Say you have sent out queries to agents and now have to weigh offers from multiple agents or decide if you want one interested agent to represent you. Ultimately, your decision may come down to a matter of personal chemistry – who you would like to work with. But before you trust your intuition or gut to make the decision, find out what you can about any interested agents and weigh what that agent can do for you.
In some cases, writers living near an agent may get to meet personally, but normally a face-to-face meeting with an agent isn’t common or necessary. You can easily use the phone, fax, email, Skype, or mobile apps to communicate. And for most agents, it’s fine that you are considering multiple agents at the same time. They recognize that choosing an agent is a little like getting married or at least getting involved in an exclusive dating arrangement. Before then, the agent is assessing both your manuscript and what it will be like to work with you, just as you are assessing whether this is the right agent for you.
Normally, figure on a few days to make your assessment. In the event, you get a request from an agent for an exclusive period to look at your manuscript, such a request is rare and is usually from a smaller agent, who may not be your first choice anyway. So unless an agent asking for an exclusive really is your first choice, I would regard these requests this way. Just because the agent has asked for an exclusive, you don’t have to say “yes” to an offer of representation, and I typically regard this request for an exclusive as more like asking for a right of first refusal. You should not let such a request hold you up from following up with other agents at the same time.
Generally, there is no reason to tell other agents what other agents have expressed interest in your manuscript, just as you don’t need to tell a person on a first date about who else you are dating. The one exception is if the agents are from the same agency. Then, you need to tell both agents or if you have already sent your material to one agent, tell the agent who contacts you next that you have been in touch with this other agent. Additionally, explain that you didn’t know who to contact in that agency, and if that agent wishes he or she can talk to the first agent and they can decide between them who might like to represent you. Then, weigh that agent against any agents who have expressed interest in other agencies.
To help you determine what to do, keep a list of the agents who have expressed interest in our project, along with their agency name, website, and contact information.
Then, once you have determined what agents are interested, the next step is to do some research both by asking the agent some questions and by doing some research on the Internet. Be aware of the likely responses and what to expect.
First, there are typically standards that all agents adhere to – generally the agent’s commission is 15% for U.S. sales and 20-25% for foreign sales, since an agent will typically work through a foreign agent and share royalties, though some agents will handle foreign sales themselves. So don’t try to negotiate commission percentages.
Secondly, pay attention to any options clause or agreement for the agent to represent more than the one book or group of books, such as a trilogy, you are pitching together. In some cases, an agent will ask to represent you on all of your books now or in the future or both, until a representation agreement is terminated. I even had one agent who wanted a one year continuation of rights to a manuscript after the agreement was terminated. Ideally, start with the agent representing one manuscript and see how it goes, before committing everything to an agent. Generally, if there is any option, it’s best to limit this to a first option on future similar manuscripts, unless the agreement is terminated.
Whatever you agree about representation for one or multiple books, the agent will expect to get a commission on all future royalties on any sale to a publisher that agent contacted, even if the sale is made after the contract is terminated. In the event an agent wants to tie you into a longer relationship on future projects from the outset that can be a caution to stay away. But if the relationship works out, of course, you will want to have the agent represent you on even more projects. Ideally, though, seek to have the agent represent just one project to start, though if you have similar projects which would appeal to the same target audience, it’s fine to agree that the agent can represent them in the future, too, unless the agreement is terminated.
Third, just as an agent will want to know about your platform, you want to know about the agent’s track record. Normally an agent will be glad to tell you about successful sales to publishers. In fact, agents often have this information prominently displayed on their websites. While the sales price of different books may be confidential, you might ask about what the agent typically gets from a sale, so you have a ballpark figure of what to expect. The past track record of the agent – and how long the agent has been in business – are important qualities to consider.
Fourth, ask the agent what he or she expects to gain from your book and get a sense of how eager the agent is to represent you, since you want an agent who passionately believes in your book. Commonly, agents won’t take on a project for an author unless they believe in you and their ability to sell your book. But there are levels of passion and in the agent’s time and ability to represent you, along with other clients. So assess how committed the agent is to representing you.
Additionally, you might check out the agent on the Internet to see what others have said about that agent and if there any negative reports, such as on the website Preditors and Editors (www.pred-ed.com) . If so, any negative comments are a warning sign, though you might ask the agent about this, since the posting could be from a disgruntled writer whose book the agent wasn’t able to sell through no fault of his or her own.
Another caution is if the agent asks for any money from you or has a related business of editing manuscripts and asks you to pay for a review or for editing your manuscript. A small monetary contribution might be appropriate, should the agent have to pay for any long distance phone calls, copying or postage for sending out manuscripts, or messengering services to deliver a manuscript quickly. However, in today’s Internet age, most of these expenses no longer exist, since phone calls, except to another country, are normally free and manuscripts are commonly sent via PDF or Word documents. But if there are any small charges, often an agent will simply keep you informed and deduct them from the sale of the manuscript. In any agreement, you should be able to approve any charges over a certain amount – say $50, though most contracts now don’t require any author expenses.
In the event an agent does do editing or ghostwriting, this is fine if it’s a separate business. But an agent shouldn’t ask to edit or polish your manuscript as a requirement for representing you, since that’s a conflict of interest. Sometimes agents will at no charge give you extensive feedback about making changes in a manuscript, and then it’s up to you to make the changes. But the agent shouldn’t ask you to hire him or her as an editor, since any offer of representation should come with no strings attached – and typically agents will only want to represent a project that is ready to go – or involves very few final edits.
Finally, after you have assessed the agent based on these criteri, that’s when it’s time to listen to your intuition or gut in deciding whether you want to work with that agent. Or if there are multiple agents you might like to work with, consider how you feel about working with each of these agents, for ultimately your choice should come down a matter of personal chemistry and which agent you feel will do the best job for you based on your agent assessments.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, writes frequently about social trends and everyday life. She is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 30 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing. She writes books and proposals for clients and has written and produced over 50 short videos through Changemakers Productions. Her latest books include: TRANSFORMATION: HOW NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND SOCIETY ARE CHANGING YOUR LIFE and THE BATTLE AGAINST INTERNET BOOK PIRACY