I seriously want to thank you for this channel. We steam out clothes at one of my jobs (which involves a lot of soul searching) so I listen to your videos while I do my work, and they've given me so much information about the inside of the industry. I just went to my first writing conference at the beginning of the month where I pitched to four agents, and I got better results then I expected for my first go! I've been in the panic boat of, "I need to write my synopsis, what do I do?!" and you literally had a video up and ready to go when I needed it. It was like sunrays fell down and I whispered, "Girlfriend heard me." I've been a bookseller for six years, and it's just so amazing to have further behind the scene knowledge of this market, so I truly want to thank you (again) for this channel, and keep up the fantastic work!
I am so pleased to be able to come back to this video and say that three years after seeing it, I received my first offer of representation for my manuscript. So many of your videos were helpful to me along the way. Thank you so much.
This was excellent! You're totaly right to be super prepared in case any agents decides to call out of nowhere, so they won't take you by surprise- I agree is super important to be leaded by emotion and take decisions at pure heart without analyzing
So I’m waiting to hear back from an agent and I’m going crazy with anticipation, lol. In the meantime, I’ve been binge watching all your videos on what happens after you get published 😀 thanks for sharing with us 😃
Great video Alexa! Do you think you could talk a bit more about all the contracts you’ll have to sign for traditional publishing, like agent, book deal, etc contracts, and some red flags to be wary of before signing? Maybe even talk about movie adaption contracts if you have some insight on that? I hope everything is going well with the edits of TSWS! :)
Thank you, Alexa, for your videos. If I ever get a book publish, I will thank you in the credits (if you want, that is). Such generous and good advice -- I advise every writer I know to watch your channel. :)
I was agented in 2019, but I just missed the Frankfurt deadline. We decided to get my book into the London Book Fair in March of 2020. My agent had a booth there. She gave me and my girlfriend passes. I arranged a vacation to coincide with it. Then, Covid hit. Evey place closed down, even the book fair. I was in my hotel a block away when I received the news. And then, I had to rush back to the US to avoid getting stranded when the border was shut for air travel from Europe. 2020. Yep, that sucked.
When you brought up Super Agents, that reminded me of a dilemma I've been tossing around. I'm still drafting my work in progress, but I've been doing my research on agents during lulls in the writing to motivate myself. To my excitement, I found the agent who works with one of my favorite authors in the world, who I'd be completely honored to represent my work. Except. Assuming my work even merits her notice, her client, my favorite author, is known for science fiction. While my current WIP happens to be in that genre, my projects down the line include fantasy, romance and cosmic horror. I plan on doing submissions in tiers for this WIP, sending out maybe ten queries to my first choices and giving them a few weeks before sending out another ten queries and so on. My questions are: 1) However excited I may be about an agent, should I consider them a first choice if it doesn't seem like my work will be a fit with their area of expertise? 2) Should I query agents that seem more like a sure thing, like those who represent a broader range of genres? 3) Would it be a waste of time to bother sending my work to a Super Agent's slush pile?
You should always have broad horizons and not become fixated on a "dream" agent--most people don't sign with their dream agents (ie: you don't even get an offer!) or you DO get an offer and it's not actually as good a fit as you'd hoped, and you turn them down. Also, I would find it VERY odd if this agent ONLY repped/liked sci-fi. That's very limiting? Check their other clients and their wishlist--I'm sure it will have more on it. And you can ask about other project genres on a call, should they offer. But generally, yes, query agents who represent a range genres that cover what you write... but also most critical is getting rep for *this* book--hyper focus on that and deal with the rest later.
Love all the info in this video. It was the best video I've ever seen on this. Other youtubers just don't talk about this, so thank you sooooo much, Alexa. Love you and your videos. I watch all of them.
Thank you for this great video Alexa. Love your videos. So so helpful. Im curreently in the query trenches for a xhildrens book, and hoping to get the call or email of offer. 😬👍
I wonder if we could use a refresher on this topic. 👀♥️ Meanwhile, I shall continue to listen every so often to help sustain my efforts on this journey. 🙏🏾
Alexa, I am learning so much from you, that the day I become a famous writer I will give you a gift $$$ :). Thank you very much for all your videos and the love and care you put into them.
