Are Some Literary Agents Bad? How to Know...
You’ve heard that you need a literary agent to sell your book to a publisher. Cool. And you know you’re supposed to go out and find one… cool again.
But are some literary agents bad? How do you know if an agent is…a creep? Or a fraud? Or a shyster? Is there a list of bad literary agents to avoid? Today, I’m going to tell you three things to look out for when you’re approaching literary agents, so you don’t find yourself in an unfortunate situation.
Quick crazy story: I once had a mailman steal my mail. I know. It was crazy. The post master general‘s legal office had to get involved. They called me and interviewed me. I got to hear about how they would be conducting a sting operation to catch this person. It was all very surreal and strange.
But one thing the investigator said to me on the phone stuck with me, which was, “most of the people who work for the Postal Service are good people, but of course we occasionally get a bad apple.“
The same is true for any profession, including the profession of literary agent. Most of them are going to be great. But occasionally there will be a bad apple.
Unfortunately, I have encountered one of these bad apples myself, and have had friends encountered them as well. But the good news is that we have all survived and moved on to find representation from fantastic literary agents about whom we can only say wonderful glowing things.
So what are signs a literary agent may be up to no good?
Sign #1: If they expect you to pay them anything prior to selling your book
The first sign that something is amiss if they expect you to pay them anything prior to selling your book for you. The standard financial arrangement in the United States and really all of North America between literary agents and authors is that literary agents take a 15% commission of all of the sales they negotiate for you.
So if someone proposes a different arrangement, especially one where you are expected to pay them upfront, I would approach it very skeptically. I’m not saying it’s inherently a predatorial situation, but it very well may be because it is not the standard way that things are done. In most instances, someone asking for money upfront goes on the list of literary agents to avoid.
Sign #2: Check out the agent’s history
The next question I would ask isn’t so much for the purpose of spotting a bad apple, since a literary agent who doesn’t have a track record isn’t a bad person. But this is one way to check that the agent you are considering querying or working with is legit.
It sounds obvious, but I find that many of the writers I work with in my programs don’t actually think to do it, so I think it’s worth saying: check out the agent’s history of selling books. Have they sold books? Who are their clients? How recently have they sold books, especially books like the one you have written?
A newer agent may not have a very extensive sales history yet, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I actually think that often, newer agents are a great fit for debut authors. They are building their client lists and looking for authors to represent, and you are looking for an agent who has the bandwidth to prioritize you and to be excited about your book.
But if an agent does have at least some history of book sales, that’s a sign that they are legit. I mean legit in the sense that they actually have relationships with editors and are a player in the publishing industry.
A substitute for this could simply be that a newer agent is part of an agency that has a history of book sales. Even if the agent himself or herself doesn’t, being part of an agency that does is enough for me to feel confident in their legitimacy.
One question I get sometimes is if it matters where the agent is geographically. Yes, and no. If you are trying to sell the book in the United States, I would look for an agent in the United States. But does it matter if that agent or agency is in New York or California? No.
You’ll find that many are in New York, the hub of publishing and representation. But I would not dismiss or overlook an agency simply because it’s somewhere else in the United States.
The same country rule applies for countries outside of the United States. If you are an author in the UK looking to publish in the UK, I would look for representation in the UK.
This doesn’t mean that your book won’t be sold outside of your home country. But that is a different arrangement. Once you have your main literary agent, he or she will coordinate with a co-agent in another country to collaboratively represent you abroad. Your first task is to find an agent in your home country.
Sign #3: What kind of feeling does the agent give you?
The third and final question I would ask when trying to assess whether an agent is a good fit is a lot more touchy-feely than the others. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important. I actually think it’s the most important.
What kind of feeling does this agent give you? How do you feel when you’re interacting with them, whether it’s over email, phone, or in person? Do you find them easy to trust? Is your body telling you that this is a safe and comfortable situation, or is your body telling you that something about this is dangerous?
I know that may sound dramatic, but I really believe in listening to the cues that our senses are sending us. And if I’m honest, that one agent I interacted with who turned out to be a bad apple I could have avoided if I had paid attention to the signals my body was sending me when I was in his presence.
Our bodies are very wise. They often can detect bad situations before our brains can. We are animals, after all. So I want you to pay attention to how you feel when you are interacting with this person. I’ve had my same agent for six years, and every time I talk to her, I feel great: encouraged and supported.
That is the kind of relationship I want for you.
Ready to write your book?
If you made it this far, I’m guessing that you are writing a book, or want to write a book. If so, I want to talk to you.
When I’m not writing, my mission in life is to help talented writers write their dream books. I love it. I live for it.
Because before I published my novels, I first had to figure out how to write one. It wasn't easy because none of the writing classes I was taking showed me how to actually write a novel.
Not until I had a newborn and only a couple of hours to write did I come up with a process. The process worked. I wrote my entire novel during my 8-week maternity leave. Now, I teach it in my program the Book Incubator and it works for dozens of other writers.
If you're curious to know more, I have a free video walking you through my exact process for writing a book. You can get it by clicking below and answering two questions to apply to the program. You get the video whether you join or not—no pressure to enroll.
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