Agent Vs. Publisher

There are more agents than publishers, and many publishers only take agented submissions. If you shop your project around to all the publishers first (assuming the ones who take unagented subs), then no agents are likely to even touch it.

Cheaper? Not sure what you mean. An agent can get you better contract terms and a higher advance than you might be able to get on your own. For that they take a percentage of the money.

"Money flows to the writer."

You never pay an agent up front. Standard is 15% of your money (20% for selling certain other rights like foreign rights). The Bewares & Background Check forum has tons of information on various agents (both good and bad), plus info on publishing. I also highly recommend Jenna's The Street-Smart Writer, for a lot of great information on publishing and scammers.

DeadlyAccurate said:

"Money flows to the writer."

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This is correct, but only under conditions where money is flowing at all. Which brings up a secondary question, relevant to my own experience: If no money is flowing toward you, are you a writer?

caw

Of course you bleedin' well are! I think the accepted distinction would be that when you get pulbished you call yourself an author, meanwhile, until then, you certainly deserve to call yourself a 'writer'....that is, if you write.

Please check out the Writing Novels FAQ at the top of this forum. There are links to at least half a dozen threads on this topic. It's a great resource for recurring questions.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35603

blacbird said:

If no money is flowing toward you, are you a writer?

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Well, if it worked like that, I'd be a wri at the very most. Probably just a wr, actually.

According to my own rough calculation, for my (soon-to-be-published-by-a-real-just-small publisher) forthcoming book, I got paid around 0.01 penny (or 0.03 cent) per word; or looking at it another way, 50 Pounds Sterling / 100 American Dollars per story.

I write literary, in case you're wondering. And dammit, yes, I am a writer.

Anyone can be a writer. I think the distinctions come with "author" (person who has published a work) and "professional writer" (one who writes for money/a living).

Anyone can be a writer. I think the distinctions come with "author" (person who has published a work) and "professional writer" (one who writes for money/a living).

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I thought that everyone who tried to write was a writer. Then you are a writer if you actually write something. You are also a writer if you become one of the precious few who make money writing.

As I understood, the author distintion comes in with a completed manuscript. I doesn't matter if it never makes money, you still authored a completed work.

'Course, the writers who are successful don't care what folks call them, so long as the checks don't bounce.

blacbird said:

This is correct, but only under conditions where money is flowing at all. Which brings up a secondary question, relevant to my own experience: If no money is flowing toward you, are you a writer?

caw

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If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it...oh, wait, never mind...

I'd recommend the 2007 Guide to Literary Agents.

Comprehensive read without being to flowery or confusing.

Just my thought

There is another small dynamic that occurs with the agent/publisher question. There are some books that have such a small market that agents won't touch them. There is simply not enough money in it to bother with.

If you write books on fishing, there is a huge market for your book. If you write a book on local fishing holes in Barry's feed pond, the book may be fantastic and of interest to the 5000 of so people in the area, but would not have a market large enough to interest an agent.

Although I exaggerated the example above, you can see how the agent might not be interested. There are, however, micro publishers that would love such a niche market that would be interested. Going direct to those publishers would be a good thing.

The trick is to know your market, the people who would be interested in your book.