Saturday, May 18, 2019

Expand and correct a comment from earlier this week on what agents represent

It's always interesting to read your comments both for the fun news about short stories, or book deals, or family milestones, and the general hilarity of this talented assembly.

But I really like to read the comments because often it's how I suss out what hasn't been clear here on the blog.  So, when I post your comment here with "clarification and correction" please understand you are taking one for the team, and I'm darn grateful.  Maybe there should be a prize for it!!

Here's a comment from earlier this week about writing something your agent doesn't represent.
I'd always heard that your agent has first right-of-refusal for anything you write. So, if you're still writing thrillers, but come out with a romance and they don't represent that... they might decide it's time to branch out. Or they'll branch out for you.

Or, they'll give you their blessing to query other agents (maybe even a Referral!). Often, while still working with you on all those thrillers you're writing.

You can have multiple agents.
Of course bowing to Her Sharkiness, but that seems in line with what she said. :)
First right of refusal means you must show your work to the party who has that right before showing it to anyone else.

My agency agreement says you've already agreed that I represent everything you give me to sell. I can't refuse something and send you on your merry way.

You and I have an agreement that covers your entire wardrobe. We may have connected cause I like the cut of your cravat, but if you bring me sox, that's still part of our agreement.

Now, how those sox are handled varies agent to agent, and agency to agency.

But the one thing I can tell you is you will NOT be querying other agents while you are my client for anything.  If I can't sell sox, I'll find someone who can, OR you and I will agree that you're going to sever our representation and seek out a sox seller. Darn it.

Writers who approach me with "my agent said I could find someone to do this one book" get a terse letter back: I cannot and will not talk to you as long as you have current representation.

There are agents who will. Draw your own conclusions about their ethics.

I've actually run into very serious problems by being a big fan of authors I don't represent. I've had to cut back my enthusiasm so as not to seem like I'm trying to poach them from their current agent. I regret that a lot.

And while you can have multiple agents, it's VERY VERY rare.

I've had one client who had two agents but the other agent was sitting five feet away from my elbow and I knew every single thing he was doing.

The problem with multiple agents and one writer is that the contracts negotiated by Agent A will have an impact on what Agent B can do. Next work, option clause etc.

And don't get me started on the advent of these new morality clauses. An author who makes ribald jokes will do just fine among the crime community; not so well in picture books perhaps.

In other words, it's a whole lot more efficient to have ONE agent.
Plus I make money from the sweat of your brow. I want to be the only one mopping up.

Any questions?



21 comments:

Amy Johnson said...

Not my comment being addressed, but this covered things I was unclear about. Thanks, Janet! Also, I had to look up the definition of "ribald."

Brenda said...

Morality clauses! I’m hooped.
Brenda

Ann Bennett said...

More than anything, it makes sense. I think of the adage, "Too many cooks spoil the stew." Then I think about when you hire someone to do work for you. They are going to do it their way. You would be forcing two agents to be partners who may not mesh. If I were an agent, I wouldn't waste my time unless there was going to be a big payday at the end. And from what I have learned, writers are lucky to get a payday.

Meanwhile, one day I may finish a project. The whole book selling game may change three or four times before I finish.

CED said...

"It's always interesting to read your comments both for the fun news about short stories, or book deals, or family milestones, and the general hilarity of this talented assembly."

This seems like a good opening to share some fun news I've had for a little while. It's not a publishing credit, but I'm pretty excited nonetheless.

I was accepted to this year's Odyssey Writing Workshop. I even won a prize for my submission entry! I'm looking forward to learning a ton about writing, and about my own writing, and generally just being with a bunch of other writers in an intensive learning environment.

Janet, is this something I would include in the short bio/relevant personal info part of a query letter? I imagine its real value is going to be in the improvement in my writing, but if it helps to mention it, I want to do so.

CynthiaMc said...

I'm writing in my garden while the pups dry from their baths.

I like to write different things. Doing the same thing all the time would bore me. I love the idea of one agent to handle it all.

Congrats, CED!

RosannaM said...


Janet, the post was terrific! Dire warnings, subtle threats and stealthy humor!

“…seek out a sox seller. Darn it!”


Love it!

Karen McCoy said...

Great info, as always.

And Congrats CED! What a wonderful opportunity.

