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Oh. That Galleycat article was kind of horrifying. I am so grateful for my agent, who knows the business far better than I ever will!

THANK YOU for posting this. The Galley Cat article (and some of the comments) made me want to shake lots of people. :) LOL. Thanks for the blog post, and I agree totally.
Deidre Knight

What the people who insist they can "just upload my book onto Kindle" don't seem to understand is that no one will know they're there. WHO is going to browse 3 million titles and choose one because of some little blurb they read about it? No way is traditional publishing going down the tubes. I can tell you that my readers LOVE BOOKS. Print books. There is something tangible about them that Kindle will never achieve. Not that I'm saying there isn't a place for e-books. I just know I'm not buying into the whole "just upload my crap... uh... book" for free thing. I love my agent and she's worth every penny she earns helping me be the best author I can be.

Thoughtful post. I agree, especially with: "with so much content out there for the taking (or downloading), now more than ever we need agents and publishers to be better gatekeepers and advocates."

The relative ease of "e-publishing" could lead to an avalanche of stuff--much of it not worth wasting time on. The industry NEEDS agents to help sort things out. As a writer, I'm glad I have one to guide me through the treacherous waters.

I apologize for the lengthy rant in advance but I JUST HAVE TO:

"I don't see the whole point when I can hire an attorney to negotiate my publishing contract for a flat fee."

First, methinks this charmer authored that gem:

http://maryww.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/the-talent-killers-how-literary-agents-are-destroying-literature-and-what-publishers-can-do-to-stop-them/

Look, I'm not a publishing lawyer, but I am a lawyer. And I can say with confidence that whoever said that is a fool. I'm perfectly comfortable representing plaintiffs in multi-million dollar international lawsuits, but the only person's advice I'd want on my book contract would be my (future) agent's. The skill sets are *completely different*

Also, I would be beyond shocked if publishing lawyers with the requisite knowledge and experience to ethically negotiate these contracts charged a flat fee. That shiz will play out in billable hours. And will the amount be less than an agent's 15%? Maybe, maybe not. But the lawyer will only be accountable insofar as that single contract; and the standard (for malpractice) will be competence. Not excellence: competence. And most lawyers, frankly, just don't care what one-time, flat-fee clients think. It's not a high volume repeat business unless you're James Patterson, and if you are, well...you're not. So if a client is unsatisfied, there's no incentive to improve. Convesely, an agent will be accountable for your entire career (and therefore has a proportionally vested interest in you) and, if you've done your research, will not want to risk getting screwed because you think he done you wrong. One thing I've learned by reading agency blogs: the publishing world is small, and agents have their reputations to protect.

(I should also add that if you bad-mouth a lawyer all over the internets for jacking up your contract, he's probably more likely to sue you for libel than a literary agent. Just sayin'.)

Ultimately, as Miriam said, there are a gazillion important things agents do for clients that lawyers will NEVER do, and even more things that agents Just Do Better.

The comments section on GalleyCat is igniting. Oh the stupid- it burns!

Good post Miriam. I don't think it's a leap to say the people saying that agents are unnecessary are the authors (published or not) who have had bad experiences with agents. Which is kind of like saying that because it's raining right now you should never go outside.

If every author suddenly adopts the "publish your work to Kindle" approach, you're going to have millions of 'authors' making an average of $30 a year. Fine if your only aspiration is to have an Amazon page, not so fine if you actually want to have a career as a writer.

That's the major difference: most authors want to have careers, and only an idiot would think the creative side and business side are identical and can be done without any training or industry knowledge. True, a bad agent can harm you as well as help you. But a good agent will sell foreign and ancillary rights, help you brainstorm ideas, know which editors to send your work to, fight for the right cover, and earn their 15%.

That Galleycat post, and posts like it anger me because they're made with no insight. It's like if after the invention of penicillin someone said, "Doctors will be obsolete in five years." There are so many nuances to publishing that unless you're simply happy having your book available to download (which is like having a stack of flyers that are 'available' to take), you need someone who knows the industry to fight for your career.

