Why do Agents change Agencies?

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

There was a thread on this a few years ago. Not sure where it is though.

Agents change agencies for a whole bunch of reasons. Some of them are moving up the ladder. Some want to work with friends. Some feel their clients will get more benefits at the new agency.

I'm guessing that successful solo agents who move into large agencies are doing it to provide their clients with backup should something happen to them.

Etc. Etc.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Why does anyone move from one job to another?

Better pay, better job title, better agency. Maybe it's a matter of location. Pretty much standard reasons really.

I'm just guessing here, but I think it has something to do with having contacts with publishers. Some agencies may be better connected than others.

I don't see it as having to do with pay, as 15 percent is 15 percent, and that's what all the agencies get. Except that the 15 % from a big publisher is better than 15 % from a small one. That's where the contacts would make a difference.

Night_Writer said:

I'm just guessing here, but I think it has something to do with having contacts with publishers. Some agencies may be better connected than others.

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Some agencies are more prestigious than others, for sure. But an agent's contacts are her own.

I don't see it as having to do with pay, as 15 percent is 15 percent, and that's what all the agencies get. Except that the 15 % from a big publisher is better than 15 % from a small one. That's where the contacts would make a difference.

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Agencies are paid fifteen per cent. Agents rarely are. They either get a salary plus commission, or entirely commission, but even if they're a sole trader they never get all of that fifteen per cent: there is always a cost to doing business. And having good contacts doesn't affect that.

Wow, Treehouseman, that's . . . an awfully negative perception of it. And kind of fascinating that that is where your mind went.

Every agent I've had who moved agencies did so because the new agency was better, paid better, gave them a better job title etc. And it seems in publishing in general there is a ton of moving around. I've had editors leave, publicists leave, and agents switch agencies. None of these people did any of the things you are suggesting they did. It's not suspicious for people to move around in publishing. It's very very normal. And if you want to look at it as nothing but a negative then you probably need to get out of publishing because there is no stability and it's very very rare anyone stays put. Publishing is a tough business, as authors but also on the other side of things. Yes it pays extremely well to the people at the top of the food chain (including a select few authors) but the rest of us are doing it more for the love than the big bucks. People are looking for the best possibly place for themselves and if they sense that there is no further upwards mobility, or that their job has gone stagnant, they look for the next opportunity. Like most people who work for a living.

(I should note that an agent switching agencies doesn't necessarily mean that the agent abandons their authors. Often an agent will take their authors with them to the new agency, that is if the author wants to go with them.)

Treehouseman said:

Yes, why do they, in such a short period of time? Because they are horrible? They burn bridges, can't get along well with anyone? Worn out their welcome in super quick time? Got into the big time via an agency and then moonwalked out of there?

Just one of those things to wonder about, I suppose.

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You seem to have an axe to grind, but it doesn't override the expectation to be courteous to and about all our members. That includes literary agents. You can read The Newbie Guide to Absolute Write regarding respecting your fellow writers (and that absolutely includes agents).

In terms of an answer, agents move to different agencies for pretty much the same reasons anyone changes jobs:

More opportunity to grow
More income
Spouse has a different job in a different area
Kids need better schools

Just like everyone, jobs can change for agents.

One reason can simply be that the agency for which they interned and worked as a jr. agent doesn't have any openings for a full-time / sr. agent, but another one does. So, they move.

Maybe, they're working for a smallish agency, but want to be part of a group with more prestige. They move.

Maybe, they've got friends who work for another agency and say how awesome it is over there, so they move.

Maybe it's Tuesday and no one's got extra chairs, so they play musical agency posts, instead. You might, too, if you ever had to wade through a slush pile for a few hours.

(A convenient illustration of reading slush ---> )

Treehouseman said:

Yes, why do they, in such a short period of time? Because they are horrible? They burn bridges, can't get along well with anyone? Worn out their welcome in super quick time? Got into the big time via an agency and then moonwalked out of there?

Just one of those things to wonder about, I suppose.

