What to look for in an agent...

So, on Monday I promised you a post about some of the things to look for in an agent. I'm not going to attempt to talk about EVERYTHING there is to know on the subject in one post, because it would take waaaay too long. There are some great resources out there if you do your research, including agency blogs. But I will touch on some of the "big" ones (at least for me). Also, thank you for your comments and questions - there were some really good ones. I will definitely have a lot to think about for Friday's answer post. And make sure and spread the word, you can still enter the contest by commenting on Monday's post for the chance to win one of two query critiques!



So, on to the post. Here are some of the important things to look for in a prospective agent.



First of all, make a list. Actually write it down, figure out what questions you want to ask and have them with you. On paper. Not just in your head. I had a list of questions printed off for when I got the call, and I'm glad I did! I never would have been able to remember everything I wanted to ask otherwise. Having all of those answers was very important when I was trying to make my decision.



Now that you have your paper and pen (or laptop) handy, here are a few things to think about asking:



What are your thoughts on my book? What did you love? What didn't you like and think needs revising? (Or something like this... basically, you need to know what his/her vision is for your book and what they have in mind for revisions.) If you sign on the dotted line without even knowing what you're getting, the revision process with your new agent might end up being brutally painful. You need to agree with your agent's vision for the book--or rather, he/she needs to have a similar vision to yours. If you feel extremely uncomfortable with what they think you need to do with the story, they might not be the right fit. When I say uncomfortable, I mean as in they don't understand my book at all -- not, whoa, that makes sense but it's going to be really, really hard. If you agree with what they have to say, even if it's hard, that's not a deal killer. Their job is to make your writing better so it will sell.



What is your communication style? (prefer email, phone, etc.) How often can I expect to hear from you while we're revising, or on submission? You need to be honest with yourself about how much communication you need from your agent, and how you want it to happen. If you really only like to talk on the phone, and want updates often, but your agent is all about emails and only when absolutely necessary, that might cause you a lot of stress and put a strain on your professional relationship. Make sure your agent communicates in a way that will keep you calm and satisfied. Now, obviously, you can't expect to have their whole world revolve around you. They actually have a job that involves (gasp!) many other authors that also need their time and attention and you might not always be the top of the list. But when it's really important, you should be. Knowing what to expect up front can really help you plan on what will work best for both of you. Your agent will appreciate knowing what you like and hope for as well, so he/she can do their best to communicate well with you.



What are you plans for revising my book? Where do you envision yourself submitting it? How widely do you plan to do your submissions? These type of questions will help you get an idea of what the agent's plans are for your book. If he/she doesn't really have any editors/houses in mind already, that should be a warning sign. Most agents will already know who they're planning on submitting the book to when they offer to sign an author. The reason they want to sign you is because they believe they can sell it. Also, by asking how widely they plan on submitting, you can get an idea of their submitting style. Do they like to submit to only a few editors at a time? Or to 10 editors or so every round? What would you prefer? Talk it over with them, to make sure you feel good about their plan.



So, these are just a few of the things that I would say are the most important things to find out about a prospective agent. Remember, at this point, you are "hiring" them. You are choosing the person who will work with you, and hopefully fight for your book(s) until they sell. Choose wisely. So what do you think? How's your list coming along?

Thinking postive for 2011

So, all you out there in the query trenches (or hoping to enter them soon), let's step back from all the fears and worries that accompany hitting send on those emails (or putting the stamp on the letters). Let's assume that 2011 is going to be YOUR year! The year you get an agent! The year all your dreams come true! How many more exclamation points can I use?!

Ahem. Anyway, so yes, let's think positive, shall we? Good. Now, what do you do when that call comes--the one where an agent tells you why they love your book enough to offer to represent you? Do you immediately scream, "Yes! Yes! Please, please send me the contract right now, I will Fed-Ex it back to you tonight!!" (See, don't ever doubt my ability to throw in more exclamation points.) By the way, the answer is NO. Big N. O. As tempting as it is to just accept the first offer you get, you need to take some time and truly make sure this agent is a good fit for you. You should have some questions prepared to ask them, and you should be prepared to give the other agents who are considering your partials or fulls a week to see if they also want to offer or not. To many of you this will be familiar territory, but to some, you might be hyperventilating right now, thinking I've lost it.

