(This question is part of a larger subseries called Perpetual WIPs: Mid-Career Authors. For the remaining questions, see here.)
If you received multiple offers or otherwise had multiple options, how did you handle making your decision?
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I had multiple offers. Two of those offers were very competitive. They both got the book that I queried exactly like I hoped people would connect with it. They both saw what I wanted to do with it, they both had great edit notes that helped it be more of the book it could be instead of a book it wasn’t and that I didn’t want it to be. But only one of the agents who offered representation asked about my other projects and was proactive in talking about my other projects and how to strategize all the things I wanted to accomplish. That was the dealmaking move right there.
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I think I ended up querying four agents (again, a small group) and had three offers, and this was an especially hard decision to make, not just because they were all tremendous and very different agents. Anyone who’s been around the industry for a while is going to make friends, real-life or Twitter-verse (neither is more valid!) and since I was querying folks I knew pretty well, I was terrified of disappointing them. Plus, I know the pain of offering representation and being rejected. But I also know that it’s part of the business, and agents move on, and while you should never build your career heedless of anybody’s feelings or wellbeing, you can’t base every decision entirely upon them, either. So I picked what felt in my heart like the best fit, and continue to respect and root for the rest.
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I chose the agent I felt would best help me achieve my goals and with whom I felt my personality matched.
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It was really, really hard. The two agents I spoke with both had client rosters I really respected, were knowledgeable and smart and had powerhouse agencies behind them, and were supportive of my personal career goals. Both were somewhat familiar with my work and had smart ideas for possibilities in my future. It ultimately just came down to personality—and both were people I enjoyed talking to and would have enjoyed working with. But the one I chose reminded me quite a bit of my former beloved agent in demeanor, and since I had to make a decision, that was how I made it.
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I queried more agents than I’d originally planned and ended up being really sorry about it, because there were more offers to choose from than I was comfortable with. After a while, it got easy to categorize them by things like whether I liked their editorial notes and whether they were interested in what else I wanted to do, but when it came down to it there was only one that I felt was enthusiastic about me in the big picture sense, who thought in terms of future planning like I do, and that’s the one I went with.
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I did receive multiple offers and I hated choosing. I hate rejection when I’m on the receiving end of it, and I hate it when I’m the one doing the rejecting too. I know it’s a good problem to have, but it’s a hard place to be in and it is hard to choose between multiple fantastic people. In my case, I had a short checklist of what I wanted from a new agent (established, solid track record, has clout in the industry, is easy to talk to, speaks to me like we’re equals) and I combined that with my gut instinct about who I felt was the best fit for me.
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I received four offers from the four agencies I approached and it came down to who had the best strategy and organizational system. I made a pros and cons list, and then looked at the agent’s record of building their clients as well. It came down to small details.
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I turned down several agents with top rankings in Publisher’s Marketplace in favor of the one agent who had read my entire backlist and had specific things to say about all of it. In the end, it was actually pretty simple: I was looking for an agent who wanted my career, and that agent proved that to them a career includes history even if they hadn’t been a part of making it.
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I made lists. So many lists. I asked every agent a ton of questions. I also heavily weighed the opinions of the agents’ clients and my own gut instinct. After being in this industry a while, I’ve learned that nothing can really replace your gut feeling.
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The Daily Dahlia 