The traditional method of publishing is where a publishing house takes on your book and publishes it for you, organising editing, printing and distribution. You will usually receive an upfront payment followed by royalties after the book is published and starts selling. If you do choose to publish your book in the traditional way, you may decide you want an agent to pitch it to publishers on your behalf and guide you through the world of publishing.
On the other hand, you may not want to have an agent and be happy pitching your book to publishers yourself. It’s entirely up to you! You don’t have to use an agent if you don’t want to; indeed, there are both advantages and disadvantages to having an agent. This blog will look at the first part of this – the benefits of using an agent. We will then take a look at the disadvantages in a later post.
Easier Submissions Process
One of the major benefits of having an agent is how much easier it makes the submission process. The reasoning for this is twofold. Firstly, working with an agent should mean that your book is stronger before it even goes to the publisher. A good agent will work with you to refine and even redraft your manuscript, if necessary, to ensure that it is in the best possible shape to be submitted to publishers. They know what publishers are looking for and what is expected for the genre, so this gives you an edge.
The other way an agent makes the submission process simpler is by streamlining the process. As an author submitting your own manuscript, you can only really apply to one publisher at a time. This is an etiquette issue, as it is a waste of the publisher’s time to be looking at your manuscript if it is already far on in the submissions process at a different publisher. They may have made an offer before the second one can, but the second one will still have invested their time in looking at the manuscript.
However, if you have an agent, it is known and accepted that they will pitch the manuscript to several publishers at the same time. This means that they can all look at the manuscript simultaneously, making the submissions process quicker. Also, if the manuscript is particularly desirable, this can lead to a bidding war between multiple publishers, driving the price up.
Competitive Edge
Another advantage of having an agent is that it gives you a slight competitive edge over other authors submitting their works. There are a number of ways this works. Firstly, as explained above, agents streamline the process, meaning that you can be pitching to multiple publishers, rather than having to work slowly through them all one at a time.
In addition, having an agent means that publishers will view your submission differently. They will be more likely to think it is worth their while if it has the stamp of approval from a professional agent. Having an agent on you and your book’s side means that your book has already passed one submission process – to the agent. This indicates that your book must be worth at least considering.
After all, anyone can send a manuscript to a publisher accepting unsolicited submissions. This means that the quality is extremely variable, and some publishers don’t have the time to sift through all of these. Indeed, they may only look at submissions from an agent and ignore others entirely.
Furthermore, if your agent is submitting to a publisher, you already have a connection. If the publisher knows the agent and respects their judgement, they will be more likely to think your manuscript is worth their time and investment. At any rate, it is a good way to ensure they will at least give your manuscript a second glance. A good agent should also know which publishing houses are interested in what genre of book, so you can be sure your manuscript will only be going to relevant publishers.
Expertise
This leads to the next benefit of having an agent for your book – the expertise and insider knowledge they should bring. As stated above, they will know which publishing houses are matched well to your book’s genre. It’s no good sending a non-fiction book about the history of film to a publisher that mostly specialises in crime fiction, for example!
Of course, this is the sort of thing you can research for yourself if you don’t have an agent, but an agent does make it easier. They might also know of publishers that you would not have found otherwise.
Support
One final advantage of having an agent – there’s always someone with you. Whether this means offering you guidance every step of the way or always being on your side, it’s nice to have company and an ally. Indeed, this is a big part of an agent’s job – to always fight for you and your manuscript. It’s certainly in their best interests to do this!
This also means that they can help protect your rights as the author of the work with their expertise by checking that contracts are in your favour. They’re also there for when you need motivation, as getting published can be a very daunting experience.
Wrapping Up
I hope that you now feel better informed about the benefits having an agent brings. In my next blog, we will be considering what the disadvantages of having an agent are, so do come back in two weeks if you want to read that. Good luck with your manuscript, whatever you choose!
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