HOW TO READ A LITERARY AGENCY AGREEMENT
Kate McKean is a literary agent at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency and writes the newsletter Agents & Books, which can be found at katemckean.substack.com.
Although McKean has been an agent for over seventeen years, an early job saw her as an editorial assistant. What inspired her to make the professional leap? “Publishers Lunch!” says McKean, who was advised by her boss to read the daily digest for insight about the industry. “I learned more about agents through that, and I knew it was the right path for me. I’m outgoing, a self-starter, and I knew I would have a lot of control over my work life.” Today, McKean represents fiction and nonfiction for adults, teens, and tweens. Her favorite part of the job? “Getting to send e-mails with ‘OFFER OFFER OFFER OFFER’ in the subject line. But also there’s a moment while I’m editing a client’s book when things just click for both of us, and it’s hard to explain, but it’s very satisfying.”I
I HOPE you are in the lucky position to say yes to an agent’s offer of representation. You’ve worked so hard to get here: writing and editing and editing again. Fine-tuning your query letter. Waiting and waiting and waiting some to hear back from agents. (We’re sorry it takes so long!) But when you finally get The Call (or more likely, The E-mail) and you have The Chat, and you’re ready to say yes—do you know what you’re saying yes to, exactly?
