TOM BIRD'S WRITER'S ROUNDTABLE
Birdwise News from Tom Bird Seminars
Volume 9 Issue 2, February 23, 2005
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Letter From Tom: The Thirteen Points to Keep in Mind When
Working with Literary Agents - Hot Agents
LETTER FROM TOM: THE THIRTEEN POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN WORKING WITH LITERARY AGENTS
There is no greater emotional stumbling block on the road to getting a new writer’s book published than the acquisition of the right literary agent, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Most new authors simply allow their insecurities to dictate their actions. Thus, they make unusually poor decisions not only in their choice of the right agent, but also in what they expect from that representative and how they conduct business with that person as well. So I thought you would benefit from me going over my thirteen points to keep in mind about working with literary agents.
- You need one.
Simply put, the finest publishers in the land will not agree to even consider reviewing your writing unless you are represented by one. - Keep in mind that a literary agent provides three basic services:
a) A literary agent is a commissioned-based salesperson—in other words, they don’t make any money unless they sell something for you, and if they do land a sale for you, they receive a 15% commission. b) They help you refine your material for submission to publishers—though they are willing to less and less all the time (see below). c) They serve as your literary legal counsel—in short, they negotiate and enforce your contracts with a publisher. - As time goes on, literary agents are doing less and less of other roles so that they can concentrate more and more on sales. Back when I first got in this business twenty-two years ago, you could depend on literary agents to nurture you along and help you develop your potential and your material. Not any more. Mirroring the publishing industry as a whole, agents are doing less and less. Yes, there was a time when you could toss your potential as a writer into the hands of an agent or editor and that person would mold you into the author you could become. With more and more books being published every day, and less persons around both on the literary agent and publishing level to do so, more of the responsibility to bring out your own potential and insure that your writing has been both copyedited and potentially style edited falls on your shoulders. Thus, if you are serious about making writing either your primary or one of your professions, I strongly suggest that you build a stable of worthy editors around you. Of course, how to do that is an entire column in itself. So I will devote my column to that next month.
- Don’t confuse your literary agent with your therapist. I know that emotionally writing a book and then attempting to get it published is a very big step for you, but that doesn’t mean that your literary agent is responsible for tending to your psyche during that time. They sell books for you—period. If the one you have happens to become a good friend to you somewhere along the way, great, but either way, literary agents are not qualified to fill the role of a mentor, therapist, or good friend. Confused expectations by new authors in this regard kills more potentially productive relationships than anything else.
- Red flag any literary agents who a) Charge reading fees; b) Charge editing fees or c) Overcharge for expenses. (You should only be charged for mailing and telephone costs). At present, there is just not a strong enough inner governing body of ethics in the arena of literary agents to keep you from being taken advantage of, so you are in the position of having to watch out for yourself. What it boils down to if a literary agent attempts to push through any of the above, he or she is either a really poor salesperson, which is why this person needs to subsidize their income with any of the above fees, or he or she is a fraud. Of course, if failure and pain is what you are into, this sort of individual will provide you with more of that then you can handle.
- Keep your eye open for the ones who are just about to peak and those who are hot. Big ticket sales are a game of momentum and, oftentimes, the best and most accessible agent for a new writer are those who are just about to taste the extent of their own full potential for the first time. That would translate to those agents who are selling like crazy, and each one of their sales lands them closer and closer to big six or seven figure advances, but who is not yet a consistent producer at that level. Land one of these persons as your representative and his or her momentum will be a quick trip to the top for you as well. Also, check into recent sales. How many books has he or she sold over the last year or two, and for how much were they sold? Agents run hot and cold at times, and there’s nothing worse than being strapped to a cold streak. You can track an agent’s sales by checking out the Deal List on PublishersMarketplace.com. Simply plug in an agent’s name and all his or her sales over the last few months will pop up.
- Beware of the demand for exclusive rights to the review of your material. At times, agents will ask for exclusive rights to review your material, which means that they are only willing to look at your work if you agree that no one else will be given the opportunity to review it. That’s just downright unfair and, somewhere along the line, it is also probably unconstitutional. Stay away from an agent who makes this demand. Not only is it unfair to you to be prohibited from considering other representatives, but is it also a red flag that the agent making the demand is possibly not up to the caliber of his or her colleagues or is just flat out unethical.
- Beware of those who refuse to consider multiple submissions. What goes for an agent demanding exclusive review rights to your material also goes for this as well.
