In the face of a changing publishing landscape, where self-publishing is a very real option, the role of the agent has become blurred. In fact, many writers have found themselves asking, ‘Do I need an agent?’
In this article I will examine the role of the agent and clearly set out the advantages they can offer for a writer.
Contacts
The single most important thing an agent will bring to your work is contacts. A good agent, and there are many bad ones, will have good, solid, industry-relevant contacts. They will not know everyone in the publishing world but they will know everyone in your genre that counts. The advantage of an agent’s good contacts is that they can get your work in front of the correct people. They will know the publishers that are looking for books like yours and have money for deals — invaluable information for any writer!
Contracts
Once an agent has secured interest from a book publisher, it is in the negotiations that they earn their money. Agents are not writers. They don’t see your book as the literary masterpiece, instead they see it as a product to be sold. An agent has balls of steel and will be able to negotiate a better deal than a writer ever can. They know how far to push companies. They know how many royalties to expect. They know the going rate for advances. They know what companies have paid in the past for similar books. In short they know everything they need to know to get the best deal possible.
Money
Once the writer has a deal in place, the agent’s job is still not over. They still have two areas of expertise where they will prove invaluable. The first is administration. An agent will make sure that your publisher does what they have promised to do, when they have promised to do it. They will chase advances and check royalty statements, as well as all the other nitty-gritty details that distract writers from writing. The second area of importance is in foreign rights. If an agent has held onto the foreign rights (this may or may not happen), they will try to sell your book abroad. This is often where new writers make the most money early on in their career.