Leaving an Agent

I think some contracts state that if the book sells within a time period after termination (like 6 months) you have to pay them a commission. (Emphasis on 'think' because I won't swear I saw that written somewhere, and I'm too lazy to check my contract to see if it has anything of the sort in there).

ETA: I should've clarified that I meant if the book sells within that time frame to a place the agent already submitted. In other words, if your agent subs to RH and gets a rejection and then you or another agent subs to that same editor three months later and gets an acceptance, the first agent gets a commission, too. Never heard of an agreement where the agent can make money on the book even if it sells to that house three years later.

I think it's all up to the specific contract. If you don't sign a contract or agency agreement with the agent subbing your book, I don't see how you owe him anything once your relationship has terminated. If he doesn't sell the book and there's no legal record keeping him attached to it, there's no claim.

If you do sign a contract/agreement, look at the language. Many do say that if you leave Agent A for Agent X, then Agent A is still entitled to royalties for all books he's sold on your behalf. Which makes sense, really, since Agent A did the hard work for those particular books.

I don't know about "if an agent has once sent around your book, he will always be the agent of record even if another agent eventually sells it." Not heard that one before.

I think that most agency agreements stipulate that if an agent is the person who originally subbed the book, then they are the agent of record for that title should it sell based on their submission. But some might decide to be tricky - do read your agency agreement and make sure.

In other words:

Example 1: I send BOOK X to Random House, Harcourt and Little Brown. Harcourt and Little Brown reject it. You fire me. Two weeks later, Random House makes an offer. I am the agent of record.

(This is why many agency agreements have something like "30 days" before termination is official, so that we can contact publishers about all the outstanding submissions should you decide to fire us.)

Example 2: I send BOOK X to Random House, Harcourt and Little Brown. You fire me. I contact everyone, they all reject it. You get a new agent. The NEW AGENT submits it to Penguin. Penguin makes an offer. The NEW AGENT is the agent of record.

Jennifer_Laughran said:

Example 2: I send BOOK X to Random House, Harcourt and Little Brown. You fire me. I contact everyone, they all reject it. You get a new agent. They submit it to Penguin. Penguin makes an offer. They are the agent of record.

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They are the agent of record.

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They meaning the new agent or the fired old agent?

AryaT92 said:

They meaning the new agent or the fired old agent?

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I made it more clear.

My agreement sets a time frame which I consider fair enough.

popmuze said:

I never understood it to be the general protocol that if an agent has once sent around your book, he will always be the agent of record even if another agent eventually sells it.

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You're correct--that's not the protocol. The agent of record for a book is the agent whose submission resulted in the sale. The only complicated thing is, as Jennifer says, if you fired the agent between submission and sale.