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Topic: Agents for journalists
| Author | Message |
| WritingSoul | Posted – 10/9/2007 1:47:18 PM | show profile | email poster I was wondering if anyone knew of any agents that represent journalists for freelance assignments (eg. articles) etc? Do they exist? I know the fee involved in an article isn't so much compared with a book deal, however, actors have agents and the rates aren't that extreme either...the agents just expect quantity of work and have an X number of clients. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/9/2007 2:29:07 PM | show profile If you are looking for an agent to take you to the next level, and get you into pubs you can't get into yourself, that isn't going to happen. On occasion, an agent might send out a magazine article as a courtesy to his book client, if the agent happens to have a connection at the magazine. But, for the most part, agents don't deal with magazines much and the writer probably has better contacts than the agent does. |
| pamelabeth | Posted – 10/9/2007 3:37:22 PM | show profile | email poster actually i've wondered this too--not in terms of someone to get me into "better places," but as someone to help place my work in general. how wonderful, the thought of someone brainstorming with me regularly about where to try to place a piece, and someone telling me about good markets i haven't found yet. (granted, friends and colleagues do this sometimes, and i certainly appreciate it, but it's not their job; they've got their own work to worry about.) and--someone going to bat for me about payment, 'cause my payment is tied to their own! seems like an idea whose time has come...but maybe it wouldn't be seen as worth it for the agent...? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/9/2007 3:55:15 PM | show profile I doubt this would really be a viable business for an agent. The writers who would most want this type of thing are probably those who aren't generating enough income to be of interest to an agent. If a writer's typical article is paying $1000 or $2000, for example, it's not worth an agent's time to brainstorm and go after payments for a total fee of $150 or $300. If you are generating enough income (say, article fees in the $5,000 and plus range), the agent probably wouldn't contribute enough value to justify paying 10 or 15% of your earnings to. Even wriiters who keep agents for book or script work tend to handle their magazine business on their own. --actually i've wondered this too--not in terms of someone to get me into "better places," but as someone to help place my work in general. how wonderful, the thought of someone brainstorming with me regularly about where to try to place a piece, and someone telling me about good markets i haven't found yet. (granted, friends and colleagues do this sometimes, and i certainly appreciate it, but it's not their job; they've got their own work to worry about.) and--someone going to bat for me about payment, 'cause my payment is tied to their own! seems like an idea whose time has come...but maybe it wouldn't be seen as worth it for the agent...?-- |
| WritingSoul | Posted – 10/9/2007 7:10:15 PM | show profile | email poster Well, I'm looking at it from the model of an actor's agent, who will often book an actor for a gig that only lasts a day and pay $500, though if they are lucky, it can be a gig that might last a week. Agents spend a lot of time finding actors work/auditions. Well, why not do the same for established writers who might be paid $500-5,000 for an article? I'm not thinking in terms of getting a writer a "better" gig, but rather I could use someone who would be booking me work, so that I can spend my time actually doing it (eg. writing). Although I understand that part of the challenge is that writers tend to send out "queries" to find work, and that isn't something an agent can/would do. However often editors have article ideas sitting around that they need written up and wouldn't an agent just be able to pitch his clients to certain publications and get them work by merely submitting their clips? I don't understand why not. |
| noname1234 | Posted – 10/9/2007 7:19:03 PM | show profile I don't know a lot about actors' agents, but I suspect that an agent booking low-day pay gigs for clients is fairly entry-level and/or has clients who aren't exactly household names. I would imagine that agent's goal is to someday book major-money movie and TV deals, with their current or future clients. There aren't magazine articles that pay anywhere in the ballpark of what a TV or movie gig can pay an actor, however. I also wonder if editors would enjoy negotiating with an agent if the writer did have a huge name and the editor wasn't desperate to work with her/him. |
| flight risk | Posted – 10/9/2007 7:35:10 PM | show profile Most writers get paid a pretty fixed amount per story, whereas union actors have the potential to make quite a bit more--or less--per gig. The more you have to say, the higher the pay. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 10/9/2007 7:35:18 PM | show profile Noname nailed it ... Agents for broadcast journalists and television and screen actors take on clients for whom they think there will be an eventual big payoff. Unfortunately, that big payoff rarely comes for print journalists. |
| flight risk | Posted – 10/9/2007 7:40:41 PM | show profile The difference in pay is pretty stark. Twenty extra words can amount to $50 extra bucks for the writer in a big national market or thousands for the tv actor, not including residuals. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 10/9/2007 8:02:30 PM | show profile Also for television WRITERS ... ...especially once you get out of news. Quite a few television and screen entertainment writers have agents. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/9/2007 9:42:08 PM | show profile The actor who gets a $500 gig today might get a $300,000 movie deal next year or a $50,000 commercial. A writer who gets a $500 magazine assignment today probably will be getting a $500 assignment next year. Simply not much growth potential. I can't imagine an agent starting a business where the goal is to get $75 or $750 commissions. --Well, I'm looking at it from the model of an actor's agent, who will often book an actor for a gig that only lasts a day and pay $500, though if they are lucky, it can be a gig that might last a week. Agents spend a lot of time finding actors work/auditions. Well, why not do the same for established writers who might be paid $500-5,000 for an article? I'm not thinking in terms of getting a writer a "better" gig, but rather I could use someone who would be booking me work, so that I can spend my time actually doing it (eg. writing). Although I understand that part of the challenge is that writers tend to send out "queries" to find work, and that isn't something an agent can/would do. However often editors have article ideas sitting around that they need written up and wouldn't an agent just be able to pitch his clients to certain publications and get them work by merely submitting their clips? I don't understand why not.-- |
| aj | Posted – 10/9/2007 10:57:37 PM | show profile If you can land an agent for a book and the book does well, then the agent will be able to pitch you as a columnist. But you have to think like an agent -- too much work for one placement at a small commission so why would they do it? Big projects yield big interest. Too many writers don't understand that this is a business. If you can find a way for an agent to make a lot of money, that agent will take you on in a minute. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/10/2007 1:51:51 AM | show profile If I had a really successful book, and wanted to pitch myself to a magazine as a columnist, I feel I could do that just as well as the agent could. I would see no reason to cut him in on 15% of the take of the column, unless I knew he had fabulous contacts at a magazine I didn't that I was dying to get into. But I wouldn't give him 15% just to make a phone call to a magazine editor he didn't know. --If you can land an agent for a book and the book does well, then the agent will be able to pitch you as a columnist. -- |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 10/10/2007 2:59:10 PM | show profile Dribbledrive ... You would if you worked in an industry where the only possible way to get a gig is THROUGH an agent. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/10/2007 4:47:27 PM | show profile I am not sure what you are referring to. I have and have had agents for book and script projects. I just don't think an agent is of any particular value for magazine work. --Dribbledrive ... You would if you worked in an industry where the only possible way to get a gig is THROUGH an agent.-- |
| arewrites | Posted – 10/11/2007 12:52:26 PM | show profile Agents don't do magazines unless you are already signed with them and have the kind of reputation that commands $10,000 articles. This has been discussed endlessly here - check the archives. Simply not worth the work for the money. |
