Should I Sign with a Literary Agent?

Authors regularly ask me some version of this question: “Do you think I should get an agent?” Assuming I’m speaking with an author who has a chance at signing with an agent (most agents I work with are reticent to sign first-time authors with no platform), my answer is often “It depends.” That usually does not satisfy, so I go into a longer explanation.

It depends on what you’re looking for, and it depends on what any given agent is committed to giving you.

Let me illustrate it this way. Someone I know is unfortunately going through a divorce right now. He realized fairly soon in the process he needed an attorney, so he retained one. He and his attorney had a few meetings, a few phone conversations, and then it came to custody issues (my friend has two kids). The attorney looked up at him and said, “I’m a divorce attorney. I don’t deal with custody issues. But I’d be happy to give you a referral when you’ve paid my fee.”

What’s true in this case is also true in the case of signing with an agent. It’s important to decide what you want or need ahead of time, so you know what questions to ask before signing.

There are a lot of different possibilities. I want an agent to:

- negotiate deals for me
- give me editorial input
- help me plan out my writing career
- give me advice about what my “brand” is or should be
- help me position and promote my book
- be my friend in this wicked world of publishing
- write or edit my proposals
- do all of the above

Naturally any given agent will be better at some functions than others.

While many authors find agents helpful, others are content to take care of all the above functions themselves. It’s simply a matter of preference and weighing all the pros and cons of either option.

Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers Market Guide is the best book to consult if you want to learn about all the agents in the CBA industry, what genres they represent, etc.

I hope this is helpful!