Editorial Control #2: Agents
I have to be honest, here…I don’t know everything there is to know about this subject. I know some things through experience but some of this will be a bit of guess work. If anyone has anything to add, or if you flat out disagree with me, feel free to chime in.
Ok. I have a representative. I actually just signed him. This is my second representative – I parted ways with the first guy amicably. I want to make books, right now, and needed a literary agent who could help make that happen. So I hired one. Bob Mecoy. He represents a lot of folks I like. We talked and we connected. I interviewed several reps and I felt like Bob was the one for what I wanted to do.
So, why Bob?
Well…he knows people in the book world, for starters. What good is a literary agent if he doesn’t know anyone? A lot of folks sign with an agent to say they have an agent but their agent is incapable of setting up meetings and making things happen; can’t close a deal. Hell, if I’m going to hand over 15% for that I might as well name my mom as my agent. She could use the cash.
I feel like Bob and I can work well together. We speak the same language. I talk about a book I want to do and his ideas on how it would do and where it would sell parallel mine. Also, he has some ideas that go beyond what I originally planned. An agent should be able to see the potential in your work – they should be able to see more potential than you currently see. I felt like I had that with Bob.
I feel like there has to be a symbiotic relationship between talent and agent. They work for you, true, but you also need to work for them. You need to give them a book that’s going to sell for enough money to make their time worthwhile.
When I first went looking for an agent I was told by several different people that I would never be able to land a literary agent. This was despite the fact that I was bringing someone a deal – I was looking for an agent because Random House flat-out told me, “If we’re going to go any further, you’re going to need to hire an agent.” The thought a lot of comic folks had was, “Comics don’t make enough money for the good literary agents to get involved.”
So I hired a manager – someone who’s setup to take my comic projects and sell the ancillary rights. They can negotiate book contracts and some of the bigger agencies can even get you to meetings to find new work but, for the most part, their looking to set your work up with a studio and make you some movie money and take their 10%.
Once POSTCARDS came out, however, and we were receiving a ton of press in some huge publications (USA Today, for instance, the #1 paper in America), I quickly realized that I could certainly land a strong literary agent. I decided to focus my career in that direction and to my surprise, agents were interested.
So, what to look for in an agent...
Three of the criteria I used are noted above: client list, contact list, and creative connection. Another thing that I believe is important is history. I found during my searches that a lot of agents bounced around at several publishers before becoming an agent. Bob Mecoy, for example, was senior editor at Simon & Shuster and executive editor at Crown Publishing. That’s a good guy to have representing you, right there.
Reputation is also a plus. When I asked a couple of publishers what they thought about Bob, they had great things to say about him. Same with his clients. So, his clients loved him and, most importantly, publishers loved him or at least knew of him and heard good things. How could that be bad?
With Hollywood agencies, it seems like their client list is the most important thing because it represents a package deal. They can bundle up this book with this screenwriter and this director and there you go – a full-package. With literary agents, it’s really just you and your book they’re selling. So, what I’m saying is, you can get away with an agent that’s not in a big house but has a lot of connections and a solid reputation.
Where to find an agent? Asking people who represents them is always a good start. A lot of folks put their rep’s info on their websites – ten minutes of sleuthing will probably come up with two or three people who’re representing comic folks. Publishers Marketplace is a great resource for finding agents and looking up the agents that you’re talking to. Use the “Who Represents” feature and type in the agent you’re researching to see who they represent and what deals they’ve closed. You can type in your favorite cartoonist or writer to see who represents them and what deals they’ve closed for them. A lot of agents have bio pages on the site along with contact information and instructions.
Important! Follow the instructions carefully and do your research! Know about your agent and do not send form letters! Agents talk to each other a lot. You mess up with one and you’ll likely mess up with a lot of them. Give it a bit of a personal note. Talk about their client list or where you read about them. Just make sure you’re not sending the same query to twenty people. And, most importantly, sell yourself. You have to have a book and you have to have some attention turned towards you. If a publisher (preferably a book publisher) is already interested – great! If you’ve recently had a windfall of press – great! If you’re a guy with an idea for a book come back when you have a book. If you still use the word “aspiring” come back when you drop it from your resume.
You don’t need an agent to start making comics. You don't need an agent to sell your comic to a comic publisher. Chances are that any agent that’ll look at you when you’re just starting out is not the best agent you can get anyway. You need an agent to further your career, sure, but it’s important that you have a career to begin with or, at least, enough people saying you have a potential career.
