First of all, if you believe this, you’ve probably been burned. And that sucks. But the vast majority of agents are BOTH. And thank god. I mean, would you want an unethical agent, who effectively sold your novel, to be handling your money? Hell no.

The Association of Author’s Representatives, or AAR, which not all agents belong to, has a very strict code of ethics that their members must adhere to. Even agents that aren’t members — and not belonging to the AAR doesn’t automatically mean an agent is unethical — usually follow their guidelines.

You have to ask — how can an unethical agent, in the long run, truly be effective? Sure, they might make a few sales, but in the long term, if they behave in an unethical manner, they’re going to be burning editors and authors, and after a while, who’s going to want to work with them?

I know a number of my colleagues chimed in to call these theory total horseshit, and I hope any author who came across it listens to the overwhelming number of folks who had experiences that disprove it, and not the lone wolf who seemingly wrote it just to stir up controversy.

Bottom line: hold out for the agent who’s both ethical and effective. We’re the vast majority.

GrammarGirl writes:

I have this “friend,” see. Her kind and warm agent found her after reading some of her work, saving my friend the stress of having to query many agents. At the outset of their relationship, my friend explained that she aspired to write novels for kids and teens, even though her day job was writing in other categories. The agent said, “No problem.” But my friend has noticed the agent has sold nothing else like that. Nor does the agent seem to really be into YA and MG fiction, at least not in the hopeless and irredeemable way my friend is. Finally, when my friend sent a brief synopsis of the YA novel she was writing, the agent didn’t respond.

My friend doesn’t like to nag. Nor would she expect someone to feign love for a book category to make a sale. Would it be better for my friend to seek another agent who specializes in children’s literature? Or should she just be glad she has an agent, and hope that when the novel is suitably polished, the agent will know which editor might like to buy it? The whole thing makes my friend’s stomach hurt.

Dear GrammarGirl — This is a tough call, but I think you have to go with what your agent has said. Just because an agent hasn’t done much YA or MG in the past doesn’t mean they won’t be absolutely fantastic at selling it in the future. If she’s already said your interest in other genres is great, and not a problem, then you get to run with that.

The fact that she hasn’t responded to your latest synopsis may not have anything to do with the category, and may be about being busy or just behind in her reading. Has it been a week or so? Send her a short email, confirming that she’s received the synopsis, and saying that you’re eager to hear her reaction. In the meantime, while you wait to hear from her, keep writing!

Finally, for all your writers out there of category fiction, whether it’s MG, YA, adult romance, scifi, or Cold War spy novels. Whatever. Yes, you’ll find agents who love the category that you’re writing in. You may also be lucky enough to find an agent you loves your book, regardless of the category. They’re not always the same person, and that’s ok.

So, say you’re an author with multiple submissions out to agents — maybe a few queries, a couple of partials, a full or two — and you get the magic call. An offer! Someone loves your work enough to offer representation. Huzzah!

Before you sign on the doted line, know that many agents expect authors to take their time responding. After all, this is a big decision. And unless an agent has a policy of only looking at exclusive submissions, it’s common practice for them to suggest that the author get back to them with a decision within a set amount of time.

So, as an author, what do you do with that time? Well, you could just say yes, and do a happy dance about having an agent. But if other agents are looking at your work, the polite and expected thing is to notify them of the pending offer, and give them a deadline within your time frame for a response.

Now, I will admit that I usually don’t bother asking an author if anyone else is looking at their work unless I’m requesting a full. And maybe I need to be more clear when I ask for a partial, and specifically request that I be informed if there’s any movement on the material from other agents.

I think I place a lot of trust in the authors that query me, that they’re tech-savvy and follow not just me on Twitter and my blog, but also follow other agents. And while I think this is widely known and accepted etiquette, maybe isn’t as clear as I think it is. Thus this blog post.

I know that getting an offer is an exciting time. And I do appreciate being told not to bother reading a partial that’s no longer available — it’s much better than reading it, being interested, and contacting the author for more only to be told then that the manuscript is no longer available.

