I’ve been thinking about this post for a while now. I wasn’t sure if I was going to write it or not. One wise person told me that if I did, I was going to get dragged all over the internet. And perhaps I will. Or perhaps I’m overdramatizing. I’m a writer. It’s in my nature to create tension with words, to try to keep people reading.

So let me get the caveats out of the way. I’m not trying to tell anybody what to do or how to act. I’m commenting on what I’m seeing, and I’m going to talk about what I personally think about it. I think that’s especially important to mention here because of my position within the industry, and the relative privilege of that spot as compared to others.

For those of you who are new here–and there have been a lot of new people finding my blog, for whatever reason–let me define that privilege by telling you who I am in relation to this topic. First, I’m a cis-het white man in a world where that often makes things easier. May or may not apply here, but it needs to be said. More important, in this specific situation, I’m a reasonably successful author, published by a big five publisher, who has been with the same very good agent for quite some time.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about agents and authors and how they interact. Buckle in. This is going to be long. I promise I have a point at the end, but there might be a lot of stuff to get established before I get to it.

The thought for this has been building for a while, because I’ve been seeing something of a trend with (mostly querying) writers and how they interact with agents. I’ve seen a lot of querying writers being increasingly more public and increasingly more angry in their criticism of agents. No judgement on that, and this isn’t me telling people to stop it. You do you. It’s just something I’ve noticed, and I wanted to look at it.

This came to a head for me a week or two back when I saw an author (who has a very good agent and a book deal) getting mad at an agent for blocking them when they were tweeting about what agents should be doing in regards to querying authors. They talked about the power imbalance, and how agents should want to listen. And I saw hundreds of querying authors in the replies, asking for the name of the agent, and saying they need to know to make sure they don’t query that agent, and that agent shouldn’t be an agent, and all kinds of things. People were mad.

Don’t go look for the author. That’s not the point. They meant well, and they didn’t name the agent. I happen to think they were wrong, that’s all, and seeing so many people pile onto the idea so quickly was a bit of an eye opener.

What I want to do is unpack some of the thoughts and ideas I’ve seen lately, without attributing them to anybody specific. If you feel called out by this, please know that’s not my intention. I have nobody specific in mind here.

I also want to say that none of this applies to specific agents doing problematic things. I’m not excusing that. There are bad people in every profession, and we should call that out.

1. Agents should be listening.

Do we think they aren’t? Do we think an entire profession that makes it’s living by selling the work of writers isn’t paying attention to writers at all? It’s hard to talk about these things universally, because in any large group, certainly there are some people who aren’t listening. But as a whole, I think it’s safe to say that most agents are paying attention to the business in which they are engaged.

By the nature of the business, agents are in competition with each other for limited resources–books that can sell. It’s in their best interest to adapt and make themselves appealing to potential clients. But in the end, when faced with a decision between multiple agents, most authors aren’t making their decisions based on how easy the agent made the querying process (more on that later).

Does that mean that agents, as a whole, are doing everything that querying writers want them to do? Of course not. If writers were in charge, every rejection would come with personalized feedback (even though the vast majority of writers understand why this can’t happen.) But form rejections aren’t happening because agents don’t know. Of course they know that writers like feedback. It’s just not practical.

And I’m not saying that writers are wrong to present new ideas to the community, especially when it comes to helping marginalized writers have better access to the process. For example, I’ve seen some great threads about how to make querying more accessible to neuro-divergent writers.

The flaw comes when people start demanding that other people listen to their opinions. When we do that, we’re making a few mistakes:

a. We think we know more about how someone else should do their job than they do. And maybe we do…but it seems unlikely.

b. That our idea is unique, and they haven’t already heard it before (probably many times.) And maybe it is. But maybe it isn’t.

c. Whenever we say ‘agents need to’ we’re looking at a group of individuals as a monolith. Agents aren’t a conglomerate. There’s no governing board that gets together and makes decisions for how agents are going to do business. It’s a bunch of individuals, or sometimes small groups (agencies), each of which is doing what works for them.

