tuttle
Don't flame me on this one. I am new to this board.
I am curious to this whole agent/20% commission and charging of fees
VS.
"I am the author and I shouldnt have to pay a DIME until the agent gets ,me a big fat advance from the publisher...."
Even if an agent is brand new, its his/her first day in their new office, and they had say, a dozen potential clients send them their precious stories.
If even half that signs up with this new agent, he/she said agent needs to make copies of all those stories, make follow up calls to the editors, pay the electric bill, pay the rent on the office.....
all before......
(and IF they can get one or two editors to buy the stories, which could take several months....) .....getting a dime of commission.
Now unless they have a really big loan from the bank their dipping into wouldnt it make sense to charge some kind of fee to cover some of their overhead?
And then once they get the commission then I agree that they would need to cover their own costs AND make sure they continue bringing in new clients and push for that really big sale so they have a career...
BUT....when all agents start out...
They still have the same bills as we all do.
and 20 percent of say, a 50,000 dollar advance is STILL not alot of cash flow.
Again....I would agree that AFTER they get a list of steady clients and have a career going, they shouldnt be charging fees but if an agent is new, isnt charging a couple bucks for the first few months with a writer a nessecity?
After all, this isnt just the authors career and reputation, its the agents rep on the line also.
I am curious to this whole agent/20% commission and charging of fees
VS.
"I am the author and I shouldnt have to pay a DIME until the agent gets ,me a big fat advance from the publisher...."
Even if an agent is brand new, its his/her first day in their new office, and they had say, a dozen potential clients send them their precious stories.
If even half that signs up with this new agent, he/she said agent needs to make copies of all those stories, make follow up calls to the editors, pay the electric bill, pay the rent on the office.....
all before......
(and IF they can get one or two editors to buy the stories, which could take several months....) .....getting a dime of commission.
Now unless they have a really big loan from the bank their dipping into wouldnt it make sense to charge some kind of fee to cover some of their overhead?
And then once they get the commission then I agree that they would need to cover their own costs AND make sure they continue bringing in new clients and push for that really big sale so they have a career...
BUT....when all agents start out...
They still have the same bills as we all do.
and 20 percent of say, a 50,000 dollar advance is STILL not alot of cash flow.
Again....I would agree that AFTER they get a list of steady clients and have a career going, they shouldnt be charging fees but if an agent is new, isnt charging a couple bucks for the first few months with a writer a nessecity?
After all, this isnt just the authors career and reputation, its the agents rep on the line also.