Rudyard Kipling needed a literary agent
by Mark Williams
As last September ended, a report from the Association of American Literary Agents painted a bleak picture of the American literary agent — working long hours and struggling to pay the bills, worrying for their future.
Among the members of the author community who had ever received a rejection slip from an agent, reactions ran the gamut of emoticon abbreviations, from LOL to RAOTFL to LMAO.*
These people get paid to read books! What are they whining about?
And who needs an agent anyway? One rejected the sample chapters of my interplanetary erotica fantasy, Fifty Shades of Venus, without even reading it, despite me sending a great query letter. I even used the spell-checker! But they emailed back the same day to tell me they only repped children’s books. These people just cannot move with the times!
So the next time, I sent the full 400,000 word manuscript, even though they only asked for the first two chapters. I figured it would save them time later, and helpfully told them that the action doesn’t really start until chapter 38, so they might want to start there. Rejected again. What do agents know anyway?
More than Rejection Slips
Yeah, we’ve all been there. Most authors only see agents from the rejection slip end. It’s no wonder we don’t like them. And believe me, I accumulated a suitcase full of rejection slips back when I was querying.
Along the road, my books attracted the attention of two agents. One New York agent, having found my self-published book in the best-seller charts in three countries, made vague promises of movie deals and the like. And then they lost interest.
The other agent, a fellow Brit, was really excited, and had the manuscript being read by top commissioning editors at big publishing houses. A gazillion-digit publishing deal seemed to be just an email away. And then nothing.
That was disappointing, of course. But it didn’t turn me off agents. Because years previously I had worked in a London literary agency for a week as part of a journalism deal. My editor was sending me on week-long “job challenges”, most of which were not fun in any way. An abattoir… An undertakers… A fish factory… A sausage factory…
And just when I was ready to quit the magazine and strangle the editor, a literary agency. In London!
I was ecstatic! Every journalist wants to be a book writer, of course. This was my chance to spend a week drinking coffee, reading future bestsellers, mixing with big-name author over expensive lunches, and casually bringing into the conversation the two books I’d got sitting in a drawer at home that less reputable agents had foolishly turned down.
Maybe I could be a literary agent myself? No qualifications needed. Just stick an advert in the paper (yes, this was back in 1999), wait for the unpublished books to arrive in the post, call a publisher with the good news, and collect the commission. Money for old rope! My dream job had arrived!
What A Literary Agent Really Does
By the end of my first day all my illusions had been shot to pieces. Not a single famous author passed through the doors with a lunch invite at the Savoy. Lunch was a sandwich and a coffee from the greasy spoon café next door. In fact, famous authors never seemed to get mentioned at all.
Watching the daily delivery of unsolicited manuscripts was a revelation. At least 200 over the course of the week (this before email submissions and before self-publishing), and each one was dutifully opened and scanned for potential.
Sometimes the query letter was enough to warrant a rejection slip. As a writer myself, I was initially appalled. A rejection without even looking at the manuscript? A manuscript some poor soul had spent months, maybe years, slaving over, rewriting, revising, honing to perfection? Then I read the query letters and realised the standard of English on just one page was often more than enough to say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
This in the early days of home PCs and MS Word, when many wannabe authors were still typing manuscripts through worn-out ribbons and with gallons of correction fluid.
Then came the first chapter reads. So many authors would send the full MS despite clear instructions to only send the initial chapters, but every package was unwrapped and glanced over. One of the agents has a memo framed above her desk: “Think JK, Every Day.” This was the year Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published, and the legend of the agents and publishers who had sneered and told JK Rowling not to give up the day job was discussed in hushed tones in every corner of every agency and publishing house around the world.
Why a Manuscript Isn’t Chosen
But despite every package being opened, and every query letter scrutinised, many author careers stalled at this point. Some manuscripts showed no promise, some were simply derivative, some just came in at the wrong time. Agents had to judge what would be hot in the market years down the road. The speed the publishing industry operates at makes the South American three-toed sloth look like an Olympic sprinter.
And then there was the actual reading of the manuscripts – not finely polished books with pretty covers, fine type-setting and all the typos edited out by Spell-Check, but raw paper and faded double-spaced ink drowning in correction fluid on dog-eared pages that had spent days in the postal system in a flimsy envelope.
Then would come the redrafting and the re-redrafting and the re-re-re-drafting for those that cleared the first hurdle, the agent. All while trying not to upset the prospective future bestselling author that still had a lot to learn. This was happening over weeks or months — having to read and re-read the same manuscript.