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It's not necessarily always a case of clashing personalities or anything scandalous. And in your OP, since you're referring to a successful young agent, I would imagine that the reason has more to do with... successful young agent = sought-after, therefore has better and better offers from various agencies? I would probably move too, if I were offered better pay, better job title, better perks etc.

As someone who has switched agents three times, only one out of those times was because of me personally not getting along with my agent. The other two times were circumstantial, so yeaaa, life happens.

Treehouseman said:

This is just a random question to satisfy a curiosity after I noticed a successful young agent skip to several big agencies over a three year period. Is working with others that hard? Or do different agencies charge different commission fees?

All replies, official, personal and acnedotal gossip welcome!

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You said it right there.
Young AND Successful.

For youth in the workforce, staying put is stagnation.

I've been interviewing for new analysts, and the good ones-- the ones with solid ideas and future plans, good contacts and great skills--they build their career by staying on the move.

They say it's not your daddy's workforce, but in reality, it's not my workforce anymore either.

For our parents, it was start a job and work there until you retire. For Gen X, it was change jobs every 5 years or so.

For those under 35, there's no stigma to changing jobs multiple times in a year.

Treehouseman said:

Yes, why do they, in such a short period of time? Because they are horrible? They burn bridges, can't get along well with anyone? Worn out their welcome in super quick time? Got into the big time via an agency and then moonwalked out of there?

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Why does anyone change jobs but stay within the same industry?

Better opportunities, change in personal circumstances that make something else a better fit, etc.

Cyia said:

<snip> Maybe it's Tuesday <snip>

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My first quick glance read "Taco Tuesday" and it occurred to me that would be an excellent reason to change jobs. Perhaps the new agency has Taco Tuesdays. Perhaps both agencies have Taco Tuesdays, but the new agency has better Taco Tuesday Toppings.

I don't think it reflects negatively on the agent or the agencies he's left.

Myrealana said:

For those under 35, there's no stigma to changing jobs multiple times in a year.

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Yes, there is. Being seen as job-hopper is not a desirable thing. The average stay at a job IS shorter for younger workers; around 2.3 years. But 3 job moves in a year would still be considered a red flag by most hiring managers.

Clairels said:

Yes, there is. Being seen as job-hopper is not a desirable thing. The average stay at a job IS shorter for younger workers; around 2.3 years. But 3 job moves in a year would still be considered a red flag by most hiring managers.

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It truly depends on the jobs and the person. I was interviewing people earlier this year, and one person had been at his current job less than three months. Red flag? Not really. I knew the company and its reputation for chewing up employees and treating them like disposable wipes. Then there are times when jobs come and go, especially contract jobs, or during times when companies expand and contract.

By the way, that person I mentioned? I hired him, and it was the best damned decision I ever made.

eqb said:

It truly depends on the jobs and the person. I was interviewing people earlier this year, and one person had been at his current job less than three months. Red flag? Not really. I knew the company and its reputation for chewing up employees and treating them like disposable wipes. Then there are times when jobs come and go, especially contract jobs, or during times when companies expand and contract.

By the way, that person I mentioned? I hired him, and it was the best damned decision I ever made.

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But that's not job hopping, it's just one job that happened to be a bad fit for the candidate. A pattern of short stays at jobs, while it will not automatically rule you out, will probably get you side-eyed. (And contract jobs are a different thing altogether).

Ask a Manager has a good explanation of job-hopping.

Clairels - I think you're mis-reading the initial post. The OP said "a successful young agent skip to several big agencies over a three year period". We don't really know what "several" means, but it certainly isn't the same thing as three different agencies in one year.

Also I dunno, it might just be where you live, but my experience with my age group tends to be more in line with what eqb is saying. These days it seems to me people get fired due to financial reasons or are hired only on short term contracts etc and go through many jobs in a short period of time (there are also my friends who were supposed to be working only part time and end up getting full time hours without benefits or the pay to allow them to quit their other part time jobs, it's insane). It really sucks and I know that many of my friends are seriously over it, but there's not much they can do about it except keep on keeping on till they finally find an employer that actually keeps them on full time.

