by Scott Matthews

Once you decide to publish your book traditionally, you will definitely need a literary agent. Irrespective of if you are approaching a large-sized publishing firm or a middle or small-sized firm. The literary agent acts as your business partner and helps you through the processes. It might be easier for you to find an agent to represent you if you write in just one genre, but if you do not have a specific genre you are focused on, it can be a little difficult. What is important is to get a literary agent that believes in your project and is ready to help you through it.

The roles of literary agents are changing in modern times. Some agents can now help online essay writer and authors self-publish their books when they are unable to get other publishing homes to publish their works. You can also get some of them to help you edit your manuscripts.

Before deciding to work with an agent, you should take your time to interview them the same way they are going to be interviewing you. You have to create a mutual understanding between yourselves as you would probably be working with them for a while. You should also agree on the price beforehand. Ideally, your agent should get 15% of whatever you make. So, it is important that you find someone whom you can work well with and fit in with your personality. You should also ensure that the agent you are going to be working with is a registered member of the AAR (Association of Author’s Representative) which is the association for all literary agents.

As an author providing professional writing service, it is impossible to deny the fact that you need a literary agent. If you are still not convinced about this, here are 7 reasons why you need a literary agent:

1. Literary Agents Link You To The Right Publishers 

Because these agents are already in this business for a while, they have a wide network and the contacts that you would ordinarily not have access to on your own just as a writer. So, based on the genre you write in, agents have a pretty good idea of which publishers would be more interested in taking up your work. They understand the nuances of each publisher, what they like and what they do not like. They also know the type of projects that the publishers would be interested in. so, they know the right ones for you.

With this knowledge, they pitch your work to those that are more likely to accept and publish them. This way, you are less likely to face rejections as you do not have to submit your work to hundreds of publishers.

1. They Help With The Right Pitches

These agents are like marketers. They help to market your writings to the publishers through appropriate pitches. This is something you might be able to do by yourself, only if you can connect with the right publishers. These agents already have the publishing contacts that you need, if they already have trust with the publishers it will be easier to pitch your work to them and you will get a response much faster than if you had to send proposals to different publishing homes by yourselves. You will not just get a faster response, there is a strong possibility of you getting a positive response as well. This, in itself, will save you a lot of time and stress.

1. Agents Can Negotiate Better Than You Can

Except you are looking to write a book and not try to make money from it, you will need an agent to help you with negotiations. Publishing contracts is one area that is constantly changing and it is the job of the agent to monitor the trends and try to work out the best deal for their clients (you). Contracts are usually changing with new issues, apps, and digital apps constantly on how the industry works. If there is one assignment help that literary agents can help you with, it is negotiating a good contract for you. The numerous clauses might make it difficult to keep up, right to audit, noncompetition clause, option clauses, etc. but it is their job to be up to speed with happenings and negotiate the best for you. You are also likely to get a better deal financially with an agent that without one.

1. They Help With Developing Your Book Proposal

Because of the level of experience that these agents already have in the industry, they know what should and should not be in a book proposal. So, they can help you to develop your book proposals to meet up with the industry standards. In this way, they act as consultants telling what you need to know and how you can modify your book proposal to convince and attract the right publishers.

1. They Help You Plan Your Career

If you are working with a good agent, then you have a business partner who can help you plan your writing career and take you up to the pinnacle of success that you desire to be at. Apart from offering your dissertation help, developing your book proposals, helping you speak to publishers and negotiating a good contract for you, they also work on you personally.

If you do not know what next to write about or how you can build a business or brand from writing, or you do not even know how to build a long-term career in writing, a good agent can help you out. They can offer you the right advice and guidance that you need especially if the agent is one who has been in the industry for a while and has worked with other authors. So, they have the knowledge and experience that you need. They’ll also give you advice on the books you should publish traditionally and those you should self-publish.

1. They Act As Your Advocate

In every human relationship, there is a possibility that you would have issues to rectify or trash out due to a misunderstanding. Should this happen after you have got a contract and you are already working with an editor from a publishing house, it becomes the duty of your agent to stand in as your advocator or negotiator till the issue is resolved. They ensure that you are not alone in solving such issues. Since they are your representatives, they stand in for you if something like this happens.

1. They Do The Odd Jobs If And When It Is Necessary

Agents take up a lot of roles for the authors just to ensure that they become successful and their books become a hit. So, they do take up some odd roles when they have to. Some agents in the past have had to take up the role of beta readers for the clients, some have helped in brainstorming for new ideas for a book. Some agents have also had to seek permission to get contributions to their clients. They also help with networking and match mixing their authors with people that they should meet and get to know that might help them in their career.

Getting an agent might not be an easy task though, at least, if you want the one that is best for you. There are some traits that you have to look out for in an agent when choosing the best one for you:

●      Check the track record for their sales: if you want to make enough profit from your book, then you should look for an agent with a track record of many successful sales. This is usually one of the few ways to determine a good literary agent. They make good money for their client.

●      Check their communication skills: it is not just you as a writer who has to be able to communicate in your books. You must have an agent that is also good at communicating. It would be hard to convince a publisher of your work if your agent is bad at communicating. So, they must inspire confidence.

●      Check how much enthusiasm they have: if your agent does not believe in you and your work, trust me, no one else will. You must get an agent that has a level of enthusiasm towards you and is confident in your ability to deliver the goods. Once, they are proud to represent you, they will go to any length to publish and publicize your work.

Conclusion

While it is possible for you as a writer to work on your own, self-publish your book or even reach out to publishing houses by yourself without a middle man. The truth is, you will be able to do much more with an agent. Working with an agent will give you more time to work on yourself and your work while your agent relates to the other things. 

Author’s bio

Scott Matthews is a digital marketer and essay writer at write my thesis.  He also has a blog where he drops his best essay writing works. He loves to travel, meet new people and make new friends. He loves to read and when he is not writing, he is usually behind a pile of books that he reads.