Are Agents Worth It?

Robert and I love Hugh MacLeod's artwork and we both feel strongly that our book needs an illustrator like him.  In the spirit of transparency, he posted a blog today saying essentially he'd love to work with us, but we should speak to his agent.

We understand, and we really had no plans of asking him to work for free in this commercial endeavor.  We thought the way it would work is we would get a publisher and urge the publisher to invest in either Hugh or other artists who have approached us.

So that started me thinking.  Do Robert and I need an agent as well? I mean, there's a little irony here, don't you think?  Here we are writing a book, that explains how blogging disintermediates the disintermediators of the corporation, and now we are being referred to the agencts of trusted colleages.  My experience in business is that when the other part calls in a lawyer, you either walk away--or get yourseld a lawyer.  Should we hire an agent, then have our agent call his agent?  Do we need an agent to deal with publishers?

I know some of the people reading this have experience in this area. We'd love to hear your input on how agents add value, in return for their slice of the pie.

Comments

[Jim McGee]

I would suggest you take a read through the following post by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004772.html

where she and her readers engage in a lengthy, entertaining, and useful discussion of agents in the publishing business.

You might also give thought to following her blog in general for its insight into the book business

[Randy H.]

Short answer- NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (unless you're unknown and without industry contacts)

[D.J. Coffman]

I had a guy want to be my agent once. But all the money had to flow through him, and I found out he actually turned down work for me, like was looking for more of a cut for himself on bigger jobs. As it turned out, I was more engulfed in my own industry with more contacts then this guy had. He was just a slick talker. I dont think all agents are like that, but it would have to be someone who totally knows me. Not just some wheeler or dealer who can send me jobs. ---- So, I'd only take on an agent if things got too busy for me to handle myself.

[Evan]

I spent quite a few years as a struggling screenwriter and found it to be unrewarding and basically undoable if you didn't live in Hollywood (even if you do live there, it's a hell of a tough racket). This is because I wasn't near the industry hub, and I worked for quite sometime to get an agent (I quickly learned to take "No" as an answer...about a 1000 times over).

The point of an agent is assist in what you cannot do: Get in touch with the right people. Now you've already said you've spoken to two different publishing houses (or their reps). This is fantastic news. -This- is what your agent would do for you, what you've already done for yourself. They just get a chunk of the cash when their golden referral takes off.

The artist has one because he hates setting fees and working out deals. You guys have experience with both (as I understand it), and have no problems speaking of money matters. It appears to me that no agent is needed in this case.

But if a publisher hauls in a lawyer, take your own advice and bring one along too :)

[Mr Anonymous]

Personally I wouldn't think too far on this, it's just Hugh's regular aloofness coming through. Not saying that's a bad thing, that's why a lot of us read his site, but not being able to handle your own affairs and referring people to your agent is a little.. Hollywood.

[Geoff]

This is all so interesting, thanks Robert and Shel for allowing us to see a start up at work.

[TDavid]

I'm not sure how valuable Literary Agents are for non-fiction works, but Agents have other value besides having contacts definitely on the fiction side, they also can negotiate other rights like movie, TV, merchandising etc. If you don't negotiate this stuff then you might be taken advantage of during the contract phase.

But then maybe the carts coming before the horse here, have you guys got enough of the book (synopsis and some sample chapters and outline) to seriously shop this book?

[shel israel]

Wow. Movie rights. I wonder if Nicholson is available to play me. Who would play Robert?

[Jeremy C. Wright]

All my work is done through my agents. His contacts, advice and passion are helping me a lot. The ability to simply write and not have to worry about anything else but receiving the cheques is well worth the 15%.

Also, my agent doesnt' require you to be exclusive: the contract you sign basically says "any deal you sign with us you can't farm out to someone else".

And they're the best in the industry. Every publisher I talk to gets depressed when I tell them I have an agent. Until I tell them who it is.

Let me repeat, I LOVE my agent and agency.

[shel israel]

That's quite an endorsement, Jeremy. Would your agent be interested in talking to Robert and me?

[hugh macleod]

Agents are like bloggers- there are good and bad ones. If you're looking for an agent, I can refer you to mine. He's a good one.

[hugh macleod]

... if there's no conflict of interest, of course ;-)

[shel israel]

If you see no conflict, and your agent is interested after reading everything up here and at the myriad previous sites, please have him contact me: shel@itseemstome.net. Thanks, Hugh.

[Jeremy C. Wright]

Shel, I'll ask him. He's very excited about blogging books, but obviously that's the primary thing he's pitching for me right now so I'll see if he's comfortable with it.

If he is, I'll let you know :)

[mike mccallister]

Sounds like you're making progress, but let me tell you why I have an agent (and I love her too!).

I opted for an agent because (as others have mentioned) I had no contacts in the publishing business--at least in the areas I was interested in. I had done a book on computer certification programs, which I lucked out on, but had no idea how to get to do books I really wanted to write.

There may be a large competition for the title "World's Worst Marketer," but I'm definitely a leading contender. I needed someone who could talk to publishers about my ideas, and who could handle a lot of the bookkeeping tasks. I'm OK at cashing checks, but not so good at dunning creditors.

I use The Waterside Agency, specifically Carole McClendon there. It took her about a year to land my first contract, but already I'm on the second book (and the one I really wanted!). She's gotten me more advance money than the publisher originally offered (granted, still not in the Wonkette range, but maybe that'll come), bargained a better contract and handled those sticky financial issues for me.

On contract stuff, you should consider joining the National Writers Union (www.nwu.org). They have an excellent guide to book contracts that will help you get the best deal, agent or no.

[shel]

Mike,

Thanks. We had a talk with Jeremy Wright's agent today. I'll be posting on it in a while. I'd love to hear what Carole has to say as well. We are going to weigh every issue before deciding on this. Could you ping her and have her take a look at this site. If she's interested, I'd be very interested in talking with her.