(This question is part of a larger subseries called Perpetual WIPs: Mid-Career Authors. For the remaining questions, see here.)
What were your top priorities in a new agent this time around, and how did they differ from your top priorities when you were first searching?
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When I was a newbie author, I didn’t realize how much an agent can make or break an author’s career. An agent has to be many things: an editor, a negotiator, savvy about the industry, and dedicated to their clients. They should also have the backing of experience or a reputable agency behind them. Anyone can set up a website and call themselves an agent – so a lot of the responsibility is on authors to do their homework. And a lot of bad agents aren’t discussed publicly. Without privately talking to their clients, it’s almost impossible to sort out the good from the bad.
My top priorities were to find someone who was knowledgeable about the publishing industry as a whole, worked out of NYC, and really wanted to invest in my career as an author.
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The first time I signed with an agent, all I cared about was having someone say yes to me. After years of rejections, that was all that mattered. But this time, having had some experience, I knew it wasn’t enough to just get a yes. I wanted an agent with a great track record of sales and who could make things happen. I wanted an agent that respected editors at big and small houses were eager to hear from. I wanted an agent who would be open and honest with me about every step of the process and who would make me feel like we were equals. These are all things I should have been looking for from the very beginning!
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At this point, I’m better acquainted with my own weaknesses. I’m not very good at self-promo or self-pitching, and I’m wracked with self-doubt while drafting, editing, and…uh, pretty much throughout the whole process. So while I don’t so much need an agent to protect me from contractual language or explain the business, I did need a positive yet practical agent, someone who would cheer me on and help me make small choices to better market myself.
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I wanted an agent who wasn’t afraid to ask questions of a publishing house. My first agent was hesitant to ask for anything, whether it be the status of my contract, to recommending tweaks to a cover concept. There’s nothing wrong with asking for things. If the publisher says no, they say no. But at least you asked.
When I was searching for my first agent, I was looking for an agent who had sold very successful books that had similarities to my own. I went to an agency that had a NYT Bestseller that was very similar to my debut in terms of tone and audience.
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I’ve been in this business a while, but I’m only really just now thinking about how to shift into writing (and writing-related things) full time, so I wanted an agent who was more career-oriented, thinks more big picture, is willing to rep everything I’m interested in writing, has subrights on the brain, etc. Before I just wanted someone who loved the book I was pitching to them and maybe agreed with what should be next, and was at a solid agency and had good business sense, but I was definitely going in with more long-term thoughts this time, and I wanted an agent who worked that way too.
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The first time I was looking for an agent who understood my creative vision for my career. It was incredibly important to me that we discuss, not just the manuscript I had queried, but potential future ideas. I wanted an agent who understood and supported the career I was trying to build. An agent who could help guide me along the path instead of trying to dictate the path to me.
The second time it was more important for me to find an agent who could help take my career to the next level. I had a firm grasp of my “brand,” so I was looking for an agent who would more aggressively help build that brand.
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My first time around, I was looking for someone who would fight for me and my MC’s diversity. Once I found that inside of a few offers, I went for the agent with *stares in n00b* the most online popularity.
This next time around, I had a better understanding of what I wanted in an agent AND what I needed in an agent. I had also pubbed one book with my original agent so I kind of knew what sort of advocacy an agent should be responsible for. So I made sure I mentioned those needs when I spoke to my then-prospective agent. He was very good about handling those things and more than ready and willing to handle a lot more.
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I literally just wanted an agent last time. I really wanted an agent. One who wasn’t a schmagent, but beyond that, I had almost no criteria. It worked out, honestly, for several great years, and I have no regrets. But I had a lot more thought into the second round. I knew I wanted an agent who matched my ambition. I knew I wanted an agent who was proactive and interested in a diverse, multi-faceted career. I wanted an agent who understood my vision for my career and could help me shape and steer all that vision and ambition into something strategic and focused. And I wanted an agent who genuinely understood what I was writing and respected what I wrote. I’m not going to be a NYT Bestselling Author. I don’t think I write particularly commercial work and I don’t want to write those stories. That’s not what I’m drawn to. I’m okay with that! I think I can sell consistently and make a good living for me AND my agent from what I write. I want an agent who respects that, agrees with it, and helps me pull together that career into something that makes business sense for both of us, but is also fulfilling on a creative level for both of us.
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I really, really loved my agent. We had been through a lot together; I’d been one of her first clients, and we had built a really wonderful working relationship. I could trust her to be straightforward with me, and encouraging, and she was incredibly knowledgable. She had great relationships with my publisher. Basically, she was a terrific advocate for me and my career as well as a friend. (I’m like tearing up as I write this!) In short I was, for better or worse, looking for someone who reminded me of my previous agent as much as possible.
Some new considerations this time around: when I originally queried agents, I was looking for someone like who I’d found, who was smart and real and at the beginning of their career. I really didn’t want to sign with someone who already had a number of big-deal clients on their roster, as I knew I wanted an editorial agent who had time for me. (Which is not to say that there aren’t agents who could do both! This was just my thought process back then.)
One new consideration was that I knew I wanted to work in a number of genres, and it was important to me to have an agent who wanted me to explore all my interests, rather than encouraging me to staying in my niche. I also knew more what I needed advice about, other than the obvious—subrights agents, speakers’ bureaus, festival bookings, marketing plans, audiobook rights, etc. And also…I knew now that I needed someone I could call from a dressing room in a strange city in tears after some bad career news. I don’t get upset easily. It doesn’t happen often. But when it does, I wanted an agent I felt like I could call.
Finally, one more unusual concern was that I sometimes cowrite with another author. They were also in the process of looking for a new agent. We decided our lives would be easier if we were both represented by the same person, so we underwent our search together. We checked in with the two agents we were interested in to make sure they were interested in both of us, and then each scheduled phone calls, after which we compared notes. Ultimately, if we couldn’t agree (or we didn’t both receive offers), we knew it wasn’t the end of the world for us to be represented by different people—but it turned out we liked both of the agents a lot and received offers from both. It was a tough decision (both were amazing!), but we ended up signing with the same agent.
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The first time around, I was looking for someone who really understood the specific project I was trying to sell, who was going to be editorial, and who had a solid sales reputation. I found that agent, and while our first project together hit each of those nails on the head, the subsequent projects did not. Then second time, I was looking for someone who loved my writing (not a specific book), who was excited to help me craft a diversified career, and who had experience negotiating difficult contract situations. Sales rep was still important, but not a deal breaker.
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It’s been almost a decade since I needed a new agent, and so my priorities have changed massively. Last time, I wanted someone to believe in me and jump off the cliff with me. Take a risk to send out my work. This time around, I needed a buffer and strategy. Those are my two key career words right now. It’s time to buffer me from publishing nonsense so I can focus on the work of writing and let someone else be the bad person for a while as well as strategize what’s next for me. I didn’t have an agent who planned. Rather, they would throw things against the wall and see what stuck.
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The Daily Dahlia 