I read the post, but not the comments. I was all worked up just after the post! The least volatile thing I wanted to say was that if that's what the anonymous writer thinks of agents, then they don't understand the difference between "any" agent and a great-match agent. Also, funny they were anonymous. Maybe they didn't want any of the agents they're currently querying to know it was them! Haha! I could list a hundred things that my agent has done for me over the two years that are totally invaluable. And most of them don't even have to do with contracts.

Excellent post. Thank you.

I don't usually read GC, but I saw people talking about how awful it was yesterday. I have to agree. Wow.

At least stupid people are vocal about it so I know who to avoid. ;)

Brava! Brava! Great post. (The sound of rattling jewelry is heard in the background.)

The post was just insanity. Your post, however, is a great response.

I'm with M above- I'm a lawyer also and I mostly handle contract law. But I wouldn't want to touch a book contract. And I definitely wouldn't want to pour over my own royalty statements and try to negotiate foreign rights and tv/ movie rights and fight with publishers to get the book presented in the best way.

Agents are necessary and important, and I don't need to have one yet to say that, although I hope that changes soon :).

Besides, lawyers could never replace agents- we don't hand-hold and encourage unless we can charge for it! Lol

I'm surprised to read any writers are shying way from literary agents. One only needs to open "The Writer's Market" to be convinced to start looking for someone compatible.

I must admit to having difficulty reading the post you are responding to. The busy site somehow affects my dyslexia. However I can clearly tell the article is mostly quotations without a fully presented argument. I am certain your well written response fully trounced the meager evidence provided.

Thank you for an excellent post.

Okay, Miriam...
You've convinced me. YOU'RE HIRED! Please have your people contact my people ASAP!

http://robertwahl.blogspot.com/
http://www.jacketflap.com/profile.asp?member=PYXX


Haste yee back ;-)

You're spot on.

There is no difference in tension when negotiating a contract -asking where the $ is, contract changes and all that stuff. There have been MANY times I wished I had an agent as my advocate (small e-press pubbed). I don't want to deal with that stuff-I just want to write. Sounds naive, but when Stress clogs up your creativity and you CAN'T write becuase of it? I would come out the richer writer for having an agent.

Hi Miriam. If I had a pound for everyone who'd tweeted me the link here in the hope of a bunfight I certainly wouldn't need an agent.

So I'd better say something. Probably not what people expect of me, though. I disagree with you. I'll get that clear up front. I agree that the digital revolution has made little difference - but that's only because I don't think we really "needed" an agent before.

On the other hand you're right - we all need checks and balances and supports as writers. The first, however, can be done very well by a great editor, and the second by one's fellow writers.

I can see why people have complained about this post. You assume that we need agents - because they will smooth things over with publishers. That of course make the huge assumption we want a publisher. An increasing number of us don't. We want readers. And whilst we are still playing with sustainable business models for self-publishers, there are some of us who are looking very hard and seriously and will get it right.

What a self-publisher can't do without is great editing, design, PR, printers, and logistics (though this is more digital than physical and will become more so as espresso machines take off). Some writers will perform one or more of these functions themselves. Others will outsource them all. I DO see a role for promoter/managers in this scheme - and I think our current agents could do it well, although they will need to learn different skills, and I think people crossing over from music PR (especially as myspace's woes continue, with bebo looking set to follow, meaning there is a glut of talented social media music PR people on the scene) could do it equally well.

I have no axe to grind with agents, which will surprise those who know me [correcty] as a rather gobby advocate of the DIY/punk/whatever-you-wanna-call-it-just-don't-make-me-swallow-your-labels approach. Every agent I know does an incredible job for their clients, and many of tehm are lovely people too. I see Jodi is here - as an agent to be I couldn't sing her praises highly enough. There will probably always be a rump of genres where the agent-publisher model persists, even. But I do see publishing becoming flatter, and direct outsourcing becaoming more the norm, and to fit into that model agents need to reposition themselves.

But for those of us on the literary end of things - and probably my friends in SF, maybe those in erotica and fantasy, certainly those in non-fiction - I wold prefer agents to be the lovely people with a shared passion for books I meet up with on #litchat several times a week. I have no interest in pitching them. I have no interest in having a go at them. I just don't see why I need one.

