DO YOU NEED AN AGENT?
Terry Burns
The Agent/Author Relationship: How to Work with an
agent and decide when you need one.
A. WHY
SHOULD YOU HIRE AN AGENT?
·
Agents serve as
the initial screen, filtering out inappropriate, inept and near-miss
projects. Good agents match projects
with prospective publishers, saving the editors from having to wade through
worthy submissions that just aren’t right for their imprints.
·
Agents know which
editor at a given house is most likely to give you a receptive reading. Here are some things an agent will do for
you:
1.
Sending your work
to the right editor
2 Helping you choose the right publisher
& editor
3 Negotiating the terms of your contract
4. Making sure the publisher keeps you informed
on the book’s progress.
1. Editorial contact
·
Agents build
relationships with editors. They get to
know the acquisition editors and gain credibility with editors. They meet with editors at CBA and sometimes
visit the publishing houses.
·
The author can
meet editors at Writers Conferences, some writers know as many editors as
agents do. If you’re writing for several lines you may need help in managing
the submissions.
2. Business Management.
·
An agent typical
can get a larger advance and royalty rate for you. The average advance for
first-time authors is $3,000 - $10,000 in the CBA or
·
Subrights - TV & Film rights, foreign rights, reprint
rights, audio rights, serialization rights, book club sales, on-line electronic
rights.
·
Revision suggestions. Pre-press information. Many times authors feel more comfortable
having the agent make inquiries about the book - how it’s selling, how large the printrun, options.
·
The agent can
negotiate multiple book deals with publisher.
·
Response time is much
quicker for an agent
3. Career Development
·
The right agent
can help your career development by associating your talent with future deals
·
The agent can act
as a sounding board for the author, give suggestions, and provide specific
input to keep you selling. There is a lot of value in being able to discuss
your manuscripts with a professional.
·
Perhaps the best
criterion for measuring agents is communication. You should feel your agent expresses an
understanding of your work & your goals.
·
Because the
fiction field has become so competitive, and publishers are so busy, more and
more are relying on agents. For
publishers, agents act as “first readers”.
·
It used to be
that editors were allowed to develop authors.
Now publishing is so “Market Driven” the editors don’t have time for
this anymore. It’s up the agents.
4. Expectation level
·
It can take
months, even a year or more to sell a manuscript.
·
The best way to
work with an agent is to be a team player.
·
Give the agent
your very best work, know the market and the Publishers
B. The Proposal
·
What are the
components of the proposal?
§
Cover Letter
§
Title Page with
your name and address
§
Summary for
fiction/chapter by chapter summary for non-fiction
§
Bio/vitae
§
First 3 chapters
(actual ms so agent can see if formatting is proper
§
The “slug” (the
title of the book, your name and page numbers) Even when you e-mail the
proposal.
§
Research/ Market
analysis -What is the competition - write a few lines about five or six books
similar to yours and tell me why yours is different
§
Finally who has
seen or currently has the book? This information will not be used with a
publisher but is critical for an agent to know in evaluating a proposal and
know where he or she stands in marketing the work. The proposal should all be
in one file, not each item as a different file.
C. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A PUBLISHER?
1.
Does the
publisher market the books? Does he
advertise? Does he use a publicist or
have an in-house one? What about covers
- does he keep up-to-date with trends in covers? Does he have a good reputation
in the industry? Does he have sales reps/marketing people? What are subsidy publishers or POD publishers? Do they actually distribute the books or just
print them.
3. Physical
preparation of the Manuscript.
a. Most will be
wanting the ms in Microsoft Word, it's the industry standard.
b.
Printed on a
laser printer or ink jet on uneraseable bond. Do not use a dot matrix printer.
c. Double-spaced (no
extra space between paragraphs, indent 5 spaces)
Don’t use italics or
bold, underline for emphasis. Don’t
justify the right hand margins. Most
editors prefer New Times Roman (12 pt).
Number each page consecutively.
(Don’t start over each chapter.
Don’t staple, bind the MS, and don’t punch holes.
d. Consider hiring an
editor to edit the work, they can make a “B” manuscript an “A”
D. FINANCIAL
1. Fees
- Controversial
§
§
Most large
agencies will take few first-time authors.
They do not usually charge published authors
2. Most agencies charge for postage and
photocopying, some for phone calls charges, always for Federal Express (overnight)
F. THE
AGENTS COMMITMENT TO YOU
§
A definition of
the represented property. What is included.
§
What is the
agent’s commission?
§
Rates for
subsidiary rights & sales
§
A clear statement
of accounting practices involved. Does
the agent have an escrow account for author’s monies.
§
Will the money be
forwarded promptly?
§
The agent must
inform the author about all offers relating to publication and licensing.
§
There needs to be
a clear statement of what expenses the agency will pay and which ones the
author will pay for, i.e. copies of the proposal or manuscript, postage, long
distance phone calls, Fed EX or UPS charges.
§
Will the agent
send copies of all correspondence relating to the MS to the author?
§
Will
the agent should notify the author
about all conversations concerning the book?
§
There should be a
provision of how the author-agent relationship can be terminated by either
person.