WORKING WITH AN AGENT THROUGH THICK AND THIN

KEEPING TABS ON YOUR AGENT

How do you know what your agent is doing? How do you find out? How do you know what his strategy is—if he has a strategy—and whether it will succeed?

Agents have different styles and keep their clients informed in different ways. One agent I know sends a weekly email update to her entire client list in which she recounts the editors, producers, or foreign publishers she lunched with or met with that week, any sales she made, and any submissions she made. She is a paragon among agents and basically makes the rest of us look bad. However, we all need something to which we can aspire!

Other agents send a submission list to their clients, listing every editor who has or will get the manuscript. Others show proof of their activity by forwarding every rejection email; some add a note saying who will see the manuscript next. Some call with each editor’s response;