I'm in a collective of 26 of the most talented writers on the planet, at least three of whom are of major prizewinning potential - they support me and psur me on in my thinking and my editing and through my self-doubt; I love meetnig readers and speaking at live readings; I work with an immensely skilful cover designer; I have a five-year plan to make writing work as a career without ever having to stop experimenting and finding my voice because I'm hidebound to genre by a publisher.

I'm a writer. Whether I'ma awriter worth their salt is, of course, another matter. But this is a post that made generalisations, and as someone included in one of them, I'd like to ask: what would an agent give me that I don't have where I am?

You lay out the vital things an agent does for writers with book deals. But what can you do for the unpublished writer? Especially in the current climate that sees fewer risks being taken on unknowns and even mid-list writers being charged with doing all their own promotion and marketing because the budgets are no longer there.

The majority of publishers don't accept a MS without it coming through an agent. A practical/artificial (depending on your pov) barrier to entry. But there's no guarantee the agent is going to be able to place the unknown's book with a publisher - it is just a requirement that a MS be presented by an agent and not the writer. The chances are not enhanced in any way.

We all know the figures for getting published first time are miniscule, so like Dan, I'll take my chances doing it myself with about the same odds of generating a decent sized readership (going viral however that is defined in terms of sales) as being picked up off a publisher's slushpile and offered a deal. At least I won't have anyone else to blame but myself.

Thanks for all your comments. We like a good back-and-forth around here (as does Galleycat: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/agents/literary_agents_react_142886.asp). We really do believe that an agent’s role is to make life easier for authors so that they can devote their time more fully to writing. That, of course, assumes that most authors want to have a publisher’s imprimatur on their work. To answer Dan and Sulci Collective, however, I’m not suggesting that agents are for everyone. In fact, given that we probably take on about 1-3% of the projects that are submitted to us, I know we’re not for everyone. I am suggesting that we provide a valuable service both in taking care of business so that you can write and in sifting through all that content and determining (flawed as the process may be) what merits attention. Speaking as a passionate reader, there are sadly a limited number of books I’ll be able to read in my lifetime. I depend on agents and editors to help me choose what may be worth reading.

Sulci - I agree that there's no guarantee that an agent will sell a book, but I think your conclusion that your chances are not enhanced is off the mark.

Good agents are INVALUABLE. They provide editorial advice, and they know which editors are looking for what types of ms's. Plus, editors give creedence (ok, preference) to projects brought to them by agents, ie, they trust an agent's taste.

Alan forgive me if this is neither your experience nor your practice, but in the UK I have yet to find any agent to give more than a stock rejection letter if they are not interested in your MS - and I fully understand this as it would be uneconomical for them to spend time on a project that they will not be involved in, or give advice on other possible agents (Competitors & rivals) who might be. I have no gripe with this, it is just time management and the market.

What it does do on the other side of the equation however, is leave a writer in total limbo. No further along knowing where their craft lies than the very first MS & very first rejection letter they ever received, no matter how much time has elapsed between the two. In such circumstance, the author may as well make his own judgment and back it by self-publishing.

In my case I can fully see an agent is likely to judge that my work is not commercially viable enough to make it worth his while. It's probably a bit of a tough sell. But thereby it becomes my job to prove him wrong, to make the tough sell and back my judgment and belief. If I am even part-way successful, then what need do I have of him then?

@DGLM this is a great discussion,and thank you for diving back in. - you say "I’m not suggesting that agents are for everyone."
but I think I may have to call you out on that one:
"every serious author needs an agent"

Of course, I realise your point is that we're not serious authors, which of course is one you're entitled to make, and I'll allow visitors to the Year Zero site and our books to make their own minds up. But you have to admit, it sounds like you're backtracking on a generalisation.

Sulci, your point about agents not providing much editorial feedback before you're a client is well taken (in my previous post, I was referring to after you've signed with one). And I'm here in the States, so things are undoubtedly a little different.

As for getting that much-needed feedback, I've relied on critique groups and workshops and writing conferences. They've been essential, at least to me.

Best of luck, whichever path you take!

Thanks for the follow-up, Dan. My point is not that you're not a serious author if you don't have an agent, but that everyone who is a serious author NEEDS an agent. I don't see the contradiction. I may think you need a good agent in order to have a successful publishing career, but implicit in that is a partnership and two parties who are intent on reaching the same goals. If you don't want to be published in the traditional sense then, serious or not, you don't need representation.

