The question of whether you should put a lot of effort into getting an agent to represent you may seem like a silly question. Writers who do not have agents frequently refer in conversation to their attempts to get one. Writers who do have agents mention this fact often in conversation, and any time they have a new book published or have anything good happen professionally, they thank their agent. It seems as if the writers with agents have a distinct advantage in the publishing world over writers without agents. And make no mistake: having an effective agent has clear benefits for a writer, assuming the writer has the goods an agent feels is to the agent’s benefit. But the question remains: if you don’t have an agent and you have a book done, or a few books in the can, how hard should you try to get an agent, and if you find yourself having trouble getting one, how long should you continue this quest until abandoning it for a different path?
Over the last four years, working with small presses, I’ve had three books published, and I’ve done it without an agent. A novel published in 2012 was with a press called Harvard Square Editions, and both a novella published in 2014 and a novel published this year came from Broken River Books, located in Portland, Oregon. Each book appeared as a trade paperback and a Kindle edition, and I’m now working on a new novel slated to be published by Broken River. At this point, with three books under my belt and a fourth on the way, I’ve been asked why I don’t pursue an agent, and in fact, one day soon, I might. I tried for years in the past to nail one down and got nowhere, though that was before I had a small body of work in print. So now maybe an agent might consider taking me on. Who knows? But the fact is I’ve been quite happy the last few years to operate without one, and it’s made me wonder whether having an agent, in today’s publishing environment, is overrated.
Once, yes, when the publishers were large companies that wouldn’t look at your stuff except through an agent, the figure of the agent was indispensable. But in today’s world where indie presses are booming, why hamstring yourself by waiting forever to get that prized agent’s acceptance? If you want to give agents a shot, by all means do so. But after a certain amount of time, if no agent has signed you, why not approach some small presses on your own? The advantage of the small presses that don’t demand your work come to them through an agent is that you can have a close working relationship with them and provide a lot of input through the entire process of creating your book. You can find the kind of press that matches your book instead of having to cater your book to the demands of what the agent may think the market wants.
Of course this brings us to the crux of the issue. Whether or not you think you need an agent depends very much on what you’re looking to accomplish in writing. Everybody hopes to sell as many copies of their book as possible, but if your goal primarily is to write a mass market book that will sell tons of copies (or at least make you what used to be called a mid-list writer), then you probably feel you should have an agent. If you’re the sort of person who is less concerned about the current market and adamant about releasing what you want to write (and then let me see how many copies of this thing I can sell), then why do you need an agent? An agent in that case is going to be more of a naysayer and barrier than anything else. I’m not even talking about self-publishing here – another story altogether – but just focusing on the fact that so many publishing choices are now available to writers. With these options there, why not write whatever you want to write? Why obsess over the market and what’s hot on the market? In my view, it’s about trying to write the ideal version of what you want to read, not what you think MIGHT sell well or what MIGHT appeal to an agent.
So if you can get an agent, great. If you can secure a contract with a big five publisher, wonderful. But if you can’t do either, just remember that getting your book out into the wild is the most important thing. Only when it’s out in the world can anything happen with it. An agent is no longer the essential force to help make its appearance a reality.
Just sold (well, sold ain’t exactly the right term, is it?) my first novel. Sent it out to a few agents and to a handful of small indie presses at the same time. Never heard a word from the agents. The work was accepted by a publisher within two weeks. Maybe not the greatest publisher, but still. Not sure what I will do next time. The dream is that an agent will read the book and contact me. Not holding my breath there.
Scott,
I agree with you wholeheartedly. This is exactly what I went through in my search for an agent. The first three books in my mystery series were completed and still I couldn’t find an agent. So, I turned to small presses and at last Black Opal Books offered me a three-book contract. LEAD ME INTO DANGER, the first book, was released in Oct. 2015. DEADLY LEGACY, Book 2, is coming out Sept. 24. In February, I signed a contract with Black Opal for Book 4, which I had just finished. I’m extremely happy with them and I still do not have an agent.
Yep. I recognize your story as my own (and many others!) I try to snag an agent with each new book and when it doest happen I tell myself I don’t want or need one anyway. It’s a vicious cycle. I definitely agree that it’s not as important these days. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t daydream about getting a killer 6 figure deal that would allow me to quit the ol’ day job.
Nice piece, Scott.
Thanks, CS. And no question, nothing would beat leaving the day job!
I just got published with a small press, New Pulp Press, who are excellent working partners. My one complaint is that more and more small presses are asking for 1/2 royalties for movie and TV options. I’m not happy about that but will not turn the deal down. 1/2 of something is better than 100% of zero.
Great article. One great reason to have an agent is so that he/she can work with you to wrangle contractural issues. My agent helped me (pro bono) finagle with my publisher (one of the Big 5) to get rid of some overly restrictive rights grabs in my contract. Although the biggies are notorious in that respect, I’ve heard of some small publishers acting similarly. So regardless of who publishes your book, be sure to have your contracted vetted by someone who knows the business and how to help you maintain as much control over your work as possible.