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Topic: Torn between two agents.
| Author | Message |
| Spiccoli | Posted – 5/14/2008 5:34:30 PM | show profile | email poster Yikes. Two agents are interested in my nonfiction book proposal. I really clicked with Agent 1. I think I'll get a lot of attention from them, which as a greenhorn, I'm sure I could use. But Agent 2 is an older agency with a more established roster. Any advice from folks who've been through this process? Much obliged. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 5/14/2008 6:46:53 PM | show profile Just go with your gut. You never know what will happen, and try not to worry about the road not taken. |
| xxxxx | Posted – 5/14/2008 7:20:02 PM | show profile Here's a secret: It doesn't make that much of a difference. I mean, having an agent represent you means everything, but every agent knows the same small group of editors who acquire the type of stuff you write. |
| snappiness | Posted – 5/15/2008 8:38:41 AM | show profile I've got the Big Name agent who I have done several books with, and honestly I sort of envy my friends with the Small Personal Attention agents. My agent is so busy I don' t have any contact unless I initiate it. But it is sort of nice to have recognition when I trot Big Agent's name out. Either way, I'd just go with who you feel most comfortable with. |
| foodlit | Posted – 5/15/2008 12:21:20 PM | show profile Every agent does NOT know the same editors. Not to make you nervous, but this is a very important decision and I know friends who jumped at the first friendly agent who made an offer, and were dazzled by enthusiasm, etc. They wasted several years, and did not sell until they left these agents and started fresh with a new one. You want to 'click' with your agent, but you need to do some research on both of these people, find out what their track records are in selling similar types of books. Ask them how they work with their authors and make sure that their style fits yours....some are very hands off, whereas others are very involved with editing, etc. Here's a link to an article of questions you can ask the agents to learn more about them so that you make the best decision. http://www.bksp.org/content/view/116/2/ Good luck! Pam (a former literary agent) |
| scribble | Posted – 5/27/2008 6:05:04 PM | show profile | email poster Similar but different situation I wonder if anyone has additional advice for me. Like the OP, I have several agents interested in my nonfiction book proposal. I'm seriously considering two. One is a one-woman shop, seems eager to build a quality list, and liked my idea (a health book for a small segment of the population. I fit into the demographic.) The potential advance would be modest, but if the book sells, it would be exactly the kind of book I proposed (again, for a small readership) and would likely continue to sell to those types of readers year after year. Another is an agent at a well-established agency, good reputation, but wants me to expand my market to write a book that appeals to a larger segment of the population. It would be a larger book, yes, but catering to people who I am not as intimately familiar with and therefore, less of what my original vision is. The potential advance and possible royalties, though, would be much bigger. And because it's a health book, this agent would want me to pair with an MD so the medical element of the book would be seen as more solid. (So the title would likely be BY Scribble WITH Dr. Smith. For the original book idea, I'd proposed the book to be BY Scribble with a forward by Dr. Smith. Thoughts, anyone? |
| foodlit | Posted – 5/28/2008 9:33:56 AM | show profile Your advance and royalties may be bigger, but will they still be that much bigger once split with the MD? If you really want to do the project with your original vision, go with agent one, as long as she has a solid track record of sales. If you just want to chase the money, then go with agent two and a different vision. Which project are you more excited about? If it were me, I'd probably go with agent one, as even with agent two, there's no guarantee really that the results will be more money. Could be that original vision with your full passion will do better...you just never know. On this I'd go with your gut, and whichever project you know will be your best work....and remember even though your advance with that first agent may be smaller (and that's not necessarily true as the agent doesn't determine the advance the publisher does, so you never know)...but even if it is smaller....you could still make as much if not more money if the book takes off. Good luck! Pam (a former literary agent) |
| can't say | Posted – 5/28/2008 12:25:56 PM | show profile Pam, if you wanted to check out an agent's track record, what would be the easiest way to do that? Should you just ask directly? |
| foodlit | Posted – 5/28/2008 5:37:13 PM | show profile You can get a good idea on the internet, via google, agentquery.com and publishersmarketplace.com All you're looking for is a track record of some kind, a pattern that indicates recent success selling the type of book you write. It doesn't mean if agent a has 20 sales and agent b has 15, that agent a is 'better'...just matters that these sales are relevant. Because the size of agent b's sales could be bigger, and agent b could actually have way more than 20 sales, but only publicized 15 of them for whatever reason. Some of the biggest agents may be more difficult to accurately track recent sales because they don't publicize that information at all, because they don't need to, they're working more on referrals, but google will tell you about these agents because you'll see who they represent and that they've been around forever. So, the combination of google, publishersmarketplace.com and agent query should give you enough information to get a sense of where the agent fits in....to get a sense of if they're right for you will be more of a gut instinct after speaking with them. Hope that helps! Pam |
| foodlit | Posted – 5/28/2008 5:38:06 PM | show profile Meant to add, yes of course, also ask them directly too, as they should be very forthcoming with this information. If they hesitate, then you probably should too. |
