Joseph Nassise

Tax day and deadline week all at the same time, means I’m quite literally swamped, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have something for our readers today.  As I was adding up the fees paid to my literary agent for his work this year, I thought it might be interesting to talk about just why I’m willing to give up this money and what I think an agent does for my career.

This will be a two part essay, so today we’ll look at the first five reasons to use an agent.   While having a literary agent is not a necessity, my personal experience has shown it to be a very beneficial relationship and I would recommend it wherever possible.

Reason #1 – An agent knows the marketplace better than you do

Given that it is an agent’s job to be aware of who is buying what from whom for how much, the vast majority of literary agents know the inner workings of the market better than most authors and it is their job to use that knowledge to your benefit.

Reason #2 – An agent has a personal relationship with multiple editors

An agent is, to some extent, a professional networker and has built up personal relationships with many editors over time. They know what certain editors like and don’t like when it comes to literary properties and they know what those editors have recently purchased, so they can help target your proposal to the individuals most likely to receive it in a positive manner.

Reason #3 – An agent understands contracts

The typical publishing contract is fifteen to twenty legal size pages of the most convoluted legalese I’ve ever seen and it is ripe with clauses that benefit the publisher rather than the writer. It is an agent’s job to understand what these clauses mean and to fight to remove or alter those that do not help your career. While you could educate yourself on the basics, an agent sees several of these a day and you would be hard pressed to meet their level of knowledge on your own without considerable time and effort.

Reason #4 – An agent is an experience negotiator

In the end it the agent’s job to get you’re the best offer and contract terms possible. This is what they do, day after day for client after client. They know just how much they can push a particular editor or publishing house, they know what is an acceptable counter offer and what is not, and they can advise you on what tact to take when the publisher offers terms that just aren’t acceptable.

Reason #5 – An agent protects your relationship with the editor

For one reason or another there often comes a time when the publisher had done something that you are unhappy with and that you would like to work to change. At the same time, you don’t want to alienate your editor or allow your anger/frustration over the issue to strain your working relationship. In times like these you agent can step in and play the “bad cop” for you, allowing you to work toward the result you want without damage to your editorial partnership.

Next time around we’ll cover the final five reasons to use a literary agent and I’ll answer any questions that might have come up out of part one.