Re: The Agent Thing
Nov. 13th, 2009 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
megwritesThis piece on GalleyCat asking Agents? Who needs 'em? sparked off a lot of controversy across the publishing sphere. The article posed the question about whether agents are becoming obsolete (or already are) with the advent of things like eBooks and Kindle.
I have to admit there was something of an anti-agent tone running through the piece, and there have been a lot of rebuttals:
Author Stacia Kane said: Yes, Virginia, you need an agent
Author Jeaniene Frost had some words to say as well
Miriam Goderich of the Dystel and Goderich Literary Agency responded that she also thinks agents are necessary an not going anywere
What I don't seem to see anyone saying is that the answer to the "do you need an agent" question is not a yes or a no, but rather a qualified, "Maybe. What do you want out of your writing?"
If you're looking to make a full time career of writing, and if you want to get published by the big companies in New York City, you absolutely need an agent. There's no question. If you want to hit the major leagues, you need an agent. You need someone who knows the landscape, who knows the people, who knows what hands to shake and who to take out to lunch.
Agents have insider info that you just can't get unless you do nothing but work at getting it. You can be the best manager of money and contracts and marketing in the world, and you still won't know that Editor X over at Big House Incorporated is really looking for another Boy Wizard novel - or conversely, would like never to see another Boy Wizard novel again. Because you can't know these things unless you pretty much make a profession of keeping your ear to the ground, listening to the chatter, taking people out to lunch, making contacts, networking, etc.
So, if you're looking to get to the top of your profession as a writer, you are going to need a guide through the wilderness of the business. You can't do it on your own unless you move to NYC, give up doing everything else, have a way to support yourself independently because neither agenting nor writing will pay a living wage for a long while after start up, and don't want to do anything else in life but write and think about writing.
Even I can't handle that. And I do want to be a professional, marketable writer who rises to the top. Hence, the Query Score Card. Because I need that kind of help.
However, there are some writers who don't need agents. They absolutely exist and I think it's absolutely a good thing to talk about them and WHY they don't need agents.
Let's metaphorize for a moment. Not all people who play baseball want to go to the major leagues and pitch for the Yankees. There's no shame in that. Some people are really happy playing on a church league or neighborhood team on the weekends, practicing a couple nights a week after work. They're satisfied that their big corporate sponsor is Tony's Pizza Joint down the road. It doesn't mean they're not baseball players, but it sure as hell means they don't need to go tracking down a sports agent, there'd be no point.
There are also writers who want that, too. Who aren't looking to become the next J.K. Rowling or get on the NYT Bestseller List. They want to write a book, make sure it gets out to a few hundred people who will appreciate it, maybe make a little pocket money if they're lucky, and have something sitting on their shelf.
Some of them are even savvy enough (or know people who are) to put up impressive websites and a paypal button and maybe earn a couple of nickels to rub together doing it. They don't need agents, and frankly, agents don't need them. I think writers who know they're going to be dealing with much smaller presses and indie presses also might not need to worry so much about agents.
Literary publication is becoming a wide field because technology is making it slightly cheaper and easier to distribute books on a micro scale. We're experiencing the point where commercial publishing and independent publishing go their separate ways and become different entities.
I think we're going to see small time, independent writers that do make small profits off of their works, but just as that little indie band who plays club dates isn't making a killing, neither are these writers. There are plenty of musicians who don't have a record label, or who work with very low key, independent record labels. It hasn't meant that talent agents and big record companies are obsolete. Sure an artist can record something in their pajamas and put it out on youtube and a few thousand people will see it. Doesn't mean they need a company or marketing or distribution for that. In fact, those things would be detrimental to them achieving their actual goal. Which is to throw something up on youtube and see who comments.
So, yes, there are some "published" authors who might tell you that you don't need an agent - but be careful what they're saying. Look at their careers before you take their advice.
Is this author who touts the uselessness of agents someone who's pretending that carrying around a suitcase full of self published books at a conference is the same as having posters and ads and placement in Barnes & Noble? Or is this an author who is satisfied with the 300 copy run of their novel from a small press or a website and is saying, "If you just want to put 300 books out there, don't worry about agents."
In the GalleyCat article, I was rather dubious of the quote from the anonymous author. Any author who goes anonymous and touts how great their career is without an agent raises my suspicions. It matters who is saying such things. Because if it's a big name author like, I don't know, Laurell K. Hamilton saying she doesn't have and doesn't need an agent (for the record, she has said NEITHER of those things), that's one thing. But if it's Suzie Q Author who I've never heard of and who's books I can't even find on Amazon.com? Well, the claims become specious at best.
