Agent vs. Publishing House

One of the major points about having an agent is that they know way more about which editors are likely to buy which books than you do. So if your 'chosen' publisher is a possible then it is highly likely that it will be submitted there.

My agent is far better versed as far as which editors at which imprints at which houses are likely to be interested in any of my manuscripts... IMHO you DO overstep your bounds by making suggestions. In fact I would have been really worried if my agent had asked me who to submit to...now when my book went to auction she explained the advantages and disadvantages of each offer and I made the ultimate decision...

For me, this is one of those kind-of-depends questions.

When it comes to unpublished authors I don't think an agent should ask a writer where a work should be submitted. However, when it comes to authors who have been published numerous times I think it's a logical question, especially if some or all of the authors books were published before this agent took over. I'm not saying that we know better than agents, because I don't believe we do. However, published writers may have an ace or two up their sleeve which the agent might not be aware of. In my case, my agent always asks me before submitting if there are any specific publishers I want to add to the list she puts together. I think it's good business and shows a sign of respect for the writer.

When I signed with my agent I let him know that an editor I assumed (rightly) he was planning on subbing to was one I'd worked with before, because that was important.

After he'd subbed it we were having a short discussion about what he had in mind for the second submission round (Forgot to mention, we never actually got to a second submission round, this was just preliminary thoughts about it) and I mentioned a particular editor, who acquired a particular author whose work had some stylistic similarities to mine (one who used slang and the F word almost as much as me, lol), as a "Something to think about in case" kind of thing. And he was fine with that. I think the difference there was that I had already made it clear that he knew what he was doing and I didn't , and I worded it very casually.

If you have a relationship with an editor or you met them at a conference and discussed your project or whatever, I think that's the sort of thing you should absolutely mention. Saying, "Oh, by the way, I've met so-and-so a few times and she begged me to submit to her" is fine, especially if you follow it with something like "Of course, you're the one who knows where to submit, I just thought I should mention it" and not "So-and-so wants to see it, so I'll need you to send it to her first."

Do you know what I mean?

There was a discussion on this on another board recently, and the agents agreed that it was all in how the request was made. They didn't like an author who told them in any way that implied the author was telling them how to do their jobs, but if phrased in a "would this be a good editor/house for me?" was fine.

waylander said:

One of the major points about having an agent is that they know way more about which editors are likely to buy which books than you do. So if your 'chosen' publisher is a possible then it is highly likely that it will be submitted there.

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Very true.

I had an "in" with a particular editor at a house, and suggested to my agent that it might be worthwhile to submit to him. My agent didn't take my request as pushy or inappropriate at all -- but she already had him on the submission list anyway.

He didn't buy it, though.

There's a difference between not accepting "unsolicited" mss and "unagented" ones.

In the former instance, you can send a query/proposal and if they like it and ask for more - it's been solicited. Just don't try to dump a whole ms on them.

I don't think it's a good idea to tell the agent who to submit to, even if you think you have the perfect publisher in mind. That's the agents job, and you have to trust him/her to do it right.

I wouldn't.

Trust the agent, it's what they do. Also, they have connections with specific editors and know who would be best suited for which works.

The only thing I would consider mentioning to my (future) agent is that in the case of one PB I have, 2 houses already looked at it. Other than that, the agent knows more than me, so I'll sit in the corner and be quiet. A writer writes, an agent makes the connections so the writer can write.