STATUS: Snowy, cold day in Denver. Perfect for getting a ton of work done.
What song is playing on the ipod right now? I FEEL POSSESSED by Crowded House
I had a lot of fun giving a talk at CU-Boulder on Saturday. I had a tough act to follow in Lynda Sandoval, another Denver native and terrific writer if you haven’t checked out her stuff. (And see, I don’t just talk about my own clients. Lynda is actually with Jenny Bent!)
And a perfect transition for today’s rant. One of the attendees at my talk asked a really interesting question, one I’ve never really been asked before. A gentleman asked me to discuss the competition between agents and how we handle it.
I think I babbled my answer because it really was an unexpected question and one that’s hard for me to answer because I don’t really see myself or my job as “in competition” against other agents. As y’all know, I have a lot of agent friends. In fact, I belong to two Yahoo chat loops where agents talk, share and support each other. One of which we humorously dubbed the Agent Cartel and we plan to give a workshop together (at least 10 of the agents in the group) at RWA in Atlanta.
Do we all rep the same stuff? For one loop, not really (but we’ll often forward projects on to the loop that sound interesting but don’t fit our lists). For the other, we do but I don’t think any of us feel like we are in competition with each other—although technically we might be vying for the same projects.
For the most part, I believe (and so do my agent friends) that there are a ton of good projects out there and it’s our job to go after and find them. You might even go so far to say that certain clients and projects are meant to be with certain agents (isn’t that a lovely thought?).
If there is a hot project and another agent gets to it first, well, I need to move faster next time.
When I’m vying for a client who has a couple of agent offers of representation on the table and I fear one of those other offers might be from an agent friend, I don’t ask who else is interested. I don’t want to know if I’m up against a friend. That way the best woman for that project will just win.
I will ask about the other agents involved after the fact and if it’s a girlfriend who has landed the desirable client, she has to buy me dinner the next time we are together!
Now, I’m sure y’all realize that not all agents think like this. Agents can be any and all different types of personalities. I’ve certainly met other agents who were outwardly nice but I did sense a paranoid edge–that they were sizing up the competition in order to best see how they could get a leg up. Needless to say, none of those agents are part of my circle of biz friends.
Can you write a Part 2, about how the ‘competition’ is in regards to agents trying to sell to a publisher. I would think that’s more competative since your fighting for the same publishing spots.
-CLD
Great. Yet another reason to wish we’d delayed moving across the pond until after June so I could go to the conference this year.
Can’t wait to see your talk in Atlanta. I was asked in a writer group how I felt “beating out” others to land an agent. I never saw myself in competition with the other writers- but I thought it was an interesting perspective.
For one loop, not really (but we’ll often forward projects on to the loop that sound interesting but don’t fit our lists).
I’m confused about this. When you do this, do you recommend the agent contact the author? Or is it simply more of a heads-up to be on the lookout for said author?
If the latter, what if the author doesn’t think to contact that agent because she doesn’t think her novel fits the agent’s list?
For one loop, not really (but we’ll often forward projects on to the loop that sound interesting but don’t fit our lists).
I’m confused about this. When you do this, do you recommend the agent contact the author? Or is it simply more of a heads-up to be on the lookout for said author?
I’ve heard of this happening too. Either the agent sends the writer a notification of passing the project to another interested agent or the interested agent contacts the writer regarding the work.
Just wanted to say that I recommended Ally Carter’s new book “I’d Tell You I Love but then I’d have to Kill You” to some good sources. Put it this way. The premise of the story is excellent. Expect it to do well in Minnesota!
I think this would be Woody Allen’s slant on the subject…
“Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night.”
So why wouldn’t Agentality (Sharing of Agents) double the success of their clients by networking.
😀
Pennyoz
This partially relates to something I’ve been wondering: how much does a relationship with another agent influence an attitude toward a query? That is, if an agent friend mentions a query that has been rejected and that same query ends up in your in-box, how much does your agent friend’s opinion of said query influence your attitude toward the writer/book query?
Networking is all part of the game, as far as I see it. Just as writers connect to form a strong community (and we recommend other writers to our editors, too…) agents doing the same simply warms my heart. Glad to hear it.
http://www.pennydawn.com
I’ve had an agent suggest two newer agents she felt I should query upon her “good” rejection of a full manuscript. I already had queries/submissions out to one of the agents she recommended, but I really appreciated her suggestions regardless. I felt that was going above and beyond, and, considering the first agent has been in the industry a long time and is well-respected and coveted, her recommendations gave the newer agents more “ka-ching” in my eyes.
One of the recommended agents was Kristin Nelson. Since learning more about Kristin from her clients and from reading this blog, it’s very clear to me why the first agent recommended her. Kristin, I look forward to querying you again in the future.
Cindy