This is a case of too many agents...

Just had a sneaky peek on your blog and I luuuuuurve the sound of your book, wow! No wonder you got 2 offers... hypothetically. ;-)

For me, it's about a damn good sales record (not just squiddly little sales but BIG sales), personality and passion. What turns me off? No sales record, doesn't get my book and is dull. When I met with my agent on a blustery day in London, we clicked straight away and talked straight for 3-4 hours about my book... I just knew she was right for it. Plus she totally fancied the main guy in my book and that's always a good sign. ;-) She even pointed a really hot guy out walking down the street and said 'that's him' and she was spot on, he looked just like him! And her suggestions for revisions were amazing and spot-on.

If you need advice on who to choose, other people might be able to help more but when I chose my agent, I based it on what one of her YA authors said about her at an event so you can always ask to speak to their clients. I also looked at sales history in YA genre - you can google their name and 'PublishersMarketplace' to get a 1-liner on sales. Find out what publishers they'd plan to sub to. Are they genuinely passionate about your book? What revisions do they see? Presuming you've talked on the phone or face2face (you must do one!), do you get on, are you singing off the same hymn sheet? And, more importantly, gut instinct. What does your gut say?

Good luck!

Should you be in that luxurious position of being able to choose between agents, you should pick the most successful one, the one with the largest stable of writers and contacts, because their offer to steal 15% of your future earnings will mean that your book will be published by a major publisher. The operative words are ‘will be’, your manuscript won’t be touted around by a minor agent, with little influence at major publishing houses, who may eventually succeed in placing it with a small press, probably without, or a meagre advance, and little hope of any decent success.

Aim for the stars.

In general, I'd go with the agent with the bigger sales record and proven connections. Unless there are contraindications, like:

-- The agent doesn't really seem to understand your book. As is, makes editorial suggestions that don't make sense to you.

-- You are uncomfortable with the way the agent will work with you. Say, you want to get frequent progress reports, but the agent thinks you don't need to hear from her until she has a sale.

-- You anticipate serious personality incompatibilities.

I had looked at your blog and thought that you'd already accepted an offer of representation (congratulations!) If you have, you really cannot pull a switcheroo now without damaging you reputation. They talk to one another and you'll come off on the wrong end of those conversations.

Anyway if you haven't, you need to look at their sales records - who they sell to, how often, and for how much. (Publishers Marketplace is the best resource for that.) See what other sort of work they sell and weigh that against what other work you'd like to do in the future. If none of these things weight the choice, then you have to go with the one you have the best rapport with.

Eeenie, meenie, miney, mo works too.

Congratulations and good luck!

You know, my take is a little different. I was only offered representation by one agent but had half a dozen asking me to hold off on accepting while they finished reading. That included a hugely famous agency. I was flattered beyond belief but ultimately went with a smaller agency who had great experience in my genre.

Mostly though, it was my agent's enthusiasm for the story and my writing. I think, especially in these tough times, it's vital to have someone with connections and who is enthusiastic about your work. I know that she'll fight for it, that I won't get lost in the bowels of a larger agency. My agent dealt with me directly, in person, for example, whereas a couple of the others had their assistants email their praise and enthusiasm. Not quite the same thing. I also have a friend, a writer far more gifted than I am, who has been repped by three agencies now, each high-powered, but each too busy to even keep her in the loop. She feels high and dry, and while good things may be happening behind the scenes, they also may not be. She doesn't know.

So. bottom line for me is to go with someone who has passion for your work, who has the time and connections (ergo past sales) to sell it. I'm not worried about a six-figure advance and so it's not high on my list to get a big-name agent who'll get me one.

My two cents in addition to the others here who gave great advice:

It's also a matter of, when you talk to the agent on the phone, do you feel a connection? Is he or she on the same page for your aspirations as a writer?

I had a great agent, top agency, he had great sales, but I felt we just weren't on the same page almost from the beginning. I felt frustrated. But I tried to make it work for almost two years.

An agent is someone with whom you'll be (one hopes) working with for years to come. You have to be comfortable with your ability to work with their suggestions and with their experience level.

It isn't enough to go "oh, this agent made a six figure deal for this debut author." Have you even heard of this debut author? Did the book sell well? Or did the book fail and the author fall into obscurity? A six-figure deal sounds nice, but the book still has to earn out.

Phone conversations are important. I hate talking on the phone, and I was nervous as hell the first time I chatted with my now-agent. But hearing his enthusiasm for my novel and the things he loved about it, as well as the reasons for some of the changes he suggested, really tipped the scales. I chatted with another agent around the same time, because she was also interested, but she had a very different view of the novel. She saw it going in a different direction, and her rewrite suggestions didn't gel with me.

