Do you need an agent?
An anti-agent manifesto at the Guardian has rekindled that whole writing debate in the lit-blog world. More importantly, more writers are wrestling the question, what do you expect to get as a novelist looking for an agent?
BookNinja takes the pessimistic view: "Don’t read this if you have hopes and dreams you still cling to ... Just run screaming and lock yourself in a closet with a typewriter and your inheritance money and click away until your work is done."
Slushpile urges you to think independently, and treat your agent-less world as a free world: "So even though you can’t truly go it alone (unless you’re Rupert Murdoch or someone who owns a media empire), preparing to do so will put you in control of your career."
Journalist Howie Good warns writers to stop dreaming about paydays and start writing. "So why write? Not to make money or secure fame, that’s for sure, but to breathe."
Myself, I'm still finishing my first book. All these problems seem very abstract to me. Go spend some time with the online agent Miss Snark-- her sadly closed site specialized in no-nonsense advice for us fledgling writers.
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You might find this an interesting site as well. She actually talks to agents about what they want.
http://brianhillanddeepower.blogspot.com/
I have some contrarian views on this - there's a number of reports that agents must personally fall in love with a book before taking it on - which means you have to write a book that appeals both to a real-world audience and also to a much more rarified group of individuals (urban location, strong liberal arts background, etc.) This probably applies to publishing house buyers as well. There's clearly enough diversity out there in agent-land to cover many topics, if you find the right one and they are not too busy. But the farther you stray from what's already on the shelves, it seems the odds that an agent will latch onto it decrease - since what they like is what's on the shelves now, and what they don't like is not. (On the other hand, they have to make a living, and proven sellers do that.)
Posted by: Anonymous | September 26, 2007 11:53 AM | Permalink to Comment