What is a literary agent?
Traditional literary agents sell the work of authors to publishers and gain income from a percentage of the royalties. These days this can range from 10%-25% depending on the agency and the client. This means that a percentage of the author’s income is channeled directly to the agent before the author receives any fee at all. Because traditional literary agents make their income solely from these royalties, they usually only take on established authors with several books under their belt so they are assured of a reasonable income. Every now and again they take a bet on a new author but it is a risk for them and they must make sure that their income is safe so they need to work mainly with published authors.
This makes it very difficult for a new author to get their work into an agency and to have the chance of getting published. That is precisely why we decided to specialise in helping new authors into print at Dunsford Publishing Consultants. Through the university and community writing courses we were discovering authors with great potential who had no idea how to assess and edit their work to a standard ready to be seen by a publisher. At first we began assessing and editing their work only. But gradually we realised that it was still difficult for so many of these authors because they could not get near a literary agency to represent their work to publishers. Publishers were increasingly preferring work only from agencies or publishing consultancies, where they knew the preparation had been done and they would be considering the top 10% of manuscripts.
We surveyed new and published writers and asked what they wanted from an agency representing them to publishers. Some who had worked through traditional literary agents were not happy that in addition to them taking a percentage of their royalties, further costs such as time with publishers, faxes, courier fees and travel were later billed and they ended up not only paying a large percentage of their income to the literary agents but also unexpected bills that were ongoing. Some said that had they known this at the outcome, they would never have agreed to this system. So we asked them what system they would prefer. They all said they wanted to know in advance what the marketing costs of a book would be in writing so they could budget for this and they would prefer to pay a nominated fee based on the cost of marketing than be forever paying an agent royalties and extra charges and hidden costs they had not predicted.
So we sat down and mulled over the responses and came up with a system that could work for all and asked both published and new authors what they thought of this. We suggested a system where those marketing the text would assess the entire project, again for free as with the initial reading for a manuscript assessment, in conjunction with the editor[s] and/or assessor[s] who had worked on the book. The combined input would give a very clear indication of the potential of the text and the likely publishers who should be approached and thus the time needed to cover the field and get responses back from publishers and finally submit the text to the publisher with the best offer. In effect, we would for the first time create a one-stop shop for authors where we could support them from writing class and assessment stage right through to marketing their work to publishers.
Because so many authors were irritated that their texts sat with literary agents for months and years without any responses, we developed a system that would fast track the process and once the interested publishers were short-listed, then the marketing team would follow up with face to face meetings to discuss the text and its potential or do so by email in some cases. Gradually, we were able to refine this methodology until we could get all responses in from publishers within 6-8 weeks and get the author into the best publisher within that time frame. Authors who had worked with traditional literary agents were stunned it could happen so quickly once there was a team effort involved. Even better, once the text was sold to the publisher, our agency would not take any percentage of royalties since we had quoted and they had paid for the service in advance. This left the author paying a one off fee, usually under $1,000, but earning 100% of their publishing royalties for the rest of their lives. This was greeted with joy by authors and by us, because wages have to be paid at the time of the work not six months or a year later and all authors wanted to receive 100% of their royalty payments from the publisher.
In over three decades of working in the publishing industry since our first contract was signed in the early 1980s, I am delighted to report that we have never ever charged any author any percentage of their royalties. Even authors like Beryl Fletcher have never paid a cent to us in royalties, nor African author Unity Dow, now with three highly respected and best-selling books in print in English and in Germany: www.spinifexpress.com.au None of the authors on our lists of published authors, now over 170 authors, paid any royalties to us for getting them into print and all of them prefer this method of working.
Most people requiring a service would prefer to know in advance what that service will cost. That is the point of a free reading of a text in order to make an accurate quote. Often the work goes over the quote but we never charge for this. There is always work in any business that is down time that any entrepreneur must assimilate in the process. All authors have a choice in whether to work with a publishing consultancy offering a literary agency service such as this or a traditional literary agency working on a percentage basis. For some the traditional literary agency serves their needs best and they should go with this. For most, and this includes all new authors who cannot get into a traditional literary agency, the preference is for transparent charges, quoted in writing in advance where they can budget and prepare for the costs but are not hit up with an unexpected bill at the end.
Most authors prefer to have a free reading of their text and a written no-obligation quote using our methodology than to pay to have their work read even if the agency does not take on that work. Some of the newer literary agents setting themselves up have little record at all of getting authors into print, but market their services so the glossy brochures or business cards make them look good then they charge authors vast amounts of money, not quoted in advance, for just reading their work. We feel this practice is unethical and advise authors not to get taken in by this.
Just this week I was called by an author whose first book we sold to Hazard Press and who’d received an offer of interest from a film company run by actor Sam Neill. She had submitted her work to another literary agent in our absence and had been charged through the roof for a reading even though this had not been quoted for in advance. We asked her to check the credentials and publications sold by this agent. The person had sold fewer than two books in her entire career and had no significant track record of working with publishers. We asked this author why she had chosen this agent. She had seen a glossy advertisement in a magazine and had been impressed. I asked the author why she’d called me after this experience. She said she’d read the notes on the text received back from this agent and realised the agent had no idea of what the book was about nor how to edit it and she longed for an in depth editorial assessment report such as we’d offered on her first book. This is just another of many cases we get weekly: caveat emptor: buyer beware.
