LITERARY AGENTS

NOTE

Any charge made to an author that is payable prior to the sale of a manuscript to a publisher, however characterized by the agent, is defined by SFWA as a "fee" and represents inappropriate conduct not in the author's best interest. This clarification is in response to several attempts by questionable agents to evade criticism through semantic changes that do not actually represent any improvement in practices--only in the labels on the bills sent to authors.

Writer Beware

There are many views on the question of whether or not a writer needs an agent to make his/her first sale. Some people think a new writer's energy is best spent on submitting directly to publishers. Others feel that, with more and more publishers closing their doors to un-agented submissions, a new writer stands a better chance of getting published if s/he seeks an agent first.

But there's no disagreement on the fact that after that first sale is made, an agent is a tremendous boon to a writer's career. A good agent possesses contacts and inside knowledge the writer probably doesn't have access to: s/he knows which editors are most likely to be interested in a new manuscript, is able to negotiate advances and complicated publishing contracts to the writer's advantage, and knows how to exploit subsidiary rights. Just as important, an agent serves as the writer's advocate in the increasingly complicated and competitive world of publishing.

Unfortunately, though there are many reputable literary agents who provide excellent and ethical representation to their clients, there are also many disreputable ones, who prey on writers by charging fees, promoting their own expensive editing services, and engaging in kickback referral schemes with freelance book doctors and subsidy publishers. These agents don't make a living from selling manuscripts (most, in fact, have no track record at all), but from charging their clients. Because so many beginning writers don't have the experience to recognize nonstandard practices when they run into them, dishonest agents are not only doing a booming business, but becoming more and more common.

Questionable agenting practices come in many forms. I've heard from writers who:

Paid an initial reading fee, only to discover that an additional retainer or marketing fee was required for representation.

Received an offer of representation from an agency that described itself as non-fee-charging, yet required up-front payment of an expense fee (fees of this kind can be as high as $1,500 for a 6-month contract).

Where charged a monthly sum for expenses (such charges can be $200 or more. I know of a writer who was charged not just per month, but per manuscript, to the tune of several thousand dollars).

Where presented with a sliding scale of fees--i.e., the more they paid, the more the agent purported to do for them.

Paid a large contract fee to an agent and never heard from the agent again.

Paid a reading/evaluation fee because of an agency's impressive list of best-selling clients--the problem was, the agency maintained two separate divisions, one that represented clients and one that generated fees, and authors never moved from the latter to the former.

Entered a writing contest that turned out to be a scheme for referring writers to a fee-charging agency.

Where offered a choice of providing a large number of copies of their manuscript at their own expense, or paying a substantial marketing fee (the idea here is to make the marketing fee tempting by contrast, because the copies would be so much more expensive).

Paid fees to an agent who claimed to send out the manuscript, but never actually did.

Paid fees to an agent who did send out the manuscript, but to totally inappropriate publishers (one writer's historical romance novel was submitted to a religious publisher, a children's publisher, several nonfiction/reference publishers, a catalogue publisher, and a horror publisher--but not a single romance publisher).

Where referred to a freelance book doctor with a promise of reconsideration once editing was done, and then were told the agency was too busy to take on new projects (for more on how freelance book doctor referral schemes work, see the Case Studies page).

Where pressured to use editing services that the agents themselves provided (the cost of such services can mount into the thousands of dollars).

Where offered pay-to-publish contracts without being informed of the expenses or risks involved (for more on these kinds of publishers, see the Subsidy and Vanity Publishers page).

Where offered a contract with a subsidy publisher the agency itself owned, without being informed of the relationship.

Actively dishonest agents aren't the only ones to watch out for. There are no licensing requirements or competency standards for literary agents--anyone can set themselves in business, whether they're qualified or not. The result is a large number of incompetent agents. These folks are drawn to agenting for a variety of odd reasons that often don't have much to do with the profession (including the misapprehension that publishing is lucrative and agenting is easy); typically, they have little literary experience, and lack essential skills such as in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry and the ability to recognize a salable manuscript. Agents like this are often genuinely well-intentioned, but their low level of expertise means it's unlikely they'll ever manage to make more than a few sales (if any at all).

