I've had a spate of queries from writers who are looking for a new agent. Some I'm eager to sign; some I know are a bad match instantly.
I think I'm able to get a sense of whether a client will be a good match pretty quickly --after all, I've got 47 clients, and there are a few formers running around too. In other words, I've had 50+ chances to see what worked and what didn't.
For writers, you don't want to come close to that many decisions! We hope you'll sign well the first time. If not, hopefully the second.
Here's a good post at BookEnds about how one of Jessica's clients decided how and with whom to sign the second time around.
2 comments:
Thanks for this, Janet. I'm looking for my second agent (my first left the business to become a freelance editor) and I am taking my time.
I think that there are more writers who end up with a second agent than you hear about. I am one of them. I think the real reason this happens is because when a writer gets an offer they are soooooo excited, all the prep and knowledge they've accumulated reading your blog and other agent blogs just goes right out the window and they sign before making sure they've found a good match. I'm not saying the agent is a bad agent, but that the match is not right and writers just get too excited. At least, this is what happened to me and a lot of other writers who went on to a second agent told me the same thing.
Post a Comment