But here’s my perspective on things — if you queried me, hopefully that means you researched me, and found something that you liked about me and the way I work. And in the query process, at some point, you wanted to be represented by me, right? And then I said yes, please send me the partial. Given that you were interested in me, and I’ve shown I was interested in you, wouldn’t you want to give that a chance?

As I said on Twitter, I know I’m not everyone’s first choice, and I don’t expect to be. But if you only have one dream agent, maybe you should only send to them, and wait to hear their response before submitting to others. The other possibility is understanding that what may seem like a dream agent from one angle may change based on your perspective, and that the dream may not be found in a single person, but in an approach to your work.

I don’t want to make any author who gets an offer of representation feel bad about that fact. It’s a great thing, and you should celebrate it! Maybe I’m just a comparison shopper — to me, if I know I can get a great deal on an item at one store, I’m even more curious to find out if I can get a similarly awesome deal somewhere else — maybe with a better parking space, or points that get me coupons to use in the future.

But in the same way that we as agents hope that we get a chance to have an auction for a project, because we know that having multiple people interested means the chance of finding the best situation is even greater, I hope authors see the benefit of having multiple agents reading at the same time.

Does that make sense?

GrammarGirl writes:

I have this “friend,” see. Her kind and warm agent found her after reading some of her work, saving my friend the stress of having to query many agents. At the outset of their relationship, my friend explained that she aspired to write novels for kids and teens, even though her day job was writing in other categories. The agent said, “No problem.” But my friend has noticed the agent has sold nothing else like that. Nor does the agent seem to really be into YA and MG fiction, at least not in the hopeless and irredeemable way my friend is. Finally, when my friend sent a brief synopsis of the YA novel she was writing, the agent didn’t respond.

My friend doesn’t like to nag. Nor would she expect someone to feign love for a book category to make a sale. Would it be better for my friend to seek another agent who specializes in children’s literature? Or should she just be glad she has an agent, and hope that when the novel is suitably polished, the agent will know which editor might like to buy it? The whole thing makes my friend’s stomach hurt.

Dear GrammarGirl — This is a tough call, but I think you have to go with what your agent has said. Just because an agent hasn’t done much YA or MG in the past doesn’t mean they won’t be absolutely fantastic at selling it in the future. If she’s already said your interest in other genres is great, and not a problem, then you get to run with that.

The fact that she hasn’t responded to your latest synopsis may not have anything to do with the category, and may be about being busy or just behind in her reading. Has it been a week or so? Send her a short email, confirming that she’s received the synopsis, and saying that you’re eager to hear her reaction. In the meantime, while you wait to hear from her, keep writing!

Finally, for all your writers out there of category fiction, whether it’s MG, YA, adult romance, scifi, or Cold War spy novels. Whatever. Yes, you’ll find agents who love the category that you’re writing in. You may also be lucky enough to find an agent you loves your book, regardless of the category. They’re not always the same person, and that’s ok.

Do any of you write in multiple genres, and has this come up for you? I rep several authors who write in both YA and MG, as well as one with both an adult novel and a MG one. What’s been your experience? Do share!

Could you maybe shed some light on why an agent might love a certain genre, but choose not to represent it?

For example, in your bio on the site, you say that you’re interested in urban fantasy and would love work by, say, Joss Whedon, but it’s not what you’re looking for as an agent. (On a personal note, this bums me out enormously, because I have an urban fantasy I think you might enjoy based on those interests–but, er, that’s not entirely relevant to the question at hand.) I’ve seen the same with other agents; they profess a love for a certain genre but don’t represent it. Is it simply a matter of knowing the right editors? Maybe they already have enough of that genre? Could you share some thoughts on what might be behind such a decision?

Thanks in advance if you choose to answer this question, and for the blog in general. It’s always very helpful!

Corinne, thanks for the question! I can’t speak for all agents, but for me, I state more of my interests than what I seek to represent because in YA and MG, for example, there’s room for lots of different genres. To some extent, I feel the same way about the adult genres I represent. If you can make a case that your urban fantasy, for example, might be considered witty women’s fiction, I might take a look.

My love for Joss, though some would concentrate on the fantasy elements, is based hugely on his strong female characters and his wit — something I look for in YA and pop-culture narrative nonfiction, for instance.