Given publishers' increasing refusal to deal with unagented manuscripts, many writers feel it's OK to settle for a marginal agent, on the theory that "any agent is better than no agent". But this can be a big mistake. Editors and their assistants soon learn to recognize the agents who consistently send inappropriate or substandard material. At best, these agents' submissions may be treated a little better than slush; at worst, they will be ignored.

The following tips should help you recognize and avoid questionable and marginal agenting practices.

An agent should not charge an upfront fee. An agent's income should derive from commissions on sales, and from no other source. Fee-charging violates the basic premise of the author-agent relationship: a shared financial interest in the sale of the author's manuscript. If an agent makes money right off the bat, his/her interest has been served, but the writer's hasn't. Since a profit has already been made, the incentive to submit to a legitimate publisher is substantially diminished.

SFWA defines an upfront fee as any amount paid out-of-pocket by a writer prior to the sale of his or her work. This includes not just the familiar reading and evaluation fees, but the increasingly common marketing or submission fee--which supposedly represents an advance on expenses the agent will incur in circulating your work, but in fact is often just a reading fee by a different name.

For more on the kinds of fees you may encounter, and the rationales that go with them, see the boxed essay below: A Fee is a Fee is a Fee...

An agent should not charge a commission of more than 15% on domestic sales and 20-25% on foreign sales, or propose a remuneration agreement other than a straight commission on earnings.

An agent should maintain membership in the Association of Authors' Representatives (USA) or the Association of Authors' Agents (UK). These organizations require members to adhere to codes of ethics which specifically exclude reading fees, referral fees, and other abuses. Additionally, AAR membership requirements ensure that members have been in business for at least two years, and have made a minimum number of legitimate sales. Non-membership in these organizations is by no means proof that an agent is questionable--there are reputable agents who choose not to join, or haven't been in operation long enough to qualify. But you're certainly safest if you give AAR or AAA member agents priority on your query list.

An agent should not refer you to an outside service for which you have to pay. A kickback arrangement is often involved in such referrals (in other words, they're not being made for your benefit, but for the agent's). For instance, if an agent tells you that your manuscript needs work and then recommends a specific book doctor, chances are that the book doctor has promised to give the agent a percentage of whatever you wind up paying. The same goes for subsidy or joint-venture publishing companies, which often provide finder's fees to agents who persuade their clients to accept expensive pay-to-publish contracts.

An agent should not own or have a financial interest, in either an editing service or a subsidy publishing company. These are conflicts of interest. If an agent gains financially from editing your manuscript, how can you be sure that the recommendation to edit is really to your benefit? If an agent can make money by publishing your book himself, where's the incentive to send your manuscript to advance-paying publishers? Some agencies are no more than fronts for editing or subsidy publishing businesses.

An agent should be willing to disclose his/her track record. This is essential knowledge, since it's the best way of judging an agent's effectiveness and expertise. Reputable agents are proud of their track records, and should have no problem providing this information. If an agent tells you that client or sales information is confidential, be wary: s/he may be trying to hide the fact that the agency has a poor sales history, or deals with disreputable publishers.

If the agent does provide a list of sales, be sure to check that they're legitimate. Many questionable agents lie about their track records, claiming sales they haven't made or citing nonexistent authors and titles. Alternatively, the titles may be genuine, but the books may have been placed with nontraditional publishers--publishers that don't pay advances, or have no means of marketing their books, or charge money to authors, or accept anyone who submits. The growth of the Internet has fuelled a vast proliferation of such publishers--a windfall for marginal and dishonest agents, who now can easily place their clients (something these agents aren't normally good at) and thus acquire a legitimate-sounding "track record". I know of one agent who cites over 50 books placed; the claim is 100% true, but all the placements are with questionable publishers.

An agent should sell books regularly. An agent who has been in business for five years and has only made three sales, or who made four sales two years ago and none since then, is not running a successful operation. If s/he's not having any luck placing other clients' books, how likely is it that s/he will place yours? A successful agent sells books on an ongoing basis, and sells multiple books annually. A good minimum guideline is the AAR's requirement for new members--at least 10 sales within the past 18 months.

