Questions to ask after an offer of representation?

Hop over to Kristin Nelson's blog and read up on her various Agenting 101 posts. Lots of potential information in there on what questions to ask.

A few more off the top of my head:

--Do you handle foreign rights or do you have contacts in foreign countries who handle foreign rights?
--Do you handle film/television/other rights or do you have contacts who do?
--How will your agency survive/be run should something happen to you? (assuming the agent owns the agency; if not...)
--Who will I work with at your agency in the event something should happen to you?
--What are your career goals? (Good question to sound out your potential agent as to whether they'll be around a while or if you might end up an orphaned writer).
--Does your agency receive all monies from the publisher and then cut the writer's 85% checks? Do you provide all paperwork to the writer from the publisher and so foth? (Don't forget that this is a business and you should be entitled to any paperwork involving your finances.)

Good luck!

This blog post is super thorough on the subject, and she links to other people who also blogged about it: http://www.katehart.net/2010/08/things-to-ask-agent.html

What I like about Kate's is that she has listed some questions you might not think of asking, but that are really great questions.

Good luck!!

A lot of the questions you have listed (and more) came out naturally during the course of the conversation for me, but the one big question I had for my (now) agent was: What are your career goals? That was important for me because my goal is to build and keep my career with one agent. Fortunately, we were on exactly the same page.

As for a time limit, I gave five working days. And that was the week before the Frankfurt Book Fair. If you have an offer in hand, and they're really interested, they will read. I wouldn't go more than a week; it's plenty.

Other advice? Relax. Just be yourself. Also, make sure you have something to say about other projects you're working on. Make a few notes for yourself. Don't be afraid or too nervous; you're ultimately going to be a team.

Otherwise, congratulations and good luck.

First, great news and good luck!

Second, Agent Rachelle Gardner has a list of possible questions on her blog - I used it to supplement my list. So google her.

Next, if you don't mind, I had some thoughts on your questions - mainly the phrasing - and I think there's a couple more things you could ask...

Kristoff said:

So tomorrow I'm getting "the call" from an agent interested in repping my book. In typical Eeyore fashion, I'm trying not to get hyped (it's hard), and instead focusing on the things I should be asking her. So far I've got:

Why do you want to sell it? (not looking for praise, more to see what she thinks is marketable about it) I'd phrase this more as where do you see this fitting in the market - or how would you pitch it - less confusing then your phrasing, and more to the point.

Where are you thinking of submitting it? I'd ask this as do you have any editors in mind? They might not want to disclose where until you sign with them (ie, why give you their expertise if you go wit someone else?), but should be able to give you ideas. And if they are comfortable they might offer up some names

What are your tastes in literature? (because she's going to be offering editorial advice, so I need to be able to trust her tastes) You should already have some idea of this if the agent blogs, lists favorite books on twitter, etc. But if not, then you might ask about their general tastes. But personal loves have little to do with understanding the market and having a sharp editorial eye - so I'd ask:

If they are editorial, their view on pre-submission revisions.

And then ask directly about areas they think might need revision.


Current list of clients that have similar books? (because the agency site might not be up to date) Sure - but make it clear, in addition to agency site, professional sites, etc., where would this fit on the agent's list.

Can I have the contact details of one of those clients? (because I figure asking a client is a good way to learn how she works) Ask for more than one - ask for several - I talked/emails with all of my agent's clients (though he has a smaller list). But if the agent has a large list, maybe ask for 5-6, including at least one client who hasn't sold...or who didn't sell their first book on sub. Get that client's perspective.

Are you an email or phone type person? And also how the agent sees the flow of information - ie, will the agent email/call regularly, want regular talks about works in progress, etc.

Are you the kind of agent who gives periodic updates, or only calls when she's got news?

Anything else? Any advice from people who've been through this before would be appreciated.

How is client money handled - ie, kept separate from agency operating funds?

How will the agent want to deal with future works - discuss ideas? see drafts? see it as worked on? Say in what you are working on?

How does the agent see their role after a book sells?

If you have other works, especially in other genres, is the agent interested in representing those, considering those?

If you write in other genres - will the agent be comfortable representing those genres?

Look up recent sales - if you don't see much in the last year - ask for recent sales.


Additonal:

Presuming I do get an offer, I have seven other fulls and a couple of partials out to other shops. What period of time should I allow for those other agents to respond after an offer of representation? One week doesn't seem like long enough. I'm thinking two weeks? A week is more than enough - it's generally worded as Please let me know by x date (5-7 days later at most) if you are still considering the manuscript." Then that allows the agents to let you know if they are interested by that date, and then you can narrow it down over the next week, so that the offering agent doesn't wait more than 2 weeks, at most.

