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Getting an agent?
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Erica
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Jul 13, 2015 06:56PM
I have had some serious trouble getting exposure for my book, and I was wondering if anyone here has ever thought of going with an agent or a publicist to go the route of getting a publishing house contract? I know a lot of the publishing houses will not even look at a manuscript without prior representation from some sort of literary agent. Just wondering. Thanks!
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This is totally off topic, but related to your book. Have you thought of changing the cover?In his guide,
(which is free to download), Mark Coker has a great example of how changing the cover to look more professional can instantly boost sales.
Good to know! Luckily for me I'm working on my second novel so I may hold off on self-publishing and see what I can do. It's frustrating that it took me quite a few years to write it, as I was working on it on and off, only to self publish it and not get enough exposure. But I know a lot of people don't want to take a chance on an author who has written only one book, but how are we supposed to get a following if no one reads us in the first place? Just makes me wonder
Funny you should mention that, because I was batting that idea around. Looking at the book now I can see that the cover is a bit drab, so I'm thinking about redoing it to attract more attention to it. Someone else also mentioned this to me and it's something that I really need to look into sooner than later.
Erica wrote: "I have had some serious trouble getting exposure for my book, and I was wondering if anyone here has ever thought of going with an agent..."People here have -- I recall another thread on it. It obviously depends on the publisher and the genre, but in many cases, the publisher has no interest in getting your work any exposure either. Often they throw it out there, just like you did, and expect you to market it, just as you are doing now. They give it a certain amount of time (maybe a year, maybe less) and if it doesn't take off, they kill it. And then you've lost your book.
You might be able to find an agent and publisher for your work who actually cares about you and your work, but that seems to be quite rare. Mostly you are just a slim chance to make them a little money -- if they decide to take that chance in the first place.
If an author is going to succeed, it usually takes several years and 4+ books before they see any return, or gain any traction. You pretty much have to willing to to devote at least 5 years to this if you want a decent chance of some commercial success. And that chance is still pretty low.
You might get lucky with an agent and a publisher, but you might get lucky with with this book too, or your next one, or the one after that. Either way it's a long shot, and it's up to you how long you want to play it. That's the "grim" reality of this business.
I think finding a publicist would be better than finding an agent. An agent will probably be pretty pricey to afford and not to mention agents have focus but make come off a bit strong.
Years ago I seriously researched the traditional route (agent to publisher). I read over and again that publishers only promote your book if you are famous. I concluded the last thing I needed was an agent or a traditional publisher.Determined to sell my new novel's story rights for film (agents can do it better I am told), I am reading about and reassessing agents.
There are so many variables to consider I hesitate to give any advice to any writer on this subject but my general impression, echoing what has already been written by other posters, is that agents are doing less "discovering" these days and aim instead to package a sure thing, which of course has been the business model for publishers for a long time.
I plan to e-mail agents at a casual pace this year and will post any good or informative results here.
I know this is way late, but I changed the cover of my book and love it now. I am hoping that this does the trick! I was on a mini vacation, so I've left things alone for a couple of weeks. I am still on the fence about an agent, but there are so many pros and cons!
Nice job on the new cover Erica! :) I noticed on Amazon that only the Kindle version of your book cover has updated. My experience is that updates don't always cross over from KDP to CreateSpace or vice versa.You might check out Booktrope - they do publishing, editing and marketing for you! If I had known about them sooner I probably would have tried to use their services.
Justin wrote: "I think finding a publicist would be better than finding an agent. An agent will probably be pretty pricey to afford and not to mention agents have focus but make come off a bit strong."This is what I think. Someone that can recommend and include advertising and promotion in their services.
If I could afford a publicist, I would probably go that route? An agent? Nope.
Just to clarify a bit here, people talk about "affording" an agent here. That's not how the agent bit works. Agents work off of a percentage of your agreement with whomever they help you negotiate. In other words, if an agent finds you a publishing deal they would take some percentage (I believe the standard is 10-15%) of the money you make through that deal. Similarly true if they negotiate a movie deal for you etc. This is why you have to query an agent, then, if they request it, send them a partial or full copy of your novel, then maybe if they like your work and think they can market it, they might sign you. If they sign you, you are not paying them, it means they agree to represent you. Then they get paid out of your royalties when you make a deal.
Agents are great for selling the rights to your book to foreign publishers, or selling your movie rights etc. If you are self publishing that's all that you would use them for.
Publicists are people you pay directly, generally monthly (though these days you can often find a la carte services for book launches, cover reveals, etc.), who work to promote you and your book/brand. If you are very lucky you can find a publicist willing to work off a percentage of your sales, but this is incredibly rare. Most publicists charge a flat rate for monthly promotion and work on a month to month contract.
I've seen some confusion around this distinction a fair bit over various goodreads forums and I thought I would clarify. Hope that's helpful.
Signing your rights away for a deal is part of the cost of an agent. :)
Erica wrote: "I have had some serious trouble getting exposure for my book, and I was wondering if anyone here has ever thought of going with an agent or a publicist to go the route of getting a publishing house..."Erica, can you tell us what your marketing plan is? What does it contain? What have you done so far?
April
Charles wrote: "Signing your rights away for a deal is part of the cost of an agent. :)"Fair point! And a high cost at that! :-)
Jody wrote: "Years ago I seriously researched the traditional route (agent to publisher). I read over and again that publishers only promote your book if you are famous. I concluded the last thing I needed was ..."You make a lot of sense
I find that agents tend to focus too much on the Query letter than on the story line
My impression is that agents first and foremost focus on marketability, how easy, if at all, they can sell the book to a publishing house and to convince the latter that it can sell a certain amount of copies to the readers. Since they get paid only if they sell the rights to a publisher, they don't like to work hard or take too much risk (my impression), so they would usually go with something they think they can sell relatively easy and with high degree of certainty.
Nik wrote: "My impression is that agents first and foremost focus on marketability, how easy, if at all, they can sell the book to a publishing house and to convince the latter that it can sell a certain amoun..."Absolutely. It wouldn't make sense any other way. After all, agents need to make a living, too :)