Alan, of course an editor is invaluable. And I can see you've made a case for linking editors with agents. But that kind of vertical business model (where you get [person 1 simply to get you to person 2) seems somewhat perilous to me. I am always fascinated by the difference between the UK and US - the one that always really surprises me is the query - in the UK the query that leads to a partial doesn't really exist - submissions start as partials. I'm constantly intrigued by how the difefrence came about.

And Sulci's point is a vaild one regarding commerciality - what's not commercial for the industry needn't be uncommercial for the individual

"everyone who is a serious author NEEDS an agent... If you don't want to be published in the traditional sense then, serious or not, you don't need representation."

I'm afraid you lost me as to why that isn't a contradiction

I've been reading about all the panic and mayhem with the e-book concerns the suspected "death of the novel" and such for some time now. It's nice to hear someone who knows the business intimately say what I've been thinking, "online, e-book, or paperback, what does it really matter so long as the works are getting read?"

I know there are ramifications to contracts and royalties that still need to be worked out, but I don't think that warrants the apocalyptic mind-set that so many writers and agents seem to have lately.
-Colin Hill

"online, e-book, or paperback, what does it really matter so long as the works are getting read?"
Amen to that Colin. I think that's something we can all agree on. The one thing that really matters is that people carry on getting excited by stories. That's way more important than this kind of gadget or that kind of genre or this writer or that press. It's a wider and more important issue than any one of our parochial concerns, and whilst it's good to have these back and forths, let's never forget that wider impotr when we show our faces to the world.

I think that some of this is wishful thinking on the part of unpublished writers who are frustrated with how hard it is to break into the business and get an agent and who would like to believe that business is getting in the way of art.

I mean, yeah, you kind of do want agents to stop existing when you have the agent who's had your full manuscript for a year and won't spare you an email to at least say "still reading" or "sorry, you're rejected" but yet finds the time to twitter several times a day. And it makes you want to scream when agents have very public "let's race to the bottom of our inboxes" races.

It's even more frustrating when you get the form letters where the [INSERT NAME] is still left in the email or when you get a rejection from somebody's assistant or intern because you didn't even get to the agent themselves.

The temptation to imagine that this might be a thing of the past is strong. Especially when you feel like you're caught in the "I need to be published to get an agent and I need an agent to be published" cycle of doom.

But I think saying that agents actually are going away is complete nonsense. I think they'll be working with different formats and in different ways - but the basic job function is NOT to be a gatekeeper like everyone seems to think.

They're arbiters between the producers (writers) and the distributors (the publishers), and while there might be services that let a writer upload their novels to an e-book service, getting the word out about a book so that it hits critical mass is still going to require someone with a bigger network than most novelists can muster. Which means publishers or book distribution companies of some sort.

You can put a book up on a website, but unless you tell people about it, nobody is gonna read it. So you need visibility. And to get that visibility, you're gonna need somebody who's got a wide network and can put that book in places where people will actually SEE it. Whether that's a website or a bookstore, the principle remains the same.

I mean, iTunes and mp3's didn't spell the collapse of the album, it just meant the downturn of a format. CDs aren't selling as well these days, but the big name music artists are getting no less rich. Even with music piracy.

Ebook, paperback, and hardback are just formats. The product - the book - and the process of writing a book and then getting it out there to the readers may change a bit with that format, but a lot of the systems that exist are in place because they work.

Agents are going anywhere and the frustrations the bad or badly overworked and disorganized ones cause writers isn't going anywhere, either. You either learn to live with it and keep plugging on or you go do something else that makes you happy.

you can put a book

For the past ten to fifteen years, I've had this "self-publish on the internet and bypass the nasty old publishing paradigm" discussion with people...but so far the business model doesn't stack up (the closest I've seen yet is Lee & Miller's, but they already had a solid fan base for their work when a publisher's bankruptcy dumped them into online publishing as the only and fastest survival strategy.)

I don't just want "readers." I want writing income. Moreover, I want income from writing fiction, because I like to write fiction. In typical writer-indulgent fashion, I want to write what I want to write and get paid for it. Lots, if possible. And yes, it is--with help.

