Copy-editing has started on “Short Ghost Stories: The Man with the Axe in his Back“. I think I’ll get it back by the end of this and next week. I’m a little worried, to be honest. I’ve never had copy-editing done on my prose fiction before (comics, heaps), so I don’t know what to expect.

• This is part of an on-going blog series called “Being a Professional Manga Artist in the West“. The Table of Contents is here.
• Meanwhile, my comics-prose stories “Short Ghost Stories: The Man with the Axe in his Back” is here on Smashwords. Check it out if you like “The Dreaming” – this ebook is $4.99, but will be on discount for $2.99 until 31st August, 2014!

Part 3: Agents

Agents are very important to anyone who wants to get published by a major publisher, especially in the US. If you want to get published without an agent, then that’s definitely doable (especially in places outside the US like Canada), but you’ll have to take on the role that an agent usually performs. Some may argue that it’s part and parcel of being a writer, but if you don’t have any publisher contacts or are unfamiliar with contract negotiations, a good agent can be a great asset.

Disclaimer: I talk about the role of an agent here, but this is not a definitive guide. I try and keep my information accurate, but if there are any corrections, please let me know. This is also not in any way meant to be legal advice – I have no authority to give out legal advice. If an agent offers you a contract and you’re unsure of the terms, please find a legal professional who can help you.

 

Part 3a: What is an Agent?

The dictionary definition of an agent is ‘one who acts for, or in, the place of another, with authority from him, usually for business reasons.’ In other words, your agent is someone who acts on your behalf as a representative, usually for reasons of business negotiations.

A literary agent is exactly the same thing, but in the world of publishing. Agents vary in terms of function across entertainment fields, but they all perform a similar function. Those functions are: (a) take the creative output of a creator, one which the creator has authorised the agent to represent, (b) shop it around to interested parties, and (c) should someone be interested, negotiate the terms of contract. In return, the agent takes a portion (usually 15%) of the monies the creator gets from the work.

A literary agent need not only represent the rights to your book. Depending on what you’ve given the agent rights to represent, they can also negotiate film/music/television/video game/etc rights for you. However, it’s best to make sure your agent has training in those fields, because the contract of terms for those media fields can be vastly different to book publishing.

 

Part 3b: Why do Agents exist?

Agents exist for the same reason as publishers do: to help creators find people who can help them get their work in front of a vast audience. In terms of publishing, this means finding a publisher who is interested in acquiring and publishing your book.

Once upon an ancient time, writers used to send their unpublished manuscripts directly to the publishers to read. This was in the day of typewriters, and eventually, the submission pile (‘slush pile’) got so large that publishers couldn’t possibly deal with the mountains of paper, let alone read any of it. Some publishers tried to deal with it by hiring ‘readers,’ usually interns or low-level employees who have the job of sifting through that massive pile to find interesting work. However, due to the cost of this, these ‘readers’ became extinct sometime in the 1990s. Other publishers just let a new class of third-party individuals to spring up, one that can help them act as a filter against people who can’t write. And so, the ‘literary agent’ was born.

Literary agents make sure they kept in constant touch with various editors in various publishing houses, and offer these editors manuscripts that they may want to publish. To offer them said manuscripts, the agents have to find talented writers and represent them as their advocates, which is why the first step to getting published often requires you to find an agent. Without an agent, it’s genuinely hard (though not impossible) to get the attention of a publisher or editor.

Next Wednesday, I talk about Agents scams, which are a big problem. Thanks to the changing nature of publishing, there’s a lot of scammers pretending to be agents out where, waiting to prey on the unwary.