I love your channel. You've provided outstanding advice to those who are serious about traditionally publishing. I'm about 5K short of 80K word count but should be at 80K word count by tonight or tomorrow. If it's a bit over, it should be cool beans. I've hit a snag though, and I got bummed out a bit. I don't really have a strong author platform. Sure, I've self-published two novels so far on Amazon. Does that qualify me of having a author platform? I have a FB Like page, twitter, website, blog page, Instagram account. No newsletter signs up, which I may change or alter how I want to interact with people on my website. I don't heavily market my self-published novels like I should. It's only because I'm tunnel focused on this sci-fi horror manuscript. When you were picked up by an agent, did you have already established an author platform? I've seen sites that say that publishers will only accept people with 10K followers on Facebook and what not. In my mind I wanna say, "Screw it, complete this manuscript and get some beta readers to read my manuscript then send it out to literacy agents and cross my fingers for the best." Anyways, Alexa, I know you're busy and hopefully you'll get back to this post. Your guidance will be much appreciated when you have time.
Platform is NOT a requirement to get published! They certainly don't have benchmarks for follower counts. But once you do get a deal, they expect you to do social media. If you have social media before getting an agent or publisher, it can be a real bonus. I had a decent Twitter (not quite 1K followers, but I'd been building myself up steadily) and had built a lot of quality relationships/connections. Author Mentor Match already existed, and I moderated a sub-reddit, had a podcast, and worked on fan cons. But I didn't start this channel until after I had my deal, and it wasn't until post deal that my Twitter grew by a LOT (I'm close to 4K followers) and my Instagram too. Oh, I did have my newsletter, but I only had about 100 subscribers. It's good to get comfortable with social media, but publishers won't require a platform pre-deal.
thank you for your awesome response! :) I much appreciate it! You give a lot of spark to those who want to dive into the traditional publishing. Keep up the great work. :)
Just watched this. Question for you. Since you're stressing business sense so much in this video, I'd like to ask where enthusiasm fits in. For me it's big. I feel like I made a big mistake by neglecting enthusiasm when I was in a similar situation. This was when I was pitching TV material for a TV option, and I picked business savvy over enthusiasm. Different scenario, but still very similar to book agent. I had 4 offers for representation. Two were super enthusiastic. Two were positive (not gushing) but appealing in a more business way. Going with the latter proved a bad decision. Business savvy people are not always going to get behind your work the same way the enthusiastic agents will. Why? You're not their only client. The company that optioned my material had lots of others. They built a menu, and I was down at the bottom. This was when I learned that agents, no matter how sweet they talk to you, won't ever fill you in on how and when and how often they're going to be pitching your work to the powers that be. It can't be every day, right? They've got a bag of projects to sell. They might very well be pounding the pavement for some other writer. And you, you might be their little side project. This happens. It happened to me. So lesson learned: make sure your agent is actually enthusiastic about your material. Make sure they are in love with it. But it's your job when picking agents to get it out of them. Otherwise you may be like that middle child that gets lost in the mix.
Hi Alexa - I'm just curious, you mention having your list of questions. Perhaps it's in another video I haven't come across yet, but could you offer some advice on where to start? What are the important things you recommend asking?
I plan on filming and posting a video on that in the New Year! Until then, this is a pretty good post on the topic! writersblockpartyblog.com/2018/02/06/questions-to-ask-agents-on-the-call/
I'm sooo happy to live in a country where you just write straight to the publisher. It saves so much time and nerve. Although it would be tough if none of the publishers wanted to publish your book... We don't really do self-publishing (except for poems).
Well, there are some serious advantages to agents too. They negotiate on your behalf and save you from predatory contracts--publishing is a business, and they will do what is best for them, not what is best for you. An agent offers a layer of protection. They also handle your money/make sure you get paid.
I just found this video, and it made me wonder about second books. If you have an agent for your first book, are they automatically your agent for future works? Or do you go through the agent querying process for each book you write?
Great advice. I have several queries out at the moment, with 8 full requests from agents, two of whom declined. I am on edge all the time, waiting for the outstanding six! I was wondering how long I can expect to wait to hear back...I started getting requests a day after I sent the query. Does this mean I should get responses quickly, as well? Thank you!
So if an agent accepts you and later on just doesn't work out, is it appropriate to remail those agents who may not have gotten around to reading your material/were considering you and never responded due to your first 'call back'?