I spend a lot of time expanding my contacts within the YA and MG worlds, getting to know the editors who are looking to acquire in those areas. When I take on an urban fantasy, or when a client wants to write something outside their previous genre, I put in additional work in creating a submission list. It’s not just about being able to automatically put together a list of 6 to 10 editors I think would be perfect, but about researching possibilities, learning about their tastes, etc.

Think of it in terms of restaurants. If you go to a steak house, your best bet for a fantastic meal is likely going to be steak. If you ask for a salad, or pasta, or Japanese noodles, you may be disappointed that it’s not the best salad, pasta, or ramen you’ve ever had. But if you wanted that, wouldn’t you go to Wagamama? (Ok, now I’m hungry.) Agents list their areas of interest as specialties. In some cases, there’s overlap, and you may find a pretty fantastic Spaghetti Bolognese on the menu. Other times, branching out beyond what they say they do best is getting a sub-par, wilted salad.

Does that help?

But what does that MEAN? Moonrat explains some, but I’ll add my own thoughts as well.

In terms of Full Fiscal Disclosure, as an author, you are entitled to all the information your agent receives about the financial status of your books. Have they earned out? By how much? How many copies have sold? When money comes in from a publisher, your share should be sent to you within 5 to 10 business days of receipt (specific times may vary depending on each agent, but should be laid out in writing in your agent agreement). In addition, all money for an agent’s clients should be kept in a separate bank account than the one the agent uses for his or her general business expenses. This is a standard set out by the Association of Author’s Representatives (the AAR), an organization I’m proud to have officially joined. To whit:

Members must maintain separate bank accounts for money due their clients so that there is no commingling of clients’ and members’ funds. Members shall deposit funds received on behalf of clients promptly upon receipt, and shall make payments of domestic earnings due clients promptly, but in no event later than ten business days after clearance.

It’s the second rule in the AAR’s Canon of Ethics, which shows how important it is.

Comfortable Communication is a less structured idea, but basically, I see it as this: if you’re my client, I have time for you. Always. You want to know what’s going on with your book? I’m going to tell you. Your emails are not ignored, and any question you may have for me is treated with respect and due consideration. Now, does that mean that I’m going to respond to your worried emails at 11:35pm instantaneously? Probably not, but then again, I just might. What I’m not going to do is ignore them for days.

I hear about these authors who don’t get responses from their agents to emails or phone calls for weeks on end, and I just don’t understand! Sure, something may come up in a day, and I might not be able to respond to your question the same day I receive it (probably because I’m dealing with something else for another client), but I WILL respond. That’s my promise to my clients.

In fact, as soon as I finish this blog post, I’m going to respond to an author’s email I received yesterday, that I wasn’t able to get to right away.

For another agent’s thoughts on what being an agent means in terms of responses, please check out Rachelle Gardner’s recent post on griping:

if you’re an unagented author, you should be glad agents prioritize their clients over the thousands of non-clients who contact us each year. One of these days when you have an agent, you’ll want your agent paying more attention to you than to all those others who are clamoring for attention.

What do you think? What do you want in an agent that we haven’t covered? What’s the most important thing to you in that relationship?

Like the majority of people who contact you, I am a writer who is interested in being published. Some years ago, I had a story published by Word Riot and was writing regularly for various financial publications. Unfortunately I became very ill.

What this means for me is that I am essentially bedbound. But what’s worse for the writing is I sometimes have aphasia. I may get stuck saying the same word over and over again. I might stutter on the same sound. I may say completely the wrong word. I do much better when I’m actually writing but I do say the wrong thing and sometimes I can’t figure out what I meant later.

I spent the next few years writing every day as I was afraid my words would desert me. I’ve written two scripts, three short novels, one adult novel, a YA novel and I’m well into a zombie YA novel that’s the darkest thing I’ve done, I think.

Having proven to myself that I can continue to write under suboptimal conditions I decided to find an agent. Because I can get easily confused I sent only one query letter last year. I wanted to do one query at a time to keep my head straight. I sent it on February 15, 2008. On March 16, 2008 she asked for a partial, which I promptly sent. August 31, 2008 she asked for a full, which I sent right away. As of today I have not had any response, despite status checks.

