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Great post - reminds me of when I was trying to decide where to go to grad school. I went with the one school that actually called me when I requested info. I liked the personal touch.

Thanks for linking, Jessica!

I love Jodi's blog. I've been following her since I discovered her on Jenny Rappaport's blog.

Very timely post, Jessica, as there's a discussion right now on the RWA-PAN list about this very thing. Going to post the link there now.

Great post. I'm currently playing with the idea of seeking an agent. I've been approached by several publications to write for them and I'm so scared that I'm going to get screwed over. I don't know the first thing about any of this! Scary stuff!

That's a good point. It will probably also give you an idea of the agent's general communication style, i.e. if an agent calls and has a personal conversation with you while offering representation, that agent probably won't be the type to never communicate again. Of course, I doubt there's a perfect correspondence, but depending on the situation, it might be a good way to gauge.

well done... thx u for share with us :)

Thank you for sharing this information. When reading this kind of post, I feel as if I've had a college course condensed in a few paragraphs.

Great post.
I think so often writers get caught up in the excitement of being offered an agent that we forget to take the time to find the one that's 'right' for us.
A very good point...how the agent offers representation will be a good indicator of how they will work.
thanks.

I like the personal interaction. My call was very personal and made it just like two women talking about my book. It was awesome and I wish I could have recorded it to play back later because I was so flabbergasted I think I forgot half of what was said...lol

I think it would be better from the agent's pov too, because then they get to share in that moment when they change an author's life. Get to witness that second of shock! LOL.

Loved both blogs! I must say, however, that I feel a tad bit overly-optimistic reading them. "When choosing between agents ..." has all the realism (to my mind) of "When you win the state lottery ..."

:)

A few years ago, a friend of mine got a request for a partial from an agent. Nine months later (!!), the agent requested the full with a six month exclusive (!!). Ten months into the exclusive, she sent revisions. Five months after the revisions were turned in, she sent more revisions. Then, a while after those revisions were sent in, she sent even more revisions, only this time there was a postscript attached that read, "By the way, I sent out the standard agency agreement. Let me know if you have any questions."

Friend was ecstatic, and she and her agent have since gone on to sell quite a few books. But me? I still think that was pretty rotten. I mean, she was in limbo for three years. Three years without a phone call or a discussion or even a response to an email asking for a status update. And the agent can't even take the time to go over the terms of the contract or make a formal offer? Maybe I'm being overly sensitive in my weakened state (I just got over pneumonia) but that was five years ago and I still find it presumptuous.

I agree with you, Elizabeth. I went through a similar situation, but it wasn't as long (about a year) and the agent opted not to offer representation in the end. However, I learned a lot from the experience and don't regret it one bit. Three years is too much, though.

Now I have a wonderful agent who knew after speaking with me for the first time about my attitude and approach to revisions that she would take me on. So the offer came first and the revisions second, and she sold the book in a 2-book deal.

I think writers want and expect different things from their agent. Some want no interaction and others want to be a team (my preference). I consider my agent a partner in growing my career because we both benefit. That's the important thing, that the relationship be productive and enjoyable for you both.

I received an email, and I was perfectly happy with that, it is my preferred communication style these days. But the email was only a request to talk at my convenience - I loved that part, because it gave me time to research the agent I knew nothing about (sweat to God, I did everything backwards, I won a contest, got the final judge interested and then investigated who that final judge was.) Anyway, it was the discussion over the phone that did it, that and her asking me about how I wanted to communicate with her. I had another offer at the time, but she was the more enthusiastic person, and that plus the way she came after me, is what really led me to chose her.

Do Literary Agents reply with form letters or are they personal? Everyone rejection letter was so nice. They all said I had talent and that though they couldn't represent me, somebody would. Is that what they say to everybody?

If it is, I may want to self publish my first novel and focus on my stronger second novel.

Love the analogy about you going to your teacher vs your mom. It's nice to know the writer has clout. Thanks for answering this question in such detail, Jessica. I hope you know how much your blog means to those of us trying to navigate our way around the biz.

A quandry I hope to have in the future

Word Verification - Folumb: The sound one makes slumping into a giant bean bag

Recently, in my dealings with a major magazine publisher who was having accounting issues, I realized how important it is to have an agent. It puts the author in an awkward position to be asking for payment that is overdue on stories that were published three months ago. Of course, I'm hoping this isn't something that happens often with book publishers. It's just been a harsh lesson for me to learn.