How long do you recommend waiting on a response from a query before you move on and query another book. Just curious because some agents say no response equals rejection.
Hopefully you’ll answer this. I found an agent. We have a very good relationship. But now, what do I do? Just write more? Or is there something else I should be doing?
Hi, I have my book on a hybrid publishing contract with a small press. Would you recommend getting an agent too? The idea of querying fills me with cold dread. I believe in my story, but am truly terrible at 'selling myself'.
No, you don't. But literary agents do help your case. They will represent you and find you editors and obviously this will have more appeal and will make said editors more likely to take you on, but no, you don't. You can certainly send your manuscript to editors, but do remember that they receive manuscripts and requests all the time, and they will be more likely to take the ones from literary agents. Also, they pitch your ideas to publishers and try to get you the best deal possible, so yeah, I'd say they add a lot, but no, you don't absolutely need them.
Yes, you do, if you want to be published by 95% of traditional publishers. All of the Big 5 publishers and major publishers, and most respected small publishers, do not accept unagented submissions. You will severely limit your trad pub options if you don't get an agent. You'll be limited to a few small presses, and the rare larger opportunity--like Tor and Swoon Reads. But your odds of getting accepted at Tor or Swoon Reads is low--it's really hard to get through, with or without an agent. And if you DO get a deal from Tor or Swoon Reads... get an agent immediately to negotiate the contract. Publishers love to hose authors with bad boiler plate contracts that they unwittingly sign w/o the help of a publishing advocate, like an agent.
95% of editors at traditional publishers do not accept unagented submissions. So you can't get your work read without an agent. Are you only taking into account the small list of trad pub houses that do accept unagented submissions? (mostly small press) If you want to be published by Penguin, Harper, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, etc. etc.--you must have an agent. There are only a few exceptions in the Big 5, and those come with large caveats (Swoon Reads is a public voting-based platform and you sign away certain rights by even entering. Tor publishes very few books that come in unagented. Harper just announced something but it is only for marginalized creators writing middle grade.)
Thank you so much for the replies! I've heard conflicting things about that, but not from anyone who has been published by a major publisher. I've also heard that you need one if you live in the US but not Canada (where I am) but I'm not sure how that matters because I would think that if I did get published that it wouldn't exclusively be distributed in Canada, or at least I would hope not, but I digress. Thanks again!
Do agents ever video call? I find body language more important than words chosen or voice inflection in a conversation. BTW, what is a smagent? The first thought in my mind came from the warped corner and suggested it meant sadistic-masochistic agent. Imagine the drama and pain in that relationship!
Some agents do Skype, yes! You can ask for it. But note that some agents are as phone shy/camera shy as authors and may not be into it. A schmagent is a "shady agent"--a scammer or bad agent, basically.
Make sure you have time and privacy. Privacy is important because some of us look ridiculous when we do the happy dance and that could be embarrassing at your best friends wedding or god forbid a funeral. Don't do that. Your family will lable you the crazy one. Lol
If you plan on sending out a second round of queries BUT get an offer before you do so, would you recommend still sending the rest out in that 7-10 window marked as "offer of rep received" along with notifying all other agents who haven't gotten back to you yet? Would that be considered a faux pas?
I don't recommend sending out any queries once you have an offer unless it's a VERY RARE circumstance where you will DIE if you don't query THE ONE AGENT, and then you write a very apologetic/weird query to them explaining the situation. I think I heard an agent tell a story like this, where the agent was closed to queries and then the author got an offer right after they reopened, so that person queried them, offer in hand. But generally it's considered bad form to query when you have an offer in hand (shopping for more interest, etc.). What I recommend authors do, and it's tricky/sneaky but doable: when you get an email asking for a call, if you are sure it is an offer, query the other agents IMMEDIATELY. And schedule the call for a day or so down the line, not right away. Then when you nudge with an offer, it's 2-3 days after you queried those agents. Still not ideal but TECHNICALLY you queried before you had an offer. This is how I've advised people before.
Thank you so much for your reply! That advice is perfect. I often wondered about this because I want to make a career in the business (and not step on any toes!) but as my own "author brand", I need to make the best business decision for myself. Thanks, Alexa!