And the agent all the time was losing the will to live as the wannabe author insisted their work was already perfect and the agents didn’t deserve the commission that at this point was far from guaranteed. And all the time trying to explain to said author that being repped was no guarantee of a publisher agreeing to actually publish. Let alone handing out the mega-advances newbie authors fantasise about.
This was happening in between the existing client representation, fighting for better deals, trying to find foreign rights (and nowadays audio and translation rights – not so common back in the nineties). Plus the agony of having to tell a one-time bestselling author that the market had moved on. Their latest book would not earn out the advance, and that their next book would not find a publisher.
The Upsides
Of course, there were upsides too, for the top tier agents wining and dining mega-selling authors, right down to the newbie agents getting their first client their first publishing deal. Being a literary agent is a labour of love, of passion, and I have nothing but respect for them, even if none managed to secure my books a publishing deal.
Oh, and those two books of mine they rejected, that went on to sell almost two million copies? That’s the reality of the business. In 2007 the US publishing landscape changed. The UK caught up a few years later. In 2010 self-publishing wasn’t an option in the UK. I was still querying. In 2011 my book the agents had earlier rejected was topping the charts in three countries.
A bygone era for me. I loved book-writing, but I loved teaching kids, and I loved writing about the publishing industry. I could only juggle two. The school and The New Publishing Standard won.
But if I ever finish that next book, even though my self-published books sold best part of two million in their day, I’ll likely turn to an agent.
They have so much to offer. Especially in the era of digital audio, global translations, global book and video streaming platforms, online reading platforms, etc.
They can even help you get a book deal with a publisher!
A Final Note
Oh, and one final note. Those two agents who repped my books, even the one that worked her a** off over several months and got the manuscript read by all those big publishers – they didn’t get paid a single penny for their efforts. No deal, no meal.
And that’s the reality of being a literary agent. Just like being a writer, it’s a lot of work on spec and no guarantee of getting paid.
Want to become a literary agent and get rich? Don’t give up the day-job!
by Mark Williams, (@MarkWilliamsInt) December 10, 2023
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What about you, scriveners? Do you have a literary agent? Did you have one who failed to sell your book? Did you know agents aren’t paid to read your submissions? Note: Because Mark is in Africa, his responses to your comments may be delayed.
For more on whether you need a literary agent, see Robert Lee Brewer’s post Do Writers Need Literary Agents?
*For readers who learned to write before mobile texting, LOL = Laugh Out Loud, RAOTFL = Rolls About on the Floor Laughing, and LMAO = Laugh My A** Off
About Mark Williams
About Mark WilliamsMark Williams is a British best-selling author, journalist, educator, and philanthropist. He’s Editor-in-Chief of global publishing industry journal The New Publishing Standard (TNPS), published by StreetLib.
He lives under picture-postcard blue skies in The Gambia, West Africa, where he also teaches at the village school he supports.
As a leading authority on the global publishing markets, he offers donation-optional consultation and reportage on the industry worldwide via TNPS and privately on request. He’s a consultant to StreetLib, the global cloud publishing platform.
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I so appreciate this post. Thank you for this insight!
Thanks Bobbie! Appreciated back!
Mark—Thanks for an illuminating & excellent post! A quality agent will know so much the author doesn’t. S/he will know which editor at which house is buying which genre, and which publisher will be the best fit for which author. A good agent will negotiate the best deal and obtain the best terms for his/her author. He/she will work with sub-agents to secure additional subsidiary rights, including international, first serial, film, and tv, and run interference after the deal is made. Lots of times the author’s relationship with the agent is more important than with the editor. After all, editors come and go. Your agent is forever. (Just read the contract.)
Ruth, my reply to this got shunted into a reply-stream somewhere below. Scroll down and you’ll find it.
Ahoy Mark & Anne,
I’m with you. Most agents are working their arses off & not getting much appreciation for all their work. Thanks for putting this message out in the world & reminding us authors of some important truths about this industry.
Working their arses off, CS? That’s very British!
Back when I first started reading adult American fiction, it took me a while to realise that when someone was sitting on their ass they were not in fact riding a donkey-like animal.
Back then (nineteen bow and arrow) the US-UK cultural divide was much wider, with far fewer US films, TV and books available. We used to watch imported American TV sit-coms not so much for the humour, which we mostly did not get at all, but for the American phrases and pronunciation – always guaranteed to have us rolling on the floor.
