Author / Agent Contracts

You can ask, but I doubt the agent will comply. Fifteen percent U.S. is standard, twenty for foreign, so I don't understand why you'd want an agent to lower his or her rate. What would be their incentive for doing so? Agents are in high demand, writers are not, so your request is a losing proposition. But like I said, you can try.

Other "stuff" in the contract might be considered, I suppose, depending on what it is. My agency's contract states they will represent everything I write, and I'm good with that, but not all writers would be if they want a different agent for nonfic or something. My contract is pretty boiler plate, really.

I wouldn't ask, much less demand, a lowering of commission rates. If the agent takes the standard 15%, or even 20%, it's not a case of him/her making money out of you as much as you getting 85% or 80% out of a sale that agent may make for you. Without an agent, you stand very little chance of making anything.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but let's face it, you are not in a position to demand anything, at least not now. You are desperate to get a good agency to represent you - the agency isn't desperate to find an unpublished writer to represent. Forget about discussing the agent's commission rates. Either accept or don't. If you don't accept her rates don't tell her that's why you aren't signing with the agency. As has been said here many times over, the big publishing world is actually very small.

What agency is it?
Commissions are industry standard - 15% North american and 20% foreign-
You are not talking about very many dollars here... PM some of us authors and tell us the agent/agency...
Even William Morris gave me an option of no contract- it isn't really an issue until they sell your book..

Your agent works for you and your career. Legitimate agents many times don't even worry about a contract until your work is sold. As huge as WMA is they gave me a choice whether to sign a contract with them before hand or not and it was quite a simple one. it basically says they handle the money- collect payments for the work they sold and then deduct their 15% (20% for foreign and 10% for film)- that's it- nothing complex- If I leave the agency they still get their percent of LOTTERY until it's out of print and the rights revert back to me-
Rude? No. A sign of naivete and inexperience? More likely.
There are some scammer agents that have odd and unfavorable contracts. When writers are offered representation by my agent Dorian- she gives them my name (with permission) and they talk to me about working with her- Some have asked me about the contract with WMA-
That's a better way of doing it I think-
You try not to go into an agent-writer relationship from an adversarial position...

Agent in the UK

Can anyone recommend a UK Agent (or two) that I can talk to?

Mick, a good place to start is the Association of Authors' Agents, the British trade group for professional literary agents. Its website hosts a list of members. Also check this stickied thread in this forum--there are many resources listed there that should help you.

We try to keep threads pretty much on topic here, so if you have other questions, try using the search function to see if there has already been discussion on them, and if not, post a new thread with your question. Thanks, and welcome to AW!

- Victoria

Try agentquery.com too. They have a good list of agents and you can search by genre.

AgentQuery is a great resource, but it's mostly American agents. It lists very few UK agents.

- Victoria

For UK agents and general info and help, try here: http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/

Agents

T hank you all for your responses = I will av a look at them! Most appreciated!