I'm just curious, since you say your agent wasn't the gushing cheerleader type, how did you decide they were "the one" for you? What was it about their business plan which knocked the other agents out of the running? 😊
I knew exactly what I wanted in an agent, having been agented before, and she answered every question right. About transparency in submission process. Editorial style. Communication. She rattled off a list of imprints she'd sub me too and it was exactly the list I had in mind (note: most authors don't know imprints that well; I'm just odd). Which, actually: it was clear to me that my agent wasn't put off by the fact that I'm very Extra about publishing. That was important to me--and agent who wanted to be a business partner and not my boss, my mom or my friend--not every agent is comfortable with super opinionated clients. I only had two offers, and both agents had similar editorial vision... but I knew Elana had a strong sales history, and her working style suited my personality well.
Hi Miss Donne. This might sound stupid, but I have this inherent fear that if I submit my manuscript to an agency online (by email), it will either get lost, stolen, or some other horrifying catastrophe will occur. Is it always the case that you will have to send it through email, or will there be an equal number of face-to-face discussions?
A schmagent is a shady agent/bad agent--either a scammer or just someone who isn't very good at selling books (and thus will derail/hurt your career if you sign with them).
If I were an agent, and I offered to work with you and you said, "hey, I have my manuscript with other agents, let me inform them you offered me a deal" I don't know that wouldn't fly with me. My thing would be that you could accept my offer and then you could email all the other agents afterwards to tell them you are pulling your manuscript due to receiving representation. Trying to create a bidding war isn't the best strategy. You ever seen shark tank? You should always be able to make the deal right then and there. Not saying you should accept any offer just because it is the first. But you should be willing and able to lay out what you want, regardless if any other offers are forthcoming or not. You don't need a bidding war for that. Deals fall through all the time: don't let yours fall through by trying to get cute. Long story short: I don't agree that you should ask for time to decide.
It's not a bidding war. It's enabling the author to make the best possible career decision for them. The first person to read and offer isn't always the best business partner or fit for one's career. Any agent who doesn't like an author paying all other agents with their manuscript the courtesy of time to finish up reading (respecting any time they have already put into the book), and make the best choice for them is NOT an agent you want to work with. If you don't care for this, then I wouldn't become a literary agent--it may not be the best business for you!
@@AlexaDonne I'm not saying you should jump at the first offer. My point is that other offers should not dissuade you from the offer you already have. If there is something that would pursude you from not accepting the initial offer, then that should not change if you do your professional courtesy and say you don't get another offer. Then you come back and tell the original person that liked your work that you can now accept their offer. What changed exactly? The fact that nobody else wants your work? It may have worked out for you and your particular situation, but I just think that unless you hear something in your initial phone conversation that is a non-starter for you, or something you cannot live with, you should be able to accept that offer without trying to poke other agents. And if you do hear something that you don't like or just won't work for you you should let the agent know that you regretfully must decline their offer because of that. Like I said I just don't see the point putting somebody on the back burner as your fallback plan. If I was dating you, and said hey I really like you and I was wondering if maybe you want to be my girlfriend and you say oh wait I got other guys that I've been talking to let me tell them that I got an offer and see what they say. Lol. I don't think that would go over well with too many guys.
Idk if she said it in the video or in the comments but no, not unless they request who offered directly. Even then it's up to you. Also this is 5 years later so I hope your writing career has gone well!
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I seriously want to thank you for this channel. We steam out clothes at one of my jobs (which involves a lot of soul searching) so I listen to your videos while I do my work, and they've given me so much information about the inside of the industry. I just went to my first writing conference at the beginning of the month where I pitched to four agents, and I got better results then I expected for my first go! I've been in the panic boat of, "I need to write my synopsis, what do I do?!" and you literally had a video up and ready to go when I needed it. It was like sunrays fell down and I whispered, "Girlfriend heard me." I've been a bookseller for six years, and it's just so amazing to have further behind the scene knowledge of this market, so I truly want to thank you (again) for this channel, and keep up the fantastic work!
I am so pleased to be able to come back to this video and say that three years after seeing it, I received my first offer of representation for my manuscript. So many of your videos were helpful to me along the way. Thank you so much.
Thanks for this I'm currently in the query trenches. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to use your advice.
did you find an agent yet?
@@alex.reviews.comics Not yet but still trying
How's it going for you?!
