Changing Literary Agents
One of the most difficult experiences for an author is changing literary agents. Sometimes, as much as many hate to admit it, seeking out new representation becomes necessary. This can often be a frustrating experience, as it is hard to leave the person who can help get your work in front of editors. They are an essential part of your writing community. However, if a relationship between an author and their agent isn’t productive or helpful, it can often be worse than having no agent at all.
Changing literary agents can be tough, but sometimes it’s necessary. Follow these best practices to make the transition as smooth as possible.
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Finding an agent isn’t always a “one and done” action. In fact, changing literary agents happens more often than not. Many of my writing friends are on their second—often even third—agent. This is not to say that their first agents were bad. In many situations, agents have left the business, whether to transition into their own career or to work on the editorial side of the publishing business. Other agents go into other fields entirely.
Sometimes, though, agents aren’t the best fit for the writer they represent. This isn’t to say that those agents are “bad.” (Some are, which is a topic for another post.) However, in a business as personal as writing, where an author needs to trust an agent with their beloved manuscripts, it is essential that the author-agent relationship is a good—in fact, the best—fit.
Do You Need to Find a New Literary Agent?
What do you need to consider?
Communication
Does your agent take a long time to get back to you (longer than the industry standard?) Are you unhappy with the answers you receive from them or the depth of their response? Does he or she not follow up with editors?
Taste/Direction
Does your agent like your books or the genres you’re interested in writing in? Do you both agree on the course of your writing career?
Payment
If an agent demands payment straight off, back away and run. This is a red flag and should not happen! Agents get paid only when you sell a book.
Submission and More
Does your agent know which editors to submit to? Do they have so many clients that you feel lost? This last question is an individual decision that you alone can make—are you happy being a little fish in a big pond or would you like a newer agent who may have more attention to devote to you?
How Do You Go About Changing Literary Agents?
First of all, talk to your current representation before changing literary agents. I’d never recommend leaving an author/agent relationship until you make an honest effort to sort out any of the issues you’re having. There’s a chance that your agent isn’t even aware of what they’re doing “wrong” and everything can be sorted out.
If this doesn’t work, however, make a clean break before beginning to query other agents. It’s not ethical to hang on to your previous agent “just in case.” You may need to write a letter to make this official, and depending on your contract, there may be a waiting period before you are allowed to query again. If you currently have works on submission, this is also something to talk to your current agent about.
When you are legally “free”, you may proceed in querying other agents. As long as your split was amicable, a simple note in your query letter stating that “I was previously represented by Agent X and am seeking new representation” is all that is needed. For more information on Query Letter Format, see this great post.
Remember that you probably will need to query with a new manuscript, especially if your old agent submitted an older work to editors. That’s okay, though! After all, you’re going to write something new eventually, anyway!
In the end, you can keep going and continue with your career after leaving an agent—so many people do!
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