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A Guide to Agents

Five Reasons Why You Don't Need to Get an Agent

In the thirty years or so I've been working in children's publishing, agents have become far more common. They have become so common that in discussions at conferences and on social media, I've noticed many writers who assume that an agent is the one thing they need in order to get published. This is true in many cases, but still not all!

Here are my top five reasons why you don't need an agent, or at least don't need an agent yet.

5. You have done your research, volunteered at conferences, networked assiduously, and built up contacts at publishers without an agent. There may be publishers whose doors are closed to you, but you have relationships elsewhere, so that doesn't matter. You feel comfortable with negotiating contracts. Why should you get an agent? This is not a common circumstance, and it's becoming less common, but I do know people in this situation--authors of different kinds of books who found a publisher or publishers without an agent, and have now published one or dozens of books without ever acquiring one, or who had an agent, don't have one now, and don't plan to get a new one.

4. You write picture books. Picture book authors have to split their royalties and advances with illustrators, and the advances in this area just aren't as high as they are for novelists. As a result, fewer agents specialize in picture books, though some do represent picture book authors as well as novelists, while others handle picture books for their authors who write both novels and picture books. Through querying and networking, you may find you can get your manuscript in the door at many publishers, one way or another, so as a picture book author you may be able to do without an agent.

3. You write nonfiction. Except for "commercial" nonfiction intended to sell in bookstores, there's not a lot of money in nonfiction. If you work in nonfiction for the library market, and work with publishers who pay flat fees, you not only don't need an agent but even if successful may not be able to find one. Nonfiction publishers for the school and library market are generally open to unsolicited submissions in any case, though you do have to follow their guidelines, which may require proposals or other documentation in addition to a manuscript.

2. You write manuscripts that are quirky, niche-y, not clearly "commercial." I'm thinking here of a variety of kinds of writing: books with religious themes, regional topics, esoteric approaches, "topic" books (books about particular problems). These are going to be published by small or regional publishers, or may have to be self-published. Agents have to live on 15% of your earnings, so most aren't going to be able to take on writers with low earnings potential. That means you. Chasing after an agent if you are in this situation will only be a waste of your time and energy.

1. You aren't ready for an agent. This is by far the most common reason--most of the manuscripts agents receive are not of publishable quality--and a tough one to deal with. How do you assess if your writing is ready to be sent out? You, your family, and your close friends are not going to be good judges, so look elsewhere. Join a critique group, get your manuscript assessed at a conference, or get a professional opinion. Over time, if you cultivate the ability to judge your own work, you'll have a sense of when something is ready to go out or not, but when you are just getting started, get the opinions of others.

Copyright 2023 © Harold D. Underdown. May not be reproduced in any form without prior permission. Terms of use

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