Starting off with New Agents

I think that

if you and she connect and she LOVES your work, you check her inside & out to the best of your ability then why not?!
Perhaps she may work all the harder for the sale.

Then again, what any author wants is an agent who knows exactly where to place his work as well as have the connections, clout, respect, trust... that will get him read in a timely manner.

Keep writing!

Run her by the Bewares and Background Checks forum first though. It sounds like she has some decent connections, but Victoria will be able to find the dirt on her if there is any.
It is a great to find a new agent who is just building her client list; but they still have to have the ability to be a good agent.

Maprilynne

I have a new agent (1 1/2 years in business), and I'm very happy to jump on board with him. He's totally aggressive, has attended several conferences, expositions, and workshops--knows all of the senior editors at all the big houses (by face and name), and abides by the canon of ethics put for by the AAR. He's fast and exacting when reading my material. He lists all of his sales which are only seven or eight non-fiction sales to date, but they are to large and medium presses that pay advances.

He's been honest in his trials to sell fiction and has had some trouble there. It's not for lack of putting the material on editor's desks. His stuff is everywhere, because all of his clients receive up-to-date reports on just where our books are, and by whom they're being read. He has a substantial background in literature and editing and the publishing field.

New agents have it just as tough in the industry as new writers. They have to break in just like we do.

I was with Richard Curtis 15-years ago, and their roster reads like a whose who. I was a tiny tadpole in the mix--no one, and I mean no one (seldom) answered my letters or returned my calls. Two of my books just faded away in memory, and I'm not even sure where they went to, or to whom. No contract.

I think I'm in better hands with a newer agent, although it will take him some time to hit his stride. I'm willing to wait, certainly after the performance he's put in so far. It's a trust issue.

So I would say, small agency=hungry like the wolf. They HAVE to climb, because it's an up or out postion. And here's the crux: There IS such a thing as an agent slush pile. This is because the larger agencies that have been in business (since the last ice age set in) have proven records and name-recognition. Oh, yeah. I've talked to two agents who have conveyed this to me, and I found it to be a bit shocking. Is there some favoritism--yes, there is, but it is SO underground that it's rarely brought to the surface. It's not rampant, but it is there, and those are the cold hard facts.

Above all, nevertheless, it is a winning book--great story-telling that will determine the final outcome. But I often wonder just how deep this hierarchy thing goes with agents and edtitors. In my case, time will tell.

If you choose a smaller/newer agency, be prepared to hold on for a wild, maybe long ride. But know too, that you just might be one of the nut crackers who bust some doors down for your agent.

Whatever you decide...good luck and good hunting.

Tri

My thoughts on "new" agents--enthusiasm and a good attitude are wonderful, but they're not enough. A new agent needs experience in publishing or with a reputable agency. Without that, it's just too hard to acquire the specialized skills and the contacts needed for success.

More specifically, a claim to have worked at a well-known publisher or at an established agency isn't enough. You need to know what the person's position was. Agent or intern at an established agency is good; receptionist is not. Editor or marketing person at a sizeable trade publisher is good; clerk in the contracts department or administrative assistant in the accounting department is not. Also, not all publishers are trade publishers--that is, publishers that market fiction and general nonfiction to the reading public; some, such as McGraw Hill, are mainly educational or reference publishers, which is a very very different world. Even working as an editor for such a publisher wouldn't necessarily give someone skills they could easily transfer to agenting.

As to mentoring, it's certainly a good thing if a new agent is being mentored by an established one. But what does mentoring really mean? Some emails exchanged now and then when the new agent has a question? That's a good thing--but it won't confer the same advantage as being mentored by someone at the same agency. A newbie agent at an established agency who can call on the expertise of the senior agents not only has the agents right to hand on a regular basis, she has the name of the agency behind her. Someone who has gone out on her own without a lot of industry experience must struggle not just with building expertise, but with the fact that in-house editors won't know who she is.

Obviously, with time and hard work it's possible for a motivated, honest, smart person to overcome these barriers. But if it happens, it's going to take a good deal longer than for someone who already has a leg up in the industry, either through previous work experience or an association with a known agency. And it's the clients who must pay the price of the wait.

- Victoria

VERY well said Victoria!

Victoria is so on the mark!
I waited and wasted a year with a well meaning, conference attending, and phone calling past mentored by BIG guns agent. The work that he sent out was thrown in the slush pile with the rest of the slush. And when I did contact the Editors myself and had it returned to me, his package was sloppy, typos, and had the wrong zip code thus was lost for days... An editor doesn't not think highly of such an agent and wants someone they know will send them something they can publish and make $$$ off of.

Never will I do that again, never.

Good wishes to you in whatever you do.

Keep writing!