I think one thing writers fear is being annoying. Are my questions too dumb? Am I asking the right person? Will my agent hate me if I ask too many questions? How many is too many?
Luckily now a days we have agent blogs that answer a lot of questions. That helps a lot. I think blogging agents are a Godsend.

What Aimless Writer said!

I think the best advice Jessica gave me was to copy her on all my correspondence with my editor. It certainly keeps everything out on the table, especially since I want my agent to know EVERYTHING that goes on with my editor.

I let my agent handle just about everything that goes on between my editor and me, all except the actually editorial notes and discussion of changes in the book.

Everything else goes through my agent.

This is helpful - thanks!

I'd think any agent worth their salt shouldn't mind a client asking such a question, and should be willing to answer it (even if the answer is "ask your editor"). Good to hear it from an agent's lips, though!

Okay, I thought long and hard about this post, and I thought is there any possible way I could continue being combative on this site around this topic.

No! I like this post very much.

Thank you for the clarity. This is very helpful.

This post is a very nice clarification. Thank you for teaching us. ;o)

~ Aithne Jarretta

I hope I'm in this situation someday.

What if you and your agent disagree? Do you still go to the editor?

Thanks for the post. I guess a manuscript that was submitted years ago when the subgenre I write in was last popular is not a candidate for another look, now that the genre seems to be showing signs of life. Or is it? Can a manuscript that was submitted long ago be "new" again?

Funny, I'd never think to submit to an editor...I have enough angst thinking about submitting to agents! Why make it worse?

Thank you for validating my impressions. So many people advise writers to submit to publishers directly, but given the number of editors who will accept unagented submissions in my genre, that never struck me as productive.

Eek, I'm a little confused.
After placing in a contest, an editor requested only a synopsis. I'm sending out queries on a different manuscript, so I don't need to mention the editor, right?
Since it's a different manuscript and the editor hasn't shown interest so far besides a synopsis?

I thought I read here, somewhere, that BookEnds occasionally encouraged direct submissions to Harlequin/Silhouette.

I must be wrong, but I did it anyway.

1) Am I correct in assuming by editors you mean editors for Big Houses? Editors for small presses and ePublishers don't offer enough payment to benefit an agent.

2) Since editors and agents take so long to respond, an aspiring author can spend the better part of two years or so querying for one novel if she queries only agents first. It may be great for agents to get first dibs, but how does that benefit the author?Odds are she'll go through all that and still end up with nothing, since agents are only interested in books which will sell to the Big Houses.

You can make a career writing category romance for Harlequin and not ever sign with an agent....they are one of the few houses that take unsolicited queries....however, their single title division, Mira and HQN will only take agented submissions. If you're in this business and on a career path with the goal of writing single title, you will need an agent for sure...it just depends what you want to do. My contract with my agent covers everything except epubs...so I can sub on my own to epubs and any $$ I make is wholly for me.

I thought I read here, somewhere, that BookEnds occasionally encouraged direct submissions to Harlequin/Silhouette.

me: I'm pretty sure Harlequin is a non-agent publishing company. They have subsidiaries[i think that's the word] like Mira that you need an agent for, otherwise, anyone can submit to a line in the harlequin books. I'm pretty sure Bookends isn't being contradictory or two-faced. :D

Jessica, what about if you're querying a new work but your first book has a partial with one agent and is with an editor? Should you mention this in the query even though you're not querying the first book but concentrating on the second? Or is that a conversation you have later down the road?

(HQN does take unsolicites queries btw).

Harlequin Category accepts queries from unagented writers. HQN and MIRA however only accept agented submissions, as per their guidelines.

Nice post. Really liked it..
Don't forget to update it regularly.
I am looking for new updates dieing to read more stuff from you ..
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Kimber An, I'm sure you meant this for Jessica, but let me share my opinion.

Most agents do more than just send out manuscripts the day after the author sends them. Quite a few will ask for revisions and discuss marketing strategy.

For me, the agent is the last in a line of people who have gone over the work in preparation to send it to an editor. Do you really want to cut out what might be the last chance to spruce it up before meeting the editor's eye?

I believe in my book, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do every single, possible thing to make that baby shine before it goes out.

