What does a literary agent do?
Sage Kay
Writer, reader, outfit repeater.
If you’re looking to traditionally publish a book, you’re likely considering a literary agent. But first, you want to do your research. Really make sure you know what you’re looking for. I respect that. You may be considering what literary agents even do, how you get one, what they cost, and what’s the best way to find one. Friend, keep reading and all your dreams (questions) will come true (be answered).
What do literary agents do?
Like I said, if you’re looking to traditionally publish your writing, finding a literary agent is likely on your to-do list. Why? Because they make the process much easier for you. In fact, it's nearly impossible to sell a book to a publisher with an agent.
A literary agent’s job is to find a publisher for your story. Think of them as professional matchmakers. They’ll take a look at all the amazing qualities of your book and see if it would be a good fit with a publisher, hopefully resulting in a match that leads to the world-wide acclaim of your novel!
With their expertise in the field, a literary agent can also ensure that when signing with a publisher, you’re not getting screwed over by the fine print or just a straight up unfair deal. In short, they have your best interests in mind, because your best interest is also their best interest, because agents are paid just like agents in most industries—they get a percentage of your income from deals they make on your behalf. If you win, they win.
Now that you know what literary agents do, before we get into how to find an agent, let's consider…
Do you even need a literary agent?
Before you invest the time (and possibly money) into finding a literary agent to find a publisher for your book, consider whether you truly need one. While it may be a part of the "traditional" publishing process, there’s no reason you have to follow this process.
Plenty of writers have had crazy success from self-publishing their book, which doesn’t involve a literary agent. It may depend on your background—whether you have experience in the writing industry or if you’ve done the research necessary to find a good publishing deal yourself. They can, however, help you get your foot in the door to bigger publishers.
After all, the fact that you have a literary agent may help prove to the writing industry that your book is worth investing in. Whether finding a literary agent is the right choice for you really depends on your unique scenario, but hey, if you want to tackle it yourself, all the more power to you!
How can you find a literary agent?
This is the fun part. Before a literary agent plays matchmaker with your book, you get to play your own game of matchmaker with a literary agent! This involves a lot of researching agents—who they are, what type of work they gravitate toward, and whether you’d be a good fit for each other. If you think one may work for you, it’s time to send some query letters.
For specific tips on writing query letters, try checking out $ this video$ . In short, though, a query letter is a short pitch of your book that’s going to make the agent say, "I need to read this book right now."
If your query letter is successful, the agent will reach out for either a partial or full manuscript request. If they like your novel as much as they liked your pitch, you’ll get signed to that agent, and you’re one step closer to finding your publisher!
How much does a literary agent cost?
This is the not fun part. Unfortunately, literary agents don’t work for free. Good news is, though, most don’t charge an upfront fee for finding a publisher! Those costs don’t come in until the agent has found a publisher for you. After this, agents take a commission from your advance and/or royalties (Note: if no advance is offered by the publisher, the commission is based on your royalties. If you do receive an advance, literary agents will likely take commission from both your advance and royalties).
The average agent commission is 15%, but can be as high as 25%. So, if they’re taking 15% of your $25,000 advance, $6,250 goes to your agent for all their hard work and the remaining $18,750 goes to you for yours. Since the cost is based on the percentage of the advance/royalties you receive, always be sure to read your contract carefully!
In general, newer agents will have a lower commission rate, so unknown authors often match with them for their debut book.
When should you hire a literary agent?
Before hiring a literary agent, you want to make sure you have something for them to sell. So, finish that novel! Do everything you can to make it the best that it can be. Because remember, before even hitting the desk of a publishing company, an agent has to like your book first, so you want it dressed to impress.
The polishing process might include recruiting beta readers and a few rounds of self-editing. Then, once you and your book are ready, it’s time to start querying!
Once an author is a little more established with successful publications under their belt, they can usually start pitching and selling books before they've even written them. But at first, you typically always need a full book ready to go.
Whether or not you pursue a literary agent is up to you. If you’re going the self-publishing route, congrats! You’re your own literary agent! I hope you get a nice commission deal. But hey, if you just wrote, edited, rewrote, and re-edited your book, you might be ready to tap out and find an agent to handle the rest—and that's totally fair.
Happy writing!
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