(This question is part of a larger subseries called Perpetual WIPs: Mid-Career Authors. For the remaining questions, see here.)
If you talked to other clients of potential agents, what kinds of questions did you ask them? Did they offer anything really helpful that you hadn’t thought to ask?
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I talked to clients of every agent. One good thing about being established in the industry is that I was acquainted with usually at least one client, and if I wasn’t, I felt pretty comfortable reaching out for help. I asked the clients about how the agents communicated, how editorial they were, how they handled failed projects, what was the submission process like, etc. It helped me get a feel for each agent outside of their own personal pitches. I think it really helped with my decision making.
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I spoke to a few other clients, and asked the general questions–how communicative was their agent during subs, would you consider your agent to be very editorial, what are their strengths. I also asked whether their agent has any weaknesses, which I think is a pretty common question, and one we shouldn’t be afraid to ask. No agent is perfect, and everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and it’s just about going in with open eyes and finding the best fit.
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I personally was very nervous to talk to other authors, as I have always been rather private when it comes to publishing as a business. I believe I only asked “Do you like your agent?” which is rather simple.
At this point in my career, I had a good idea of which agents were successful and could make my own judgments based on sales in Publishers Marketplace and the success of their published books.
In retrospect, I probably should have asked other questions, such as “Does the agent share submission details and submission feedback from editors with you?” “Does the agent provide edits on your drafts?”
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While I did talk to clients of potential agents, I don’t think anything came up that was unexpected. I asked specifically about multiple projects, communication style, speed, and desire to strategize career planning.
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I asked them about response times, how the agent handled disagreements, what their communication style is like. Those things are important to me, and I think not knowing those things causes more issues between agents and authors than either side would care to admit.
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The best tip I ever got about talking to clients of potential agents was this: talk to clients, ask questions, do all of that, but also talk to an agent’s past clients if you can. Finding out why someone left their agent is hugely helpful. Sometimes authors leave agents for innocuous reasons, like maybe they want to write in a different genre and their agent doesn’t represent that new genre, and it’s nice to know that because it’s nice to know that there weren’t any problems. Sometimes authors leave agents because they don’t communicate well with each other or couldn’t agree on something, but again that’s nice to know because maybe you work like that author does or maybe you work like that agent does so you know they’ll be a better fit for you. And sometimes authors leave agents for reasons you really, really want to know about. In my case, talking to one of an offering agent’s past clients revealed some red flags about that agent. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say my career would be on a very different trajectory right now if I hadn’t asked those questions.
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I was lucky in that I’d already heard quite a bit about the two agents I’d been referred to, all good things. I was friends with other clients of theirs and had heard about them over the years. Only rave reviews, and I really trusted the referrals I’d gotten. I didn’t feel I needed to ask specific questions until I got those agents on the phone.
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I asked about communication style and speed, editorial patterns, and if they’d had any sticky contract negotiations, I asked how the agent managed those.
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I kinda knew which offers I was really considering and which I wasn’t, so I restricted my client conversations to the ones that were really top choices, but then I spoke to a bunch of them, because experiences can vary so much. I really wanted to know if they felt listened to and supported, and what really worked for them about that agent but also what really didn’t. Some of the responses were really interesting and gave a lot of insight into agents going above and beyond, or how the clients liked their agents but didn’t necessarily have the most faith in them in a certain arena. I also got some info on agency and client-list dynamics that was helpful that I would not have thought to ask.
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I only approached authors that were at a certain point in their careers and with multiple books. I asked lots of questions about time management, organizational system, and strategy for their careers. My former agent was a mess with both.
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The Daily Dahlia 