If an agent is new, s/he should have a prior background in agenting or publishing. A new agent can be a good bet for a new writer. However, agenting is very much a who-you-know business. In order to target manuscripts appropriately and get attention from editors, an agent needs personal contacts and an inside knowledge of the publishing industry. Someone coming to agenting from a non-publishing-related field is unlikely to have either, and may take a very long time to get up to speed--if indeed s/he ever does.

Be sure, also, that an agent who claims to be new really is new. Some marginal agencies excuse their lack of success by saying they're new, when in fact they've been in business for several years. A new agency should begin making sales within six months to a year of starting up.

An agent should not solicit you. A good agent isn't looking for business, s/he is turning it away. If you subscribe to writers' magazines or register your copyright, you may be a target: fee-charging agents often purchase lists of names and addresses from these sources.

An agent's correspondence and/or web-site should be free of grammatical errors and typos. This may sound obvious, but a literary professional should be able to write and spell correctly. It's amazing how many questionable and marginal agents produce documents and maintain web-sites riddled with such mistakes.

Be wary of the agent who claims to specialize in new writers. Such agents are often fee-chargers looking to collect from inexperienced beginners. Successful agents' lists usually contain only a small percentage of new writers.

Be wary of the agent who provides extravagant praise or inflated promises, and of his/her opposite, the agent who paints a dismal picture of your chances of success. Reputable agents know better than to promise things that can't be guaranteed, such as lucrative book contracts, movie deals, best-sellerdom, and the like. On the other hand, a reputable agent isn't going to take you on unless s/he feels there's a good chance of placing your manuscript. Excessive negativism is often a marginal or incompetent agent's way of rationalizing a poor track record.

And be careful of these:

The submission agent or manuscript broker. A submission agent or manuscript broker promises, for an up-front fee and/or a percentage of the proceeds if you make a sale, to submit a manuscript to publishers--supposedly on the basis of an inside knowledge of what the publishers are looking for. Often part of the service offered is the "packaging" of your submission, with a picture of you, a bio, a sample marketing plan, and so on. However, publishers don't want or need these kinds of extras, and manuscripts received from submission agents and manuscript brokers are generally treated like slush. Also, submission agents aren't necessarily full-service agents--they may not negotiate contracts or deal with sub-rights.

The manuscript display site. These web-sites promise to bring you to the attention of literary agents and/or publishers by displaying a synopsis and a chapter or two of your book, sometimes with a biography, photo, or other information. Often a fee is required (though a surprising number of display sites are free), and usually your submission will be displayed only for a limited time. The theory is that editors and literary agents are eager to visit a web-site where pre-screened work is available for their perusal. However, most reputable editors and agents are overwhelmed with submissions, and have no reason to go online to look for more. There are display site proprietors who are sincere, and possess the industry connections or marketing savvy to draw at least some agents and publishers to their sites. But most don't. Worse, a display site may provide a ready-made recruiting ground for questionable or marginal agents and publishers.

Print market guides. Print publications such as Literary Marketplace and Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents, by Jeff Herman, are excellent sources of information. But an agent's inclusion in a market guide isn't a guarantee of legitimacy. Many guides are compiled by questionnaire, and the information on the questionnaires is only cursorily checked, if at all. As a result, many questionable agents are listed in these publications.

Agent listings on the Internet. Many of these are compiled by individuals with little knowledge of publishing, or are databases where anyone can enter information. They are likely to include large numbers of questionable agents. Print guides--despite the caution above--are a much better place to do research.

A Fee is a Fee is a Fee....

If you've queried agents based on information in various popular market guides, you may have had the experience of hearing from an agency that lists itself as non-fee-charging, but somehow wants you to give it money anyway. ‘What's the deal?' You ask yourself. Could there possibly be situations in which money paid upfront isn't actually a fee? Nope. To repeat what was said above: SFWA defines any amount paid out-of-pocket by a writer before the sale of his or her work as a fee. Charging money upfront--for anything, under any name--is not standard industry practice. In other words, successful agents don't do it.

So what's going on? How can agents who want upfront money define themselves as non-fee-chargers? And what's the big deal about fees anyway?

Read on.