In pursuit of that goal, some 20+ years ago, I signed on with an agent--and for 20+ years his knowledge, energy, and attention to detail have served me well and increased my income. Would I be published if I didn't have an agent? Maybe. In short fiction, certainly (already was.) But books? Doubtful, though more houses took unagented submissions back then and I'd spent several years waiting for my manuscript to bounce from one publisher after another. I know that I'd never have made sales to all the countries where my books ended up without my agent's efforts.

There are a few substantially successful writers who don't have agents, but most writers who make a living at it do have an agent. These successful writers don't let agents take 15% off the top because we're in love with tradition...but because agents (good agents, anyway) earn that 15% by making us more than enough to cover it.

I make my living--supporting the family-- writing fiction. Writing the stories I want to write. I have a lot of readers (which pleases the ego) along with money to live on. My agent is an integral part of that success. I could not do what he does (don't know how, don't want to spend the time away from writing.) Division of labor makes sense; using each person's expertise in that area of expertise makes sense. Together we accomplish more.

i'll do a shout on my blog soon. I pray for his recovery.....

Thanks, Alice.

I'm so glad you mentioned Albert Borris!

My critique group, the Slushbusters, had a chance to meet several members of the Class of 2k9 at the Virginia Festival of the Book. They were wonderful ladies- some let us interview them for our blog. Each one, though, made a point of mentioning Crash Into Me.

All the best to Borris and the other members of the Class of 2k9!

This book is unbelievable.

Our hearts go out to Borris.

Thanks so much for getting the word out about Albert! He deserves the attention--a great guy and a gifted writer.


Ellen Jensen Abbott
class of 2k9

writers.


THAT'S what I meant.


damn.

i am going back and forth on this.

At some point many writer's SURELY consider this. After they buy the perfect SHOES, of course...

Seems to emphasize the difference between being published and making sales, though from what I've heard, it's getting to be just as hard to make sales either way.

I have 1 Y/A novel published through a small traditional press and 6 with Infinity Publishing, a POD that is very pro-author. I make SO much more profit/commission on my POD books enabling me to donate more to schools, libraries and fundraisers. For all my marketing efforts, why shouldn't I receive a better return on my investment? http://www.SharonMiner.com

I am so glad to see POD is on the rise. My first book, OLivia's Magic Conch is now out there because I had two years of being overlooked by traditional publishing houses. I say "overlooked" because I believe you cannot be rejected if no one accepts your manuscript because their quota for unknowns has been met for the year. I shopped around to be sure I own all rights and went with Xlibris. While it is difficult to get publicity on your own, I will not give up. My book is right in tune with many issues today and is a fable for middlegrade and up. Fables are ageless, this one is eco-marine friendly and educational as well. I believe it will awaken the curiosity in those who show no awareness to the problems surrounding the coastal areas by keeping our beaches and oceans clean, so I took the plunge and invested my money and will market it with the hope a publisher will hop on board. Thank you for your article. I feel even better about it now.
P.A.Zimmerman www.oliviasmagicconch.com

I am so glad to see POD is on the rise. My first book, OLivia's Magic Conch is now out there because I had two years of being overlooked by traditional publishing houses. I say "overlooked" because I believe you cannot be rejected if no one accepts your manuscript because their quota for unknowns has been met for the year. I shopped around to be sure I own all rights and went with Xlibris. While it is difficult to get publicity on your own, I will not give up. My book is right in tune with many issues today and is a fable for middlegrade and up. Fables are ageless, this one is eco-marine friendly and educational as well. I believe it will awaken the curiosity in those who show no awareness to the problems surrounding the coastal areas by keeping our beaches and oceans clean, so I took the plunge and invested my money and will market it with the hope a publisher will hop on board. Thank you for your article. I feel even better about it now.
P.A.Zimmerman www.oliviasmagicconch.com

Is this gonna take me all night? Okay, I'll get to it after dinner and a martini.


:-)

I'll take pizza in the cafeteria any day! Thanks, Alice!

Random House *UK* is getting weirder in their policies it seems; first age-banding, now this, and what next?

I'm hoping it doesn't spread.