Toothpaste said:

Clairels - I think you're mis-reading the initial post. The OP said "a successful young agent skip to several big agencies over a three year period". We don't really know what "several" means, but it certainly isn't the same thing as three different agencies in one year.

Also I dunno, it might just be where you live, but my experience with my age group tends to be more in line with what eqb is saying. These days it seems to me people get fired due to financial reasons or are hired only on short term contracts etc and go through many jobs in a short period of time (there are also my friends who were supposed to be working only part time and end up getting full time hours without benefits or the pay to allow them to quit their other part time jobs, it's insane). It really sucks and I know that many of my friends are seriously over it, but there's not much they can do about it except keep on keeping on till they finally find an employer that actually keeps them on full time.

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I didn't misread; I was specifically replying to this:

Myrealana said:

For those under 35, there's no stigma to changing jobs multiple times in a year.

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In some areas/age groups, this may indeed be normal, but it's definitely not considered desirable by most hiring managers. Obviously it sucks if you keep getting laid off multiple times through no fault of your own, but I think we're really talking more about people who deliberately choose to leave jobs after only a short amount of time search of greener pastures, etc.

But yes, that was not the situation described in the original post. One move per year for an agent might well be normal for that industry; I don't know.

Again, I really do recommend that post by Ask a Manager; she talks about what's considered normal and what isn't in terms of changing employers, and that there are exceptions (including contract work, which is a completely different situation).

For what it's worth: I am a hiring supervisor in the software development field. I don't care if someone skipped over three jobs in the last two or three years, I only care about why.

OP - agents are a lot like people, really.

Clairels said:

Again, I really do recommend that post by Ask a Manager; she talks about what's considered normal and what isn't in terms of changing employers, and that there are exceptions (including contract work, which is a completely different situation).

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It depends a lot on the field, and the area. A skilled engineer in SoCal or Silicon Valley or Seattle will find it pretty hard to stay in a job that's not offering them competitive reasons to stay vs jumping ship, and it's certainly not unusual.

What matters is your record of achievement and references.

For an academic in pursuit of tenure, it's not even a little unusual to have three different appointments in six years; that's completely normal. You're hired on two-year contracts, and your goal is to land a tenure-track job.

For an agent, it's not that big a deal; what's telling is where they came from, where they landed, and if their clients and books moved with them.

Interesting question. As someone who tends to stay in the same job (10 years in my previous job, 10 years in my current job), I don't think much about this.

I pitched to an agent in July and she changed jobs in early October. Only after I sent the query last week I realized she had moved to another agency, and one that had already rejected my previous query last year.

She has her own e-mail address and submission guidelines so I missed the change.

Treehouseman said:

Yes, why do they, in such a short period of time? Because they are horrible? They burn bridges, can't get along well with anyone? Worn out their welcome in super quick time? Got into the big time via an agency and then moonwalked out of there?

Just one of those things to wonder about, I suppose.

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I'm not an agent, but let me give you a bit of a heads up on why I changed jobs:
1. Get foot in door.
2. Gather diverse experience from different points of view/environments.
3. NOT a safe neighborhood. (Drug wars with guns outside my door every other week.)
4. Moved.
5. Advancement.
6. Better commissions.
7. And, yes, once it was about the boss being a jerk. I can usually catch the boss is a jerk at interview stage. The only reason I didn't that time was because boss wasn't in at the interview stage. Should have caught on that the boss was a jerk when they asked me if I could get along with anyone, but truthfully, I was young, and up to that point, I could get along with anyone.

Carrie in PA said:

My first quick glance read "Taco Tuesday" and it occurred to me that would be an excellent reason to change jobs. Perhaps the new agency has Taco Tuesdays. Perhaps both agencies have Taco Tuesdays, but the new agency has better Taco Tuesday Toppings.

I don't think it reflects negatively on the agent or the agencies he's left.

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I'd quit over Taco Tuesdays, unless they don't mind me BYOing. lol