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Who they are and what they do...
A literary agent is someone who will
take on writers' manuscripts and present them to publishing houses. Agents are
usually people who used to work as editors for publishers, or in junior roles
for other literary agencies.
Agencies receive submissions from
writers all the time, and pick out the ones they feel to be most promising. They
then present the manuscripts to publishers on your behalf. If they get
accepted, they get a commission – usually about 15 per cent. "What for?"
you ask, "I can submit my manuscript to publishers myself..." Yeah,
but you probably don't work in the industry; you probably don't know what
everyone's looking for, what their kids' names are, and you probably didn't have
lunch with them last week, either. We writers can be a reclusive lot, I know,
and an agent goes out there and does all that nasty networking business for you.
They usually live in New York or London as well, which helps.
So can you get published without
having an agent? Sure. But having an agent makes it a whole lot easier. Of all
the writers out there, only the best will get accepted by an agent, so having
one is like having a huge vote of confidence in your work. It's somebody who
works in the business and knows the business saying "I'm so sure that this
is going to get published that I'm willing to put my time and effort into it for
nothing." Remember – agents don't get paid unless you get published. A
lot of the big publishing houses now will also only accept agented submissions,
so if you want to aim high then having an agent is pretty essential. At the end
of the day it comes down to maths: most writers out there will never get a
literary agent, so if you do, you've proved you're in the elite. Likewise, not
everybody who gets an agent gets published, so getting an agent is easier than
getting published – and it damned sure
sets you on the right track. Having an agent is like being in the semi-finals.
For tips on how to get an agent, click
here
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