Same. 😬
I like this playlist. I’ve never looked into literary agents before.
This was excellent! You're totaly right to be super prepared in case any agents decides to call out of nowhere, so they won't take you by surprise- I agree is super important to be leaded by emotion and take decisions at pure heart without analyzing
So I’m waiting to hear back from an agent and I’m going crazy with anticipation, lol. In the meantime, I’ve been binge watching all your videos on what happens after you get published 😀 thanks for sharing with us 😃
I love your advice. I haven't been a subscriber for a long, but from every video that I've seen, you offer good advice. Thank you!
Great video Alexa! Do you think you could talk a bit more about all the contracts you’ll have to sign for traditional publishing, like agent, book deal, etc contracts, and some red flags to be wary of before signing? Maybe even talk about movie adaption contracts if you have some insight on that? I hope everything is going well with the edits of TSWS! :)
Ty for making this. If I were lucky enough to get an offer I would totally be like "yes! Yes! Right now yes!!!!"
Thank you, Alexa, for your videos. If I ever get a book publish, I will thank you in the credits (if you want, that is). Such generous and good advice -- I advise every writer I know to watch your channel. :)
Thank you for this video! I am going to try to get an agent when I go to publish my novel. I'm saving this video for later! :)
I've watched this video so many times and it's so helpful. Every video on Alexa's channel is so helpful for new authors!❤
I was agented in 2019, but I just missed the Frankfurt deadline. We decided to get my book into the London Book Fair in March of 2020. My agent had a booth there. She gave me and my girlfriend passes. I arranged a vacation to coincide with it. Then, Covid hit. Evey place closed down, even the book fair. I was in my hotel a block away when I received the news. And then, I had to rush back to the US to avoid getting stranded when the border was shut for air travel from Europe. 2020. Yep, that sucked.
When you brought up Super Agents, that reminded me of a dilemma I've been tossing around. I'm still drafting my work in progress, but I've been doing my research on agents during lulls in the writing to motivate myself. To my excitement, I found the agent who works with one of my favorite authors in the world, who I'd be completely honored to represent my work. Except. Assuming my work even merits her notice, her client, my favorite author, is known for science fiction. While my current WIP happens to be in that genre, my projects down the line include fantasy, romance and cosmic horror. I plan on doing submissions in tiers for this WIP, sending out maybe ten queries to my first choices and giving them a few weeks before sending out another ten queries and so on. My questions are: 1) However excited I may be about an agent, should I consider them a first choice if it doesn't seem like my work will be a fit with their area of expertise? 2) Should I query agents that seem more like a sure thing, like those who represent a broader range of genres? 3) Would it be a waste of time to bother sending my work to a Super Agent's slush pile?
You should always have broad horizons and not become fixated on a "dream" agent--most people don't sign with their dream agents (ie: you don't even get an offer!) or you DO get an offer and it's not actually as good a fit as you'd hoped, and you turn them down.
Also, I would find it VERY odd if this agent ONLY repped/liked sci-fi. That's very limiting? Check their other clients and their wishlist--I'm sure it will have more on it. And you can ask about other project genres on a call, should they offer. But generally, yes, query agents who represent a range genres that cover what you write... but also most critical is getting rep for *this* book--hyper focus on that and deal with the rest later.
Love all the info in this video. It was the best video I've ever seen on this. Other youtubers just don't talk about this, so thank you sooooo much, Alexa. Love you and your videos. I watch all of them.
Loved this video! And I would love to watch more videos on querying and that process!
Alexa you're amazing! Your energy is so awesome and this is really helping me out! Thank you!
Thank you for this great video Alexa. Love your videos. So so helpful. Im curreently in the query trenches for a xhildrens book, and hoping to get the call or email of offer. 😬👍
I wonder if we could use a refresher on this topic. 👀♥️
Meanwhile, I shall continue to listen every so often to help sustain my efforts on this journey. 🙏🏾
Thank you, Alexa! This was really really helpful!!
Alexa, I am learning so much from you, that the day I become a famous writer I will give you a gift $$$ :). Thank you very much for all your videos and the love and care you put into them.
