Demystifying Agenting
Rob Kent runs the popular blog for writers, Middle Grade Ninja, which features interviews and guest posts from authors, literary agents, and other publishing professionals. He’s the author of BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES. He also hosts the Middle Grade Ninja podcast and writes novels for older readers under the super-secret pen name Robert Kent. He holds degrees in Literature and Creative Writing from Indiana University and owns over 900 Batman action figures. Rob Kent lives with his family in Indianapolis where he teaches courses at the Indiana Writers Center and is hard at work on his next book.
One of the most important people impacting the trajectory of an author’s career is a literary agent. Why then can it sometimes seem impossible to get information about the practices of some literary agencies? This leaves writers feeling like Spider-Man perched outside opaque windows unable to see into the Manhattan skyscraper where vital things related to their interests are happening.
“There was this air of ‘this is where the cool kids are and you’re not going to know what’s going on in the nightclub unless you gain access to it…’ there’s no face or humanness to it,” Mark Gottlieb told me in a recent episode of my podcast devoted to demystifying publishing on Middle Grade Ninja. There’s a relevant clip above, but the whole conversation is well worth your time.
Mark takes the opposite view, making his email, his phone number, and his office location available on his website. You can see him talking about Trident Media Group on many podcasts and other outlets. He says, “Let’s open all the doors, open all the windows. Let people look inside and see the wonderful things going on in here. Make them feel at home, like they’re a part of it, and a guest.”
“Not every literary agent wants to be active on social media or accessible to folks who aren’t already their clients.”
Rob Kent, pictured second from right during a panel.
I’ve had the good fortune to interview a lot of literary agents, but I know not everyone wants to be featured on a podcast (more’s the pity). Not every literary agent wants to be active on social media or accessible to folks who aren’t already their clients.
Another literary agent told me that when query letters mention specific details about her personal life, it’s creepy. But she told me this on my podcast because she wants to share her professional side with writers.
One of the literary agents I hosted for a written interview many years ago was later discovered to be forging offer letters to her clients. Another went on to make multiple homophobic statements publicly. One agent I queried but didn’t interview was found guilty of spending her clients’ royalties (making me the most grateful to have been rejected I’ve ever felt).
Obviously, those are extreme examples. A more common issue is authors discovering too late that an agent is well-meaning but incompetent. Or the agent may be excellent at negotiating, but poor at communicating, or vice versa. Or they may have some other issue that makes them a poor fit for an author who’s better off knowing about it before they’re signed.
It’s also just good for authors to gain insight about the world of agenting and publishing.
We’ve all heard about the high volume of queries filling the inboxes of literary agents. But an author, who worked as an agent’s assistant, assured me that 70-80% of the queries received were badly written or mistargeted and therefore not serious competition for the sort of writers reading a post like this one. Of course, another literary agent at another literary agency told me she knew of one editor at a major house who’s received 500 AGENTED manuscripts in the past four months.
The more information an author can gather about the industry as well as any potential business partner, the better suited they’re going to be for success. Literary agents making themselves visible is only part of the demystifying. Authors need to do their research and learn as much as they can about a literary agent’s practices and qualifications before deciding if they want to be represented by them.
Best of luck with your querying! When you’re successful, come on the Middle Grade Ninja podcast to share your experience with me and our fellow writers so we can all learn from it.