Thanks, Julie!

once again...Julie you're right...my agent loved my ms, which is why I was offered represention...but she also had several valid points and directed me to a few revisions that as a whole made the book much stronger...we've pitched it....and now we wait...but I trust her opinions, her strategy and her guidance....I wouldn't want to be making my way through the publishing waters by myself...sheesh...I'd probably drown!

Great educational post!

At the query stage, I think aspiring authors should do their homework like the Divine Miss Snark instructed. A lot of agents have blogs now or have been interviewed in a variety of places throughout Cyberspace. Some of the problems can be avoided by not querying incompatible (however excellent) agents in the first place.

Jessica, another timely and informative post!

I truly believe the most important ingredients for a successful agent/client relationship is a mutual enthusiasm for the story and a strong faith in one another's abilities. If you have that, and in return the agent has a track record of sales with NY publishers and a small list of happy clients, you both have something solid to build on.

Thanks so much for the info and troubleshooting tactics. :-)

Years ago, there was a Roz Chast cartoon in The New Yorker which had three panels, arranged left to right. The picture in each panel showed people dressed in normal formalwear, exotic garb of some sort, and finally fantastic-nightmare clothing -- like folded-up antennas, aluminum foil, bizarre solid objects, and so on. The panels' captions were "Dressed to the nines"; "Dressed to the sixes"; and "Dressed to X, the unknown."

Here's what made me think of that cartoon (you were wondering, weren't you?):

As an agent, have you ever had (or heard of, from the ubiquitous friend of a friend) a client of type X, the unknown? I'm assuming there's the client from hell, and the client from heaven, and then, well, the client you just end up not "getting" at all?

Very good, timely post. I think authors tend to panic when things don't go 'as planned' in the relationship. We hear tons of stories about how some clients are annoying nags and call all the time...so we resolve to be the 'good' client and not nag at all. And in the process, we end up shooting ourselves in the foot.

And to be honest, sometimes we hate to recognize that a relationship isn't working. If the agent isn't showing enthusiasm despite repeated discussions, it's time to cut the cord after all. Sometimes it just takes hearing it from another person.

Great post - thank you so much for writing it.

I think a client/agent relationship, when it's working, tends to develop as time and new projects move forward. The client needs less hand holding and the agent has more knowledge of the client's ability to produce. At some point, the type of communication changes from the panicked calls from the newbie author (guilty party waving madly here) to emails noting various publicity, reviews, etc. to occasional phone conversations concerning new projects, etc. Like any relationship, it evolves into one that's comfortable but not overwhelming. Those first months of a new contract though, at least in my case, probably had my agent looking for a good place to hide!

Jessica, thank you so much for this information. This is incredibly helpful, and I'm saving it for future reference.

Thanks for the frank and positive post! "Long-term relationship" can be a scary phrase to some but I think it's exactly what most of us writers are looking for. The one-agent/multiple-authors ratio you mentioned might sometimes make an author hesitate to infringe for fear of coming across as naggy or high maintenance -- it's encouraging to know that an agent doesn't mind us initiating discussions about career plans and long-term goals.

Have to agree with Anon 9:50. I had an agent for a number of years. Wonderful lady, a published writer herself. She tried and failed to sell several of my books. Did get an offer from Dorchester for my third book which we decided to decline but then she seemed to lose interest after a couple more rejections. In the meantime I slaved away on another book. When I finished I contacted her and it was then she informed me she wouldn't be 'representing' any more of my books...but wanted to try to sell the last book. Well, needless to say I was blind-sided. Had no idea she was giving me the ol' heave ho. I had made it a point to be the 'good' client by not bugging her. I kept my contact strictly through emails and only asked for status reports quarterly, if that much. Needless to say, I will be much more 'in the loop' with my next agent (God willing I ever get one again). But once again your article is very helpful and I will paste your comments to my computer for when the time comes... and may the fiction gods grant that time soon.

So many liken an agent/author relationship to marriage, and just as it happens in some of the best marriages, people can grow apart. What you were writing when your agent signed you may not be what you want to keep writing. You may decide to spread your wings and try something totally different. Or it may be that market changes force you to redirect yourself into other genres or subgenres. If your agent isn't on board with your new project - if she isn't 100% enthusiastic about it - she can't sell it well. Hopefully she'll say so before making any half-hearted attempts to market the project and you will have the opportunity to move on and find someone else.
It's not to say the agent didn't do her job. But there's no denying how subjective this business is, and while an agent may love one project, she may dislike another. It's lovely if she thinks everything you write, including your laundry list, is awesome - but not terribly realistic to expect it.

