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- Aug 5, 2013
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Dear AW community,
I am new here (never posted but read others’ posts quite a lot) and would very much appreciate your input. I am in the fortunate position of having to choose between two agents who have offered representation. One is a new agent who is just starting to build her list, but she works at a legendary agency that has a star-studded cast of award-winning literary writers, a few of whom are personal writer “heroes” of mine. The new agent does not represent these writers (her boss and founder of the agency does). She herself has no sales and only a couple of years of experience working as an assistant at literary agencies. But the agency is very small and the main agent will assist her on deals, from what I understand. The majority of the writers represented by this agency are prize winners and/or literary fiction bestsellers. The agency has many contacts in the literary fiction genre, though my work tends to cross genres.
The other agent is very experienced and works at a highly regarded agency. Most of the bestselling/award-winning novelists at this agency are represented by another agent, but the offering agent also has at least one high profile, well-respected client in the literary world who is not a “hero” of mine but whose work I generally admire. Though I can’t be certain, it looks like this particular agent mostly represents midlist writers, not bestsellers, and very few of them have won any literary prizes.
All other things being equal (enthusiasm about work, etc.), how important is overall literary agency reputation when making the decision about which agent to sign with? Is it important to respect and admire the work of your agent’s other clients (or the clients associated with the agency as a whole)? Is it ever to the writer’s benefit to be associated with prize-winning writers through their agency connection alone? Does this increase the chances of becoming an award-winning author yourself?
This is a tough decision for me because one agent is new/untested (but associated with an amazing agency that represents writers I revere) and I'm worried that going with her might be a risk due to her newness, and the other agent is experienced and enthusiastic about my work but her client list generally doesn't excite me.
Thanks in advance for your insight and advice.
I am new here (never posted but read others’ posts quite a lot) and would very much appreciate your input. I am in the fortunate position of having to choose between two agents who have offered representation. One is a new agent who is just starting to build her list, but she works at a legendary agency that has a star-studded cast of award-winning literary writers, a few of whom are personal writer “heroes” of mine. The new agent does not represent these writers (her boss and founder of the agency does). She herself has no sales and only a couple of years of experience working as an assistant at literary agencies. But the agency is very small and the main agent will assist her on deals, from what I understand. The majority of the writers represented by this agency are prize winners and/or literary fiction bestsellers. The agency has many contacts in the literary fiction genre, though my work tends to cross genres.
The other agent is very experienced and works at a highly regarded agency. Most of the bestselling/award-winning novelists at this agency are represented by another agent, but the offering agent also has at least one high profile, well-respected client in the literary world who is not a “hero” of mine but whose work I generally admire. Though I can’t be certain, it looks like this particular agent mostly represents midlist writers, not bestsellers, and very few of them have won any literary prizes.
All other things being equal (enthusiasm about work, etc.), how important is overall literary agency reputation when making the decision about which agent to sign with? Is it important to respect and admire the work of your agent’s other clients (or the clients associated with the agency as a whole)? Is it ever to the writer’s benefit to be associated with prize-winning writers through their agency connection alone? Does this increase the chances of becoming an award-winning author yourself?
This is a tough decision for me because one agent is new/untested (but associated with an amazing agency that represents writers I revere) and I'm worried that going with her might be a risk due to her newness, and the other agent is experienced and enthusiastic about my work but her client list generally doesn't excite me.
Thanks in advance for your insight and advice.