Joe Kertes, author and founder of the Humber School for Writers, recently spoke at Humber College about the business of getting published. This is a summary of his talk.
A manuscript has five readers. In order they are
1. You
2. An agent
3. Editor of a publishing house
4. Reviewers
5. Readers
It's important to have an agent because they can walk by the slush piles and the assistants. They can walk in the front door of a publishing house and say to an editor, "I think you should read this."
An agent has done her homework. She knows which publishers will like your book and which won't. Writers don't usually know this information.
Underneath publishers are a network of scouts. Your agent will know these scouts and be able to put your book in their hands.
The hierarchy goes like this:
Publisher
Scout
Agent
Subagent
Agents can negotiate better terms than you can. They won't sign away film rights, for example. Publishers will leave out clauses and agents will spot these omissions.
Agents can get after publishers and demand the marketing of your book.
A first-time writer takes 10 times the amount of time to promote. Most agents won't deal with the entry-level writer.
Literary agent, Margaret Hart, also spoke about the role of agents and what they are looking for from writers. Here is a summary of her talk.
A lot of agents are former English teachers who appreciate good writing.
Manuscripts have to be ready: a good story, well-written, energetic, a good arc to the story. If you want to stay up reading the book, that's a good sign.
Recently a publisher at Penguin asked Margaret Hart, "Can you tell me this is excellent writing?" It made her pause. She could say it was a good story, promising writing, even good writing, but excellent writing?
An agent wants to be able to say about your book. "Yes, it's excellent writing."
Sometimes a publisher can't take a book because they just bought a book on the same topic.
Writers have to be patient and wait their turn. An agency is representing numerous authors.
End of Talk (Humber School of Writers, July 10, 2010)
2. An agent
3. Editor of a publishing house
4. Reviewers
5. Readers
It's important to have an agent because they can walk by the slush piles and the assistants. They can walk in the front door of a publishing house and say to an editor, "I think you should read this."
An agent has done her homework. She knows which publishers will like your book and which won't. Writers don't usually know this information.
Underneath publishers are a network of scouts. Your agent will know these scouts and be able to put your book in their hands.
The hierarchy goes like this:
Publisher
Scout
Agent
Subagent
Agents can negotiate better terms than you can. They won't sign away film rights, for example. Publishers will leave out clauses and agents will spot these omissions.
Agents can get after publishers and demand the marketing of your book.
A first-time writer takes 10 times the amount of time to promote. Most agents won't deal with the entry-level writer.
Literary agent, Margaret Hart, also spoke about the role of agents and what they are looking for from writers. Here is a summary of her talk.
A lot of agents are former English teachers who appreciate good writing.
Manuscripts have to be ready: a good story, well-written, energetic, a good arc to the story. If you want to stay up reading the book, that's a good sign.
Recently a publisher at Penguin asked Margaret Hart, "Can you tell me this is excellent writing?" It made her pause. She could say it was a good story, promising writing, even good writing, but excellent writing?
An agent wants to be able to say about your book. "Yes, it's excellent writing."
Sometimes a publisher can't take a book because they just bought a book on the same topic.
Writers have to be patient and wait their turn. An agency is representing numerous authors.
End of Talk (Humber School of Writers, July 10, 2010)