- The type of contract offered tells a lot about a literary agent. Basically there are three types of contracts offered by a literary agent: a) Time based agreements for the exclusive representation of your material (usually two years in length). b) Per-project based agreements. c) Open-ended agreements. The first two forms of agreements oftentimes breed complacency and often have to be bought out of if a working relationship with an agent goes bad. The last form of agreement, which offers you maximum freedom to stay or leave an agent as you please without having to compensate he or she an extra percentage for changing representatives, is offered by only the finest and most productive agents—a good point to keep in mind.
- Make sure that your writing will be out of an agent’s office within ten days. How quickly an agent can guarantee you that your work will be out of his or her office and in the hands of publishers is indicative of how valuable of a commodity you are to that person—period.
- Your writing should go out to as many publishing houses as possible. This is where a little research on your end is necessary. Go to the library and spend some time with the Literary Marketplace (LMP) or take a trip to a large, national chain book store. Chart exactly how many publishers you can find who publish the type of material you are writing, which is the number your agent should be considering sending your work to. Ideally, you want your material to go out at the same time to as many top-notch publishers as possible, offering you the opportunity to receive multiple bids to purchase the rights to your work. Anything less is a disservice to you and your valuable work.
- Get an idea of how much money an agent is looking for. Even though agents are oftentimes extremely hesitant to share with you the type of money he or she feels they will be able to land for your projects, it is your right to know, so ask. If an agent is hesitant to reply, that is either because he or she has no idea (not a good thing) or because the representative doesn’t want to risk disappointing you (another not so good thing). Nail them down, otherwise, when it all comes to a head, you won’t have any idea whether you received the best deal possible and if the best job possible was done by your rep or not.
- Nail down your agent on how long it will take the sale of your book to be completed. This is simply more information you need to know to be able to conduct business efficiently and intelligently on your end. On nonfiction, an agent should be able to get you a deal within two months at the latest. Fiction—since an entire manuscript usually has to be submitted and reviewed—look more around six months. If an agent can’t sell your material in either of the allotted periods of time, it is either because there is something wrong with the agent and his or her approach, or with your work.
Here are some thumbnail sketches on some of the hotter agents/agencies I have come across in the last month or so. Most of the following have websites or pages on PublishersMarketPlace.com. I strongly suggest doing more research on your own before contacting them. I just wanted to give you a “heads up” about why an agent or agency was particularly hot right now. I hope this is of assistance to you.
Agents quickly rising to the top:
Mary Rusoff, mrusoff@rusoffagency.com. I did some checking recently, and Ms. Rusoff is selling all kinds of interesting works to a variety of publishers. As with all agents I am listing here, do some of your own research before approaching them, but I would say that she is an agent whose coattails you could potentially ride to the top.
Sam Hiyate, sam@therightsfactory.com. I would put Sam, who worked for a large agency before leaving to open up his own, in the same category as Ms. Rusoff.
David Kuhn, billy@kuhnprojects.com. Just about to come into his full potential.
Robert G. Diforio, d4eo@optonline.net. Bob has been selling consistently and well for quite sometime, but he appears to be peaking with the sale of a children’s work, his first book to hit the NY Bestseller List.
Old Reliables:
Susan Golomb, susan@sgolombAgency.com. With twenty-two deals in the recent past, Susan is always one of the hottest and most efficient agents in the business.
William Morris Literary Agency, www.wma.com. Always one of the most respected and bestselling agencies.
Jane Rotrosen Literary Agency, www.janerotrosen.com. Ditto as well
International Creative Management (ICM), www.icmtalent.com. Double ditto.
Richard Pine, Richard@arthurpine.com. Has closed thirty-two deals in the relatively recent past. Handles a lot of different material as well.
Janklow, Nesbit, www.janklow.com. Strong, efficient, successful, diversified.
Russ Galen, russelgalen@scglit.com. Russ actually worked in conjunction with my first agent, Scott Meredith.
Robert Gottlieb, gottliebassistant@tridentmediagrolup.com. Has had twenty-five deals recently—one of the best.
Heide Lange, Sanford Greenberger Literary Agency. Heide has been highly successful for decades but she could be considered the hottest of the hot because she currently represents Dan Brown of the DaVinci Code.
Nicholas Ellison, www.sjga.com. One of the best fiction agents for a long time.
Writers House, www.writershouse.com. One of the best in all fields for a long time.
I’ll have more for you next month.
-Tom