Just another observation from the trenches. :)

Good post.

A very helpful post. Thank you.

I work hard to not mistake professional relationships for personal ones, and I shudder to think that I'd ever feel married to an agent.

I understand the idea that you must work to find the best route of communication and avoid misunderstandings with your agent, but that's where the similarities end for me.

If I had an agent, I'd hope we'd get along nicely, perhaps grow to be friendly, but I'd never forget that some day, I might have to fire her. Or she might have to fire me. And I know from direct experience that it's really hard to stay friends with someone after you've fired them.

Besides, I don't need an agent to love me (or even like me, really) or listen to me blabber about my day. I need her to sell my books, and if she can't do that, well, she's just not useful to me. And I wouldn't be useful to her either, so we'd best part ways with as little personal pain as possible.

I don't think of parting ways with my agent as 'firing' her. She didn't feel excited enough about my new project to represent it. I felt it was the best thing I'd ever written. So I suggested perhaps it was time to move on. She said she hated to see me go, we shook hands and smiled, and I walked away. No hard feelings. I saw her just last week in San Francisco at a conference and was genuinely delighted to see her. We chatted for a while and I was glad to know she's doing well.

She was never my best friend. I don't want a best friend. But I do want someone who reads what I write and thinks it's awesome enough, she's happy to traipse across Manhattan and find the one editor who will love it just as much.

No, it's not exactly like being married - but it's a relationship that is as important to a writer's career as marriage can be to one's personal life. And just like dating can be a bitch, and finding the right man/woman can seem impossible, finding the right agent is freakishly similar in difficulty.

That's why agents like Jessica and Bookends, as well as others around BlogLand, are seriously wonderful for sharing their insights. If for no other reason, their candor gives the searchers among us a wee looksee into how they operate - how they agent. It's a gift and I appreciate it.

I wonder if there'd be a market for a service like Match.com for authors and agents? :)

I don't understand how an agent can be constantly communicating with writers and get anything else done and I'll wager most people in the business agree.

I am astonished that you send out rejection letters. If you don't want to do business with some wannabe, ignore her (I assume you only do business with women.) Trash cans were invented for people like that.

As for communicating after you sign 'em, all I can say is "Why?" You're not a baby sitter. If their crap does not sell, they will figure that out after you ignore them for a year or two. If it does sell, all you need them for is to sign the contract and/or make changes.

In due course agents are going to treat writers the way business managers treat their inferiors. It works for Fortune 500 companies. Why should it not work for the publishing industry? That problem Moonrat outlined a few weeks ago would not exist if agents and editors maintained a proper sense of hierarchy.

Anon 10:40--

You seem to forget that agents work for the author. There shouldn't be any heirarchy. We are all in this for the same purpose. To sell books. We write them, the agents help us sell them.

I think when anyone on either side begins to feel superior to or more necessary than the other, that's when problems arise.

Excellent post! I'm an attorney, specifically a public defender. I make my expectations known to my client up front. I'm your lawyer, not your social worker. I want you to keep in touch with me, during business hours, but I don't want to 'chat.' I'll take care of my part of the transaction [interacting with the court] and you take care of yours [stay out of trouble, stay in touch, be on time to court, bathed and dressed, etc.] and this will go well! The client is well within their rights to check up with you and ask for accountability, but not to demand that you assuage all of their fears and whims. The difference between an agent and lawyer is that I count is as success when I get rid of a client - that means I successfully resolved their case. For you, it's just the opposite!

Thanks, Terri. Anon 10:40, what you say makes sense. Let me offer a different perspective. In the business world the person who controls the purse is the superior being, not the one who produces the products and services. So in publishing the editor pays the agent. If the agent is honest, she pays the writer. If not, she forgets to do that or even charges the writer a fee for being her agent. The editor and agent are making handsome livings, whereas the writer either gets nothing or works for less than the minimum wage. Only if the writer is a bestselling author such as John Grisham can he claim to be in a one up position relative to anyone.

In any business except publishing writers would be regarded as peons and treated accordingly. In Hollywood writers are actually despised by some producers and actors.

Apparently literary publishing works differently. But for how long?

A lot of weird Anons here!

I had the fortunate circumstance of being able to choose from a handful of offering agents, and one of the things that I loved about my current agent was that she sent an email before we talked on the phone that outlined how she liked to work with clients and what I could expect. And I can say that she's absolutely followed through on all of it too.