Unfortunately I need a very patient person to work with and now that I’ve read more of her tweets and her blog, I’m sure the agent I queried is not that person.

How in the world do you find an agent who would like to represent you, enjoys your work, and can deal with a somewhat fragile psyche and some brain damage? As well as the infrequent aphasia? And should this stuff be mentioned in the query letter? And finally, and I admit this is a very cruel thing for me to say, I was at Balticon and I heard an agent with such a screechy voice that he triggered a headache and I had to lie down in the courtyard. It’s like a joke with a bad punch line. What if I end up with a great agent and can’t talk to them? How ridiculous would that be? Finding an agent may not be the hardest thing in the world but if I found one who then fired me because I was a maudlin, wrong word saying mess I’d be extremely upset.

Thanks for your question, Georgiana. You’re in a difficult situation, no doubt about it, but it can be saved.

First of all, I assume you’ve written off the agent who hasn’t responded to you since last August. On behalf of my profession, I apologize. Moving forward, I can understand you only want to send to one agent at a time, but I fear for you that you’ll have to deal with the same sort of long delays as you’ve experienced in the past.

Would a clear submission chart help you? I recommend something like it for all authors, but I think it would be especially beneficial in your case. You want to make sure that all the details of your agent search are in one easy to understand place. Each week, perhaps, you could send out one query, note when and to whom you sent it, and when you get a response, you can go to your chart and note it, sending more material as necessary.

At this stage of the game, no one expects instant responses, so you can feel free to take the time you need to craft a response to an agent requesting material, maybe composing it one day, and rereading it the next day to make sure it says what you want to convey.

When should you tell an agent about your illness? I don’t think you need to mention it until you get someone interested in your work — that means they’ve read your full and like it, and want to continue talking to you. Then I would describe your special circumstances and see how they feel that would affect your career and their relationship with you. At that time, you can also see how you feel about working with them — if their voice is soothing or not so, if you feel you can work well with them.

I think in this day and age, in our technology-driven world, its amazing what can be done from our homes — and to take that to the extreme — from our beds if necessary. If you sell your book, your editor and publicity person will need to know the special circumstances of your physical limitations in terms of tours, interviews, etc., but that’s something to worry about down the line, and it CAN be worked with.

I don’t know if you know this, but Laura Hillenbrand, the New York Times bestselling author of Seabiscuit, has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and writes her books from bed, when she feels well enough to do so. (Here’s a link to a very personal essay — originally from The New Yorker — in which she discusses her illness.) It can be done — and very successfully, too. Good luck.

What’s it like working with Maureen Johnson?

Well, that depends, Karma (great name, btw! I had a summer camp friend named Karma when I was a wee KT!). For instance, some days start like with a “Hello, petunia!” on IM, and some days get going with a poke. But Maureen and I have a long history — we were friends back in college, lived together in two different countries and multiple apartments, and both got our start in this publishing business around the same time.

But I think the real question here is — what’s a real working relationship between an agent and an author look like? Once you’ve snagged an agent (or, on the flip side, once you’ve signed a fab author), what’s THAT like?

Like so many questions on this page, it depends. What your relationship is like with an agent may be one thing while she’s submitting your manuscript, and something else entirely when your book has sold to a publisher, and you’re working on revisions with your editor.

The key, to my mind, is openness. You want to be able to tell your agent anything and everything about your book and your writing, and your agent should keep you in the loop when things happen on the business side. Are you going to be best friends and have slumber parties and do each other’s hair? Maybe. But I wouldn’t count on it. That’s not what you should look for in an agent.

Sure, if you find a real friendship, that’s brilliant. And I like to think I’d get on really well with most of my clients — I know we do via email and Twitter, and I’ve had good experiences with online friendships becoming something more. But that’s secondary to how well you work together.

If you have an idea you’re excited about, does she get excited, too? If you’re worried, or having a tough time with a draft, can you talk to her? Does she inspire you or cheer you on? If something’s troubling you, can you tell her?