And again…maybe someone does know more, and maybe someone does have a unique idea. Don’t let any of this stop you from sharing your thoughts with the world if that’s what you want to do. Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking that just because you’re not seeing things change to be the way that you want, that nobody is listening. This is a complicated environment, and there are many possible reasons, and not all of them are nefarious.

2. Agents hold all the power.

Do they? It can certainly seem that way as a querying author. I know I certainly felt that way at times when I was querying. But let’s pull it apart.

a. An agent doesn’t have any control over what sells. This one is hard to believe, sometimes. After all, if your goal is to be traditionally published, agents are key gatekeepers. You have to have one. Yep. But it’s not them making the decision about what gets published. At most, they’re looking at what editors are buying and then trying to find books that match. In some cases, they’re taking on books that they think belong in the world, even when it might not be something editors are likely to publish. In most cases, it’s probably a mix.

But publishers/editors buy books, not agents. So who really has the power? There is nothing an agent can do that will change the number of books that will come out in any given genre in any year.

Yes, agents are gatekeepers. But it’s not one gate. Again, it’s not a monolith. There are as many gates as there are agents. Do we think there are piles and piles of books out there that would sell to major publishers, if only an agent took a chance on them? Probably not. Some, maybe. But the exception, not the rule.

And I get it. Agents miss. They will read a book, not offer, and watch it go on to get a six figure deal. Happens all the time. Sometimes even intentionally–the book just isn’t a good fit for them. But will hundreds of agents do that with the same book? Also yes. But a lot less often.

At the end of the day, publishers make the decisions. Can a top agent influence what gets sold? I honestly don’t know. Maybe a few can, in a few cases. Or maybe they are really just on top of the market and have a great eye. But I think it’s safe to say that in most cases, the agent is the salesperson and the publisher is the person deciding whether or not to buy. The publisher has the power.

b. The power dynamic between agents and authors is not static. Here’s where it gets complicated, but I’m going to do my best to break it down.

(1) When an author is querying, it feels like the agent has all the power. The author needs something from them, the agent has many, many authors to choose from. Honestly, when you’re querying, it feels like the agent holds 100% of the power. They don’t. They hold most of it, but the author still has some decisions, and thus some power. The author decides who to query. Yes, they need an agent. But they don’t need a specific agent (they may want a specific ‘dream’ agent, but that’s a topic for another day.) So if certain agents are doing things you don’t like, you can go elsewhere. It’s not a lot of power, but it’s some.

My own personal example: When I was querying, I didn’t want to write a synopsis. So I queried agents that didn’t require a synopsis (Note: This is a horrible idea, and I don’t recommend it. As it turns out, ‘I’m too lazy to do this’ isn’t a great business practice. But I digress.)

Second, agents need books to sell. So while they might not need one specific book, they can’t say no to everything. Again, not a lot of power to the author, but you are the person with the commodity.

So without putting a number on it, I think it’s safe to say that between agents and querying authors, agents hold almost but not quite all the power.

(2) When an author receives an offer.

Here’s where things change, right? When an agent makes an offer, the power shifts almost exclusively to the author for a time.

First, the author sets the timeframe for when they will make the decision. Two weeks is pretty standard, but it’s still the authors decision. (Side note on this: there are a few agents who will try to control this by mis-advising or even bullying the author. This is a huge red flag. Agents shouldn’t do that (and most won’t))

Second, the author gets to say yes or no. The offer is there, and if it’s the only offer, the author might think they don’t have a choice. But they do. (And, again, side note: if you’re an author, even though it might be hard to say no, if it’s a bad fit, you should say no. A bad agent is worse than no agent. I know it doesn’t feel that way, but it’s true.)

Third, there might be multiple offers. In this case, all an agent can do is make their pitch and wait for a decision. This is probably the only point where the power is 100% with one side, and it’s with the author.

(3) Once the author signs. Here’s where it gets complicated, because it’s a relationship, and relationships are…complicated (Yeah, I’m a writer, I promise. Me use words good.)

Let’s hit the easy part first — the balance between author and agents other than their own. When you sign with an agent and before you get published, the power balance between you and every other agent in the world shifts to something pretty neutral. You have an agent, so you don’t need anything from them. You’re not available as a client, so they don’t need anything from you. Sure, it’s in both of your best interests to be somewhere on the scale between nice and indifferent to one another. But that’s about it.

