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Questions to Ask Potential Agents
by Sue McKlveen
- The phone rings.
- "Hello?" I bark, thinking it's yet ANOTHER telemarketer. I get
my snotty and rehearsed remark ready for the booger, when someone
clears their throat on the other end. I guess my snottiness must
have come through.
- "I'm Mr. Agentwonderful, and I'd like to talk to you about
your recent submission to our agency. It was fantastic, and I'd like
to represent you to all the New York Times best-selling publishers,
because we know it's going to be a hit. I'm thinking it will get you
at least a six-digit advance, it's that good."
- My heart stops. I fall to the kitchen chair, sure I'm having a
delusional dream and will suffer a coronary.
No, this didn't happen to me and it's my fantasy so don't mess with it.
What if this happened to you? Do you know what to ask Mr.
Agentwonderful so you know you're not getting the short end of the stick?
Here are a few questions to get you started (feel free to use whatever
you want and add if you like). You may want to post them beside every telephone
in the house with highlighted answers that you're hoping you'll get...like the
six-digit advance (I love that idea!).
- How long have you been an agent with your current company? Have you
switched companies within the past two years and if so, why?
- What have you sold in the past six months and to what
lines/publishers? (write these down...it'll show how fast they can
sell, what lines or publishers they're familiar with and how
committed to their job they are.) What was the most important sale
and why?
- What professional organizations are you affiliated
with?
- What genres do you represent?
- How do movie, TV and foreign rights work in your
agency? What's the financial arrangement?
- How would you describe your ideal client? What's the
most difficult part of working with a new client, and how much
communication do you expect? How long does it take for you to
respond to clients, and do you tell them everything that's happening
with their manuscripts? What about feedback?
- Do clients have to edit their own work or do you
require it to be done by your agency?
- What's your commission rate? (the usual rate is 15% of
author payment for domestic sales)
- How much out of pocket does it cost for a client to be
represented by you? (Sometimes, the agency requires the author to
make all copies or pay for them out of pocket. Don't ever accept an
agent who makes you pay a reading fee.) What expenses are required
for the client to pay? Do you provide documentation of those
expenses?
- How do you handle checks from publishers? Do you issue
1099s at the end of the tax year?
- Do you take on a whole career for your client, or is
everything book by book? How long is your contract with your
clients? How can a client and you end a contract?
- Do you provide a list of clients and can I contact
them?
- If something happens to you, do you have someone who
can agent on your behalf? Do you have an organized office so someone
can just pick up where you left off? What if you go on vacation...do
you have a temporary backup person?
- Do you micromanage your clients?
- What's the hardest thing for new clients to
understand?
- What do you think of a series of stories that are
related? Are they tougher to pitch?
- How much marketing does the client have to do, and
what does the agency do to help market the client?
- Who will be handling most of your work...is it you or
an assistant?
- How do you handle future projects? Does the client run
ideas past you first, or can they just write?
- What if you don't want to handle a project? Is the
client free to hunt for another agent for that project?
- What kind of career guidance do you offer?
And here's the best part. You're now in the driver's seat. You CAN say
no...because not having any agent is much better than having a bad agent. Just
remember...having an agent does not guarantee sales.
Good luck!
References:
Writer's Digest, August 2007
writersdigest.com
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