There is going to be a growth in the indie niche, I believe. In authors who write pretty good stuff and don't want or care for the idea of being a career, who will be able to expand what they can do and who they can reach. They're not going to compete with the New York companies by any means, and they're certainly not going to be the next Dan Brown doing it, either.
These will be people who previously could only fund the self-publishing of enough copies to give to friends and family who will now be able to cheaply put their books in electronic format and attract maybe 100 or 200 readers where before it was just Aunt Edna and that guy at work who could access their writing. I'm fine with that. I think it's great.
Frankly, I think they'll have more in common with fan writers and those who pen well-loved fan fiction than with the writers who's works sit upon the shelves of bookstores and who's works are featured by big sites like Amazon.com
But this indie niche is the equivalent of playing at your buddy's club or doing karaoke on the weekends or being a band in a hotel restaurant who sells CD's out of their guitar cases. So long as you don't pretend that it's going to earn a million bucks, I see no harm in a little DIY publishing on the small scale.
As always, make sure you know what you're getting and you're looking carefully and WHO is talking and not just what they're saying.
As for my fellow unpublished authors who find themselves frustrated by agents in their quest for a viable publishing career, I won't offer the "don't worry, hard work will prevail" or "it'll happen for you" type speeches. I won't try to be Pollyanna over here. I too also find my teeth grinding over this. And such sunny sentiments make me want to punch someone in the face.
Yes, some agents do really obnoxious things. They hang on to your manuscript for eight months, don't get back to you, don't answer your emails, and yet find the time to twitter about their cats. Some send really grating form rejections or no rejection letter at all. Some make snide remarks about clients and queries that make your blood pressure spike.
Those are bad agents, and they're not representative of the profession. You need the agent, and finding the right one will be worth the hassle. Most are wonderful folks who are struggling as much as you are. Don't give up on all agents, just give up on the bad apples. If that twittering, unreachable agent gets under your skin, cross her off your list and just pretend she doesn't exist anymore. Because for every one of those agents, there are others who really can help you succeed.
I have to admit there was something of an anti-agent tone running through the piece, and there have been a lot of rebuttals:
Author Stacia Kane said: Yes, Virginia, you need an agent
Author Jeaniene Frost had some words to say as well
Miriam Goderich of the Dystel and Goderich Literary Agency responded that she also thinks agents are necessary an not going anywere
What I don't seem to see anyone saying is that the answer to the "do you need an agent" question is not a yes or a no, but rather a qualified, "Maybe. What do you want out of your writing?"
If you're looking to make a full time career of writing, and if you want to get published by the big companies in New York City, you absolutely need an agent. There's no question. If you want to hit the major leagues, you need an agent. You need someone who knows the landscape, who knows the people, who knows what hands to shake and who to take out to lunch.
Agents have insider info that you just can't get unless you do nothing but work at getting it. You can be the best manager of money and contracts and marketing in the world, and you still won't know that Editor X over at Big House Incorporated is really looking for another Boy Wizard novel - or conversely, would like never to see another Boy Wizard novel again. Because you can't know these things unless you pretty much make a profession of keeping your ear to the ground, listening to the chatter, taking people out to lunch, making contacts, networking, etc.
So, if you're looking to get to the top of your profession as a writer, you are going to need a guide through the wilderness of the business. You can't do it on your own unless you move to NYC, give up doing everything else, have a way to support yourself independently because neither agenting nor writing will pay a living wage for a long while after start up, and don't want to do anything else in life but write and think about writing.
Even I can't handle that. And I do want to be a professional, marketable writer who rises to the top. Hence, the Query Score Card. Because I need that kind of help.
However, there are some writers who don't need agents. They absolutely exist and I think it's absolutely a good thing to talk about them and WHY they don't need agents.
Let's metaphorize for a moment. Not all people who play baseball want to go to the major leagues and pitch for the Yankees. There's no shame in that. Some people are really happy playing on a church league or neighborhood team on the weekends, practicing a couple nights a week after work. They're satisfied that their big corporate sponsor is Tony's Pizza Joint down the road. It doesn't mean they're not baseball players, but it sure as hell means they don't need to go tracking down a sports agent, there'd be no point.
There are also writers who want that, too. Who aren't looking to become the next J.K. Rowling or get on the NYT Bestseller List. They want to write a book, make sure it gets out to a few hundred people who will appreciate it, maybe make a little pocket money if they're lucky, and have something sitting on their shelf.
