Should you look for a literary agent?

Finding a literary agent is the same chicken-or-the-egg phenomenon as looking for your first job. Before you get hired, the employer wants you to have experience. But how do you get experience without that first job? It’s the same thing with agents. Agents don’t want unpublished authors, they want someone with a track record of being published.

Whether you need an agent depends on your book project. If your book has a niche audience, the market might not be big enough to interest a trade publisher. The trades want a potential audience for your book of at least 200,000 readers. If your market is smaller, the publisher figures they won’t sell enough books to make it worth their while.

The agent’s role is to scan through the mountain of manuscripts they receive in search of something they think will sell. Then they work with you on a book proposal you’ll present to an editor. The benefit of having an agent is that they know the market and how to make your proposal look good to an editor. So if the agent gets you a contract, of course he’s worth 15 percent.

The downside with agents, particularly if you have a niche book, is that they don’t submit books to small publishers. Small publishers give small advances, so there’s not enough of a commission for the agent. Here you lose, because with a niche book, small publishers will most likely know how to market your book.

The irony is, these days you may not even need an agent. Publish it yourself, and you don’t need to fork over 15 percent to an agent.

Do you know how to reach the audience for your book? Then self-publish it, and market the book. That way you won’t be settling for a 5 percent or 10 percent royalties, you can bank 50 percent of the cover price.

If you’re still looking for an agent, there’s one red flag to watch for – when they ask for a fee. Some agents will ask $500 to read your manuscript. It’s possible that the agent who asks for such a fee is highly ethical. But more often that not, it’s a sign of trouble.

One good place to look for an agent is the Association of Author’s Representatives. Members must possess several qualifications before joining and pledge to uphold a strict cannon of ethics.

And by the way, after you self-publish your book and can show a track record of sales, it'll be much easier to find an agent (if you still want one).




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