Note: This is a re-posting of an entry from a couple years ago. People have asked me about this again, so I'm putting it here again.Recently I got a question that I've heard before, which is, when is it time to find an agent?
There's plenty of information about this online already. There are whole blogs by agents where they answer exactly this kind of question. My reply, based solely on my experience and writers I've talked to, is that you need an agent when you start writing the type of thing that requires an agent to sell. That ought to be a no-brainer -- it's not. George V. Higgins once said that there is no substitute for knowing what you're doing. As usual, he's right.
If you're writing short stories or poetry and submitting them to magazines, you probably don't need an agent, certainly not to begin with and maybe not for a long time. I
have an agent, and I still don't use her for magazine submissions. It's an unnecessary step, unless the periodical in question requires an agent as a go-between, and most of them (everything from
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine to
Prairie Schooner to
The New Yorker) do not. There's a slush pile and a spot waiting for you there. Your job is to find your way to the top, and you're probably going to be doing that all on your own.
One of my favorite writers, the wonderful Tom Drury, told me that he sold several stories to
The New Yorker and afterwards he had agents approaching
him. Not coincidentally, this happened right around the time he needed an agent for his first book,
The End of Vandalism. If you unfold this happy anecdote, it becomes an excellent illustration of how the process works, or ought to. First, Drury's top priority was obviously the quality of his writing -- he was repeatedly producing good stories. Second, he was selling them to
The New Yorker, so he obviously knew his market. The last part of the puzzle, the agent, fell into place almost on its own. His toughest decision was which one he would choose.
If you're a writer than you need to concentrate first and foremost on your writing, a point emphasized by bestselling mystery writer Janet Evanovich in her peppy and readable
How I Write. In other words make it as good as it can be. Make sure everything is spelled correctly (this may seem like a no-brainer -- it's not). Edit and polish, hone and hew, put it aside and look at it again in six weeks or six months with fresh eyes. Find a writers' group or a reader whose opinion you can trust. Take their criticism as objectively as possible. When you think you're ready...
Send it out? No. Find an agent? No.
Study your market. If you're going to submit a story to a magazine, read the magazine first (this may seem like a no-brainer-- it's not). Read several issues. Check out the Literary Marketplace. Go online to the magazine's website and read the writers' guidelines for submission.
Then, send it out. Get rejected. Try again. Get rejected. Try again. Get a personal note back from one of the readers. Keep reading. Keep writing. Keep revising. I once covered my entire dorm room door in college with rejection letters. Took me about a semester.
So, have we all got the drill? Write, get knocked on your butt, get back up again. And repeat.
I've heard more than one would-be writer express genuine concern that they might run afoul of some less-than-honest agent that might steal their work, their money or both. My response, and I don't mean to sound harsh, is: "What makes you so sure you've got something worth stealing?" When you're starting out, getting ripped off should not even be on your mind. First, be good enough to worry about getting ripped off.
Once you find your way onto that playing field, you still shouldn't lose much sleep over it. I'm not saying there aren't untrustworthy agents out there -- there's plenty of scam artists working every occupation on the planet -- but if you do your research online or in the LMP, you won't have to worry about it. Most agents work on commission. If you don't get paid, they don't get paid. Be wary of an agency or management service that asks for money upfront. Find out who their other clients are. Don't be afraid to ask questions about what your money is supposed to get you.
Choosing an agent is an important part of the process but it's equally important to know when you have to make that choice. We all have a finite amount of energy every day to accomplish what needs to be done. Don't waste time and energy worrying about an agent when you're in the part of your life and career where every ounce of attention must be paid to maximizing your potential.
You probably will need an agent if you're trying to get a book published. Most publishers won't read work that isn't submitted through an agenty. The LMP will steer you toward the agency that represents the type of work you're writing. Many of these agents will read a synopsis with sample pages and ask for more if they're interested. My personal experience is that the more of the finished product you have in hand while querying agents, the better off you are.
Take a page from Tom Drury's book. Be the best writer you can be. When it's finally time, you'll have your pick of agents.