Thoughts? Advice?

I'm off to bounce off the walls now...

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Good luck! And remember, you should be getting a sense of the agent, and how they see your work, their approach to agenting and personality, etc. But if you forget something or think of something later, you just have another call or email.

~suki

Kristoff, congratulations on the call from your potential agent tomorrow. Yes, it sounds like you are bouncing off the walls, which is where I hope to be soon after starting the query process.

I want to encourage you to take a deep breath and stay calm. It's going to be just fine.

In my response, I am going on intuition, as I have not gotten "the call" yet. I am not an agent either.

I would suspect you researched this agent before submitting work? You can often find client lists and agent bios at the agency website. Agent bios generally give what the agent is looking for, i.e. their tastes in literature. If you ask about their client list and their tastes in literature when they already have it at their website, it could look like you have not conducted your preliminary research.

A writer should always research the agents before submitting, much in the same way we research the magazine markets before submitting a short story. Preditors and Editors is the place to start. Never select an agent who wants you to pay a fee for their services.

It seems to me you have an awful lot of questions in your list. Have you thought of playing it by ear and seeing what the agent is like, allowing the conversation to evolve naturally so that you get a feel for who he/she is? I'm sure the agent will tell you what they like about your work without any prompting.

I think an agent would want to submit your work because he/she believes it will sell.

Do you think they'll give you contact information for their clients? Most businesses will not, and agents are in business.

I believe you have an obligation to inform the agent that you have some full manuscripts out there (if you have not already done so). If he/she wants to represent you, I would think you would let the other considering agents know asap. As for a time span, I have no idea.

Hope I was helpful. Good luck!

SusanL said:

It seems to me you have an awful lot of questions in your list. Have you thought of playing it by ear and seeing what the agent is like, allowing the conversation to evolve naturally so that you get a feel for who he/she is? I'm sure the agent will tell you what they like about your work without any prompting. Actually, it is really helpful to have the list - many times the agent will provide the info without a question, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with having lots of questions at the ready.

I think an agent would want to submit your work because he/she believes it will sell. Yes, but it is very important to hear how the agent views it fitting into the market/how they'd pitch it - several people I know would have gone with a different agent if they had asked this in the call - because their agent didn't really know how to pitch it or where to shop it.

I doubt they are going to give contact details of their clients, and to me it seems a bit presumptuous to even ask. Have you thought of contacting the clients from their list online (assuming they have their client list at their website). They absolutely will - and you should ask, out of courtesy, and so that the agent can let the clients know. It's sort of a basic to ask for client contacts and talk to clients.

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~suki

You've gotten some great suggestions.

I really liked the list of questions at agentquery

Also, it helped me a lot when I realized that we could talk about the BOOK! Because it's my BOOK and I'm totally capable of talking about that. So, one good question to start things off is 'Can you tell me your thoughts on my book?' And it can lead to lots of other questions.

And though I had questions planned, I know from experience that I will often think of questions later that I wished I'd asked so I will often mention this up front--this is part of the way I process things, can I contact you if I think of additional questions later?

Thanks, Suki. I edited out the last part about client information, because it felt it came across differently than I intended.

However, agents do give out contact information of their clients? To me, that is surprising.

Thank you for providing clarity on what to ask an agent.

Charmingbillie, excellent link!

SusanL said:

Thanks, Suki. I edited out the last part about client information, because it felt it came across differently than I intended.

However, agents do give out contact information of their clients? To me, that is surprising.

Thank you for providing clarity on what to ask an agent.

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They want to sign you - and so they will give their clients emails, on the understanding your don't give them out, so that you can talk to some of them - an agent's clients can often sell them better than they can sell themselves.

ETA: This is more like hiring an attorney, or a stylist, and so they will give contacts for their clients as references. Certainly if a client asked the agent not to, then they wouldn't, I'm sure. But we all pretty much know that we might be called on to act as references for our agent. And IMO my agent signing new clients is good for me, because it means he stays in business and able to represent me.

~suki

You really should know almost all of these things before querying an agent in the first place. It saves both sides a ton of work, and a bunch of potential disappointment.

Having had two agents, one that worked for me, the other not, my biggest issue and question for the next agent I might get is about communication preferences. I went crazy with an agent who would not stay in touch (even monthly) especially during a submission. The agent who forwarded every editor response and strategized regularly was the right style for me, although not versatile enough to sell all the genres I write, so I'm once again shopping. Good luck and decide what's most impt for you.