separate agents for books & screenplays?

goldmund

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As I understand it, you sign an agreement with an agent to the effect that he/she handles everything you write.
But what if you write books AND you write for movies?
A good literary agent may have no connections with film studios and vice versa.
Do you put a clause in the contract that an agent handles only books or only scripts?
 

Maryn

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It's a legal document. You can put in any exceptions or additions you choose to--but the agent may choose not to sign it.

What I understand often happens with the rare writers who can create both marketable screenplays and novels is that they're repped by a single agency which has agents specializing in novels and others specializing in scripts.

But I think you're putting the cart a few miles in front of the horse. First complete and polish salable work, either type, and seek an agent to rep you. That's when this question leaves the 'moot point' category.

Maryn, betting you're better at one than the other, as most are
 

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Lots of literary agencies deal with both book and film rights: William Morris and Blake Friedmann come to mind but I'm sure there are plenty of others.

And listen to Maryn. She's right.
 

Giant Baby

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Actually, representing film rights is completely different from repping screenplays/scripts. And script agents are different from book agents. They sell to a different industry altogether and belong to different professional organizations. This is why most book agencies specify that they don't represent screenplays.

I recall a post from Chuck Sambuchino a few years back in which he stated that a goal for the year was to get an agent for his screenplays. He already had a good lit agent by then.