Should i keep my Agent?

Right now, you have a contract with your agent so I'd say you have an obligation to let them know you've been contacted by the publisher.

Generally, you query either editors or agents--not both at the same time. But as that ship has sailed, ask yourself this question: do I want an agent to help me build my career, or can I do that on my own?

An agent is your career advocate. They can open doors to publishers you may not have access to and help negotiate better deals for you. If you think this graphic novel is a one-time thing for you, maybe you don't need an agent. But if you wish to continue writing/selling graphic novels, you may want to consider keeping this agent relationship.

At this point, it comes down to your personal career goals.

rlepp said:

Nothing is currently signed, and we've talked about this other publisher. He knows I may back out.

Click to expand...

I'm confused. How does the agent have other publishers interested if he's not actually representing you?

Is he "your agent" or not?

You need to stop and really evaluate where you are and what your agreement is with this agent - because even if you haven't signed anything, you are calling him "your agent" and he has, in some manner, shopped your manuscript.

So, question one is can you walk away from the agent without owing him anything?

If yes, then should you? Well, is the publisher who offered you a contract the best publisher for the book? or would one of the other publishers be better?

If one of the other publishers would be better, then I say stick with the agent and let him do his job.

But if all of the publishers are equal in terms of how they will produce and market the book, and you don't care about having an ongoing relationship with any one of them, then it's a toss up. Do you feel comfortable negotiating the contracts yourself? Dealing with arguments down the road yourself?

For me, I wanted an agent for more than just getting me more money - I wanted an advocate at every stage.

And, fwiw, generally an agent can get enough additional advance to to cover the percentage.

~suki

You might want to PM Victoria with the name of your agent or, if you aven't already, ceck im/her out on Publishers Marketplace. Personally, I think an agent is helpful in building a career, but before you involve the agent with this publisher, I would want to make sure the agent is legit.

Agents do more things than just get you a deal. They keep an eye on your royalties, argue on your behalf with the publisher about your cover/publicity/release date, advise you on your career direction, explore foreign rights

It's really not appropriate, at least in the mainstream US publishing world, for agents to share writers' work without a contract in place. I would myself be leery of an agent who did that--what other core protocols might they be ignoring?--but I am not familiar enough with the graphic novel field to know if that would be considered equally inappropriate there.

There's more to contracts than advance sizes. A good agent can make sure you don't sign away any rights you'd be better off keeping.

...but make sure both the agent and publisher are good ones before making any decisions.