This week’s topic: Agents

 

 

Myth #1:  In order to get published you have to have an agent.

Reality: Over 400,000 new titles were published last year, and around one-third of them were self-published—without an agent.

 

Myth #2:  The best way to get an agent is to have a connection.

Reality: Having a connection never hurts, but most people don’t.  They get their agents the old-fashioned way: through hard work.

 

Myth #3:  If your book is good enough, an agent will take you on.

Reality: It’s not unusual for people to contact over 100 agents before they find one who will take them on.  This includes people whose books later went on to become best-sellers.  One agent we know gets around 25,000 queries each year from aspiring writers, and takes on around 6 new clients each year.

 

Myth #4:  If you have an agent, your troubles are over.  You’re guaranteed a sale.

 

Reality: Agents work hard to sell their clients’ work.  They don’t always succeed.

Myth #5:  A good agent will edit your manuscript and make it sellable.

Reality:  Some agents offer editing advice to their clients, but many don’t have the skills or time. 

 

Myth #6:  You have to pay a fee to get a good agent to read your work.

Reality:  You should never pay anyone to read your work.  Even top agents read manuscripts for free—if they think they might be interested in representing them.

 

Myth #7:  If you can’t get an agent, you might as well give up.  Your work isn’t any good.

Reality:  Agents turn down good books every day.  And remember (myth #1), you don’t need an agent to get published.  There are many other avenues available to you.  Stay tuned.  We’ll talk about some of them in the weeks to come.

 

Worst Rejection Ever Contest

 

Have a rejection you’re willing to share?  Here at Screw Iowa, we’re running a contest.  Let’s see who’s gotten the worst.  Here are two of ours:

1) The agent who didn’t even bother to write back to us on her own stationary.  Just stamped REJECTED on our query letter and sent it back.

 

2)  The agent who went to the trouble of reading our manuscript and then rejected it because it “wasn’t what he wanted it to be.”  Well, duh.  Did it ever occur to him that maybe it was what WE wanted it to be?  Our response (which we didn’t send, of course): Hey, buster, why don’t you try writing your own book?