- Joined
- Jun 3, 2005
- Messages
- 1,749
- Reaction score
- 196
- Location
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Website
- www.lloydwrites.com
I checked out the Writer's Market last night, crossing off agents that don't publish my type of non-fiction book, crossing off those that said they were definitely NOT seeking out new authors, crossing off the ones that prefer exclusivity when considering a proposal, and crossing off those that didn't consider any non-fiction at all.
Monday I'll be spending about $100 on postage for my SASEs.
I was comparing the number of authors represented vs. the number of sales made last year and came up with some interesting numbers. Most agents average one sale for every 2-4 clients. One outstanding agent made one sale for each client! Now, it seems to me that this number would be a good measure of an agent's ability. If his authors take 4 years to find a market and another agent sells nearly every title in a year, you know which is the better agent. Should I really be paying attention to this number at all? Obviously, I know that some writers produce several books, and that the 1:1 ratio doesn't guarantee that the agent was able to sell every client's books within 12 months.
Does this number really have any meaning? If not, why not?
Monday I'll be spending about $100 on postage for my SASEs.
I was comparing the number of authors represented vs. the number of sales made last year and came up with some interesting numbers. Most agents average one sale for every 2-4 clients. One outstanding agent made one sale for each client! Now, it seems to me that this number would be a good measure of an agent's ability. If his authors take 4 years to find a market and another agent sells nearly every title in a year, you know which is the better agent. Should I really be paying attention to this number at all? Obviously, I know that some writers produce several books, and that the 1:1 ratio doesn't guarantee that the agent was able to sell every client's books within 12 months.
Does this number really have any meaning? If not, why not?