I once tried to rewrite one of my novels into American English (spellings *and* words), on the assumption that if British kids were marked down at school for using American spellings and phrases, American kids might face the same problem across the pond if they start copying my British spellings and speech.
It was then that I realised just how complicated the language divide was, and gave up. King George III has a lot to answer for.
Thank you for this post, Mark. I have done the querying thing for most of my books and only got a few agents interested in reading more. After about 10 years, I decided to make the leap to self-publishing. That hasn’t gotten me anywhere but I’m still writing and my virtual assistant handles all the promo but still nothing. So, I keep taking classes and my books have gotten so much better. I just finished my 10th book and am going to look for an agent again. Here goes nothing ! But you never know.
If authors were paid for perseverance, Patricia, you’d be rich by now!
Sounds like it can be just as thankless a job as writing itself. (And don’t all jobs have their extreme low points?) Thanks for the inside scoop on what really happens.
Thank you, Mark for the insight into the agent’s day to day. Seems an agent wears many hats. Not only do they have to evaluate the product, but also keep up with marketing trends, and then they have to be salesmen as well. With no guarantee of an income. Not a job I envy.
I would like to address the elephant in the room. How has AI generated manuscripts affected the work load? Since you state that every submission has to be scrutinized, I was wondering if agents have seen an uptick? It seems this would add to the burden especially if the query letter passes muster. Have you had to rethink or relearn your approach?
As an author I find this rather disheartening, and I’m sure agents must also feel some of the heartburn. Again, not a job I envy.
That being said, I’ve had 5 books published through an Indie press. But maybe I’ll venture into the search for an agent for book number 6. Fingers, toes, and eyes crossed.
Brenda, my reply to this got shunted into a reply-stream somewhere below. Scroll down and you’ll find it.
Good stuff, Mr. Williams. Like you I had the benefit of two agents attempt to find a home for my story. One was an accomplished, if limited, (in experience/reach) the other is a genre-leading agent well know for their support of authors whether they represent them or not. Both worked for me and with me. Neither were able to seal the deal. The first ghosted me. Again, I chalk this up to a lack of experience. The second, one told me point blank that they couldn’t find any takers.
I belive that if you are writing something that is industry-friendly, an agent is indispensible. If not, you really are putting the proverbial cart in front of a pterodactyl. Thanks again for sharing your journey. It is tremendously informative.
Thanks, Elias. It can be hugely disappointing when an agent can’t place a book, but the fact they they tried, without a fee, shows the book had merit.
In this modern era we always have the self-publishing option to fall back on, if the agency route is our first choice, and sometimes we can generate enough “proven” interest in a particular book by self-publishing to then find an agent who can take us to another level.
Equally, the self-publishing option can be the right first choice for many authors, and I know of many successful self-publishers who are happy to not have an agent and save that agency percentage.
But even if we are successful as self-publishers, it’s very likely an agent can be a good bet for translation and other rights.
Always best to keep all options open!
Brenda, you’re right, AI-abuse is a huge problem for the industry right now, be it on the self-publishing platforms or for agents and direct-submission publishers.
Agency in-boxes are being cluttered up by AI submissions, but probably not too many.
If media reports are to be believed, most of these AI titles are very short and easily detectable. Generally, agents do not handle short stories or books coming at 10-40 pages, and my guess is the AI-spammers mostly understand they have no hope of duping a professional reader like an agent, so wouldn’t bother.
But note I said, first line, “AI-abuse”. Generative-AI is a fantastic tool for authors and everyone in the publishing chain, just as is email and word-processing.
Both email and word-processing were new in their day and came up against resistance from the industry. So did ebooks. Nowadays we could not manage without them.
AI will in time become an indispensable part of our workload, so don’t be disheartened by the abusers and spammers trying to take advantage of the flaws in the platform systems. Blame Amazon!
And don’t be disheartened by unproven claims that AI is putting authors out of work.
The only issue about AI that bothers me is the matter of permission and compensation from AI companies using existing content to “train” their LLMs.
That’s a matter of legal loopholes and laws needing up-dating to keep up with new tech. As of today no court has ruled that the AI companies have done anything wrong.
As authors we need to move with the times, change with the times, and embrace new options as they arise. Just as we did when we stopped writing on parchment with quill pens, stopped using typewriters, and stopped sending manuscripts through the post.
Beware the future. It’s closer than we think. But its not all bad.
Thanks to your reply I’ve realized I may be depriving myself of a useful tool. And yes, it was mostly out of fear of writers being replaced and also much of the shenanigans of people hopping on the AI train to make a quick buck. It sort of took the wind out of my sails.
