It’s more important than ever for writers to look at literary agents with clear eyes

A few recent developments have really opened my eyes to the changing landscape for authors and literary agents:

• A little over a week ago, I moderated the 10th edition of a book-to-film industry panel at Comic-Con, where I led a discussion with very successful publishing and film industry professionals about their work, how they’re finding clients, and what they’re finding challenging.
  
• Also in the past few weeks, the American Association of Literary Agents (AALA) updated their Canon of Ethics, loosening rules around the services literary agents may provide clients and prospective clients, and what they can charge for, such as editorial assessments and marketing services.
  
• Meanwhile, my own literary agent is sending my new middle grade fantasy novel out to publishers at a time when middle grade is experiencing significant headwinds.

Stick with me here because I’m going to weave these different threads together to show you why it’s increasingly crucial for authors to see what prospective literary agents can offer very, very clearly, and to begin to think toward a more holistic approach to their publishing paths, rather than looking at their journey as solely traditional publishing or bust.

There are more agents than ever, offering more services than ever

Here are two facts that might seem paradoxical:

1. In all my time connected to traditional publishing throughout the last (nearly) twenty-five years, due to a combination of industry consolidation, more distracted readers, and risk-averse publishers, it’s never been harder for a new book to break through the noise.
   
2. There are more literary agents than ever.

How could this possibly be? If it’s harder than ever for new authors, and thus new agents, to break out when more and more sales are going to the backlist and pre-existing bestsellers, which are typically managed by experienced agents and legacy agencies, why would there be more agents, rather than fewer?

Before I dig into this, I would strongly encourage you to stop what you’re doing right now and read publishing industry expert Jane Friedman’s summary of the recent AALA changes and how they shift the landscape.

Read Jane’s post in full, because I agree with literally everything she says:

• Agent Business Models May Be Shifting: What I Fear Will Happen – Jane Friedman

The key recent developments:

• It’s easier than ever for people to simply hang out an online shingle and call themselves an agent. There is no established accreditation process to become a literary agent. The AALA used to have a pretty stringent process to qualify for membership, but they’ve since loosened their requirements. And historically, not all reputable agents were members of the AALA (formerly the AAR). It’s very hard for an author to establish an agent’s actual bona fides.
  
• More agents are submitting more projects to increasingly besieged editors. Even as quite a few imprints have shut down in the past few years, reducing the number of places agents can submit to, there are more projects than ever chasing fewer slots. Now, even very experienced agents are having trouble getting editors to respond to their submissions, as “no response means no” takes hold at publishers.
  
• It has always been difficult for fledgling agents to make a living. Entry-level pay at literary agencies has long been famously abysmal. Assistants apprenticing at agencies (the traditional path for becoming an agent), particularly in New York City, typically either needed some combination of exceptional thriftiness, family help, and/or a second job in order to survive. Given that reality, the loosening of AALA rules around charging for editing allows agents to make some side money in their chosen field rather than needing to moonlight at a retail job.
  
• Publishing paths are becoming complicated. More and more authors have hybrid careers, meaning some books that are traditional, some self-published. Some agencies have experimented with facilitating their clients’ self-publishing. Loosening the rules could allow agents to become service providers that better reflect the needs of authors in a shifting landscape, and charge for their valuable time. But the new rules also allow agents to make money for referrals to third-party services, as long as the relationship is disclosed.

Here’s where the potential problems come in:

So many authors just want a shot at traditional publishing. If a literary agent with questionable credentials offers an author a shot at going on submission to editors, the power imbalance is powerful. Authors may well feel at their prospective agent’s mercy and look past their lack of experience.

That was already a risk. But now the agent offers a range of services to the author for a fee, or perhaps refers the author to a third-party service provider for a referral payment. Sure, representation isn’t supposed to be contingent on paying for services according to the new Canon of Ethics, but will the author really be in a position where they feel like they can say no?

The rise of the “schmagent”

The term “schmagent” is a moniker that came to prominence in the 2010s to refer to agents who don’t have the necessary experience to be a good literary agent and just decide to hang out their shingle. Not necessarily an outright scammer, maybe even with good intentions, but a rube who can do real damage to an author’s career without even knowing it.

In order to be a good literary agent, you need to…

• Have a sense of what’s customary for authors to receive from publishers. Established agencies have spent years negotiating “boilerplate” agreements with major publishers that contain hard-won terms that are far, far better than what publishers would offer an author without an agent. A schmagent may not have ever even seen what a good publishing agreement looks like.
  
• Be able to draw upon experienced mentorship. Publishing is a very strange industry with arcane customs, and you’re dealing with extremely complicated contracts. You must have experienced hands to turn to when things get dicey.
  
• Build a robust rolodex. As a young literary agent assistant in my early twenties, when I wasn’t working I was out socializing with fellow young publishing employees. Those connections are crucial for getting your projects considered when you start taking on clients.
  
