Comments on: Getting an Offer and THEN an Agent

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:51:15 +0000

MM — Great questions. I made the answer into a post that’ll go up in January, after Revision-o-Rama. If you need the answer right away, email me. Thanks!

By: Kidlit.com · Submitting On Your Own, Then Getting an Agent

Kidlit.com · Submitting On Your Own, Then Getting an Agent — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:50:29 +0000

[...] recently got a question on my “Getting an Offer and THEN an Agent” post. I started typing out the answer but it was too long and I thought I’d make it [...]

By: MM

MM — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:23:52 +0000

In this scenario, would it be considered inappropriate, after acquiring an agent, for that agent to pitch the project to other publishers in search of a better offer? Is there a ticking clock on the initial publisher’s offer?

Also, what of the situation in which an author has queried publishers directly, received all rejections, and then acquires an agent? I’ve heard agents warn against direct querying of publishers, saying that in the case of all rejections, now the agent’s hands are rather tied and it’s much more difficult to find a publisher.

Thanks!

By: jtuttle

jtuttle — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:07:13 +0000

Thanks for the really clear and concise information about how one goes about dealing with this kind of situation. I would love to be in the position of this author. Good luck to the author!

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:02:54 +0000

Thanks all for the comments! And Robyn, there’s still a possibility that you’ll find someone who reps picturebooks, it happens, but yes, you’re right, a novel is a meatier way to attract an agent. If you want to write across multiple kidlit markets, from picturebook to MG or YA, and you have a novel, try and cast that line out into the agentsphere and then maybe share the picturebook if the agent asks what else you have in mind for your career.

By: beth

beth — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:43:06 +0000

This is definitely good info to know. After attending a conference, I attracting the attention of an acquiring agent at Random House. It didn’t work out in the end–this was a few years ago, and I honestly just wasn’t knowledgeable enough–but I remember having those exact same questions and fears at the time. Of course, now I wish that was a problem I had!

By: Clover Autrey

Clover Autrey — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:11:57 +0000

I’ve wondered about this myself, though either an agent or publisher expressing interest is totally awesome.

By: Robyn Campbell

Robyn Campbell — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:21:33 +0000

What a great post. I have dreamed about this scenario. I want to get an agent first (I write MG and picture books) because like you say, even though there are some agents representing picture books, they would rather have a novel to rep.

It is just so hard to query agents for picture books. I want to get an agent for my book first and then ask them to place my picture books.

Thanks for this great info, because it is something I wondered about. My crit partner and I have talked about it at our meetings.

By: Buffy Andrews

Buffy Andrews — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:57:11 +0000

Great post. I wondered about this, too. I am in a similar situation. And I think you make a great point that the agent will still have to love the writer and their work enough to be a long-term advocate. Hopefully, this would be just the beginning of a great relationship with a promising journey ahead for both agent and writer. As an editor, I know how important it is to have someone who believes in you and wants to help you do the best work of your life. And that goes far beyond book one. Again, thanks for the post. Awesomeness, Buffy

By: Von Allan

Von Allan — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:55 +0000

Hi there,

I recently attended a SCBWI Agents’ Day conference here in Ottawa, Ontario that was attended by Mark McVeigh from The McVeigh Agency and Edward Necarsulmer IV of McIntosh and Otis. This question actually came up in the post-talk Q&A and Necarsulmer IV pointed out a cautionary note. Because a writer is contacted an agent with an offer already in place, some more unscrupulous agents may decide to simply take the 15% regardless of their feelings about the author and/or the work in question. The problem, of course, is that it’s harder for an unagented author to tell what the agent is really thinking with this type of situation. If I’m remembering this correctly, he actually seemed to have quite a few misgivings about this situation as a result.

As always, authors should do their due diligence as best they can. Making sure that the prospective agent is a member of the AAR (http://www.aaronline.org/) would seem to be even more important in this case.