Loved this article! I've read 3 posts/newsletters? I'm not sure what to call them. I'm becoming more and more interested in what you have to say. As I was reading this one, I was thinking, "this information would be good in a spreadsheet", lol just the way my mind works. Thank you for sharing your insight, wisdom, and even your educated opinions!
As someone who recently got off her arse and finally decided to take her writing properly...I've devoured many of your posts over the last few days. Just wanted to say thank you for sharing all your wisdom so generously!
I love these posts but it’s all a bit over my head really. A few questions to yourself or an anyone who knows! I have no idea what aspiring to query means.
So I have a strong non-fiction book idea, a chapter written and a proposal introduction. I ran this past a couple of successful published authors in the genre, who I trust. I’ve got their successful pitching documents as a guide. So far so good. They are both ex journalists I am not.
So let’s get this right : I need to find and pay an agent first? Then they need to pitch my book to a publisher? Is this really how it works? Or is this only to the big name publishers?
Is this really clutching at straws ? Because I never hear a good word about the process!
You never have to pay an agent up front--instead, they take 15% of whatever sales they make. So if they sell your book successfully, they get 15% of your advance, 15% of your royalties, etc. (For foreign rights or film rights, it's often 20%). If the agent doesn't manage to sell your book, they get $0--you don't owe them anything.
This system is part of why agents are so picky about what they take on. Every agent has had the experience of pouring months of work into a project and then failing to sell it. That time isn't compensated.
Nonfiction books are often sold "on proposal." A nonfiction book proposal includes an introduction, a detailed outline, a sample chapter (or two or three, depending on length), an author bio, a list of comp titles (books similar to your book, but different in some key way that gives *your* book a reason to exist), and a marketing plan (however bare-bones or hypothetical).
There's a lot more to say about all those components, but luckily Alia Hanna Habib has already said it! She has a book called "Take It From Me" which breaks down how to write a nonfiction proposal.
You need an agent to be considered by major publishers (any imprints of the Big 5), and by some independent publishers. For small presses and university presses, you can often get by without an agent.
So if you want to be considered by major publishers, your next steps will be: 1) Create a book proposal. (It sounds like you already have most of the components!) 2) Query agents with the book proposal. 3) Hope that your idea connects, and an agent offers to represent you.
If that's the case, no money will change hands until the book has sold. It's kind of win-win, if you look at it from a certain angle: either you get an agent's help polishing the proposal and sending out the book for free, OR you manage to sell the book and then you have to give the agent a cut.
The reason you often hear bad things about the process is that FINDING an agent is so incredibly hard and competitive. Those who actually manage to get agents are less vocal than authors who are still querying. I know my post above acknowledges that agents can be flawed, but most of them are flawed the way that a handyman who repairs your gutter is flawed. Sure, maybe he was hard to get hold of, maybe he took longer than you wanted, but in the end, he did fix your gutter.
I hope that answers some of your questions? The more I write about the publishing world, the more I realize there is to say...
Thanks so much for taking the time to explain that. I can see how it works now and that the loudest voices are those that haven’t yet got an agent. Time to do some scouting!
You talk about the agent-author contract as if it's a given, but I've heard that not all agents and authors sign a contract with each other (though I don't know how common this is).
What are some pros and cons to signing (or not signing) a contract with an agent, if this is optional in a given situation? And what are some key (top 5-10?) terms to watch out for in agent-author contracts?
Take this as a suggested topic for a future post! Thanks for your amazingly informative newsletters!
That's true, some agents prefer a handshake agreement! I don't think those agents are Bad Guys, necessarily, but I feel pretty strongly that a handshake agreement is to the author's disadvantage. I get into this more in a post called Agent Common Sense, but the main idea is: if an agent manages to sell your book, and then you learn that your "handshake agreement" has some unsavory terms, what are you going to do--walk away from the deal? No, you'll accept the deal and whatever bad terms come with it.
I can't actually think of any pros (for the author) of having a handshake agreement... though maybe someone who has opted for this can weigh in?
I'd love to write up a post on contracts, though I'm not an expert--I think I know more than the average querying author, but less than people still working in the industry. Let me see if I have enough useful stuff to say!
The way I thought about contracts as a business development person: it's a great way to make sure that everyone understands clearly what the relationship entails. You can always do something different than what's in the contract if you both agree. And you don't even need to look at the contract again as long as things are going smoothly. But IF things go awry, you have a record of what the agreement was going into the relationship. A lack of clarity and/or mismatched assumptions can cause problems.
