Do You Need An Agent in 2012?
Posted on | January 26, 2012 | 3 Comments
This is becoming a tough question to answer. If Doctor Who showed up in the TARDIS and whisked you and I back even three years I’d have said yes, you absolutely need an agent if you want a career as a writer. These days there are definite ways to make it without one.
Perhaps a better question would be “do I want an agent?” because with the rise of self publishing as a viable method of making a living it’s now coming down to personal choice as to whether a new writer goes for legacy publishing or self publishing. If you still want in to legacy publishing you will almost certainly need an agent to help you get there.
Literary agents get a bad rap from some people in the industry, especially those heavily invested in self publishing, but there is a lot an agent can do for you and I don’t think it’s wise to ignore the idea of getting an agent without knowing what they can do for you. They do charge a commission of 15%* and this commission based payment ensures an agent will always be working to get the best deal for you.
Obviously if you want to see your book printed by the big six publishers an agent is going to be invaluable in getting an editors attention and helping you navigate the contract processes and negotiations.
However that’s not all a literary agent can do for you. Every agent (at least, every good agent) will have a series of contacts in the industry that they can use to your advantage. You may need a specialist to help you with foreign sales of your work and chances are your agent will know one.
An agent can also act as a career coach, and help you with the decision making process when it comes to planning your next career move. An agent will probably tell you your planned 700 page epic about navel lint is a project best left to later in your career.
They will also keep an eye on what trends are developing in the things editors are looking for and may be able to help guide a project as you’re writing it.
If you’re self published an agent may be in your future despite what you might think at first. Let’s say your self published novel does really well and sells several thousand copies (I’ve heard the number was 2000 copies but that may well be higher now) you may want to approach a publisher to see if they’d like to take you on now that you have a proven sales record. An agent can help you negotiate the best possible deal for you, and statistically speaking deals negotiated by agents more than cover the amount paid to the agent.
Also, as above, if a foreign publisher decides they like the look of your self published book and asks to publish a local copy, you’d be foolish to try and negotiate a deal involving foreign law and publishers without the help of an expert. It’s up to you if that expert is an agent or a lawyer, but agents who specialise in foreign sales will have significantly more contacts in the local industry.
Do you have to have an agent? No, there is good money to be made going it alone. That said there is a lot an agent can do for you no matter which path you decide to follow so I would recommend keeping them in mind no matter how you tackle your career.
* You should never have to pay an agent up front. Agents work on commission only, if they ask for your money up front they’re not an agent you should be dealing with.
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January 26th, 2012 @ 5:18 pm
I don’t have an agent.
I have a few writer friends (people I actually know, not follow their blogs or tweets) who have sold to NY pubs without agents. They just submit their novels and get book deals. Dean Wesley Smith says people do that all the time; we just never hear about them. If it wasn’t for those that I’ve met doing it, I wouldn’t have believed it either.
I sold the audio rights to one of my books without an agent. I sold several books without an agent.
I can see why folks get them and hey, maybe one day I might, too. Right now, I can do what I want without one. So I do. Things might change. Always important to know what you’re doing.
January 26th, 2012 @ 10:01 pm
You had me at Doctor Who.
At TARDIS I literally swooned.
January 27th, 2012 @ 4:00 pm
I like to bathe in The Doctor’s reflected glory…