I’ve said before the author/agent partnership is a relationship, and as such, it shouldn’t just be something decided based on credentials, or how someone looks on paper. I always want to talk to any prospective client before signing them, to get a sense of how we’d work together, how our personalities would mesh, and that’s one of the reasons I’m glad I’m on Twitter — to help authors who may become clients get a feel for me, and my personality.

Oh, and one of the good things about working with MJ? I get to know about the SEKRITS before the general public. Squee!

I currently have a few publishers who requested material reviewing my book. If one is interested, and I decide I need an agent, is it okay to re-query an agent at this point if they rejected a query before (no writing sample attached) and it lies in their interest range? Or, to query somebody in an agency that says to query only one person within it, if you’ve already queried one? I would never break those rules normally, but if you have something up for sale, is it okay to?

We’re getting a little cart before the horse, here, but to save you some time down the road, let me be blunt: No.

There’s no little asterisk next to the rules on those agents’ submission guidelines saying, “Unless you have a really good reason for disregarding.” Rules are rules are rules. That’s why researching the right agents the first time you send something out, and making sure that your query and sample pages are perfect, is SO IMPORTANT. You don’t get a second chance.

If you do get a publisher interested before you have an agent, here’s my advice:

1. First check your records — do you currently have any material out with agents? If so (and there should be no reason why you wouldn’t), it’s appropriate to send them an email letting them know that you have an offer from a publisher on the table, and you hope you could hear from them soon, as you’d like to have an agent help walk you through the deal. An important note about this step: Please make sure you actually have AN OFFER. An expression of interest is nice, but can easily go away. If you’re asking agents to hurry up and get to your stuff right away, you better have money on the table.
2. If no agent is currently reviewing your material, email queries to the next few agents on your well-researched list of future submissions. Pitch your story as usual, but do let them know in your query that you have an offer (see above), and that you’re hoping to get back to your future editor within a certain timeframe. Follow all of the agent’s usual guidelines. Don’t send the full with the query to save yourself a step — if they’re interested, they’ll decide how much they need to see before making a decision. And oh yeah, just because you have an offer, don’t expect that every agent is going to fall over themselves to work with you. One offer does not a long-term relationship make. You need to be compatible partners for the long haul.
3. Ask your editor! Every editor has agents they enjoy working with, and chances are, they’d be happy to suggest a few for you to query. In which case, follow the rules as usual, but be sure to include in your query something like “Editor X, who made an offer for my manuscript, suggested I contact you.”

One other thing — make sure that the agent who wants to work with you because you have an offer isn’t an agent who only wants to work with you because you have an offer. Yes, there is a ton of work for an agent to do post-offer, which is why a long-term relationship is so important. It’s not just about negotiating the contract — it’s about guiding your career. Make sure you don’t just sign with someone who sees a fast buck, but instead, look for someone who is in it for the long haul.

As I get ready to submit my middle-grade WIP to agents, I’m torn with which ones to target. Should I find ones who specialize in middle grade fiction or go further and find ones who are interested in middle grade fiction about dancers?

Another aspect of this is that many of the comparable novels to mine were written in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s. Is this too far back to use in a query?

Kathy, I think you’ll find you’re really limiting yourself if you only seek out agents who specifically say they’re looking for middle grade fiction about dancers. Most of us don’t usually get that precise about our interests, because many times, we don’t know what we want to represent until we see it!

I mean, sure, I’ve said I’d love to find a YA novel about gymnasts, but does that mean I only want to receive queries about gymnasts? No! I still want to see everything that falls within my broader, stated interests.

As for the second part of your question, I’m going to go with the lame-ass “it depends.” One the one hand, the fact that the only comparable novels you can find for your book are decades old may represent a real need for an updated take on the theme or story. Then again, it may signal that your presentation of the story is itself somewhat dated, as well as being — perhaps — more about YOUR experience as a young reader than a young reader today.

Ultimately, I’m going to say it kinda doesn’t matter, as referring to competitive works is more for nonfiction than fiction. Sure, once you’ve been acquired by a house, your editor may put together a TI (Title Information) sheet for her sales, marketing, and publicity departments, and may mention competitive works to them, but I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about competitive works at this stage in your process.