Once you’re published, or, in some cases, when you sign a deal, that balance might shift slightly. Obviously huge authors are important in the business. But even then, what does someone else’s agent want from you? A blurb, maybe? Okay. But most of those requests come from publishers, and it’s a small thing anyway. So it’s still pretty neutral. Even though a really major author probably holds more overall power in the business, it doesn’t have much effect on agents.

So let’s tackle the most complicated part. The power dynamic between agent and client.

First, it’s going to be different in every single case. As with most relationships, I’d argue that the absolute best case is to get as close to 50-50 as you can. I’d also argue that as with most relationships, it’s rarely that.

For an author who hasn’t sold yet, an agent decides when something goes on submission. That’s a lot of power. Some agents overuse (I almost said abuse) this. That’s not great, but I’ve seen it. Maybe it’s justified. Maybe they signed an author with the thought that their book needed work, but once they did it, it had huge potential. Hopefully they communicated that when they signed them, but, as with most relationships, communication can be the biggest problem. Here’s what I know: I’ve never seen a situation like this end well. Sometimes the book never goes out and the client leaves. Sometimes it does go out, and it doesn’t sell and the author feels (right or wrong) that it’s because the agent screwed up the book. Sometimes it does go out and it sells, but the client resents the process.

Before an author has sold, it’s easier for the agent to exit the relationship than the client. Leaving an agent is a hard decision for an author. They spent so much energy trying to get one, and the prospect of having to do it again is daunting. Sometimes it’s the right choice, but it’s never a light one. For an agent, it’s easier at this point, because yes, they have to find new clients…but they’re doing that anyway. So if it becomes apparent that it’s not working out, in theory they can separate.

Except it’s not that simple. Because there’s a court of public opinion. What happens when an agent signs a promising client, the promise doesn’t materialize, and they drop the client without going on submission? Who knows? Depends on the author and their reaction, right? What if the author goes and blasts that all over writer twitter? Because the writer can do that, but the agent really can’t.

So the writer gets to tell their side of the story, even if it’s not true, and some percentage of the writing world is going to believe it. Because it’s an emotional thing, and it plays on the fears of all writers that it could happen to them, and agents hold all the power and are therefore the baddies, and, and, and…

So an agent has to think about that, right? So what happens in reality? Nobody leaves. Author and agent just stay together and both of them are unhappy about it. I’ve seen it a lot. Like most relationships, it’s not a clean break but a gradual drifting apart. The agent pushes the author to the bottom of the pile, the author gets more and more frustrated until they finally leave. Wow, I never thought this all the way through before…this is depressing. But again…seen it a lot.

Then you sell a book. And all of a sudden, neither of you have any power for a while. The publisher has it, the reviewers have it, the economy has it, the readers have it. Everybody that impacts whether a book is successful or not has it. That’s mostly not the author and the agent. The author has done their part already by writing a book that sold to a publisher. The agent has done their part, by pitching it and negotiating the deal. And then they both wait. Yes, one or both of them will fight for things with the publisher — covers, or timelines, or promotion, or any number of things — but that’s really not much about the author-agent relationship (though knowing who is good at what is helpful. For example, my agent is WAY better at covers than I am, so I do as much as I can to maximize her involvement and reduce my own.)

After the book is out, it’s either successful or it’s not. If it’s not…well, I don’t know what happens then. All I can do is pass on things I’ve seen second hand, and really it’s been so different with so many different authors, I’m not sure what’s normal and what’s not. I’ve seen author-agent relationships sour. I’ve seen them go on as well-functioning partnerships. I’ve seen agents dump clients. I’ve seen clients blame agents for the book failing to find purchase (which seems ridiculous to me, but I’ve definitely seen authors do that). Bottom line, I think there are as many different outcomes as there are agent/author pairings.

If it is successful, I think in most cases the power balance shifts toward the author. There are a few reasons for this.

