Literary agent red flags

Описание: Getting an offer of rep from a literary agent is a dream come true for many authors. But before you jump into this professional relationship w/ the first agent who makes you an offer, you need to make sure it's a good fit for BOTH of you. After all, this is an important business partnership, & you don’t want to put yourself in a bad situation.

Here are five red flags to watch out for when you're looking for potential agents:

🚩 They dodge your questions. It’s the industry standard to have conversations with any agents who are interested in representing you. If an agent says they want to work with you but refuses to answer your questions until you sign an offer of rep, that’s a big red flag.

🚩 They won’t sign a contract. Avoid any agent who offers you a "handshake agreement," where they offer to send your ms to publishers without a formal contract. The contract protects you and confirms the terms of your working arrangement, and it’s the industry standard to have one.

🚩 They ask for a “reading fee.” A legitimate agent is never going to charge an upfront fee, retainer fee, or signing fee. The standard arrangement across the industry is for agents to take a 15% commission of any advance you get & any royalties you earn. That means they only get paid when they get you a book deal.

🚩They have no agency website. A legitimate agency should have a website that includes books they’ve recently published & authors they represent. If they don't, that can be a sign of a scam.

🚩 They pressure you. It’s in your agent’s best interest to submit to different publishers. They want to get you a competitive offer by having different publishers bid against each other, which will up the price of the sale & lead to a higher commission for them (& more money for you, too). A legitimate agent will not pressure you toward just one publisher because that would be limiting your options for a book deal.

Have you run into any of these red flags in your agent search?

#shorts #publishingtips
 
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My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with nearly a decade of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey—whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
 
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