Thank you Devon. I appreciate the taxonomy, the suggested questions, and above all, the honesty. I chose my former agent out of good faith but it wasn’t a good fit, mostly because I should have dug harder into details like the ones you’ve listed. (Nothing negative, just reality.).
"I see these articles as hopeful rather than depressing. A dream that one day I may be in a position to worry about these things!" This is exactly where I am right now!
I see your idea is three years in the making. Some of my novels stalled (on back-burner) because I didn't understand them in enough depth, so your approach should really help!
Have you started writing now? How are you finding it?
Yes I have started writing. It was daunting, at first, and I still have long stalls without writing. That is mostly because I work for a living, lol. My current job really eats into my writing time! I find that the story appears in "snatches of inspiration", if that makes sense. Yet, other parts of it I just can't nail down. Thanks for asking.
Pesky work always getting in the way! I totally get you about the inspiration. It started exactly the same for me, although I'm now mostly editing those pieces.
Here's to the dream we both get our pick of agents one day 😄
I think the depressing thing for a lot of querying writers or aspiring-to-query writers is that they don't get to interview enough agents to be spoiled for choice. Because even getting a form letter rejection from even one agent is becoming an increasingly rare "interaction" mode, the metaphorical writer has no way to make use of your useful and valuable taxonomy … and it feels overwhelming that if they even get one nibble, they then must use this complex rubric to determine whether to engage with the one and only potentially incompatible agent who's given them the time of day.
As an aspiring-to-query writer, I found it useful to think about strengths and weaknesses of an agent.
I didn't read it as determining whether or not to go with an agent who is offering, because that answer is very likely to be YES PLEASE & NO QUESTIONS! haha
Fingers crossed for you with your query! It seems to be getting even tougher out there 🥲
I’m also surprised people would find this depressing. This is great! I love it when the sort of thing you usually have to pick up through trial and error just gets summarized!
Somewhere in NYC there's a secret room where rumpled people are drinking scotch, smoking cigars, and making publishing decisions. You want an agent who has the direct dial to these people : )
Loved this article! I've read 3 posts/newsletters? I'm not sure what to call them. I'm becoming more and more interested in what you have to say. As I was reading this one, I was thinking, "this information would be good in a spreadsheet", lol just the way my mind works. Thank you for sharing your insight, wisdom, and even your educated opinions!
As someone who recently got off her arse and finally decided to take her writing properly...I've devoured many of your posts over the last few days. Just wanted to say thank you for sharing all your wisdom so generously!
I love these posts but it’s all a bit over my head really. A few questions to yourself or an anyone who knows! I have no idea what aspiring to query means.
So I have a strong non-fiction book idea, a chapter written and a proposal introduction. I ran this past a couple of successful published authors in the genre, who I trust. I’ve got their successful pitching documents as a guide. So far so good. They are both ex journalists I am not.
So let’s get this right : I need to find and pay an agent first? Then they need to pitch my book to a publisher? Is this really how it works? Or is this only to the big name publishers?
Is this really clutching at straws ? Because I never hear a good word about the process!
You never have to pay an agent up front--instead, they take 15% of whatever sales they make. So if they sell your book successfully, they get 15% of your advance, 15% of your royalties, etc. (For foreign rights or film rights, it's often 20%). If the agent doesn't manage to sell your book, they get $0--you don't owe them anything.
This system is part of why agents are so picky about what they take on. Every agent has had the experience of pouring months of work into a project and then failing to sell it. That time isn't compensated.
Nonfiction books are often sold "on proposal." A nonfiction book proposal includes an introduction, a detailed outline, a sample chapter (or two or three, depending on length), an author bio, a list of comp titles (books similar to your book, but different in some key way that gives *your* book a reason to exist), and a marketing plan (however bare-bones or hypothetical).
There's a lot more to say about all those components, but luckily Alia Hanna Habib has already said it! She has a book called "Take It From Me" which breaks down how to write a nonfiction proposal.
You need an agent to be considered by major publishers (any imprints of the Big 5), and by some independent publishers. For small presses and university presses, you can often get by without an agent.
So if you want to be considered by major publishers, your next steps will be: 1) Create a book proposal. (It sounds like you already have most of the components!) 2) Query agents with the book proposal. 3) Hope that your idea connects, and an agent offers to represent you.
If that's the case, no money will change hands until the book has sold. It's kind of win-win, if you look at it from a certain angle: either you get an agent's help polishing the proposal and sending out the book for free, OR you manage to sell the book and then you have to give the agent a cut.