Some of them are even savvy enough (or know people who are) to put up impressive websites and a paypal button and maybe earn a couple of nickels to rub together doing it. They don't need agents, and frankly, agents don't need them. I think writers who know they're going to be dealing with much smaller presses and indie presses also might not need to worry so much about agents.
Literary publication is becoming a wide field because technology is making it slightly cheaper and easier to distribute books on a micro scale. We're experiencing the point where commercial publishing and independent publishing go their separate ways and become different entities.
I think we're going to see small time, independent writers that do make small profits off of their works, but just as that little indie band who plays club dates isn't making a killing, neither are these writers. There are plenty of musicians who don't have a record label, or who work with very low key, independent record labels. It hasn't meant that talent agents and big record companies are obsolete. Sure an artist can record something in their pajamas and put it out on youtube and a few thousand people will see it. Doesn't mean they need a company or marketing or distribution for that. In fact, those things would be detrimental to them achieving their actual goal. Which is to throw something up on youtube and see who comments.
So, yes, there are some "published" authors who might tell you that you don't need an agent - but be careful what they're saying. Look at their careers before you take their advice.
Is this author who touts the uselessness of agents someone who's pretending that carrying around a suitcase full of self published books at a conference is the same as having posters and ads and placement in Barnes & Noble? Or is this an author who is satisfied with the 300 copy run of their novel from a small press or a website and is saying, "If you just want to put 300 books out there, don't worry about agents."
In the GalleyCat article, I was rather dubious of the quote from the anonymous author. Any author who goes anonymous and touts how great their career is without an agent raises my suspicions. It matters who is saying such things. Because if it's a big name author like, I don't know, Laurell K. Hamilton saying she doesn't have and doesn't need an agent (for the record, she has said NEITHER of those things), that's one thing. But if it's Suzie Q Author who I've never heard of and who's books I can't even find on Amazon.com? Well, the claims become specious at best.
There is going to be a growth in the indie niche, I believe. In authors who write pretty good stuff and don't want or care for the idea of being a career, who will be able to expand what they can do and who they can reach. They're not going to compete with the New York companies by any means, and they're certainly not going to be the next Dan Brown doing it, either.
These will be people who previously could only fund the self-publishing of enough copies to give to friends and family who will now be able to cheaply put their books in electronic format and attract maybe 100 or 200 readers where before it was just Aunt Edna and that guy at work who could access their writing. I'm fine with that. I think it's great.
Frankly, I think they'll have more in common with fan writers and those who pen well-loved fan fiction than with the writers who's works sit upon the shelves of bookstores and who's works are featured by big sites like Amazon.com
But this indie niche is the equivalent of playing at your buddy's club or doing karaoke on the weekends or being a band in a hotel restaurant who sells CD's out of their guitar cases. So long as you don't pretend that it's going to earn a million bucks, I see no harm in a little DIY publishing on the small scale.
As always, make sure you know what you're getting and you're looking carefully and WHO is talking and not just what they're saying.
As for my fellow unpublished authors who find themselves frustrated by agents in their quest for a viable publishing career, I won't offer the "don't worry, hard work will prevail" or "it'll happen for you" type speeches. I won't try to be Pollyanna over here. I too also find my teeth grinding over this. And such sunny sentiments make me want to punch someone in the face.
Yes, some agents do really obnoxious things. They hang on to your manuscript for eight months, don't get back to you, don't answer your emails, and yet find the time to twitter about their cats. Some send really grating form rejections or no rejection letter at all. Some make snide remarks about clients and queries that make your blood pressure spike.
Those are bad agents, and they're not representative of the profession. You need the agent, and finding the right one will be worth the hassle. Most are wonderful folks who are struggling as much as you are. Don't give up on all agents, just give up on the bad apples. If that twittering, unreachable agent gets under your skin, cross her off your list and just pretend she doesn't exist anymore. Because for every one of those agents, there are others who really can help you succeed.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-13 06:27 pm (UTC)Even if all publishers allowed unagented submissions, I wouldn't want to be without an agent any more than I'd want to go to court without a lawyer...
no subject
Date: 2009-11-14 12:46 am (UTC)I really wish that the gatekeeper idea would go away, because agents really are NOT gatekeepers for the publishing houses, not in the way a lot of unpublished authors seem to think. Yeah, they kinda filter out the crap, but publishing houses would do that on their own if they did take unagented submissions.
No matter what, there's nobody except PublishAmerica who's gonna publish every single thing that gets mailed to them. So either it's agents or editors or someone who's going to filter out what isn't marketable/publishable.
More people probably get published quicker and easier and with better results BECAUSE of agents than despite them.