standard for ebook rights. She’s protecting me about things I didn’t even know what it means.

3) People like Ty who want an agent but don’t have one should consider writing to authors who have published similar books. Especially less well known authors who will likely have time to respond and will probably recommend (or not if the person is bad) their agent – meaning choose someone who is more realistically in a similar boat to where you might find yourself. You don’t have to know somebody to ask for their advice.

1. At what point in the process do you get an agent? If it is after the offer on your first book, is this seen as a negative by the publisher?

2. Is there a printed source for reputable, trustworthy agents beyond author recommendation?–I don’t know many (read: any) published authors.

3. What sorts of things should be in an author/agent agreement? (escape clauses etc.)

4. What is the typical percentage fee for agents? (10-15%?) — Is this a one-time fee or an ongoing royalties fee? (forgive my naivety)

Much appreciated.
Ty

[Dan] Here’s a quick story from David Hartwell to finish this up, because I thought this was wonderful. We’re talking about first-time authors specifically. He said as a first-time author, really, 50 to 100% of what you’re selling to an editor is yourself rather than your book. An agent can’t sell that for you.

[Me] 50-100%? Aren’t editors looking at your manuscript more than your website, etc. if you’re a first time author? David Hartwell knows the reality from his perspective–obviously–but I still find this a bit shocking and hard to understand. How much can an editor learn about the author before publication, and if that’s such a great focus then why aren’t they asking for you to do more to prove how Cool you are rather than reading your manuscript to see if they think the book is good and marketable?

I thought this tidbit was one of the most interesting and somewhat puzzling things in the podcast.

I’ve read this some time ago at Tobias Buckell’s blog, and I think it has some relevance to the conversation. I don’t think that anyone would claim this is a scientific survey, but the results are compelling.

Here are the results from a survey of writers by Mr. Buckell:
First Novels: Agented vs. Unagented:

58% of our first time novelists had an agent, the other 42% sold the book without an agent, and a high number indicate they got agents right after or during the sale of the book.

The range in agented advances is from $1500 to $40,000

The median agented advance is $6000 (the average is $7500)

The range in unagented advances is from $0 to $15000

The median unagented advance is $3500 (the average is $4051)

These figures have noticeable differences any way you look at them. Not having an agent looks to cost one well more than the agent’s percentage on average, and certainly most of the higher ranging figures come from people with agents.

note: Geoff Landis points out that the reverse may be true, agents may not choose to represent clients with lower advances.

Here’s the entire article: http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2005/10/05/author-advance-survey-version-20/

Rafael, Yes and no. Some agents do and some don’t. That’s what I take from Dean’s points. I’m sure all have their own editor friends and that may be 6 or 60 editors. Some are relying on Publisher’s Marketplace for their research, which any writer can access for the same monthly fee that agents pay.

For a small membership fee after geting your first contract(offer), Authors Guild offers a contract review service for free as well as a guideline of standard clauses and what they mean and recommendations as well.

So, between Authors Guild and Publisher’s Marketplace, you can probably be about as savvy as many average agents.

You can also find critique groups that may be every bit as effective at giving you feedback on your writing that an editgent could.

This is not to say that an agent can’t help you with all these things, and might well be very good at all of them, but you should be aware when an agent is holding you back, too.

Dean is pointing out the ways an agent can hold you back. It will seem like the agent is helping you. If you think the only way you can sell is through an agent, you have already let them hold you back.

The mantra that Dean(& Kris) preaches at all of his workshops is that “You are responsible for your career”.

If an agent never submits your books, that’s your fault. If you sign a bad contract, that’s your fault.

Dean’s posts raise awareness of the potential pitfalls of the writer\agent relationship, and I think that is a good thing.

Having an agent doesn’t mean that you don’t have to engage in the business side of writing. If you make writing a career (part-time or full time) you will have to deal with it. The trick should be finding an agent that is compatible to your wants and needs. Then again, just getting an agent to look at your stuff is hard enough, so I understand the underlying frustration.

Wow, great, I’m so excited! Now, before we talk terms, I must secure representation. I’ll get back to you ASAP.

Thanks for posting this quote, from the horse’s mouth as it were.

Everybody, both Kris Rusch and Dean Smith advise writers to secure professional services…. after there is an offer already on the table.

Because when an author has a contract on the hoof, the author has power. Howard told an anecdote in the podcast about an agent going back and re-working an already-signed contract, so that it was more favorable for the author in question. This could only be done because the publisher had already put out the contract in the first place, which gave the author — and eventually the agent — something to bargain with.

An unsold writer with an unsolicited manuscript and no offer on the table, comes to an agent with nothing to bargain with. He or she has no power, and frankly, given the recent history of agentdom et al, that’s not necessarily a good thing for the writer. Agent is liable to give the writer the runaround, or commit any number of other bass-ackwards sins, regarding the author-agent relationship. It’s this bass-ackwardness that Dean (and Laura and Kris and others) rail against: authors letting themselves get put into bad working relationships with agents because authors aren’t protecting their interests and are letting agents make all kinds of choices and get away with all kinds of (bad) behavior that is inappropriate for an employee of the author.

If Dean is inflammatory, it’s only because he (and Laura and Kris) often feels like he’s the only guy in the room willing to point out the pink elephant. He’s been writing and selling since before many people listening to Writing Excuses were born. His experience and knowledge predate the Blogger Agent era by a good whack, and he remembers what it was like before lots of young agents got it into their heads that it was their job to control writers: what we write, how we write, where our stuff gets sent, if it gets sent out at all, etc, etc.

Agents have definite uses and a defined role, in the old model. It’s when we as authors allow them to step beyond their defined role that problems — big, career-killer problems — can and do occur.