(a) The author now has direct access to their editor. If I want, I can pitch books directly to my editor and I don’t really have to ask my agent. I do ask her, because she’s brilliant and I value her opinion, and she regularly makes my work better. But I don’t technically have to. And if I don’t, and I do what I want without her input and the editor offers on the book anyway, what’s her recourse? She could ask me to do it differently, or she could drop me as a client. In my case, if she asked me to do something different, I would. But are their authors who wouldn’t? I have to believe there are. So then the choice becomes live with it or drop them.

And that’s a tough choice, right? An agent has probably invested years at this point, getting to where they have a client that’s making them money. Because of this, we go to

(b) It’s easier for the client to leave at this point than the agent. How hard would it be for a successful author to find a new agent? As long as you’re not openly evil, probably not very hard.

There are authors with newer/smaller agents who hit it big and then use that to get a bigger/more established agent. Nobody talks about it, but it happens. And look–no judgement, because there are two sides to that, right? On the surface, it feels like kind of a dick move that lacks loyalty. On the other side, though, it’s a tough business where none of us make enough money and as an author you’ve got to look out for your own best interests.

Personally, I’m on the side of loyalty, but that’s just me. As noted at the start, I’m in a position of relative privilege and I have that luxury. Where you fall on that particular spectrum is up to you.

3. So why am I seeing what I’m seeing? Why do querying authors seem so much more outspoken (and often angry) about agents?

Finally, he gets to the point.

I have thoughts.

a. Some of it is good. The outspoken part, not necessarily the anger. I think there’s too much stuff in publishing where the norm has been ‘oh, we don’t talk about that in public, because what will people think? It might reflect bad on me.’

I think you can tell what I think about keeping things quiet if you come to my blog and watch me talk about whatever the hell I want to in the business every week. And I think a lot of people agree with me. Or maybe they don’t. Turns out, I’m going to say it anyway.

Keeping quiet about things we see as problems, or even just things we think should be talked about more (like contracts and pay and business practices and whatever) doesn’t benefit anybody but the people in power, whoever they are in a given situation. Information is power. By sharing it, we’re doing something to help spread the power, even if it’s only a little bit.

Can it backfire? Yeah, probably. If you’re sharing things that other people would rather not have shared, it might affect their decisions as they relate to you.

For me? Well, we covered privilege. What are they going to do to me? So I say what I want (I should note, that with everything I’ve shared, nobody in publishing has ever come to me and told me I shouldn’t. They may think it, but if so, they’ve kept it to themselves.)

Everyone has to make their own decision on these things. But I’ll say this…the vast majority of people I’ve met in this business are decent folks. I’d like to think most of them won’t hold it against you if you’re sharing your truth. I could be wrong. I hope I’m not.

b. Some of it is natural. Look around. The last several years have been…a lot. There’s a lot to be mad about, and some of that probably just carries over.

Being a querying author is frustrating at the best of times. And this isn’t the best of times. So I get it. But that doesn’t make it good.

c. The system isn’t great. Publishing as a whole has a lot of issues, and I think sometimes people forget the words of the great philosopher: Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.

Agents are the closest access point that a lot of querying writers have to the business, so I think they get blamed for a lot of things that they really don’t control. To me, it seems a bit like getting mad at your server at a restaurant. Might you have a bad server, or might they be doing a bad job on that particular day? Sure. But it could also be that somebody over-sat their section, or that the kitchen is slow, or the restaurant owner failed to adequately staff, or any number of things. But the server is the person you have access to, so…

Note: No disrespect to agents or servers with that analogy. Both are very important parts of their respective businesses.

So I’ve written like 3500 words here. What’s my point?

I think it’s this. I get why you’re mad/frustrated/tired whatever. And you can do whatever you want with your social media. Goodness knows I do. But I think you’ll find, as you move along from one place to the next in this business, that a lot of people are doing their best. And when we find ourselves yelling at people who probably already agree with us because we think they’re the ones who can solve the problem, but they can’t? We’re just making noise.

That’s all.

If you’ve made it this far and you want to support me, I don’t have Patreon or Kofi or any of those normal things that authors have. So you’ll have to buy my book. I’d really appreciate it, because I’d like the opportunity to write more.

Tags: authors, literary agents