Hi,
LaurenH7384, and welcome to AW.
LaurenH7384:
Just because I'm a new agent does not mean I do not know what I'm doing. And so far, the fact that I am a new agent hasn't kept editors from requesting subs from me.
What are your qualifications to be an agent? Have you previously interned at an agency or otherwise worked in publishing (apart from Punkin House)?
Which editors at which publishers have been requesting material?
LaurenH7384:
Punkin House does have a distributor. Are our books in stores yet? No. Why? Because not everything in literary land operates according to schedule. And also because the company just moved from Kentucky to New York. And believe me, when you are trying to set up fifteen authors with a distributor things can get a little hectic.
The location of a publisher shouldn't have any impact on its distribution network other than in relation to the correspondence address. Given that it's already released a number of print books, it's disturbing that it decided to do so before it had proper distribution in place. That points to amateurism.
What you do with your own work is obviously up to you, but the fact that you chose to publish through a small house that was originally accepting poetry (which anyone and everyone knows is not a viable commercial market) and which doesn't seem to pay advances, does raise questions as to your credibility.
LaurenH7384:
4. Experience wise, am I new to agenting yes, obviously I stated that above. But to the literary world in general no. I've been doing this for seven years. And I have to say that it took me the full seven years to really call myself experienced. And the seven year road I took to get where I am has had it's fair share of ups and downs. But in those seven years, I have built a solid platform, met a lot of great people, have been to a lot of great literary workshops, conventions, readings, and book signings.
Being a literary agent is not an entrance level job. Your actual publishing experience seems to be limited to PA (fine - loads of people have been stung by them) and being published by and working for a small publisher that doesn't pay advances and doesn't seem able to get books into stores (which, incidentally, could be seen as little more than self-publishing).
I've been writing for over 6 years, have been to loads of conventions, readings and book signings, have got a respected agent, have connections with editors at OUP, Hachette, HarperCollins and S&S. None of that means I'm going to set up a shingle saying that I'm an agent. I don't have the actual experience to do it and the fact that you'll be learning on the job means that your authors are little more than guinea pigs.
LaurenH7384:
5. I'm upfront and honest with all of my clients from the moment I decide to take them on. And I don't have a sales record yet because I am EXTREMELY thorough. And because I've only been doing this for a short time. I will spend as long as I need to working on an MS with a client. I'm not going to submit an ms to editors until it gleams perfection. I will go through it five times, ten times at the most. Maybe other agents operate differently but I can't speak for them.
But you've never been able to make a commercial sale of your own work, so how do you know what's perfect or not?
Agents differ as to the amount of editing they require or will help with - not least because some only take on authors whose work was ready to go at submission.
My agent took me on a partial and has provided editing comments - we've been working for the last 18 months on getting the manuscript right. In the meantime, she's talked about my book at Bologna and Frankfurt and has 9 commercial publishers lined up to look at it and talked to foreign publishers as well.
6. I also bring a marketing perspective to the table. Being that I've ran the entire marketing dept for Punkin House by myself for the last year and a half. Handling the PR for fifteen authors is not an easy task, I can promise you that.
Does this mean that you'll be submitting to Punkin House? Are you still working for them as well as running your agency?
MM
