WHEN AN AGENT SAYS NO (OR MAYBE!)
ANY agents would likely recommend that writers keep business out of the writing room and out of their heads and not even think about the opinions of agents, let alone signing with one, as they create their work. Yet when it comes time to sell that work, what agents think very much matters. An agent’s role is that of gatekeeper: They are often the first readers of manuscripts, the first brokers of publishing opportunities, and the first advocates on a book’s behalf. In a practical sense, writers need agents. Writers cannot typically submit unpublished manuscripts to the Big Five publishers or to their imprints without first gaining representation by an agent, who is the one to directly engage with editors at these publishing houses. An agent’s reputation and power to sell future books rests on that agent’s ability to form and sustain relationships with editors, relationships that are a mix of camaraderie and the editor’s trust in the agent’s judgment of what makes a book good. In making these judgment calls, agents are driven by what they
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