Thanks for this great post, Jessica!

I attended the RWA conference in San Francisco, and had the luxury of going to dinner with two NY Times bestselling authors. I just recently signed with a wonderful agent, and at this moment have a ms that's been pitched to several NY houses. So, while moving ahead in this career, I'm still a relative newbie. One of these lovely ladies, took the time to offer me a lot of wisdom and advice that she learned on her journey, and one piece stood out for me....the agent works for us...period. We should never be afraid to ask questions or give opinions to our agent. And if said agent doesn't return phone calls,emails etc, don't be afraid to address this issue....and if it's not working out....find someone who will work for you and communicate with you

Here's my issue. (And I thought about emailing you to ask your opinion.)
A lot of fellow authors I know got an agent BECAUSE of a deal. In other words, the publisher wanted them and the agent came next.
The thing is, an author can't know whether that agent is going to LOVE the author's work.
I want an agent who will do what Barbara Poelle said she'd do for one of her authors---go to a monkey fight and win to get that sucker published.
What do you do if the agent came AFTER the deal? And if the agent isn't really loving your work, isn't it time to walk away?
What do you think?

This is a great post, thanks for sharing it because many aspiring authors don't know exactly what comes next, all we know is getting an answer to those queries is a huge step in the process - but it not the last.

I'd say call the agent and have a frank and honest talk.

Usually a phone call will save a ton of headache and heartache. Since the agent is trying to sell the work, I think the client should give her a chance.

I don't think the agent should get fired. Are you sure the agent even got the manuscript? It could've gotten lost in the mail. Or misplaced. Who knows? Jessica's right on about talking with the agent. I think the agent sounds awesome. Could be he/she is so driven that to admit defeat on #1 is unacceptable, lol. Maybe she's procrastinating with the client, hoping it'll sell. :-)

I faced a similar situation not too long ago. My agent was busy submitting Book 1, about which she very enthusiastic. Meanwhile, I'd written Book 2, about which I was very enthusiastic. It took her two months to get around to reading Book 2, which she ended up accepting, another four months to work through revisions, and another two months to actually get it out the door. She ended up shopping it at the same time Book 1 was still making the rounds.

All of this seemed like an eternity to me, but I knew she was working hard on my behalf, and that of her other clients. Plus, we'd worked together on other projects and I knew she'd get back to me when she could.

It sounds like this writer and agent are still figuring each other out, but six months is way too long for any writer to wait for feedback. High time the writer contact the agent and politely inquire about the status of Book 2. It may be the agent is swamped, unenthusiastic, or dealing with a personal crisis.

Jessica, it's kind of like the lines at the grocery store. There's no one when you're about to finish your shopping, but when you're ready a moment later, they are six deep at every checkstand.

It's the feast or famine thing.

I'd say call and have a frank talk with the agent about what you are feeling. Sometimes, we tend to assume things and that can damage a relationship. Communication, open and honest, is the key to any endeavor.

I'd be happy just having an agent, and give her time to do her job. Does this writer understand how hard it is to get one?

You might like to clarify that "Agent X" is generic, and not Rachel Vater, a/k/a Agent X.

First of all, I will go months with nothing but silence from my clients while they work busily on their next projects or submissions, and then whammo. I swear they all email each other, pick a week, and steadily bombard me with proposals and manuscripts.

Because they all hang out at the same writer's site...and work each other up into a frenzy to the point where they all rush off to flood your inbox.

:)

Really? You don't want me to tell you if another agent is looking at the same book? Wow. If all of us writers waited on each individual agent to get back to us before querying anyone else, it would take years to find representation for one book!

I thought telling the agent was the polite and correct thing to do. Wouldn't it be worse if I kept that information to myself and then told you weeks later that I had received another offer on the book? I think that would be much worse!

THanks for the thoughts on this. I always wondered about proper etiquette. The last thing I want to do is offend anyone.

Like Jessica said, this is one person's opinion, and what she prefers. In my experience submitting partials and fulls, if an agent wants to know if the MS has been requested elsewhere, they'll ask. Some also explicitly say "If you get another offer of representation let me know before you accept it."

It can come off really presumptuous when you start using numbers or naming names, saying "X other agents are also considering the full and X other agents have the partial".

