WORKING WRITER For people who write

What Makes a Good Agent?

by Jennifer Lawler

Here's the reason I feel qualified to say a little something about agents: I have had FIVE in my career, and only one of them has ever sold anything for me. The others were initially enthusiastic about a specific project, would send it to a few publishers, and then lose all interest in me and the book project.

Sometimes they wouldn't bother telling me the status of my project for months at a time. After I wouldn't hear from the agent for six months, I'd assume it was time to move on. Sometimes I didn't even hear back from them after I sent a certified letter telling them I was withdrawing my proposal.

The moral of that story is never allow an agent more than one project at first. You don't want to tie up all your work with someone who can't sell it.

The four useless agents I have had in my career did, I am sure, a certain amount of work on my behalf. Yes, they sent proposals to editors. Once or twice they even had a small suggestion for improving my proposal. I call this the lukewarm approach to agenting.

Compare this to the agent I have now:

* She thinks I am brilliant, funny, and the best writer she has ever met in her life. (She thinks this of every single one of her clients).

* She has cultivated a set of contacts in a very specific part of the publishing industry -- New Age, self-help, spiritual growth. She doesn't try to sell books on, say, backpacking in the Amazon. Not because there's no market, but because she doesn't know enough about the subject, the market, and the publishers to do well by it.

* She copies me on every single letter or e-mail she sends out, and summarizes phone conversations, etc., with me at least once a week when she's trying to sell a project for me.

* When I put a proposal together, she goes over it with a fine-toothed comb. I have had twenty books published, and more in the pipeline, and so I think I write a pretty good proposal, but she always has suggestions for how to really make an editor's head turn.

* She starts the selling process by inventorying the editors she thinks would be interested. She tries to generate enthusiasm by telling them about this great new book proposal she's got in her hands. When they say, sure, send it along, she sends another couple of glowing e-mails saying things like, "It's coming, make sure your desk is clear so you can take a look!" Corny? Yes. Would it work for everyone? Maybe not. But I don't argue with success. Then she overnights or second-day delivers the proposal. (Messengers it to people working in the same city). A few days letter, she calls to make sure everyone has received the proposal.

A week or so after that, she starts calling people to see if they've had a chance to look at the proposal. Some editors have probably already responded with a yes or a no. Once she's done this assessment, she sets a deadline for when all answers need to be in (could you imagine me, the lowly author, doing such a thing?) If more than one editor is interested, she lets them know when the auction will be held and what the minimum bid is. Then she calls the stragglers, and e-mails people to pump them up. In the meantime, if she sees something in the newspaper (or in any medium) that is somehow related to the book proposal, she sends it to the editors who have the proposal in hand. (For example, for a card deck I'm doing on self defense, she found a USA Today poll that showed that the top fear for women is assault and domestic violence. She faxed this to everyone saying, "See, this product is really needed!")

* She is an excellent negotiator. For years, I have supplied photos (I'm a photographer) for my how-to books, for free. She thinks only an idiot would do that (she doesn't hesitate to tell me when I'm doing something stupid, potentially detrimental to my career, or otherwise self-destructive), and makes publishers pay me for them. Like little lambs, they do exactly what she says.

* She negotiates each contract so that her commission is sent directly to her by the publisher and my royalties are sent directly to me without passing through her office. I think this is the most brilliant strategy in the world. Now I don't have to wait until two people send me a check -- the publisher to the agent and the agent to me.

* In some cases, she has negotiated advances for me more than ten times any I had negotiated myself.

* She spends a great deal of time working with me to build my "platform" so that I become even more valuable to publishers. This was hard for me to do at first, but I see the results every day when my books move higher on the sales ranking lists, my advances get bigger, and I start to see my work actually being read by people other than close family and friends.

And the good stuff goes on and on. In the two years we have worked together, she has sold SEVEN of my books, and is working on the eighth. She loves to work with me because I'm a professional, I know what a deadline is, and I'm prolific. I love to work with her for the reasons listed above.

As you can imagine, after meeting this agent, I don't have any patience with lukewarm agents and their lukewarm approaches. I can do what a lukewarm agent does and save myself 15% and a lot of aggravation.

So when you go in search of an agent, make sure you find a good one.

Jennifer Lawler has had five agents in her career, and only one has been any good. She's the author of more than 20 published books and numerous magazine articles. Her book for writers, "Dojo Wisdom for Writers: 100 Simple Ways to Become a More Inspired, Successful and Fearless Writer," shows how to use the wisdom of the martial arts to create the writing career you want. She is the co-chair of the National Writers Union Book Division, and teaches workshops and e-courses for writers, and coaches writers individually. Learn more at www.jenniferlawler.com.