Make sure you ask the right questions when dealing with literary agents as well as with manuscript assessors and editors. Make sure they have a track record of getting published authors into print. I repeat this over and over because so few authors think to check. Ask for a list of their published authors rather than just hearsay. Check the list and make sure it is bona fide. Just a week ago I had lunch with very talented young author who’d been published in New York and received critical acclaim with her first book. She wanted an agent to represent her work to Australasian publishers because the New York publisher only had northern hemisphere rights. After a free reading of the book we liked it and said we’d barter services because we had an author we’d like read by the New York publisher. This worked well for both of us. She’d been approached by the same literary agent mentioned above but had come to the conclusion that money had been her main motivation. Again she’d paid a huge fee merely for the book to be read. So do not be taken in. Learn from the mistakes of others.
In this case, as with many, barter became an effective tool of trade where authors could not afford a service or we chose to offer a service in this way. Hence I have a house full of beautiful bone carvings and furniture and art created by authors who chose other ways of working when money was not available to them. These artifacts remind me of the hard work put into their published books and there is a joy from being surrounded by tonga or gifts that come from the heart and spirit of the writers. It some ways, it is a much more inspiring and beautiful exchange of energy than money and I often wish our society still worked more on the level of barter and trading without the need for money as in former times.
However, I now have a house stuffed full of artworks and I still need money to survive and also pay others for their services, so this is the exception rather than the rule. But I am proud to say we have seldom ever turned down an author for lack of money in three decades. Often we’ve given up to a 50% discount for those on benefits or in abject need. Now we set aside 10% of our fees for needy clients so that 10% each year have the choice of having their work done at a lower fee to be determined by need. For me, that is the choice of working ethically in business. For further inspiration on this methodology, read Anita Roddick’s Business As Unusual: www.thorsens.com
So, when sometimes we have received a query from a writer or writers’ society questioning that we do a written contract signed in advance by both parties for marketing work rather than working on a percentage basis like traditional literary agents, we have to laugh at the serious lack of understanding of the depth and breadth of the publishing trade. When a publishing consultancy like ours and our agencies overseas have surveyed writers to ask what writers want rather than what agents or publishers want and we have provided that need to the exact requirements of what the authors have requested, then you’d imagine that all would be pleased. But change comes slowly. Because it has happened a certain way for so many centuries, no matter whether it works for the authors or not, some stick rigidly to this method of literary agents taking a percentage of the author’s income.
By the rate of acceptance of our methodology of a free reading and a written quote for services in advance which is signed by both parties and our knowledge that it is the preferred way of working because of its transparency, we predict that by the end of this century there will be very few, if any, literary agents working in the old way. It does not work for either party. It means the agents have to bear the brunt of the costs in advance and it means the writers often end up with large bills they never expected and are locked into paying these agents a percentage of their income for the rest of their lives. The system is archaic and it is only a matter of time before it becomes obsolete.
The wonderful thing is that both systems are available and it is entirely up to the author to make the choice of which system she or he wants to work with and find the appropriate agency that suits their needs. But authors often do not realise there is a choice because the industry has remained so rigidly locked into the old system for so long. It is fascinating that an industry that prides itself on its ability to create change through books and words would willingly stay with a methodology of working that is not effective for the publisher, agent or the writer in so many cases. Read writers’ memoirs to get some indication that the system has not been working for many decades now. Most publishers we work with love our system because it means they do not have to negotiate through us on every small point and can work directly with the author and pay royalties directly to the author. I can tell you that published authors prefer this also for obvious reasons!
So you can choose to work with a traditional literary agent or a literary agency within the publishing consultancy which has assessed, edited and prepared your work for publication. Given the choice, most authors prefer the latter because familiarity and knowledge about the work has been established through that agency and a relationship nurtured through this period of time.
Traditional literary agents do not edit or assess work. They simply read it, often for a fee, and decide whether they will earn enough money from your work that it is worth taking on. If they do not take on your work, you have handed over a fee for nothing. So make sure you ask the right questions when approaching a literary agent and insist upon seeing a list of their published authors before you ever hand over your work. Make sure you are working with an agent who appreciates and respects your work. The publishing industry, like any other, is full of vibrant and wonderful people and also sharks that lie just below the surface of the water. There are plenty of authentic and credible fish in the sea. You do not need to be eaten up by the sharks. You just need to keep your eye on the surface of the water for approaching fins and dive. Good luck!
The key to becoming a successful published author and avoiding the sharks along the way is to ask the right questions and to always check the credentials of the agency you are working with by simply requiring that they provide you with a list of their published authors. If more writers did this then there would be fewer who came to us later with such terrible stories. I have simply passed on the experiences of these writers so that you can learn from them and make sure that you avoid falling into the same traps. Preparing your work for publication requires so much hard work that you do not need to be vulnerable along the way. You have to prepare yourself to deal with the inevitable rejections that are a part of the process further down the line, but you can reduce the pain by making sure you work with an agency with a good track record. Getting published can and should be a joyous and exciting experience and it will be if you choose well who you work with along the way.