I love your channel. You've provided outstanding advice to those who are serious about traditionally publishing. I'm about 5K short of 80K word count but should be at 80K word count by tonight or tomorrow. If it's a bit over, it should be cool beans. I've hit a snag though, and I got bummed out a bit. I don't really have a strong author platform. Sure, I've self-published two novels so far on Amazon. Does that qualify me of having a author platform? I have a FB Like page, twitter, website, blog page, Instagram account. No newsletter signs up, which I may change or alter how I want to interact with people on my website. I don't heavily market my self-published novels like I should. It's only because I'm tunnel focused on this sci-fi horror manuscript. When you were picked up by an agent, did you have already established an author platform? I've seen sites that say that publishers will only accept people with 10K followers on Facebook and what not. In my mind I wanna say, "Screw it, complete this manuscript and get some beta readers to read my manuscript then send it out to literacy agents and cross my fingers for the best." Anyways, Alexa, I know you're busy and hopefully you'll get back to this post. Your guidance will be much appreciated when you have time.
Platform is NOT a requirement to get published! They certainly don't have benchmarks for follower counts. But once you do get a deal, they expect you to do social media.
If you have social media before getting an agent or publisher, it can be a real bonus. I had a decent Twitter (not quite 1K followers, but I'd been building myself up steadily) and had built a lot of quality relationships/connections. Author Mentor Match already existed, and I moderated a sub-reddit, had a podcast, and worked on fan cons. But I didn't start this channel until after I had my deal, and it wasn't until post deal that my Twitter grew by a LOT (I'm close to 4K followers) and my Instagram too. Oh, I did have my newsletter, but I only had about 100 subscribers. It's good to get comfortable with social media, but publishers won't require a platform pre-deal.
thank you for your awesome response! :) I much appreciate it! You give a lot of spark to those who want to dive into the traditional publishing. Keep up the great work. :)
super good! thank you so much. the questions for the call and email examples are also amazing!
This was very informative and has some really smart tips!
Thank you so much this is so helpful!! I am Querying agents at the moment!! Ahhhhh!!
Your videos are so helpful! :)
After just getting offered representation, I came here so fast lol
Love it! Thank you as always
Just watched this. Question for you. Since you're stressing business sense so much in this video, I'd like to ask where enthusiasm fits in. For me it's big. I feel like I made a big mistake by neglecting enthusiasm when I was in a similar situation. This was when I was pitching TV material for a TV option, and I picked business savvy over enthusiasm. Different scenario, but still very similar to book agent. I had 4 offers for representation. Two were super enthusiastic. Two were positive (not gushing) but appealing in a more business way. Going with the latter proved a bad decision. Business savvy people are not always going to get behind your work the same way the enthusiastic agents will. Why? You're not their only client. The company that optioned my material had lots of others. They built a menu, and I was down at the bottom. This was when I learned that agents, no matter how sweet they talk to you, won't ever fill you in on how and when and how often they're going to be pitching your work to the powers that be. It can't be every day, right? They've got a bag of projects to sell. They might very well be pounding the pavement for some other writer. And you, you might be their little side project. This happens. It happened to me. So lesson learned: make sure your agent is actually enthusiastic about your material. Make sure they are in love with it. But it's your job when picking agents to get it out of them. Otherwise you may be like that middle child that gets lost in the mix.
Hi Alexa - I'm just curious, you mention having your list of questions. Perhaps it's in another video I haven't come across yet, but could you offer some advice on where to start? What are the important things you recommend asking?
I plan on filming and posting a video on that in the New Year! Until then, this is a pretty good post on the topic! writersblockpartyblog.com/2018/02/06/questions-to-ask-agents-on-the-call/
Where should I look for an agent? Do you have links?
what's a "smagent" ?
Thanks for the advice! But how do I find an agent in the first place and make sure they are legit?
If you search the work "agent" on my channel, I have a few videos on this! I also plan on making more this fall.
I'm sooo happy to live in a country where you just write straight to the publisher. It saves so much time and nerve. Although it would be tough if none of the publishers wanted to publish your book... We don't really do self-publishing (except for poems).
Well, there are some serious advantages to agents too. They negotiate on your behalf and save you from predatory contracts--publishing is a business, and they will do what is best for them, not what is best for you. An agent offers a layer of protection. They also handle your money/make sure you get paid.
I just found this video, and it made me wonder about second books. If you have an agent for your first book, are they automatically your agent for future works? Or do you go through the agent querying process for each book you write?
