Is this normal for an agent?

AustinCBrown · Dec 12, 2007

Hello all,

I'm a first-time author trying to line up an agent. Right now I have one who is very interested, but I'm not sure what to think of this individual's approach. He has read the first five chapters of my nonfiction, humorous memoir, liked what he has read, and now wants to move forward with me by helping me write up a nonfiction book proposal.

We talked on the phone about this and are, in fact, moving forward. But it seems really strange to me that he doesn't want to read the rest of the manuscript. Naturally, I inquired into his reasoning and he told me that this is simply how he operates. I was kind of like, "Ok, but, uh, ok..."

Should I insist that he read the rest? I hate to waste his time if later on he wants me to change something (a fundamental change) that I'm just not willing to budge on. But then again, I'm a noob. Maybe this is normal.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Austin

Maryn · Dec 12, 2007

Austin, I'm not even slightly knowledgeable about agents or non-fiction, but my understanding is that the norm is to submit a proposal for non-fiction to potential publishers rather than the full manscript, because they may want you to make changes in it before they'd consider purchase.

Assuming you trust your agent with good reason (not simply because he likes your stuff), this seems okay to me.

Maryn, willing to bow before actual knowledge

Doodlebug · Dec 12, 2007

I can't offer much advice on agents, either, but my first instinct would be to check the person out to make sure that he/she is reputable. Have you looked the agent up on P & E?

Siddow · Dec 12, 2007

Austin, has he signed you as a client? Have you checked this agent out in Bewares, googled his name, hit Preditors and Editors?

I don't think it's unusual to work up a proposal before seeing the rest of the work, but it's my understanding that memoirs are treated more like novels--meaning they usually read the whole thing first.

Hopefully some of our published memoirists will come along and tell about how it happened for them.

victoriastrauss · Dec 12, 2007

I've moved this to Ask the Agent, where I think it's more appropriate. Austin, you might want to pose your question to Nathan Bransford, our resident agent, who has his own thread at the top of the forum.

Since a lot of nonfiction is sold on the basis of a proposal and samples (rather than an entire ms.), this doesn't sound out of line to me, as long as the agent is not planning to charge you for working on the book proposal.

- Victoria

AustinCBrown · Dec 12, 2007

Thank you all...

No, he's not charging me anything, and so far as I can determine, he's a legit agent with a legit agency.

Well, maybe this is normal after all. He did stress the fact that nonfiction books sell primarily because of very good book proposals (at least for us normal human beings).

Hey, I really appreciate your responses. It's nice that there is a community of writers to approach with questions like this.

Thank you,

Austin

RoccoMom · Dec 13, 2007

I believe most nonfiction books are sold on the strength of the proposals, rather than the actual mansucript. I could be wrong, though.

Donna Pudick · Dec 13, 2007

Even with non-fiction, I don't see how an agent can make a judgment on a partial. Once the agent has the full and has approved it, s/he would be the one to send out a partial/proposal to the publishers. (I love sending out partials. They save a lot of time and effort and I can see why publishers like them so much.) For the most part, I make my authors write their own proposals. I give each a list of what should be in one, then maybe tweak it a little when it comes in. NO FEES! Different publishers require different elements in a proposal, so the agent has to know which elements to send to which publisher.

Often, if the publisher wants to see a full, the agent must have one handy to send out. If the book isn't finished, that's impossible.

There are exceptions, such as books on photography, how-to's, art books, etc. But a memoir usually requires at least a rough-draft full.

D

Irysangel · Dec 13, 2007

I don't know that I necessarily agree with "An agent can't tell from a partial." I know my agent called me immediately after reading my partial and synopsis. We talked for an hour, and he wanted to discuss representation then. It wasn't official representation - he wanted to see the full manuscript just to make sure he wasn't incorrect - but stuff like this isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Andrew Zack · Dec 19, 2007

Selling on a proposal is much easier than selling on a full, plus it is so much faster. Given the choice of taking a full nonfiction manuscript and trying to sell it, or taking three chapters and working with the author to polish, polish, polish and then put them in a proposal and pitch that, I'd take the latter any day.

Z

Old Hack · Jan 6, 2008

Yep, I've sold several non-fiction titles on proposal only (some even without sample chapters), and have never had to write more than a couple of chapters before going for the sale.

Fiction, however--that's an entirely different animal.

Is this normal for an agent?

AustinCBrown

Maryn

I Tried

Doodlebug

Siddow

I'm super! Thanks for asking

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess

AustinCBrown

RoccoMom

Donna Pudick

Irysangel

She of Many Names

Andrew Zack

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman