THE CALL or, What to Ask a Literary Agent When Offered Representation

 

Given the nature of this blog and my general advocacy of doing research and making informed decisions about literary agents,  I've long wanted to do a post on  THE CALL, THE E-MAIL or, What to Ask a Literary Agent When Offered Representation.  I can't speak from experience yet, but I can give you the list of questions I've been creating for myself.  And we can discuss! 

A couple notes about the questions before I continue.  Depending on the agent, I might already know some of the answers and therefore wouldn't bother asking those questions.  I also expect a lot of these questions would run together and be cross-answered naturally, so while it seems like a lot of questions, I don't think I'd have to ask them all word for word.  At the bottom, I'm listing out the posts that helped me develop my list.

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What do you think of my work?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript?  Do you think it will stand out in the marketplace?  How ready is it?

Are you an editorial agent?  If so, to what extent?  What are you thinking in terms of revision?  How collaborative are you?

Will I be working solely with you, or will there be times I'll work with an associate or assistant?  If so, please elaborate.

How many clients do you have?  Are you confident you have enough time and energy to add another client to your roster?  If it's not already full, how many clients do you wish to have on your list eventually?

Do you represent clients book by book or on a career basis?  Are you confident that we have a great chance of making a career-long match?

Will you work with me on career planning and marketing?  Do you work with a publicist?

How much of my genre do you handle?  What's your approximate success rate?

What happens if you can't sell this manuscript?  What if you don't like my future projects and ideas? 

Would you still support and represent me if at some point I wrote outside of my current genre?

Do you have a plan for submission in mind already?  Which houses/editors do think will be a good fit for this project?  How many editors do you plan to submit to initially, and how many do you plan to submit to overall if it does not sell as soon as hoped?

I know it varies, but what is the expected turn-around time for an editor during the submission process?  How long will you allow a project to languish before you'll nudge?

How open are you with information during the submission process?  Will you keep me updated as rejections and offers come in?  Will I know exactly who you're submitting to at all times?  Are you willing to share the rejections with me?

What is your preferred method of communication?  How often are you in contact with your clients?  How soon can I expect an answer to any given e-mail?  How about a revision or new project?

What are your business hours?  When do you prefer to be contacted?

Do you have a verbal or written contract?  What do the terms and agreements include?  What is the duration of the contract?  If it's written, would you be willing to go through it word-for-word with me if I felt that was necessary?

Are there any situations where you'd make decisions on my behalf? 

If for some reason we need to part ways, how will this be handled?  Are there any stipulations I should be aware of?  For what reasons would you terminate a client?

If a situation should arise where you are no longer able to represent my work, do you have a plan for me?  Or will I need to seek new representation on my own?  What if I'm in the middle of the submission process?  How would I proceed?

How are subsidiary rights handled within your agency?  Would you say your agency is strong in subright sales?  Do you see potential for my project in this regard?

What are your commission rates?  Are they the standard 15% domestic and 20% foreign/film?

What is your procedure for processing and disbursing client funds?  How soon will I receive my share when payments are received?  Do you keep different bank accounts for author funds and agency revenue?  Will I receive a 1099 at the end of each year?  Will I have full fiscal disclosure upon request? 

Will you be billing me for any submission costs (supplies, etc)?  If so, what should I expect?  How will those costs be charged to me?

How long have you been an agent?  What do you love about it?  Dislike about it?

Generally, what do you expect of your clients in a given year?  What do you feel makes for an ideal agent-author relationship?

What are a few of your recent sales? 

What if another client and I approached you with a similar idea?  How would you move forward in that situation?

Would you allow me to contact a couple of your clients?  Specifically, one you've sold at least one project for and one you you've yet to sell for?  What about publishers you've worked with?

Do you belong to any organizations?  The AAR?  Are you listed on Publisher's Marketplace?  If so, do you report the majority of your deals to them?

What questions do you have for me?

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Here are the posts that helped me develop my list:

"Preparing for THE CALL" at Writers Musings.

"What Can I Expect of My Agent" at Editorial Ass.

"How to Interview a Literary Agent" at Writing for Children and Teens.

"Getting THE CALL" at Rants and Ramblings of a Literary Agent.

"Questions to Ask an Agent" at Rants and Ramblings of a Literary Agent.

"Before You Hire a Literary Agent" by Michael Hyatt.

"Questions to Ask a Potential Literary Agent" at Squidoo.

"Questions to Ask Literary Agents" at Quill Driver Books (reprinted from the AAR).

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What do you think?  Do you want to discuss any of the questions?  Add your own?  Talk about your own experience with THE CALL?  Please do!  Also, if you're interested in writing a guest post about your experience interviewing one or more literary agents before hiring one, please e-mail me. 

What is a Beta Reader & Where Do I Find One?

I received the following question via e-mail:

I wonder, have you blogged about how one goes about finding Beta Readers? I looked around your website but couldn't find anything, but I seem to recall from a past post of yours that you do have and value BRs. I'm a bit abashed to say I don't really know what a Beta Reader is.

A beta reader is, essentially, someone who reads your work and offers input while it is in draft form.  Generally, they look for typos, grammatical errors, continuity issues, etc. in order to help improve and polish your work before its submitted to a publishing professional or made public.  A lot of beta readers will do more than check for typographical errors, however, and will extend their generosity and time by critiquing and commenting on plot issues, characterization, believability, overall feeling, etc.  Whatever they find that they feel could use improving.  Mostly, it depends on what you want and what you and your beta reader(s) agree to.  If you're particular and/or thin-skinned, the more up front you are regarding the kind of beta reader and feedback you're looking for, the better the experience you'll have. 

Oftentimes, beta readers will turn into critique partners if you're well-matched and find yourself returning to them as a reader/critiquer.   This can be an excellent arrangement if your partner continues to be as blunt and unbiased toward your work as they were originally.

As for finding beta readers, my advice is to sign up for a writing forum like Absolute Write and to post in the appropriate section that you're looking for beta readers.  Often times, writers looking for beta readers will offer to do the same in return.  If you're not already a member, you're likely to get a better response if you post around the forum for a while first.  Get involved, make a name for yourself, give back. 

Another way to find beta readers is to use your blog, if you have one.  Just put a post up detailing what you're looking for.  Some of your regular readers might be more than happy to help. 

Basically, If you have a way to connect with other writers, use it.  If you don't, start putting yourself out there and network.

In my opinion, it's good to use both non-writers and writers for beta readers as they'll approach the task differently, so don't be afraid to use your family and friends as well.  Just don't solely rely on them.  Unbiased advice from someone who knows the ins and outs of writing has its benefits.

Now, let's turn the question over to everyone else.  Where do you find your beta readers? What do they generally do for you?

On the Potential of the Bad, Competent, Good or Great Writer

I recently devoured ON WRITING by Stephen King. It really is a great read (fascinating, inspiring), and I'm happy to have finally read it. Since finishing, I have found myself returning to a couple things Mr. King said and I'd like to discuss one. And that is the following:

"...while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one." (p. 136)

I don't know how I feel about this. The horde of hopefuls in my head want to beleive that, wherever I'm at talent-wise, I have a chance at becoming good or great. But then, I also don't see myself developing the talent of, say, Markus Zusak or Suzanne Collins—ever.

So I see what he's saying, and I think it comes down to how one defines or views such words as "good" and "great." A writer can improve greatly, for example, as I think many of us have, but will never be a [insert author that fills you with awe]. And yet, I still find myself balking at the idea that we have a built-in cap to our potential, and wondering if it really is impossible to cross these thresholds. Even if a good writer will never become one of the greats, does a bad writer really have no chance at becoming competent or good? I'm not sure. I find myself agreeing and then disagreeing in the span of two thoughts.

What's your take?