Your advice makes a lot of sense, and I generally agree with it. But recently, I experienced two situations which required different handling. An agent requested a full, and the first thing she asked me was whether anyone else was looking at it. Since I had mentioned in the original query letter and the partial transmittal letter that it was a simultaneous submission, I confirmed that others had partials but no fulls. A few days later, I got a request for a full from another agent, so I did contact the first one and let her know. So, now with two fulls out, a third agent asks for an exclusive when requesting a partial. Part of me was ecstatic, and part of me was starting to panic. I wrote back that I'd love to send the partial but couldn't grant the exclusive because two fulls were already out. She responded that she was still interested in the partial.
As you said, you just have to go with your gut. I did, but I was scared to death that one of these agents would get annoyed and lose interest.
My question to you is this: Since none of this agent interest guarantees an offer of representation, how would you feel as an agent, if I sent you a query letter? I obviously wouldn't mention that any of the above was going on.
Sorry this post is so long.

Great post! Thanks for the information.

Hi Anonymous--

I think you may have misunderstood. Firstly, BookEnds doesn't ask for exclusives, for the same reason you gave. We just don't think it's fair to draw out the process any longer than it already is. If, however, you get an offer from one of those other agents, we do prefer to be given notice so that we may have a chance to consider the book before you accept the other offer. We understand that it's a personal choice for that author to make, and sometimes he/she will go with their gut and accept the offer and withdrawal it from our consideration. We respect those decisions, too.

Diane --

You responded exactly right. You certainly shouldn't withhold the information if an agent asks if it's with other agents. And in the case of an exclusive request, you definitely need to be upfront.

If it's not an exclusive and the agent doesn't specifically ask, however, it's probably better to keep other requests to yourself.

It seems that politeness is the key. At the partial stage do they need to know others are looking at it? Probably not. If they don't ask, they don't feel the need to know.
One doesn't often sell on a partial.
At the full stage, I would go for full disclosure.

I was wondering about most of these too, so this is great info.

Just one question do you inform agents who you have queried (but haven't responded) if you get an offer from another agent?

I would inform anyone and everyone who you think you might like to represent you that you have an offer. Even if it's only a query you haven't heard back from yet.

--jhf

Thanks Jess for answering this question for me.

Little warning lights would be going off in my head and I am notorious for being overly trusting.

Ask the questions and be comfortable with what's happening before you go forward.

As for the editing part, that would set off little alarms also. I will polish, edit and put my work through a fairly tough novels workshop before I send it to an agent. Even so, reading and agenting is a subjective craft. If the agent finds nothing he or she would change, it makes me wonder if anything is going to be glaring enough to spark such a request.

I don't expect an agent to be my editor, but I do want them to help me make it the very best it can be before it goes to publishers.

Neither of us win if it doesn't sell.

I'd be suspicous. About the twenty copies for sure and the fact that she has no suggestions for the edit?
Jessica? How many perfect manuscripts do you get?
I'd investigate this agent's track record, maybe email the authors she lists on her site, (is that okay to do?), find out where and when her last sales took place.
Do other agents link to her site? I'm finding most of the "better" agents link to each other. I think they do this out of mutual respect.

I just wanted to chime in that while asking to put money up front can be a warning sign to dig deeper, I've been surprised at how many legitimate agents ask for the author to supply the hard copies for submission.

My agent asked for 10 copies to shop and is with a top and well-respected NYC agency. I have other friends who were in similar situations. So it's not necessarily a red flag that should have you running and screaming.

However, you should always do your homework to ensure the agency is legitimate before you even bother querying. I already knew that my agent was legit, but I also knew my agent's submission strategy and where those copies were going before I even sent them.

The way my agent explained it to me was that its a lot cheaper to go to a local Kinkos elsewhere in the country, and print out your MS than it would be if the agency went to a Kinkos in NYC.

Since many agencies do have reimbursement issues in place for things like copies, this is just a way to keep their overhead low, and save you money in the long run.

I didn't want an agent who edited; I wanted an agent who found me an editor. Thus I specifically shopped for an agent who didn't attempt to revise my work. We've been together for six books now, and we're very happy.

Having said that, she has never once asked me for a hardcopy of my manuscript. I find that unusual, but not suspicious.

I don't know why things like this would weird you out. What is suspicious about not editing? NOTHING. It's something you can even SELECT for in your agent search.

Haven't you already checked her track record to show that she has a host of sales to various publishers?