Once upon a time, quite a few agents charged reading fees. The rationale behind this was that it takes time to read and evaluate a manuscript, and why should an agent work for free? This point of view is understandable, but it's not hard to see how it can lead to abuse--i.e., agents who invite submissions in which they have no interest, solely in order to obtain the reading fee. Eventually, this sort of abuse became so widespread that the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR) adopted a policy prohibiting its members from charging reading fees.

Some agents, who wanted to profit from reading fees but also wanted to dodge the practice's increasingly bad reputation, attempted to sanitize their charges and also to add the appearance of value by re-naming their reading fees evaluation fees. The idea was that the writer wouldn't just get a plain old reading, but a critique as well--an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of his/her work written by an industry professional. Wow! Who wouldn't want that, even if it cost a bit of cash?

The problem was that most of these evaluations (being little more than an attempt to sweeten the reading fee) weren't especially useful. Typically, they consisted of some vague comments about plot and style, a few remarks about grammar and punctuation, and a hefty load of the sort of basic advice found in how-to-write books. I know of one agent whose critiques are so generic they could apply to any manuscript--which is no accident, since he sends the same evaluation to everyone who pays his fee. (Note: evaluation fees are also prohibited by the AAR.)

Still other agents, searching for a stigma-free way to obtain money upfront, came up with the notion of marketing fees. Marketing fees go by many other names--contract, submission, processing, circulation, preparation, expense, retainer--but basically the idea is the same: the writer is being asked in advance to defray some of the expenses of marketing his/her work.

Most reputable agents do pass some expenses on to their clients, and the AAR does allow it. However, there's a big difference between this standard practice, and what questionable agents do. Reputable agents pass on only unusual expenses--expenses over and above the normal cost of doing business, such as courier fees, overseas phone calls, or extra photocopies for an auction. Charges are allowed to accrue to an author account, and reimbursed from the author's income; the client is not asked to pay out-of-pocket. Questionable agents, on the other hand, often ask clients to pay for every stamp, envelope, and paperclip (I know of one whose marketing fees help defray sewer and water charges). And they invariably require payment out-of-pocket--usually on contract signing, or more rarely through monthly or quarterly billings.

Like agents who charge reading or evaluation fees, some agents who charge marketing fees are just hunting for a profit. These agents will take your money and leave your manuscript sitting on a dusty shelf. Others are simply unsuccessful--i.e., they're not selling enough books to be able to run their agencies without their clients' financial assistance. Either way, a marketing fee--like a reading or evaluation fee--is a warning sign, if not of outright dishonesty, then of a marginal business.

Marketing fees are very popular among questionable and marginal agents, partly because they present an appearance of legitimacy (since "everyone knows" agents pass expenses on to their clients) and partly because they allow fee-chargers to use semantic trickery to distract writers from the fact that they're being asked to pay upfront (hey, it's not a fee, it's an advance on expense reimbursement! That's why so many agents of this type show up in the non-fee section of market guides). Many agents who formerly charged reading or evaluation fees have switched to marketing fees, and most of the dozens of new fee-chargers who set themselves up in business every year charge marketing fees right from the get-go. As a result, reading and evaluation fees, once the commonest form of fee, have become relatively rare. These days, the marketing fee is the one you're most likely to encounter.

Once again: SFWA defines any amount paid out-of-pocket by a writer before the sale of his or her work as a fee.

In other words, a fee is a fee is a fee.

In the search for an agent, knowledge is both your most useful tool and your best defense. The more you educate yourself--not just about agenting, but about the business of publishing in general--the less likely it is that you will be taken advantage of. Below are some resources to assist you.

Tools to Help You Evaluate Agents

E-mail Writer Beware. SFWA has assembled an archive of documentation on more than 250 agents who charge fees, refer to freelance book doctors, or engage in other practices we warn about above. Send us the names of agents you'd like to know about, and we'll search our files for an answer for you. If we have no information on an agent, we'll let you know that too.

Agent Research & Evaluation is an agent-tracking service that offers free agent verification. They'll check their extensive database to see whether an agency has made any sales that are part of the public record, and tell you whether any complaints have been received.