Ok, I’ll cut this off for now and leave it open to questions and comments.
Ok. I have a representative. I actually just signed him. This is my second representative – I parted ways with the first guy amicably. I want to make books, right now, and needed a literary agent who could help make that happen. So I hired one. Bob Mecoy. He represents a lot of folks I like. We talked and we connected. I interviewed several reps and I felt like Bob was the one for what I wanted to do.
So, why Bob?
Well…he knows people in the book world, for starters. What good is a literary agent if he doesn’t know anyone? A lot of folks sign with an agent to say they have an agent but their agent is incapable of setting up meetings and making things happen; can’t close a deal. Hell, if I’m going to hand over 15% for that I might as well name my mom as my agent. She could use the cash.
I feel like Bob and I can work well together. We speak the same language. I talk about a book I want to do and his ideas on how it would do and where it would sell parallel mine. Also, he has some ideas that go beyond what I originally planned. An agent should be able to see the potential in your work – they should be able to see more potential than you currently see. I felt like I had that with Bob.
I feel like there has to be a symbiotic relationship between talent and agent. They work for you, true, but you also need to work for them. You need to give them a book that’s going to sell for enough money to make their time worthwhile.
When I first went looking for an agent I was told by several different people that I would never be able to land a literary agent. This was despite the fact that I was bringing someone a deal – I was looking for an agent because Random House flat-out told me, “If we’re going to go any further, you’re going to need to hire an agent.” The thought a lot of comic folks had was, “Comics don’t make enough money for the good literary agents to get involved.”
So I hired a manager – someone who’s setup to take my comic projects and sell the ancillary rights. They can negotiate book contracts and some of the bigger agencies can even get you to meetings to find new work but, for the most part, their looking to set your work up with a studio and make you some movie money and take their 10%.
Once POSTCARDS came out, however, and we were receiving a ton of press in some huge publications (USA Today, for instance, the #1 paper in America), I quickly realized that I could certainly land a strong literary agent. I decided to focus my career in that direction and to my surprise, agents were interested.
So, what to look for in an agent...
Three of the criteria I used are noted above: client list, contact list, and creative connection. Another thing that I believe is important is history. I found during my searches that a lot of agents bounced around at several publishers before becoming an agent. Bob Mecoy, for example, was senior editor at Simon & Shuster and executive editor at Crown Publishing. That’s a good guy to have representing you, right there.
Reputation is also a plus. When I asked a couple of publishers what they thought about Bob, they had great things to say about him. Same with his clients. So, his clients loved him and, most importantly, publishers loved him or at least knew of him and heard good things. How could that be bad?
With Hollywood agencies, it seems like their client list is the most important thing because it represents a package deal. They can bundle up this book with this screenwriter and this director and there you go – a full-package. With literary agents, it’s really just you and your book they’re selling. So, what I’m saying is, you can get away with an agent that’s not in a big house but has a lot of connections and a solid reputation.
Where to find an agent? Asking people who represents them is always a good start. A lot of folks put their rep’s info on their websites – ten minutes of sleuthing will probably come up with two or three people who’re representing comic folks. Publishers Marketplace is a great resource for finding agents and looking up the agents that you’re talking to. Use the “Who Represents” feature and type in the agent you’re researching to see who they represent and what deals they’ve closed. You can type in your favorite cartoonist or writer to see who represents them and what deals they’ve closed for them. A lot of agents have bio pages on the site along with contact information and instructions.
Important! Follow the instructions carefully and do your research! Know about your agent and do not send form letters! Agents talk to each other a lot. You mess up with one and you’ll likely mess up with a lot of them. Give it a bit of a personal note. Talk about their client list or where you read about them. Just make sure you’re not sending the same query to twenty people. And, most importantly, sell yourself. You have to have a book and you have to have some attention turned towards you. If a publisher (preferably a book publisher) is already interested – great! If you’ve recently had a windfall of press – great! If you’re a guy with an idea for a book come back when you have a book. If you still use the word “aspiring” come back when you drop it from your resume.
You don’t need an agent to start making comics. You don't need an agent to sell your comic to a comic publisher. Chances are that any agent that’ll look at you when you’re just starting out is not the best agent you can get anyway. You need an agent to further your career, sure, but it’s important that you have a career to begin with or, at least, enough people saying you have a potential career.
Ok, I’ll cut this off for now and leave it open to questions and comments.
Labels: editorial-control