Eww... What's that fishy smell? I could possibly understand 5 to 10 copies, but 20? Is this agent using a scatter shot method rather than identifying just the right editors to match the book? I mean, if that's all she's doing, why is she needed at all? Just for the agency letterhead? If I were an editor, I'd find this approach mighty fishy as well.

I know it's expensive to have copies made, and electronic is the better alternative. Sigh. Which publisher is it that bought all its editors Sony ebook readers so they could download manuscripts and read them that way instead of on paper? Genius.

I'm just now preparing cover letters to go with the 4 manuscript requests I received just in the past few days. At $20 per manuscript, and then figuring in the postage costs, a couple with return postage, my restaurant budget for the month is severely compromised. So I can certainly sympathize with the agent who asks for help footing the bill for such costs up front. I just don't agree with a scatter shot approach to editor submissions. That seems highly unprofessional to me.

I don't think the non-editing thing is a red flag, necessarily. But I would want to know what your agent is planning to do with those 20 copies. (I know writers who signed with agents who asked for 5 or 10 copies, but never 20. At the least, it's wasteful. At the worst, it suggests your agent is going to scatter-shot your ms.)

I assume this agent has sales in your genre to reputable publishers. Did you talk with any of your agent's clients before signing?

Interesting topic to me esp. with the "should agent edit your work" thing. I know a first time author who recently hit it big with a gigantic deal, but only after ten months of her agent tearing her book apart and having her put it back together.

Then I know another first time author who also hit it big recently with a major sale -- after her agent submitted her ms. to various editors TWO DAYS after she read her submission, with absolutely NO editing on the agent's part.

My friend with the ten months of editing swears that unless an agent makes you edit, and edit hard, especially for a first book, you aren't going to make it. The other first time author feels the opposite, of course, that there's not always a reason to edit.

I expect editing when I finally do snag an agent, though I'm working as hard as I can to do the work up front so I don't spend another year editing a book I already worked so hard on.

Oh, I thought of something else. If the agent does a blanket submission, what happens when editors offer helpful feedback? Maybe revisions are requested, or the feedback switches incites a light bulb moment that helps make the book better. Maybe the book is so much better it goes to auction! But if 20 are sent out all at once, and everyone gets to see the same flaws, the chances of submitting a new and improved version are nil. That would be a real shame.

What does your contract say? You have a contract right? Do these copies get paid for out of the advance before the % is deducted? Is this agent's rate lower than typical because you pay for the copies? What about postage?

NOT EXACTLY GRABBED, GORGEOUS AND GRINDING MAD

(Eleventh in the series at BookEnds, LLC)


A minute later, we were browsing Jacky Sach's office, taking in the landscape, hunting down the banging sounds. The good news was the office looked normal, comfy actually with warm golden walls and a laughing Buddha. The bad news was the orgasmic sounds had amped to Alpha-girl devours paradise and wants more.

"Spankin', unh?" Stink said and tiptoed toward to sounds before earing-up to what looked like a closet door.

My guilt was so choking I couldn't speak. What kind of crazy bastards were we? Jacking BookEnds's stuff, dissing their quirks, earjacking on their sex. Better late than never for sanity to take front stage, I told myself. "Come on, Stink. We're not voyeurs, let's bounce."

Too late, Stink had inched open the closet door. Damn, damn, damn.

Suddenly he slammed it closed. "Run for your life! It's the gerbil lover!"

Oh my God! Oh my God, the gerbil lover was in the closet! I wheeled around, launched a few steps, then froze in confusion. Stink raced around me, clueless to my bewilderment. I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back. "Who the hell's the gerbil lover?"

Stink rolled his eyes. "Don't you read the National Enquirer? Richard Gere, man. And he's chained to a desk, bondage style."

Cripes! Jacky Sash had Richard Gere chained up. To be honest I was expecting someone scarier. But oh well, crazed Hindu kissing Buddhist have their creepy qualities too. "He's shackled? Is he by himself?"

Stink nodded, tugging out of my grip and bookin' to the hallway door.

There was another round of orgasmic groans. Against better judgment, I hurried to check it out, but before I grabbed the knob the closet door started to rattle, the rattling shook the wall and the door whizzed open.

"Whoa!" I said to Stink. "That's Richard Gere all right."

"Good evening, gentlemen." Gere's voice sounded a little breathless. "Would you be so kind and unchain me?"

Stink craned over my shoulder. "Make him crap out the gerbil first."