A literary agent’s relationship with an author is one of representation, in which the agent helps the writer find publishers, select and organize marketing or promotional activities, and negotiate contract terms on his or her behalf. A literary agent usually has connections and established relationships with publishing industry professionals. An agent uses those connections to find a buyer for an author’s unpublished manuscript, presumably acquisition editors. When a manuscript is accepted by a publisher, the agent begins negotiating contract terms. The agent receives a percentage of the author’s royalties in exchange for assisting the author.
Unlike other types of representation, writers do not hire agents and instead try to entice a literary agent or agency to represent them. Before deciding whether or not to represent unpublished or previously published authors, agents read full or partial manuscripts submitted by them. The agent will offer a contract to represent the writer if a manuscript or style of authorship appeals to him or her and has a good chance of being accepted by a publisher. After signing a contract with an agent, the author’s manuscript is sent to a number of publishers in the hopes of selling it. The terms under which the agent agrees to shop the manuscript around to publishers, as well as the compensation due to the agent once the manuscript sells, are outlined in the author-agent agreement.
Literary agencies, which are typically made up of several agents, represent writers from a wide range of genres. Solo agents, on the other hand, usually represent writers with manuscripts in specific genres in which the agent has the most industry contacts. After a writer completes a work or works of literature, whether fiction novels, short stories, poems, or nonfiction books, finding representation and establishing a relationship between agent and author is usually the first recommended step.
Aside from shopping a manuscript for sale, literary agents can also help writers with marketing and promotion efforts to increase the chances of a manuscript being picked up by a publisher. Specific activities aimed at building the writer’s platform are developed between the author and the agent while the manuscript is being shopped. Writer platforms are the foundation for demonstrating to publishers and readers that an author has the necessary knowledge to write on a given topic.
For example, a lawyer who writes legal dramas draws on his legal experience as part of his writer platform. Popular bloggers use their knowledge of how to build, write, and promote a website to write how-to books on the subject. It is in both the author’s and agent’s best interests to focus on such talents, resume inclusions, and previous experience, not only to entice publishers, but also to assist with book marketing after publication. The author and agent must devise a plan of action when a writer’s platform requires additional credits or when the writer hopes to build a following before publication. This is where the author-agent relationship transforms into a student-teacher relationship, with the agent providing significantly more experience and expertise to guide an author’s pre- and post-publication marketing activities.