Publishers Weekly, one of the most comprehensive sources of information on the international publishing market, includes a handy search box on its home-page, into which you can type an agent's name; if PW has reported on them, the reference will come up.

Deja.com is a searchable database of Usenet newsgroups. If you're uncertain about an agent, do a search on his/her name in Deja to see if other writers have posted information or complaints.

The Eclectics Message Board is a writers' forum where information about questionable agents is often posted. You have to register with Delphi, which hosts the board, but it's free.

The Rumor Mill, another writers' forum run by science fiction/fantasy/horror market magazine Speculations, is a good place to post questions about agents; it's frequented by several seasoned scam-hunters.

Pre-editors and Editors provides lists of agents and publishers, including some who charge fees or aren't recommended for other reasons.

The Short Order, the online newsletter of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, includes an informative Scam Alert column by Kate Grilley (note: this site hasn't been updated for some time, but its archives are useful. Many of the questionable agents it discusses are still doing booming business).

Resources for Agent Hunting

The Literary Marketplace, published by RR Bowker, is one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date USA guides available. It's a good place to begin an agent search. Most libraries have a copy, or (for a hefty fee) you can subscribe to the online version.

The Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR) web-site includes a list of member agents, the Canon of Ethics to which members subscribe, a series of suggested questions for an agent who's offered you representation, and links to writers' resources. Another good place to start your agent search.

The professional association for agents in the UK is the Association of Authors' Agents (AAA). There's not much information at this link, but you can write the Secretary for a list of members. Like AAR, AAA's Code of Practice prohibits reading fees.

In Australia, the Australian Society of Authors may be able to provide assistance with agent questions (they have an extensive list of publications, including recommended contract language).

In Canada, there's the Writers' Union of Canada and the Canadian Authors Association.

Publishers Weekly.com: the online version of the print magazine. An excellent source of information about the U.S. and international publishing market, including agents and what they're selling.

Publishing News Online--also an online version of the print magazine. Comprehensive information on the British publishing market.

Publisher's Lunch is a daily e-mail newsletter with all the latest news about publishing, including the latest book deals and who agented them. This is one of the best resources around--and it's free!

Guide to Literary Agents--another good information source on agents and the deals they're making, from writer Todd Pierce (like any market guide, this one should be used with care: the agents listed aren't always checked out as carefully as they could be).

Agent Research & Evaluation's News page reprints informative articles on agents and agenting from AR&E's monthly newsletter. The newsletter itself is a bit pricey, but provides a wealth of information.

The AAR hosts a list of suggested questions to ask an agent who has offered you representation.

Common Questions Writers Ask Me About Literary Agents: excellent advice on getting, keeping, and dealing with a literary agent, from respected agent Jeff Herman.

My own article, The Safest Way to Search for an Agent, recommends a procedure for weeding incompetent and dishonest agents out of your query list.

Articles from the SFWA archives: Hunting for a Literary Agent by Chuck Rothman, and Hunting for an Agent by John E. Stith (includes a sample query letter and synopsis).

About Agents: excellent advice from writer Dan Perez.

Questions About Literary Agents: a comprehensive discussion from writer Holly Lisle.

Getting the Right Agent: sensible and practical advice from writer Sarah Smith.

Agents: A Primer by Harold C. Underdown. Geared to children's book authors, but useful for everyone.

A comprehensive Agents FAQ from writer Tara K. Harper (there's lots of information at this site, including advice on query letters and contracts).

The Horror Writers of America Agent FAQ.

Are manuscript display sites worth it? The Great Online Talent Search, an article by Jennifer Greenstein of The Standard.com, offers a balanced perspective.

Author/Agent Contracts

SFWA's model author/agent contract.

The Agency Agreement: some issues to watch out for, from writer and lawyer Ivan Hoffman.

What is the real purpose of the author/agent contract, and do authors and agents really need them? Author/Agent Contracts--A Cautionary Tale, an article by Bill Martin of Agent Research & Evaluation, offers an interesting perspective.

Case Studies of Dishonest Agents

The Woodside Literary Agency

The Deering Literary Agency

The Renaissance Papers

The Bulletin Contracts Ergonomics Home

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