I've known a couple of authors with two agents--one of them eventually just went back to one. It all depends on how the author's journey develops, I suppose--and like all journeys, new developments can be unpredictable.

Steve Stubbs said...

You wrote: "An author who makes ribald jokes will do just fine among the crime community; not so well in picture books perhaps."

Thanks for that. I love love love nasty jokes. Does it matter if nobody thinks the jokes are funny except I?"

Will anybody natter if it matters?

One thing that is still confusing:

You wrote: "You and I have an agreement that covers your entire wardrobe. We may have connected cause I like the cut of your cravat, but if you bring me sox, that's still part of our agreement."

Fair enough, but what about sox that stinx. As a practical matter, if Super Amazing Crime Writer follows up Runaway Bestseller Debut Novel with Shirley Temple Likes Dino-Poo and there is NO WAY in your judgement you could rep this without going back to Oregon to retire, you would have to have the option of telling the proud author to take that MS and &%^(#.

That is not hypothetical. It is possible for Great Crime Novelist to work on something s/he genuinely believes to be good, commercial dining for the mind and have others tell him/her/it/them that it is pig slop or Soylent Green or something. Screwing up developing a non-commercial concept can be an innocent mistake.

Adele said...

"My agency agreement says you've already agreed that I represent everything you give me to sell."

OK, so - just to clarify. What if I write something and don't give it to you to sell? Say I'm a name author and I write a freebie to help out a charity. Technically, I haven't given it to you to sell, so you don't represent it. On the other hand, they would take it and sell it, so you should get a cut. And yet ... you didn't actually do anything, but then again ... my hamster wheel just fell off its axle.

Amy Johnson said...

Wow, CED! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you. I'll go make us all some fudge to celebrate!

Timothy Lowe said...

I touched a morality clause once; it burned my finger.

(Best part of this post y'all).

John Davis Frain said...

Congrats, CED.

I wanna hang out on Amy Johnson's porch some day. There must be some awful good leftovers when that screen door swings open.

I was so worried I missed a contest because I couldn't get here yesterday. Not even close. Just visited the Friday post. Shaking my head. Those folks must not know how to edit.

Beth Carpenter said...

CED, congratulations! Hope you enjoy yourself and learn all the good stuff.

CED said...

Thanks, everyone! I hope to post some useful bits here once I'm back.

Claire Bobrow said...

Congrats, CED!

Morals clauses? Geez.

Cecilia Ortiz Luna said...


Congrats, CED!

I will totally include that in my bio if I were fortunate you:)

John Davis Frain said...

Taking a break from editing to work the NY Times online crossword. This is not Joe's Crab Shack crossword, this is the freakin' NY Times.

18 Down: "Tons"

Answer: ALOT

That little monster haunts from everywhere! There's no escaping!!

Jen said...

Yay CEO!! :)

And Janet, thanks so much for this post. It was eye-opening to me. I had an agent for mysteries, but told him I *really* wanted to write an UF. He gave me his blessing and mentioned his first work sold was an UF. But once the novel was done, he claimed he didn't know who to send it to and encouraged me to query other agents. When I asked if I should mention I already have an agent in the query letter, he advised me to mention only after I got "the call."

I finally parted with said agent on good terms, with no novels ever published. Now that I'm back in the query trenches yet again, and processing those rejection emails *yet again,* I couldn't help but feel so disheartened, like maybe I'd made a mistake letting go of the bird in the hand, as it were. Maybe I should've just shut up and stayed writing mysteries, even if I wasn't passionate about them, just to keep my agent.

But after reading this post, I feel 100% lighter. I made the right choice, even if it give me to more hoops to jump through in the short term. A huge burden has been lifted from my soul. THANK YOU so much, Janet!

Jen said...

[sigh] Should've read "Yay, CED!"

Bad prescription eye glasses FTW! :/

Matt Adams said...

I know I'm a broken record here, but I do want to point out that the way Janet works is not the only way agents work. Sometimes an agent just decides they don't want to rep your new work simply because they don't like it. That's allowed -- agents are people who are entitled to rep want they want to rep. But some agencies only rep on a per-work basis. I know we'd all prefer an agent who was with us regardless, but that's not universally the case.

Brooks Jones said...

"OR you and I will agree that you're going to sever our representation and seek out a sox seller. Darn it."


Heh. I saw what you did there. Nice one!