• Understand the art of negotiating deals. Even when an agent gets a project all the way to an offer, they then need to do a good job negotiating it. At Curtis Brown, I cut my teeth negotiating audio deals before I was allowed to start taking on my own clients.

If you just create a website and say you’re an agent, you don’t have the tools to be a good one.

While I understand the AALA wants to be more inclusive of a range of agents, particularly in an industry where low starting pay contributed to a disproportionately wealthy and white workforce, I share Jane Friedman’s concern that the new ethics changes risk incentivizing more schmagents because dangling potential access to editors is a heck of a way to boost your service offerings:

“If agents can’t make sufficient money selling books and want to get into author services, why not leave agenting and become a service business? While this may be too cynical on my part, I can’t help but observe that one of the easiest ways to attract attention to your offerings—or get conference invites—is to put out your shingle as an agent. This latest revision to the Canon of Ethics may encourage more such prospecting.” – Jane Friedman

The AALA rule changes risk further blurring the line between well-meaning but incompetent and more actively predatory.

It’s absolutely crucial that you approach your agent search with clear eyes and a healthy dose of skepticism:

• Understand what real credentials look like. As you search for an agent, look for agents with an extensive track record of recent sales to major publishers and young agents at established agencies.
  
• Think twice before blurring lines with an agent. There are plenty of freelance professionals out there who offer the kinds of services agents are now allowed to provide. Think long and hard about whether you want to blur an agent’s traditional incentive structure, which historically was only to make money when you make money.
  
• Don’t outsource your search. There are tons of outright scammers out there, schmagents who don’t even know they’re bad, and, yes, some true professionals. There’s no substitute for doing your own research.
  
• Don’t put agents on a pedestal. If someone offers you representation, take a beat and ask them good questions. Make sure you’re absolutely sure before you move forward. A bad agent is worse than no agent.

Turn your search around and focus on whether you like the agent, not on whether the agent may like you. Confirm bona fides, and confirm them again.

But guess what… This is the easy part!

That’s because even if you have a terrific literary agent, it’s still extremely tough out there.

Even real agents are having a hard time

On the panel, I was struck by the range of ways the publishing and film professionals sourced new clients. Literary agent Kathleen Ortiz, who specializes in visual artists and licensing, trawls for clients on Instagram. Entertainment lawyer Matt Sugarman, who works with the likes of Rebecca Yarros, Christina Lauren, and Matt Dinniman, hunts for excited fandoms on Facebook.

Now, I want to be clear that the traditional path from query letter to publishing deal still exists. If you have a hot property in a hot genre (right now: rom-coms and romantasy), literary agents can do wonders.

But what, I asked, are authors who aren’t writing in a hot genre supposed to do?

“It’s hard,” literary agent Holly Root said succinctly.

Again, there are books that still find agents. Debuts still sell in every genre and category. Just look at Publishers Marketplace. It does happen.

But it’s hard, and there are more genuine paths than ever. It’s a sign of the times that even as quite a few imprints have shuttered, venerable paperback imprint Pocket Books at Simon & Schuster has rebranded to orient toward previously self-published books that traditional publishers will repackage and distribute.

The consensus on the panel is that authors need to think of their careers holistically, beyond the traditional path. If you strike out with traditional publishing, or if you get lost in a publishing cul-de-sac, you may need to be ready to pivot.

I haven’t seen this trend quantified with clear statistics, but to my eye the self-published-to-bestseller pipeline is growing and widening to new genres and categories, with everything from Theo of Golden by Allen Levi to Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman catching fire.

The important thing? Finding and cultivating your readers, wherever they may be.

That’s easier said than done, of course, particularly if you don’t have the time, energy, and funds to invest in producing your own book and promoting it well. But there are authors out there (and their nieces) who are successfully speed-running the gauntlet with guile, gumption, and creativity.

Take agents off the pedestal

I’ve been a literary agent at literary conferences. It honestly feels like you’re a walking T-bone steak surrounded by starving hordes of writers.

Even then it was a little much. But now more than ever it’s important for writers to flip the script and to think very clearly about what an agent can and can’t do for you.

If you want to find your readers, it’s important to recognize that traditional paths are narrowing. Platform and the ability to summon eyeballs matter more for fiction than they ever have.

Meanwhile, I’m living all of this myself. Middle grade is having a brutal moment. My previous series sold well, but not enough to be an instant slam dunk for a new middle grade deal.

My agent may well call me tomorrow to tell me we have an offer. But probably not. And if my novel doesn’t sell? I’m going to have to figure out how best to share it with whoever might want to read it. I’ll have to chart my own unique publishing path.

Literary agents are by and large wonderful people who care about books. But they don’t have magic wands. And some don’t have the magic without even knowing it.

But the times we’re in call for even more time researching the business to develop expertise, even more vigilance as you evaluate agents, and thinking how you might reach readers.

The good news is that there are more ways to reach readers than ever. Catching fire still happens! You may just need to find your own path to get there.

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel, and my guide to publishing a book.

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Art: Karen Marie Reading Her Bible by Gustav Vermehren