Agent Pros and Cons

Personally, the biggest pro is:

An agent deals with all the aspects of the business (marketing, negotiation of contract & deadlines, keeping up with who's publishing what, who's with what house, etc.) that I am either unable to do or uninterested in doing. This frees me to put the majority of my attention on producing quality books.

To me there is no cons to having an agent, as long as the agent is worth their salt. There are no guarantees in this business at all (having an agent doesn't guarantee a sale, but having a sale doesn't guarantee getting the next one either). They're doing work that needs to be done that I don't or can't take the time to do or could do as well. To me, that's just a total win without any cons.

YMMV, of course.

Remember Toni that an agent doesn't just negotiate contracts. They sell foreign rights, film rights, and can also look over your MS and help you improve it. They also act as a intermediary between you and your editor if things go wrong. The foreign rights thing to me is the biggest deal, because I would have no idea where to start with that stuff.

The only con I can think of is "a bad agent is worse than no agent" deal. But then it isn't as if you are really working with a proper agent in the first place. And yes, an agent might not be able to place your work, but like with my friend, they can still nurture you as an artist, and then suggest to an editor that you write a novel on spec. And then sell the novel. My friend got a two book deal from Harper Collins that way, and she's a first time author.

Yes, agents are really connected up in the business and have their ears to the ground, even for spec projects. Publishers routinely check in with them and ask about their list--talent, style, availablility and so on. My agent tossed a bunch of Tokyo Pop projects at me to see if I was interested in participating in some novelizations. Pretty good money. Unfortunately, I failed the style test and had to be X'd off the list. But it was an opportunity that I wouldn't have found myself, that's for sure.

My agent is my beta reader. He'll know if I have a great plot or something commercial, and will stop me from wasting my time if I'm writing something that has no market base or has limited appeal. He'll gear me toward my strengths and the genre where I shine the best.

Tri

To me there is no contest, at this point in my career there are no cons.

I'm trying to think of a 'con.'


Nope; not coming.

Right now, my agent has my thriller full out to 3 houses, and partials at 4 more. I'm revising my mystery per her suggestions (very good ones). She's contacted three editors about the mystery, ALL of whom want the full when I finish revising.


These are houses who wouldn't recognize my existence if I clubbed them over the head with a frying pan and proceeded to saute them with mushrooms and onions. But they talk to my agent.