So, out of curiosity I asked CoPilot to write a blurb for my current WIP. And it wasn’t half bad. Sure it needs a lot of work, but the foundation is there to work from.
So, as a tool for writing that dreaded blurb, or even marketing, or possibly helping get past writer’s block, I think it has merit.
I would never cheat my readers or myself by using it to write an entire novel, but it will have it’s uses.
Thank you for opening my eyes.
Thanks, Ruth.
“Editors come and go” seems all the more true as we head into 2024, with so many senior staff at big publishing houses being gently shoved aside with early redundancy packages.
Thanks for mentioning all the subsidiary rights stuff I had to skimp on in the main post. The full list would be a blog post all on its own.
There’s so much a good agent can bring to the table, but all too many first-time authors approach an agent with their eyes set on that mythical six-figure advance they are almost certainly never going to see.
Realistic expectations and an understanding of what an agent can and cannot do will help soften the blow when the rejection slips inevitably come.
Thanks, Alex.
I certainly wouldn’t want to be an agent. As a writer I know how much work an author puts into even a first-draft totally unpublishable manuscript. I also remember how, in those early days, it was almost impossible to see any flaws in those unpublishable first drafts.
Most agents have interns who do the donkey work with the slush pile, but they all know that rejection slip is going to shatter someone’s dreams.
That would be a low-point too far for me. It was bad enough back when I was an editor having to explain to an author they needed to re-write, or very occasionally, maybe find another hobby.
I’ve certainly had far too many jobs with extreme low points over the years, but finally found my working paradise with school and TNPS.
Great column! I’ve had four agents during my comedy and novel writing career (19 novels), all good people (one died, alas, or I would still be with him. Another was for film rights only.) You might get a kick out of knowing that I’ve taught fiction writing for 30 years, and have MUCH sympathy for reading those first drafts by aspiring authors! Wanted to mention that this hit me hard: “Plus the agony of having to tell a one-time bestselling author that the market had moved on. Their latest book would not earn out the advance, and that their next book would not find a publisher.” Mark, we all live in fear of that day. I keep telling friends that you are only as good as your last book, and the pressure of that makes every book harder to write. Thanks for this!
Melodie, my reply to this got shunted into a reply-stream somewhere below. Scroll down and you’ll find it.
Brilliant piece, Mark, as always. I never miss your comments wherever they show up! And you are saying here a very necessarty thing: Agents indeed have a lot to bring to the table and deserve the percentage they get!
This said, nowadays, the real hurdle for authors is not the agent but his/her assistant: It’s that young, inexperienced idealist who reads the query letter and the sample chapters and I worry that the judgment criteria may not be up to snuff. Or maybe they are, who knows.
What’s your opinion? This practice of using an assistant to go through the slush pile has become practically universal. But I do think it means that a lot of unusual writers now risk falling through the cracks… Can a young, still unformed mind really identify the unique pearl in the slush pile?
Claude, my reply to this got shunted into a reply-stream somewhere below. Scroll down and you’ll find it.
Ruth, my reply to this got shunted into a reply-stream somewhere below. Scroll down and you’ll find it.
Alex, my reply to this got shunted into a reply-stream somewhere below. Scroll down and you’ll find it.
Thanks, Melodie.
I’m sort of in the past-his-sell-by-date author category myself. Two big hits, now more than ten years ago. I’d be starting from scratch if I went back down that road.
And I guess that’s where self-publishing really comes in for those willing to put in the effort.
An author that may no longer have enough appeal to get a traditional contract can still push content out on the self-pub platforms and find new, and re-find past audiences.
The biggest downside to the agent/publisher route, to my mind, is that the consequent sales have to at least repay the advance and leave the publisher a profit, or no second chance.
Good point, Claude.
I think it’s inevitable some good content will be lost to the less-experienced eye of an assistant, but then JK Rowling got stiffed by very experienced eyes.
Given the sheer volume of submissions, even with self-publishing as an option, I could not imagine many agents being able to personally sift through the slush pile themselves.
So it would depend on how well-trained and guided the assistant is. Poor English, info dump openers and all the other classic red flags would allow the assistants to at least narrow down the slush pile to what may be worth a more seasoned eye looking over.
And at that point the “Every day, remember JK” philosophy would kick in. So maybe not too much good stuff is lost.
Alex, I replied already but the reply somehow migrated to the lower end of the thread. Do scroll down.