AGENTS

THE OFFER

THE WRITER’S DESK © Chad Corrie

If you’ve been following these essays you should have a pretty decent idea of how to go about getting an agent. And while this has not been an exhaustive exercise on the matter, you should be able to have a staring point and some more resources to help you on your quest.

And so, in this essay, I’m going to cover the final part of the sometimes long journey toward acquiring your agent, that is signing with one. Now, here too I won’t be able to nor will I be getting into a great deal of specifics on the matter, as each case is going to be different for everyone taking part. After all we have different agents, different works being considered, different situations surrounding said works, and so forth. So I can only really speak to the generalities on the matter. That being said, I will be pointing you to some places that can help you further (see below).

So, you finally got the agent to read through your work and they not only liked what they read but think they can make some money off of it and get you both some success in the process. Great news for you both! But what do you do from there? Well, if you’ve done your due diligence you should have a pretty good idea of who this person is and what they’re looking to offer you. But there still might be some questions left you want to ask. Often agents will suggest a phone conversation before you formally agree to representation. If not, you can request one. But before you have that phone conversation write down some of your thoughts.

A great tool for this can be found here this is a nice short article about what you can expect when an agent calls. Another great chunk of information can be found here. This is another simple insight into making sure you don’t have any red flags to deal with in this last part of the process.

Now, assuming you get your questions answered and all is moving along as it should, you’ll be sent a contract to look over and sign. The contract has been touched on a tiny bit in the previous links of the writer's desk page but in general you want to make sure just what you're getting into. Common areas of understanding along this line are how long you are signing up with them and if you can get out of the contract without too much trouble should it be needed, what is expected from you, what is expected of them, and in general if there are going to be any extra fees charged to you for various matters. Lastly, of course, you want to see what the rates are for various types of representation (domestic vs. international)—and then you want to make sure the contract reads like you agreed it should and everyone is on the same page.

For the most part this isn’t going to be a big deal but you want to make sure you don’t have any surprises flung on you and understand what is being presented you and to what you are agreeing before you sign on that dotted line. If you have any questions, ask. Better to do so now and have things tweaked or explained instead of after you sign and then try and work it out from there.

After you’ve signed with an agent rejoice. You’ve gotten one step further on the rung toward publication in the larger markets and it’s worthy of celebrating. But what does that mean is going to happen next? Here we have to part ways. That's your own journey you’ll have to undertake and I really can’t speak much toward it other than to say you’ll find that in submitting to publishers through your agent you’ll be reminded of what it was like for you submitting to agents—the process isn’t much different in that sense. You’ll still have to wait and be patience and there will be rejections but also acceptance and then…well you get to see your book get published.

A good thing indeed.

Now, before we bring this essay to a close I wanted to make you aware of a great book that has really been a help and interest to me on the whole agent process. It’s called How to be Your Own Literary Agent by Richard Curtis. Don’t let the title confuse you. While it does give advice and input into the process of how one could represent themselves it is much more useful, in my opinion, as a tool to get a clearer picture of the agenting process in general and the contracts and deals that tie into publication overall. I was amazed at how clear and insightful the work is on the overall process in varied forms: rights to movie deals, to agents in general, and publishing deals to boot. It’s all there and very interesting, clear, and helpful in putting your feet on some solid ground. I’d recommend getting a copy and checking it out as you keep at this process. If anything it will prepare you for the next step. And who knows you might even be emboldened to go at it yourself with small presses or even larger houses.