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Subscribe to NewsletterWhat does a literary agent do?
In this section, you can find advice and tips on the point at which you should start looking for an agent - and how a good literary agent can be indispensable to you on your journey to publication.
Agents – what’s the point?
To an aspiring writer,
literary agents can seem like a parasitic race – they take their percentage,
but what do they give back? And is it worth having one?
The short answers are ‘lots’ and ‘yes’. Read on!
An agent sends your manuscript out to see who would like to bid on it for …
How do auctions work?
Manuscripts
are sometimes put up for auction.
So what does that mean?
Well, the traditional auction is one held by an agent who is asking publishing houses to compete for the right to publish the manuscript.
Sometimes it's about the money; and when a book goes to auction like …
I think I need an agent
Mark Le Fanu, General Secretary of the Society of Authors, explains when it is
necessary for an author to have an agent.
Most of the queries that pour into our office concern publishers and their ways.
We advise on the terms they offer and on a myriad of issues to do with the exciting …
Reading fees – a money spinner?
Like
everyone in business, literary agents need to make money. They make theirs by
taking a commission from the sale of their clients’ books to publishers – and
this is why agents only take on clients they believe have written a saleable
book.
So, are reading fees a money-making scheme? …
Why agents want exclusivity
It
can seem unfair that a literary agent asks for exclusive submission, which to
the aspiring author can seem like sheer pigheadedness. However, the following
recent experience may give you some idea as to why they ask for it.
An agent I was working for had sent me unsolicited manuscripts to …