I promise I haven't. So this week, I'm going to do two posts relating to this subject: one on Wednesday about what to look for in a prospective agent, and on Friday I am going to be announcing the winners to my contest and answering some of your questions. Wait--"what contest?" you might be asking. This one:

As my Christmas present to you, I am going to offer to critique two follower's query letters. Because let's face it, you're not going to get to that agent call, if your query doesn't generate some requests, right? I'm not claiming to be an expert, but after a couple of years in those trenches I got pretty good at queries. I'm making it really easy to enter this time. Just comment on this post with one question you'd like me to answer about queries or picking an agent or something else about the query process, and you are entered! The random number generator will pick two lucky (well, hopefully my critique will be good enough to make you think you're lucky) winners to email me their queries on Friday morning. You have until Thursday night at 10:00 pm MST to enter. I know it's not as cool as a gift card, or a Kindle or something, but hopefully it will be helpful.

Happy Monday and good luck!

What to ask an agent

I got quite a lot of responses on my post about making sure you're picking the best agent for you. Many of you expressed interest in what my list would be in what to look for/ask a prospective agent. So here is the list I came up with when I was trying to decide on my agent:

1. What did you like the most about my book?
2. Do you see or want any major edits done before submitting it, or is it ready?
3. What is your editing style?
4. What is your agenting style? (Hands on? Phone calls, emails, lots of communication or minimal?)
5. How often will you be updating me regarding the status of your submissions?
6. How many editors do you plan to pitch to in the first round?
7. What editors/houses do you have in mind to pitch it to?
8. Are you interested in repping just this, or all of my future projects?
9. Do you handle subsidiary/foreign rights?
10. Do you have someone on your staff who checks royalty statements for accuracy and errors?
11. Do you have a written agreement?

Those were the main questions I came up with, and actually printed off with a pen handy for my phone conversations with agents. It helped me find out some major points to expect in our professional relationship: What are his/her thoughts on my book? Are we going to be doing major/minor/no revisions? and how does he/she prefer to revise/edit? Is this agent going to be very personable with lots of contact by email and phone, or very distant--just the basic communications, only when absolutely necessary? What is their plan for my book and my career? Is this book the only one they are interested in or do they want to be an advocate for my whole career? How will all the details of a deal be taken care of? You should have a very clear idea of what your relationship and career would be like with this agent after you get the answers to all of these questions.

However, the most important part of these questions is knowing what YOU want. What kind of agent do you want/need? If you're not sure, try answering the questions how you wish an agent would answer, and that will help you figure it out. I hope this was helpful! Any additional thoughts or questions, let me know and we can continue the discussion on Wednesday if you'd like. Hope you had a great weekend!

Look before you leap

Aspiring authors who've yet to get one all dream of one thing (or person as the case may be). Their future agent. They want an agent, and they want one now. But there is wisdom in making sure you don't just find the first agent who will say 'yes.' You need to find the agent who is right for you, and for your career.

I've spoken with a few different authors/aspiring authors who have had to part ways with their first agent at different times. Does that mean the agent was a "bad agent?" No, it doesn't. In fact, not at all. In one case, the same agent represented two different authors I know. For one author the agent did a great job selling the author's work and working together, but in the second case after about a year, it just didn't work out. Same agent. Same skills. Different authors. Different results. So again, does it mean the agent was 'bad?' Obviously not, the agent did a great job for one of the authors. What it means is that every agent is a person, not just a means to getting you published. They have personalities (gasp!), they have editing styles, they have agenting styles. And what is a perfect fit for one author, might not be for you.

So, when you are querying and get to the stage where you are getting interest in your mss, make sure you take the time to really talk to the potential agents. Talk to their authors even, if you're still not sure. Write out a list of questions that mean the most to you. If you don't know what those questions should be, sit down and write out what factors/traits are most important to you in an agent. Not sure what they should be? Maybe I'll make that a future post. Off the top of your head, what do you think is the most important factor in choosing your agent?