Thread by @alexdecampi, Gather round, writers. Let’s talk about what literary agents do and whether [...]

Gather round, writers. Let’s talk about what literary agents do and whether you need one. This is mainly going to be oriented towards comics/graphic novel people but prose folks, I’ll try to include you too. (1/many)

I’m a mid-career writer with a bunch of books out, both graphic novels & prose fiction. I have a literary agent, a book-to-film / entertainment manager, and an entertainment lawyer. All of them take small percentages of any deals they work on for me. I’m GLAD to pay them.

My literary agent:
* reviews my pitches and manuscripts and provides editorial and market advice
* pitches my books to publishers
* negotiates deals
* handles & mediates conflict
* chases invoices
* gives me an easy tax statement at year end
* works with my film agent

My film agent:
* represents my books to be adapted into film & TV
* strategizes with me on who we want to do this / where we think best fit is
* markets me as a screenwriter
* manages relationships with the producers who have optioned my work
* chases invoices etc etc

While both my agents bring me opportunities unprompted, I would say 80-90% of what I get out of these relationships are projects that began with me. Getting an agent doesn’t mean you get to sit back and someone else gets you work. You still are the primary hustler.

For a comics writer, if you are primarily interested in monthly comics work, an agent is less important. If you are interested in marketing your (usually YA or MG, but occasionally adult) OGN to bookstore publishers, you absolutely have to have an agent.

(The timescale of working with bookstore publishers is, like, 10x as long at every part of it vs. monthly, and that’s the biggest thing to get used to. I’ve had a book picked up by Image in 48 hours; I’ve had bookstore pubs take 6 months to make an offer and another 5 for legal)

(The advances for bookstore pubs are like 10x that of monthly pubs and you get to keep aaaaall your rights, so you learn to be chill, usually by your agent telling you repeatedly to chill tf out)

I’m going to reiterate, comics people: Just because your agent is slow doesn’t mean they’re not doing their job; bookstore publishing is NOT FAST at all so stop getting your knickers in a twist over the PW Deals of the Week and trust your rep.

How do you tell if your agent is bad-slow vs. waiting on editors slow? It’s pretty easy. Do they respond to you promptly (within a few days) on simple questions? If they repeatedly fail to do this, you may have a problem.

When do you start looking for an agent?

Graphic novels: when you have a pitch completely ready to go, and an example of shorter work you’ve already done. A pitch includes synopsis, outline, and 6-8 pages of sequential art. (Pitch preferences vary a lot but this is the basic one)

Prose fiction: When you have a full MS.

Nonfiction: When you have a book proposal plus work examples (eg published journalism), preferably in that or an adjacent subject.

There are a lot of resources online on how to query. Google them. But first know that everybody cheats. Ask your agented friends for intros! I actually have never queried. My editor at Dark Horse intro’d me to my first literary agent—

—who intro’d me to my film agent, and when I transitioned more into prose work I moved to an agent already familiar with my work.

Here is the most important thing I can tell you about finding an agent: the agency name is much, much less important than your personal relationship with the agent as a human being. Worst agent I ever had was a junior agent at CAA!

Talk to as many of your agented friends as possible about what they like best about their agents, and think about the areas you want support. For me, what I love best about my film agent is he’s super entrepreneurial and not only likes my weird ideas, he totally runs with them.

What I love best about my literary agent is she is super strategic and editorial, and she’s also the politest but firmest person I’ve ever met. I can be like *whispers* “please deal with this” and she fixes the situation and everyone ends up liking each other more, it’s MAGIC.

And again, remember an agency name isn’t a guarantee of quality, it doesn’t mean every agent they have is going to be great. Agents are people, and their skill is distributed over a bell curve which means some are excellent, and some are kind of crap.

Also please know that getting an agent is not like a square in a board game that validates you as a writer. If you are all hot on getting an agent before you have, y’know, done the work of making something they can sell, you are just wasting everyone’s time.

Don’t be pushy. Don’t be condescending. Don’t lie. Let your work speak for itself.

If you don’t have the work yet, don’t contact the agent.

How do you as a writer get a book to film agent? Usually your literary agent will have relationships and can intro you. Also, again, ask your friends who they like. No, your real friends. Don’t email producers you don’t know. They’re busy, and you’re being annoying.

When do you look to get book to film representation? When you have a finished book that you own the rights to. If you mostly do WFH/licensed work or you’re publisher takes secondary rights, then alas, you do not need a book to film agent yet because you have nothing they can sell

Bear in mind the book doesn’t have to be published yet before you look for book to film representation, but it DOES have to have some sort of signed publishing deal. Almost all of my work gets optioned before it hits retail shelves, for example.

In all of this, again, the biggest learning curve is honestly 1) how long everything takes and 2) shutting the fuck up. You’re going to get super cool deals where it takes six months to get a contract, and then it’ll be three years before you can even talk about them.

Feel free to ask questions, but if it is a question that can be answered by googling “how to query” I will totally clown you.

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