Revisiting Agent Qualifications

Going back to a recent discussion I had with a newbie writer who’s convinced that getting an agent and publishing in the traditional publishing world are the keys to being a success, I thought it was time to revisit the qualifications literary agents tend to have versus what they should have.

This newbie writer rattled off a long list of accomplishments that his perspective agent had – MFA, years as an editor, X number of clients who have published, etc.  He was sure these were the qualities of a good agent, and the one he was talking to had them all, so shouldn’t I be impressed?  After all, he was about to be signed by a real life literary agent, and I was just a lowly indie author who apparently couldn’t convince someone I was good enough to sign.

So I asked him what background this person had in contract law(none).  I asked what the royalty rates and payout schedules he was being told were(he didn’t know).  I asked if the agent and he had discussed what to do if a publisher wanted the first right of refusal over his next work(his agent convinced him this was a great thing, for it meant he would at least get another look on his next work).  Finally, I asked him if he had any red lines that would make him walk away from a publishing deal(he didn’t; the thought of just getting someone to publish him thrilled him to no end).

These may seem like pedantic questions, these are very real issues that many newbies don’t even bother to think about.  Look, I get it – having someone say you’re a good enough writer that they want to take you on as a client can be a wonderful feeling.  It provides a sense of accomplishment that you’re not a total hack.  However, that’s exactly what so many publishers are counting on when they create these one-sided contracts that greatly benefit them at the expense of the author.  Moreover, the agent, knowing that publishers are the way they can make their money, is more invested in keeping the publisher happy than the newbie writer.  There will always be newbies who are dying to get published, but there are only five legacy publishers who print any longer(almost everyone smaller you think you’ve heard of is a subsidiary of the Big Five and is accountable to them).  Agents can’t afford to sour their relationship with one of these publishers, so most will happily toss a newbie overboard to maintain their main moneymaking relationship.

I don’t get why you’d want your contract negotiated by someone who is an expert in literature.  What does an editor know about contract law?  You wouldn’t ask your lawyer to offer you solid advice about your book, would you?  Sure, you might ask a lawyer friend to read it as a beta-reader – they are still part of the general public – or give you feedback on some legal point you want to include in your novel, but the style and substance is better left to editors who have expertise in that field.

This is part of why legacy publishing is dying.  For every Stephen King or RA Salvatore out there making tons of money(and whose success we aspire to), there are literally hundreds to thousands of newbies who are virtual slaves to their contracts, poorly negotiated by someone who enjoys Pride and Prejudice but whose only legal contract experience was  when they signed their internet provider contract.  And since they’ve formed an exclusive club amongst themselves, they act as gatekeepers to anyone attempting to break that paradigm.  Until more newbies wake up and realize that predatory publishers and clueless agents are not in their interest, little will change.

Well, one thing will change(and continue to) – the indie market will continue to expand, providing the only real alternative where talent(and, admittedly, luck) separates the wheat from the chaff as opposed to a publisher looking for their next sucker…er…writer.