Friday, June 6, 2014

Agent (0)



Since I had a request last week, I bumped this up in the rotation and added a little aside at the bottom.


#9.      Agents are mandatory if you want a big name publisher


(I keep having gun pictures... But in case you didn't know, this is Agent Zero from X-Men Origins)


Why, you ask? Well it’s because the editors at those houses know agents, and they know which agents they can trust. So if you have one of those agents, it’s more likely that you’ll get noticed by that house.

Want an easy way to find agents? Check the acknowledgements page of some of your favorite books. There will be some agents in there, trust me.

However, most houses don’t require that you have an agent.

I feel like I just contradicted myself.

Yes, you need an agent. But no, you also don’t need one. Ahh! It depends.

See, big houses have big editors that listen to big agents who rarely work with little authors. Small houses tend to have young editors and few agents and are generally more open to working with budding authors.

Essentially, you have a big decision to make, and it needs to be made before you submit your work to any house.

Do you want a big house, or do you want a small one?


Personally, I’d say aim for the bottom or the middle. If you have an agent and you’ve been edited and your work is in the best state you think it will ever be in, shoot directly for the middle.

If you don’t have an agent, you may still choose to aim here if your work has been exceptionally edited. Send it in with a letter from your editor.
(After you’ve worked with some of the medium-sized houses, remember: agents frequent the doorsteps of those who’ve published and succeeded with these houses, and have helped to get them into bigger houses.)

If your work hasn’t been edited and you don’t have an agent, aim low. The smallest houses are more willing to work with those who haven’t even been edited, and they’ll help you get your work ready so you can move up the ladder when the time comes.

And most of the time they won't even blame you for leaving. They'll just be happy that you wanted to work with them, and that they were able to work with you.

I really hope that helps, because I feel like I may have just confused all of you. 

If you're still confused, drop me a comment and I'll do another blog and attempt to simplify! 

{RD}

P.S. The promised aside... 

How to get an agent

You have two main options here: 

1. Send letters to agents, along with samples of your work (you WILL) want to be edited first
2. Do everything in your power to get selected for publication by a small/medium size house, and sell sell sell once the book hits the shelves 

Why these two options? 

Because they're the only two that really work. 

I'll do a full sized blog on that at some point, don't worry.

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