Great advice. I have several queries out at the moment, with 8 full requests from agents, two of whom declined. I am on edge all the time, waiting for the outstanding six! I was wondering how long I can expect to wait to hear back...I started getting requests a day after I sent the query. Does this mean I should get responses quickly, as well? Thank you!
So if an agent accepts you and later on just doesn't work out, is it appropriate to remail those agents who may not have gotten around to reading your material/were considering you and never responded due to your first 'call back'?
What would a counter offer look like? I mean I thought most offers were pretty basic? What could one agent offer that would be a draw?
How long do you recommend waiting on a response from a query before you move on and query another book. Just curious because some agents say no response equals rejection.
When notifying other agents about an offer, do you tell them who you are signing with?
Hopefully you’ll answer this. I found an agent. We have a very good relationship. But now, what do I do? Just write more? Or is there something else I should be doing?
Hi, I have my book on a hybrid publishing contract with a small press. Would you recommend getting an agent too? The idea of querying fills me with cold dread. I believe in my story, but am truly terrible at 'selling myself'.
Do you NEED an agent to get traditionally published?
No, you don't. But literary agents do help your case. They will represent you and find you editors and obviously this will have more appeal and will make said editors more likely to take you on, but no, you don't. You can certainly send your manuscript to editors, but do remember that they receive manuscripts and requests all the time, and they will be more likely to take the ones from literary agents. Also, they pitch your ideas to publishers and try to get you the best deal possible, so yeah, I'd say they add a lot, but no, you don't absolutely need them.
Yes, you do, if you want to be published by 95% of traditional publishers. All of the Big 5 publishers and major publishers, and most respected small publishers, do not accept unagented submissions. You will severely limit your trad pub options if you don't get an agent. You'll be limited to a few small presses, and the rare larger opportunity--like Tor and Swoon Reads. But your odds of getting accepted at Tor or Swoon Reads is low--it's really hard to get through, with or without an agent. And if you DO get a deal from Tor or Swoon Reads... get an agent immediately to negotiate the contract. Publishers love to hose authors with bad boiler plate contracts that they unwittingly sign w/o the help of a publishing advocate, like an agent.
95% of editors at traditional publishers do not accept unagented submissions. So you can't get your work read without an agent. Are you only taking into account the small list of trad pub houses that do accept unagented submissions? (mostly small press) If you want to be published by Penguin, Harper, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, etc. etc.--you must have an agent. There are only a few exceptions in the Big 5, and those come with large caveats (Swoon Reads is a public voting-based platform and you sign away certain rights by even entering. Tor publishes very few books that come in unagented. Harper just announced something but it is only for marginalized creators writing middle grade.)
Thank you so much for the replies! I've heard conflicting things about that, but not from anyone who has been published by a major publisher. I've also heard that you need one if you live in the US but not Canada (where I am) but I'm not sure how that matters because I would think that if I did get published that it wouldn't exclusively be distributed in Canada, or at least I would hope not, but I digress. Thanks again!
Ummm, can I hire you as my contract lawyer?
Do agents ever video call? I find body language more important than words chosen or voice inflection in a conversation. BTW, what is a smagent? The first thought in my mind came from the warped corner and suggested it meant sadistic-masochistic agent. Imagine the drama and pain in that relationship!
Some agents do Skype, yes! You can ask for it. But note that some agents are as phone shy/camera shy as authors and may not be into it. A schmagent is a "shady agent"--a scammer or bad agent, basically.
Make sure you have time and privacy. Privacy is important because some of us look ridiculous when we do the happy dance and that could be embarrassing at your best friends wedding or god forbid a funeral. Don't do that. Your family will lable you the crazy one. Lol
If you plan on sending out a second round of queries BUT get an offer before you do so, would you recommend still sending the rest out in that 7-10 window marked as "offer of rep received" along with notifying all other agents who haven't gotten back to you yet? Would that be considered a faux pas?
I don't recommend sending out any queries once you have an offer unless it's a VERY RARE circumstance where you will DIE if you don't query THE ONE AGENT, and then you write a very apologetic/weird query to them explaining the situation. I think I heard an agent tell a story like this, where the agent was closed to queries and then the author got an offer right after they reopened, so that person queried them, offer in hand. But generally it's considered bad form to query when you have an offer in hand (shopping for more interest, etc.).
