This merits breaking out from my usual addition to the ‘Filigree’s Rule’ page.
Not all literary agents are equal!
It’s a truth in current publishing markets, that an author in possession of a decent manuscript should at least try to find an a literary agent BEFORE approaching publishers. I still stand by that, even though I wrote myself out of the agent-hunt for at least the near future.(1)
Agents can open up and manage opportunities that most solitary authors don’t have the time, training, resources, or contacts to do. That 15% the agents earn can mean thousands more dollars going to the writer, in the long run.
A bad agent is worse than having no agent at all. 15% commissions can be easy money if a bad agent piles up enough of them.
In the last couple of years, I’ve watched the online fallout from several *spectacular* #AgentFails.
For legal reasons, I’m not going to name the guilty parties here.
One theme that crops up many times with these bad-agent horror stories is their sheer laziness.
They don’t research to see which publishers & editors might be a good fit for a manuscript.
They take on far too many authors to give decent service to most of them, hope a few make serious money and justify support, and string along the rest.
They make a lot of outside income by offering workshops and online classes, some of which may or may not actually help writers hone their craft and successfully query an agent or publisher.
They tell their writers they’re submitting work when they haven’t, and can’t offer a submissions list when called out.
They submit to sub-par publishers in hopes of that 15%, or even worse: they get kickbacks from the publisher.
They’re in cahoots with ‘editorial services’ that promise a publisher-worthy manuscript (at a high price to the author, some of which gets kicked back to the referring agent.)
They are extremely litigious and combative online, to the point that authors already in their ‘stable’ are afraid to rock the boat. Worse, those authors often recommend their agent to other authors, in hopes of Ponzi-scheming their way to better earnings.
If the agents advance in their field, they teach this bad behavior to newer agents. If they cut and run away from the industry, they leave behind stranded authors.
The most recent Fail comes from an agent who should really know better, who reps some people I know, and who has been *cashiered out of at least two agencies* because the founding partners wanted to make that agent go away in a quiet, tactful manner. (Yes, I have this from agency insiders.)
Research wouldn’t help in this case, and I find that frustrating. The agent in question is still a public figure in industry podcasts, still respected in public by many clients and peers. The publisher is equally reputable.
However, the agent has made a habit of several of the problems mentioned above, with a disturbing twist.
I know of several cases where unagented fanfiction authors (2) were approached by A Publisher asking about original manuscripts. The authors expressed interest in the publisher’s offer, but asked for time to get an agent’s representation.
These authors approached this agent, who basically said, ‘Sure I’ll represent you! Sign over your 15%!’
Then the publisher said, “We took your expression of interest as a legal Yes, so now you’re signed with us!’
The agent said, ‘Because this publisher said this, it counts as prior arrangements. I cannot now negotiate any part of your contract. But I still get 15% of your eventual sales!’
This is seriously dirty pool. I can only hope the agent is actually doing right by some of their higher-earning authors, because if not, we’re going to see some court cases in the near future. I pity any agency where this agent lands, because they are exposing the entire agency to legal wrangling.
The downlow: If you are a fanfiction writer, you are assumed to be a valuable but probably industry-naive resource.
Be careful what you tell publishers if they come to you.
Be even more careful about who you get to represent you.
Postscripts:
(1) Yes, I am the idiot who spent 35+ years writing in a single science-fantasy universe. When it came time to commercially publish some of that, I did it before the current drive for diversity, SSF/Romance crossovers, and LGBTQIA inclusion. So most positively-rejecting agents in 2011 said of MORO’S PRICE: ‘It’s good, but I can’t sell it to the Big Five, so it’s not worth my time.’ So MORO got published by a small press, then by another small press, and then THE PURIST went the same way. Since both books (and my other complete mms) are in the Lonhra Sequence series, the whole series is no longer agent-worthy or a good business bet for a larger publisher. Small press and self publishing are the best way forward right now, for me. I’ll need to write an unrelated standalone to get back on the query train.
(2) Fanfiction writers enjoy high visibility in the genre publishing world right now. Archive of Our Own’s Hugo Award win (itself a source of much controversy, backpeddling, and industry confusion) means that *great* fanfiction writers are getting much more scrutiny from publishing industry scouts. Many fanfiction writers are already seasoned professionals with multiple commercial writing credits; fanfic is just where they go to play. But there’s a sizable proportion of fanfiction authors who are talented amateurs with no publishing experience. They’re the ones most at risk from predatory literary agents and publishers, and the ones least able to protect themselves.