The reason you often hear bad things about the process is that FINDING an agent is so incredibly hard and competitive. Those who actually manage to get agents are less vocal than authors who are still querying. I know my post above acknowledges that agents can be flawed, but most of them are flawed the way that a handyman who repairs your gutter is flawed. Sure, maybe he was hard to get hold of, maybe he took longer than you wanted, but in the end, he did fix your gutter.
I hope that answers some of your questions? The more I write about the publishing world, the more I realize there is to say...
Thanks so much for taking the time to explain that. I can see how it works now and that the loudest voices are those that haven’t yet got an agent. Time to do some scouting!
You talk about the agent-author contract as if it's a given, but I've heard that not all agents and authors sign a contract with each other (though I don't know how common this is).
What are some pros and cons to signing (or not signing) a contract with an agent, if this is optional in a given situation? And what are some key (top 5-10?) terms to watch out for in agent-author contracts?
Take this as a suggested topic for a future post! Thanks for your amazingly informative newsletters!
That's true, some agents prefer a handshake agreement! I don't think those agents are Bad Guys, necessarily, but I feel pretty strongly that a handshake agreement is to the author's disadvantage. I get into this more in a post called Agent Common Sense, but the main idea is: if an agent manages to sell your book, and then you learn that your "handshake agreement" has some unsavory terms, what are you going to do--walk away from the deal? No, you'll accept the deal and whatever bad terms come with it.
I can't actually think of any pros (for the author) of having a handshake agreement... though maybe someone who has opted for this can weigh in?
I'd love to write up a post on contracts, though I'm not an expert--I think I know more than the average querying author, but less than people still working in the industry. Let me see if I have enough useful stuff to say!
The way I thought about contracts as a business development person: it's a great way to make sure that everyone understands clearly what the relationship entails. You can always do something different than what's in the contract if you both agree. And you don't even need to look at the contract again as long as things are going smoothly. But IF things go awry, you have a record of what the agreement was going into the relationship. A lack of clarity and/or mismatched assumptions can cause problems.
Thank you Devon. I appreciate the taxonomy, the suggested questions, and above all, the honesty. I chose my former agent out of good faith but it wasn’t a good fit, mostly because I should have dug harder into details like the ones you’ve listed. (Nothing negative, just reality.).
I see these articles as hopeful rather than depressing. A dream that one day I may be in a position to worry about these things!
Potentially moreso for recognising what type of agent one (hopefully 🤞) has, rather than the rare position of getting to pick between them.
Thanks again for sharing your insights 🙂
"I see these articles as hopeful rather than depressing. A dream that one day I may be in a position to worry about these things!" This is exactly where I am right now!
I see your idea is three years in the making. Some of my novels stalled (on back-burner) because I didn't understand them in enough depth, so your approach should really help!
Have you started writing now? How are you finding it?
Yes I have started writing. It was daunting, at first, and I still have long stalls without writing. That is mostly because I work for a living, lol. My current job really eats into my writing time! I find that the story appears in "snatches of inspiration", if that makes sense. Yet, other parts of it I just can't nail down. Thanks for asking.
Pesky work always getting in the way! I totally get you about the inspiration. It started exactly the same for me, although I'm now mostly editing those pieces.
Here's to the dream we both get our pick of agents one day 😄
Amen!
I think the depressing thing for a lot of querying writers or aspiring-to-query writers is that they don't get to interview enough agents to be spoiled for choice. Because even getting a form letter rejection from even one agent is becoming an increasingly rare "interaction" mode, the metaphorical writer has no way to make use of your useful and valuable taxonomy … and it feels overwhelming that if they even get one nibble, they then must use this complex rubric to determine whether to engage with the one and only potentially incompatible agent who's given them the time of day.
As an aspiring-to-query writer, I found it useful to think about strengths and weaknesses of an agent.
I didn't read it as determining whether or not to go with an agent who is offering, because that answer is very likely to be YES PLEASE & NO QUESTIONS! haha
Fingers crossed for you with your query! It seems to be getting even tougher out there 🥲
Very helpful. Thanks for posting this.
I’m also surprised people would find this depressing. This is great! I love it when the sort of thing you usually have to pick up through trial and error just gets summarized!
Thank you so much, Devon! Another incredibly helpful post!
Somewhere in NYC there's a secret room where rumpled people are drinking scotch, smoking cigars, and making publishing decisions. You want an agent who has the direct dial to these people : )
This is great. Thank you!