Weigh their sales record; weigh their industry experience. But most of all, talk to them and make sure you're both on the same page.

If you've already accepted an offer, go with that agent.

Doing anything else would be unprofessional.

Madison--Rereading your previous posts/threads and your blog, did you accept the offer from the first agent who called or are you just doing revisions that she wants to see first?

If it's the former, then you do not think twice about the other agent who likes your work. Too late. If it's the latter, then you should tell each of them you are considering two offers of representation.

And as I said before (I like repeating myself ) you will feel a sort of connection. Or you should anyway. And I also gave my agent almost two years to see if it could all work out.

stormie said:

Madison--Rereading your previous posts/threads and your blog, did you accept the offer from the first agent who called or are you just doing revisions that she wants to see first?

If it's the former, then you do not think twice about the other agent who likes your work. Too late. If it's the latter, then you should tell each of them you are considering two offers of representation.

And as I said before (I like repeating myself ) you will feel a sort of connection. Or you should anyway. And I also gave my agent almost two years to see if it could all work out.

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This. If you have already accepted representation, the question is moot. (I mean, you technically could sever the first relationship before it even really begins and look at the other, but it would really seriously damage your reputation and might even spook the other agent, and so should only be considered if you have learned something that makes you rather have no agent than the one you already accepted).

But, if you haven't yet accepted representation, then:

MarkEsq said:

You know, my take is a little different. I was only offered representation by one agent but had half a dozen asking me to hold off on accepting while they finished reading. That included a hugely famous agency. I was flattered beyond belief but ultimately went with a smaller agency who had great experience in my genre.

Mostly though, it was my agent's enthusiasm for the story and my writing. I think, especially in these tough times, it's vital to have someone with connections and who is enthusiastic about your work. I know that she'll fight for it, that I won't get lost in the bowels of a larger agency. My agent dealt with me directly, in person, for example, whereas a couple of the others had their assistants email their praise and enthusiasm. Not quite the same thing. I also have a friend, a writer far more gifted than I am, who has been repped by three agencies now, each high-powered, but each too busy to even keep her in the loop. She feels high and dry, and while good things may be happening behind the scenes, they also may not be. She doesn't know.

So. bottom line for me is to go with someone who has passion for your work, who has the time and connections (ergo past sales) to sell it. I'm not worried about a six-figure advance and so it's not high on my list to get a big-name agent who'll get me one.

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This. And some other things to consider:

- communication - how do they prefer to communicate and how often and what level of communication can you expect
- how they see your book in the market - ie, how they will pitch it.
- talk to some of the agent's clients - as many as you can - and see what they have to say about the agent's process and communication.

and good luck.

~suki

That's good that you're thinking things through. Let us know how it goes!

Just a small point in addition to the valid points raised. Once your agent has sold your MS to a publisher, they take over, and you have an editor appointed to work with you and later on come the publicity and other people.

Your agent has done his job for the time being, but will still deal with your remuneration to claim his percentage for the rest of your relationship with him.

You will hear very little from your agent for the first year, because your publisher’s contract will usually prevent you from publishing anything else during that time, and he’s got no influence over what your publisher does with the manuscript he’s sold to them.

Unless you have an elusive multi-book deal with your publisher, your agent will take over again after the year, or longer, to sell your next book (s). He will have advised you in the meantime on your ongoing writing.

I didn’t mean to understate the agent’s importance to you personally, but once your first MS is passed to the publishers, they take over, for that book.

They seldom fall out, they’re both in business to make money, and you’re the cash-cow.

Sounds like you're sorting things out well; you've had some excelent advice here, I agree with everyone and have no more to add.
Me, I'd go for gut feeling every time! Size doesn't matter!
Huge congratulations, and good luck! I'm Sooooooo jealous!
Keep us all in the loop...

Madison said:

To clear the air: I didn't accept the offer. I was vague on my blog (didn't say one way or another) because things were pending at that point -- revisions, contract, etc. -- and the agent wanted to give me time to think.

Still haven't accepted -- I'm weighing both offers at the moment -- and both agents know that I have two offers.

Thanks for thoughts; they've helped push me in the direction that my gut's telling me to go. Connection with the agent and seeing eye-to-eye on revisions are SO important -- and I've been hearing that enthusiasm about the book is more important than experience (obviously to a point!) because enthusiastic agents will go to bat for the book.

thank you!

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