What I recommend authors do, and it's tricky/sneaky but doable: when you get an email asking for a call, if you are sure it is an offer, query the other agents IMMEDIATELY. And schedule the call for a day or so down the line, not right away. Then when you nudge with an offer, it's 2-3 days after you queried those agents. Still not ideal but TECHNICALLY you queried before you had an offer. This is how I've advised people before.
Thank you so much for your reply! That advice is perfect. I often wondered about this because I want to make a career in the business (and not step on any toes!) but as my own "author brand", I need to make the best business decision for myself. Thanks, Alexa!
I'm just curious, since you say your agent wasn't the gushing cheerleader type, how did you decide they were "the one" for you? What was it about their business plan which knocked the other agents out of the running? 😊
I knew exactly what I wanted in an agent, having been agented before, and she answered every question right. About transparency in submission process. Editorial style. Communication. She rattled off a list of imprints she'd sub me too and it was exactly the list I had in mind (note: most authors don't know imprints that well; I'm just odd). Which, actually: it was clear to me that my agent wasn't put off by the fact that I'm very Extra about publishing. That was important to me--and agent who wanted to be a business partner and not my boss, my mom or my friend--not every agent is comfortable with super opinionated clients. I only had two offers, and both agents had similar editorial vision... but I knew Elana had a strong sales history, and her working style suited my personality well.
Hi Miss Donne.
This might sound stupid, but I have this inherent fear that if I submit my manuscript to an agency online (by email), it will either get lost, stolen, or some other horrifying catastrophe will occur. Is it always the case that you will have to send it through email, or will there be an equal number of face-to-face discussions?
What's a Smagent?
A schmagent is a shady agent/bad agent--either a scammer or just someone who isn't very good at selling books (and thus will derail/hurt your career if you sign with them).
Ah! Okay. That's hilarious! Thanks. Never heard that word before. I'll be careful...
If I were an agent, and I offered to work with you and you said, "hey, I have my manuscript with other agents, let me inform them you offered me a deal" I don't know that wouldn't fly with me. My thing would be that you could accept my offer and then you could email all the other agents afterwards to tell them you are pulling your manuscript due to receiving representation.
Trying to create a bidding war isn't the best strategy. You ever seen shark tank?
You should always be able to make the deal right then and there. Not saying you should accept any offer just because it is the first. But you should be willing and able to lay out what you want, regardless if any other offers are forthcoming or not. You don't need a bidding war for that.
Deals fall through all the time: don't let yours fall through by trying to get cute. Long story short: I don't agree that you should ask for time to decide.
It's not a bidding war. It's enabling the author to make the best possible career decision for them. The first person to read and offer isn't always the best business partner or fit for one's career.
Any agent who doesn't like an author paying all other agents with their manuscript the courtesy of time to finish up reading (respecting any time they have already put into the book), and make the best choice for them is NOT an agent you want to work with. If you don't care for this, then I wouldn't become a literary agent--it may not be the best business for you!
@@AlexaDonne I'm not saying you should jump at the first offer. My point is that other offers should not dissuade you from the offer you already have.
If there is something that would pursude you from not accepting the initial offer, then that should not change if you do your professional courtesy and say you don't get another offer. Then you come back and tell the original person that liked your work that you can now accept their offer. What changed exactly?
The fact that nobody else wants your work?
It may have worked out for you and your particular situation, but I just think that unless you hear something in your initial phone conversation that is a non-starter for you, or something you cannot live with, you should be able to accept that offer without trying to poke other agents.
And if you do hear something that you don't like or just won't work for you you should let the agent know that you regretfully must decline their offer because of that.
Like I said I just don't see the point putting somebody on the back burner as your fallback plan.
If I was dating you, and said hey I really like you and I was wondering if maybe you want to be my girlfriend and you say oh wait I got other guys that I've been talking to let me tell them that I got an offer and see what they say. Lol. I don't think that would go over well with too many guys.
Choosing a business partner is not the same as dating :)
When notifying other agents about an offer, do you tell them who you are signing with?
Idk if she said it in the video or in the comments but no, not unless they request who offered directly. Even then it's up to you. Also this is 5 years later so I hope your writing career has gone well!